Comments on: NYC http://blurbomat.com/archives/2006/12/21/nyc/ Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:47:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: lionemom http://blurbomat.com/archives/2006/12/21/nyc/#comment-4587 lionemom Sun, 31 Dec 2006 22:02:28 +0000 http://blurbomat.com/wp/archives/2006/12/21/nyc#comment-4587 I grew up in Queens and regularly went to Manhattan when I was a kid to take ballet lessons just above Greenwich village at the Joffrey school. My brother and I would be dropped off by mother and we would subway home. I was 9 or 10, he's almost 2 years older. I loved where I grew up in Queens, we knew all the neighbors. My mother grew up in the house, so she knew everyone around the whole block. They were all European immigrant families too (my mother is 1st gen German.) The small town in a big city thing is very true. Once you lived here a while, that frantic overwhelming thing would go away. I agree with Mihow and Krissa and Julie. Not having lived there for quite a number of years now, I do miss it. Life is totally different out here in strip mall land. I didn't know anything about the "mall phenomenon" until we moved an hour north of the city when I was 12. Then I understood that you needed a car to do ANYTHING, people were very snobby and all about appearances outside the city, and I learned about racism. I would go back to NYC at any opportunity I had. For the weekend, for the day, I showed more friends than I can count around the city just to GO there and be there as a teenager. I regret that I did not make myself re-take the test to go to Hunter HS in Manhattan, or take the test for any other great HS (Stuyvesant or HS for Performing Arts). I think my HS years would have been MUCH more enjoyable if I had experienced them there. Anyway, I could go on and on about my sincere love for that city. There is no other like it. I am glad you had a good time and so happy to see that you saw some of the true beauty that many people who live there day in and day out can miss in the hustle and bustle. I grew up in Queens and regularly went to Manhattan when I was a kid to take ballet lessons just above Greenwich village at the Joffrey school. My brother and I would be dropped off by mother and we would subway home. I was 9 or 10, he’s almost 2 years older. I loved where I grew up in Queens, we knew all the neighbors. My mother grew up in the house, so she knew everyone around the whole block. They were all European immigrant families too (my mother is 1st gen German.)

The small town in a big city thing is very true. Once you lived here a while, that frantic overwhelming thing would go away. I agree with Mihow and Krissa and Julie.

Not having lived there for quite a number of years now, I do miss it. Life is totally different out here in strip mall land. I didn’t know anything about the “mall phenomenon” until we moved an hour north of the city when I was 12. Then I understood that you needed a car to do ANYTHING, people were very snobby and all about appearances outside the city, and I learned about racism. I would go back to NYC at any opportunity I had. For the weekend, for the day, I showed more friends than I can count around the city just to GO there and be there as a teenager. I regret that I did not make myself re-take the test to go to Hunter HS in Manhattan, or take the test for any other great HS (Stuyvesant or HS for Performing Arts). I think my HS years would have been MUCH more enjoyable if I had experienced them there.

Anyway, I could go on and on about my sincere love for that city. There is no other like it. I am glad you had a good time and so happy to see that you saw some of the true beauty that many people who live there day in and day out can miss in the hustle and bustle.

]]> By: Star Shine http://blurbomat.com/archives/2006/12/21/nyc/#comment-4586 Star Shine Thu, 28 Dec 2006 21:04:18 +0000 http://blurbomat.com/wp/archives/2006/12/21/nyc#comment-4586 Gorgeous photo, Jon! You really captured New York in an artful way. I lived there for three years. The entire experience was one gigantic love/hate relationship. Your description sums it up pretty well. The people are incredible--the best in their given fields. Still, the city can kick your butt. Gorgeous photo, Jon! You really captured New York in an artful way. I lived there for three years. The entire experience was one gigantic love/hate relationship. Your description sums it up pretty well. The people are incredible–the best in their given fields. Still, the city can kick your butt.

]]> By: marceline http://blurbomat.com/archives/2006/12/21/nyc/#comment-4585 marceline Thu, 28 Dec 2006 15:52:55 +0000 http://blurbomat.com/wp/archives/2006/12/21/nyc#comment-4585 Here's a trick for getting cabs: when the cab stops, just open the door, get in, and close the door. Then tell the cabbie where you're going. He's not as likely to refuse you if he has to physically get you out of the cab. Of course, this might not work with tons of luggage... Here’s a trick for getting cabs: when the cab stops, just open the door, get in, and close the door. Then tell the cabbie where you’re going. He’s not as likely to refuse you if he has to physically get you out of the cab. Of course, this might not work with tons of luggage…

]]> By: KookieDangerous http://blurbomat.com/archives/2006/12/21/nyc/#comment-4584 KookieDangerous Thu, 28 Dec 2006 01:44:26 +0000 http://blurbomat.com/wp/archives/2006/12/21/nyc#comment-4584 Visiting the BlurbDoocery is like sitting in the leather banquette in the back of our favorite spot (us and a couple tens of thousands of 'our bunch') and having to be careful I don't snork the 15-dollar-a-glass red wine out my nose while you and Heather try to top each other in your tales of the City. Thank you for the cool shots of NYC, too. Visiting the BlurbDoocery is like sitting in the leather banquette in the back of our favorite spot (us and a couple tens of thousands of ‘our bunch’) and having to be careful I don’t snork the 15-dollar-a-glass red wine out my nose while you and Heather try to top each other in your tales of the City. Thank you for the cool shots of NYC, too.

]]> By: ByJane http://blurbomat.com/archives/2006/12/21/nyc/#comment-4583 ByJane Sun, 24 Dec 2006 19:01:12 +0000 http://blurbomat.com/wp/archives/2006/12/21/nyc#comment-4583 Nice post, Jon. Nice post, Jon.

]]> By: Piglet http://blurbomat.com/archives/2006/12/21/nyc/#comment-4582 Piglet Sun, 24 Dec 2006 07:21:35 +0000 http://blurbomat.com/wp/archives/2006/12/21/nyc#comment-4582 Loving this sentence: "While Iím looking rather vaguely De Niroesque and asking if you are talking to me while Cream plays in the background and the camera pans slowly around me while you crap your pants at my badassedness." Glad you made it out of your photo slump. Loving this sentence:

“While Iím looking rather vaguely De Niroesque and asking if you are talking to me while Cream plays in the background and the camera pans slowly around me while you crap your pants at my badassedness.”

Glad you made it out of your photo slump.

]]> By: Montrose http://blurbomat.com/archives/2006/12/21/nyc/#comment-4581 Montrose Sat, 23 Dec 2006 03:29:43 +0000 http://blurbomat.com/wp/archives/2006/12/21/nyc#comment-4581 I'm a hayseed from Western CO and was in the same stompin' grounds from Dec 12-14, frantically trying to navigate, and I missed much of what you captured. Thank you for stopping to photograph what I passed by. I did get to spend 4 hrs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art which was indescribable. I’m a hayseed from Western CO and was in the same stompin’ grounds from Dec 12-14, frantically trying to navigate, and I missed much of what you captured. Thank you for stopping to photograph what I passed by. I did get to spend 4 hrs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art which was indescribable.

]]> By: Brewcaster http://blurbomat.com/archives/2006/12/21/nyc/#comment-4580 Brewcaster Sat, 23 Dec 2006 02:09:03 +0000 http://blurbomat.com/wp/archives/2006/12/21/nyc#comment-4580 Wow, I know I can't handle NY for more than a week. Glad you got to meet Sarah B. She is a fellow Okie. Glad you made it home safe. Wow, I know I can’t handle NY for more than a week. Glad you got to meet Sarah B. She is a fellow Okie. Glad you made it home safe.

]]> By: amber http://blurbomat.com/archives/2006/12/21/nyc/#comment-4579 amber Fri, 22 Dec 2006 20:22:14 +0000 http://blurbomat.com/wp/archives/2006/12/21/nyc#comment-4579 I'm glad to hear you liked Park Slope. I've lived there for 6 years now, and I love it. I can't really imagine ever living in Manhattan (I need trees!), but I love having easy access to it. I'm glad you guys made it out to Brooklyn. It's often a trial to get visitors to trek out here, and it's so worth it. I agree with others who have said that the important thing in New York is making your own little neighborhood. I have a little market in the Slope that I go into where the woman knows my and my boyfriend's names, always asks about the other when one of us isn't there, lets us sample the food she's selling, and offers me recipe advice. I never got that in the small town I grew up in. I feel like it's a strange twist that so many small towns and suburbs have been taken over by chain stores and malls that a huge city like New York now feels to me like the best place to get the personal, mom-and-pop kind of service. I love the old world/super-modern world coexisting thing that happens here. Happy holidays to the blurbodoocery! I’m glad to hear you liked Park Slope. I’ve lived there for 6 years now, and I love it. I can’t really imagine ever living in Manhattan (I need trees!), but I love having easy access to it. I’m glad you guys made it out to Brooklyn. It’s often a trial to get visitors to trek out here, and it’s so worth it. I agree with others who have said that the important thing in New York is making your own little neighborhood. I have a little market in the Slope that I go into where the woman knows my and my boyfriend’s names, always asks about the other when one of us isn’t there, lets us sample the food she’s selling, and offers me recipe advice. I never got that in the small town I grew up in. I feel like it’s a strange twist that so many small towns and suburbs have been taken over by chain stores and malls that a huge city like New York now feels to me like the best place to get the personal, mom-and-pop kind of service. I love the old world/super-modern world coexisting thing that happens here.

Happy holidays to the blurbodoocery!

]]> By: Julie http://blurbomat.com/archives/2006/12/21/nyc/#comment-4578 Julie Fri, 22 Dec 2006 19:24:41 +0000 http://blurbomat.com/wp/archives/2006/12/21/nyc#comment-4578 I love the pictures, Jon. You've captured the reasons why I never want to leave my adopted home. Ditto on what Mihow says, especially about the Brooklyn part. My neighborhood, Windsor Terrace, feels like the small town I grew up in outside of Pittsburhg. I love how I know everyone and all the dogs in a three block radius. I love how I see the same people on the commute to and from work every day. I love how all my neighbors are competing to have the best Christmas lights in town. Brooklyn is a city (5th largest in the US) that feels like a collection of small towns. My boyfriend's neighborhood (the Upper West Side) also has that small town feel, but you have to look harder for it. In the midst of the tall buildings (the opposite of all the private houses in my part of town), I'm always running into people I know. After a time, you realize that no matter how big the city, it's not as big as you think. You guys could definitely make it here. It would take some adjustment (not having laundry facilities in your building being a big one!), but I can totally picture you and Heather and Leta and Chuck in Park Slope. From the sounds of the taxi incident, Heather's already proven herself New Yawk material. :) I love the pictures, Jon. You’ve captured the reasons why I never want to leave my adopted home.

Ditto on what Mihow says, especially about the Brooklyn part. My neighborhood, Windsor Terrace, feels like the small town I grew up in outside of Pittsburhg. I love how I know everyone and all the dogs in a three block radius. I love how I see the same people on the commute to and from work every day. I love how all my neighbors are competing to have the best Christmas lights in town. Brooklyn is a city (5th largest in the US) that feels like a collection of small towns.

My boyfriend’s neighborhood (the Upper West Side) also has that small town feel, but you have to look harder for it. In the midst of the tall buildings (the opposite of all the private houses in my part of town), I’m always running into people I know. After a time, you realize that no matter how big the city, it’s not as big as you think.

You guys could definitely make it here. It would take some adjustment (not having laundry facilities in your building being a big one!), but I can totally picture you and Heather and Leta and Chuck in Park Slope. From the sounds of the taxi incident, Heather’s already proven herself New Yawk material. :)

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