Back to New York

For all its bums, trash and crowds, New York is still a magical place. As I stepped onto the streets in the cold drizzle yesterday for a less-than-36 hour visit, I felt immediately happy and at ease. I was away on a mini-vacation, and back where I had such a wonderful summer.

The trip was brief, but a nice getaway, especially because I am a bit wound up about my job interview Monday. I spent the first few hours strolling with my friend Brian, starting at Chelsea Market and going through the Meatpacking District, the West Village, and somehow back at the Yale Club by Grand Central Station. Lunch happened somewhere in there. We regailed each other with humorous tales of how piled-up our lives have been since summer.

I also visited my friend Kristin, who I worked with back in Fort Worth, and we had a nice time catching up, drinking and eating, including at an excellent pizza place in Brooklyn called Franny's. Another highlight was a delightful breakfast of homemade ice cream sandwiches and a latte. "Why?" you ask? "Why not!" I reply.

We also saw the movie The Social Network at what I believe was the dumpiest theater I've ever been in, with a bevy of broken and missing seats. I just looked the place up -- Pavillion Park Slope -- and discovered this humorous collection of scathing reviews. I quote:

• "SO filthy, I cant believe the health department doesn't shut this place down. All I want is to watch a movie in my neighborhood without worrying whether or not I'm going to catch the plague from the blackened, disgusting seat upholstery."
• "There is obviously a huge management problem here. There are lots of broken seats, sticky floors. dirty bathrooms. bad smells. And now there are posts on local forums of bed bugs spreading around in there. I'm willing to bet this place will get closed down by the health department very very soon. It's so bad, that it seems like it's being done on purpose to write it off as a loss or something. What a shame, great location."
• " I like the Pavilion because it has an old-fashioned feel - quirky architecture, murals on the walls, and generally a good selection of movies. On the other hand, it feels like a bit of a firetrap!"

Oh, things I should've known before I went. Anyway, that movie's good. I think because it's about real people and a very recent event (i.e. still unfolding), there's a particular pressure on the filmmakers to be 100% accurate, and that's naturally an impossible standard when one is trying to reconstruct conversations and make a film entertaining. It was still enjoyable and informative in a grain-of-salt kind of way that skeptical journalists such as myself view these types of things. And nicely acted.

Now I'm back in the Have.