september 2

sometimes i hate the intrawebs. i've spent so much time browsing craigslist and job listings and whatnot, i really just wanted to go talk to someone in person. so i biked into manhattan (still as epic as it was yesterday) and went to the philosophy departments at the new school and nyu to try to talk to someone in graduated admissions to ask about their programs and see if they had any research opportunities i could apply for. what i didn't count on was the nature of university buildings in the city--you can't really just walk in. oh, no. you have to try to explain yourself to the security guard on the ground floor who then calls the department's administrative assistant who you then have to go explain yourself to. needless to say, it didn't quite work. at the new school--where there are guards who operate the elevators for you, and which only take you to the ninth or eleventh floors--i was told to wait forty five or so minutes to talk to a student advisor who looked younger than me and like he was doing this for a break on his housing bill. the lady at nyu just told me to email people. and, when i asked what their department's specialty was, she responded with an ever so humble "everything. we're pretty much the best department in the universe, unless there are schools on pluto i don't know about." no joke.


after just walking around the buildings and browsing the philosophy selections in their bookstores, i'm beginning to get excited about going to grad school again. and, importantly, i think i could be very happy at either of these schools. unfortunately, i'm beginning to fear that i won't be able to afford living here. everyone i ask about jobs either has a very tentative idea about a possible opportunity, or says that they are looking for work as well.  but, even if i have to leave after this month for financial reasons, i think i will try to come back once there's a plan in place. and, in the meantime, i think i would try to go wwoofing--aka, being a farmhand. but it's nice to think that, at worst, i'm getting an extended preview of where i'll be in a year.


while i'm here, though, i'm going to take advantage of what's around. this morning i went to the syrena bakery for the second time. it's just down the street, so i walk past it all the time and it always smells more delicious than anything could every actually taste. the only thing that had held me back for so long is that i was afraid of how awkward it would be to try to order things with polish names from polish people with sketchy english. it's like going to the don jose tienda in carrboro--minus the time i got carla to come with me and translate. even though i doubt i ever pass as a pole, i didn't want to so obviously stick out. but it turns out they speak better english than most of the other vendors around here, and i don't need much knowledge of polish to know i want the chocolate covered donut. and it was pretty damn good.


afterwards, i went on a strangely difficult search for deodorant. their are delis (which, by the way, seems to mean convenience store up here) on every corner that sell toothpaste, laundry detergent, soap, and everything else related to deodorant, but not, it seems, deodorant. nor could i find any in the grocery store down the street. granted, the organization of grocery stores up here is a bit strange, so i could have just missed it. one of them had diapers on a shelf above the produce--you know, common products to be bought together, right? and the whole foods in union square, always packed, has a strangely complex, automated system to tell you which cashier you are supposed to go to. but, anyways, i finally found a rite-aid which sold some old spice. but all of the deodorant was covered by a plastic guard with a sign that said "alarm will sound when llfted." as i stood there and looked around trying to figure out, one, why deodorant seemed to be a controlled substance, and two, whether or not some security guard would come tackled me if i grabbed it myself, i couldn't decide whether i would prefer to just get some deodorant and go home or be accused of some crime for trying to buy it myself. in the end, i just lifted the plastic shield and grabbed it. the "alarm" was a barely audible beeping which really couldn't have alerted have alerted anyone not in the aisle already. why rite-aid feels like it needs to let other shoppers know that i'm trying to avoid the stank is beyond me.


the plan for tonight is to go see brooklyn natives beach fossils play at a club called coco66 down the way a bit. beach fossils is a band i happened to see a month or so ago in chapel hill when they opened for another brooklyn band called here we go magic!. i only went because molly had a ticket she needed to get rid of, but i was really impressed with beach fossils' set and they became the band i listened to to get excited about the move. it only seems fitting that i see them again here. coco66, according to google, is an old chocolate factory that was turned into a bar--hence the "coco"--but don't confuse it with coco, the japanese-american fusion restaurant in williamsburg.