The appleseed can be rotten

After an afternoon of much needed rest from this city that is set at a pace that is about sixteen times what I am used to I made a venture into the lower East Side. It is an area of town I am growing familiar with as both of my jobs are there and it is the hightlight night spot scene in Manhattan. Dan took me to the Young Designers Market, which is where up and coming designers go to hock their wares for cheap while they try to pioneer their way into the incredibly cutthroat and viciously elegant world of fashion. It's still overpriced, but New Yorkers pride themselves on being able to buy jewelry and handbags from the unknowns so they can say, "I knew [such and such] when nobody else did." I managed to restrict myself from indulgence owing to not wanting to bankrupt myself in the city that eats through your wallet like a tapeworm through your intenstines.

A jaunt through the grimy and wonderful little world of thrift stores that put even the most savvy and fashion forward in Tampa to shame led to my first favorably priced bar carrying PBR in an old Irish pub whose name escapes me. An absolutely divine and cheaply priced meal at a tiny French Bistro off of Mulberry eased me into my first shift at Paladar by myself. Things went smoothly, owing to the steady hand of an experienced waitress and bartender, but I find myself even more weary of the hospitality world here than I've ever been. Eye rolling and customer hatred aside I wanted to move here to dominate the world, as Kyndal has instructed me very succinctly to do. Not to bring Mojitos and Pacificos to thirsty suburban refugees fleeing New Jersely for the fun of the big city. What to do, what to do....

Dating here intimidates me. And I come from the horribly incestuous cess pool that is Tampa. If men in this city scare a girl from Ybor, that is saying quite a bit. I've been warned that men here are a worse breed than even the most ravenously vicious great whites of the sea. I've seen a bit of it. My first night here some guy subvertly solicited me for sex while I was innocently withdrawing cash from an ATM in Williamsburg and this evening some ridiculously over-cologned asshat was trying to ditch his girlfriend to have drinks with me at a bar on Ludlow. Cruel little world of selfishness and cheating. I see nothing more than my world weary hardened shell developing a bit of a thicker layer.

In this alien and intimidatingly giant planet trapped inside of a little city you can find almost anything, if you walk down the wrong alleyway at the right time.

Just as an aside, this video is a little old but nonetheless absolutely amazing from a band whose creativity is bound by nothing. Enjoy.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjxef8AfVQg