the end of the saga
last night AAA came to unlock my trunk. when the guy found out it was my trunk that needed to be opened (which i stated on the request form) he told me he couldnt open it. he tried his best, and it really was a valiant effort, but it didnt open and it left me with nothing but a coat and jeans that smelled like diesel fumes. he said "i'd get me a new key!"
so this morning i left for the hardware store of 8:00. things went from bad to worse when my key wouldnt open up any of my doors either. i figured the locks were frozen so i ran back in and got kyle's de-icer thing...but that wasnt really working...but finally i jiggled things loose and got in. i was about to cry for a second there.
i got to the store and gave him my key and told him what was up. he told me he doubted a new key would do much, but it only cost a dollar fifty so i told him we'd give it a try.
he was a nice fella.
he had me go out and try it on the trunk (which i thought meant, if it didnt work, he wasnt gonna charge me cuz he was just that nice. but he charged me.) it didnt work. i went back in and we talked about it some and he told me a possible way to break open the trunk which would ruin my lock but it would open it for me and he gave me the name of a locksmith and then he made me pay for the key.
i really do wish i was a hardware store owner. they know pretty much everything and can pretty much do it all too. you could save a lot of money for your family if you owned a hardware store or if you were an auto mechanic. but if you own a hardware store you pretty much know how to do everything on a car anyway, so hardware store owners are tops. im thinking about quitting school and getting a hardware store.
so i was getting in my car to leave and he comes out all bundled up in his coat and hat and gloves (what a sweetheart) and says "let me see the key." holy moly talk about the magic touch. he puts the key in the lock, jiggled it a bunch, hits the trunk in all the right places, turns the key and the trunk pops open. you have no idea the feeling of joy that came over me when i saw that thing fly open. it was something i had envisioned for days but it just wouldnt happen. but it was kinda funny, the trunk popped open and the guy sprinted in the store without a word. i yelled "you're a lifesaver!" (kinda cheesy now that i think about it) but didnt even get to thank him other than that. i probably wouldve given him a 20 dollar bill if he wouldve given me the chance. im 99% sure he was an angel.
so i immediately got the stuff out of the trunk and put it all on my backseat. i made it back in time for a shower before work and i had to melt my shampoo in hot water.
today is a good day so far.

ah yes...i return to upland...and 5 posts a day return to the blog.

i kind of liked my days without a stupid computer.

kyle: dude...this guy looks like a chick!!!
nate: who?!?
kyle: vivaldi!

i just saw a couple minutes of my big fat obnoxious fiancee. i think this show is gonna be pretty funny and i am already hooked.

i think old holden caulfield is really rubbing off on me. (he's the kid from catcher in the rye) ive been more cynical than usual lately...and i've found myself calling people phonies under my breath.

jared's a pal. not only did he come to visit me at the desk, he brought me a stick of deoderant, some old spice cool contact body wipes, and a pack of gum in order to hold me over until my trunk gets unlocked. and not just ANY stick of deoderant. we are talking gillette series with a POWER STRIPE!!!!!!!!! thanks jared.

back in upland. tired and kinda cranky. more mellow than cranky, i guess.
remember how my frozen pizzas got locked in my trunk? did i mention that on here? well, my car key works about 1 in 20 times...for each lock including the trunk, doors, and ignition. well, my trunk is locked and it is locked for good.
i started packing today and i got one load of my stuff in the trunk, and then my trunk wouldnt open again. that caused me to have to pack all of my stuff into the backseat. that wasnt so much of a problem, i did pretty well with that.
but now my toiletries, among other things, are locked in my trunk. ive gone back out to my car about 10 times now to try and open it without luck. so, i guess i wont be showering or brushing my teeth or wearing deoderant until my trunk decides to come open.
we actually had school today which i was pretty glad for because i was able to say goodbye to the kids. i swear, i dont think i can handle being a teacher with the way i get so easily attached to these kids. im pretty sure one girl was just as attached to me, though, cuz she was pretty close to crying when she said goodbye to me. she said goodbye about 5 times too. im glad she didnt cry, cuz i saw her cry when she got a detention, and the big tears that come rolling down the cheeks on the cutest little black girl you've ever seen sure do rip your heart out.
it was a very nice j-term and im glad for the experience.
thanks for asking.
goodbye.

another snow day today.
it's always kind of awkward when you're typing in the computer lab and you arent sure if you're sitting in the middle of a class or not. im pretty sure i definitely caught the tail end of one here.
we went to visit samuel morris's grave yesterday. im glad to report he's doing quite well. they're treating him very nicely at lindenwood cemetery.

i have to make this quick, cuz i lost frenchy and i dont know where he is and we are supposed to be looking for each other but instead im hiding in the computer lab to update this stupid thing.
we got a snow day today which is pretty cool...but it's kinda sad cuz it was one of my last days there. we're supposed to get more nasty weather today and tonight, so we might end up having off tomorrow too. we'll see. i woke up slowly this morning and made some coffee and took a shower and played lots of guitar and harmonica and then made some frozen pizzas for lunch. 77 cent pizzas dont have much cheese on them, so last night i took a ziplock bag to the DC and stole a bunch of cheese and put it on the pizza today. it was an improvement.
today we are going on a polaroid taking adventure and may try to find the grave of samuel morris again. we'll see.
holy moly i finished reading blue like jazz by donald miller last night and it is highly highly highly recommended. it was an easy and fun read and it was just really refreshing and he has lots of great insights and it is all written with a really great sense of humor that makes things interesting. if i ever write a book, it will be a lot like this one...except this guy has a much better handle on his thoughts and feelings and can express them better than i could ever attempt to. he also has a much better memory than i do. so if i ever write a book, it will actually be nothing like this one. but read it.
so im not sure what im gonna read next in this last week of j-term. i'm gonna finish up "life together" by bonhoeffer and maybe read a little bit of everyday apocolypse by david dark and who knows what else. im such a bookworm and i love it.
ok i need to go find frenchy. he's probably getting frantic. goodbye.

we got about 3 or 4 inches of snow last night. my roommate got in an accident. i went to bed at 11:00. i woke up at 9:00. that's 10 hours of sleep. i wrote my 5 page paper that is due tonight.
...
last night frenchy and blake and i went to walmart. frenchy gave me the keys to start the car while he scraped the snow off the windows. i started up the car, and the phil collins' song from the tarzan soundtrack was blasting through the stereo. blake and i exchanged looks, frenchy quickly opened the door laughing hysterically as only frenchy can laugh. he started yelling "please dont judge me! please dont judge me!" and quickly ejected the cd. he was quite embarrassed and i guess you had to be there but i promise it was pretty hilarious.
...
the kids in my class are writing business letters to sports teams or companies or something to try and get autographs or free samples or something like that. one girl is writing to her favorite rapper, bowwow. it wasnt much of a business letter, more of a crazy, obsessed fan letter. my teacher handed me a printout of the letter and told me to read the last few lines.
it read:
"I promise I'm your biggest fan! I know everything about you! Your favorite cartoon character is mickey mouse! you STARTED RAPING WHEN YOU WERE 5! I STARTED RAPING WHEN I WAS 3!..."
i thought that was funny in itself. i had noticed she spelled "rapping" wrong, but it was only later when my teacher brought it up again that i realized what it actually said. i laughed quite hard. and i have decided that when im a teacher i will keep a "kids-say-the-darndest-things" folder.

question #2 on the health assignment was "describe how sound travels through the ear," meaning, name the parts of the ear and their jobs. instead, one girl simply wrote, "It goes in one ear and out the other." mr. uebelhoer and i laughed for quite some time, and then i realized this is probably what she has been told all her life. on question #3, 2 of her 3 "household tasks" for which hearing protection should be used were "screaming" and "yelling."

it was one of those mornings where i couldnt get out of bed for the life of me. with it being -10 degrees out, and not having our radiators on, our room gets pretty chilly, and it pretty much takes everything inside of you to pry yourself out of those covers. plus i was just really really tired. and it made for a long day. and i took a nap when i got home from school.
im almost finished with catcher in the rye. i was pleased with where the book went when he went to visit his teacher in the middle of the night, but then it threw me a big old surprise that kind of ruined it, and now im heading back to find out how everything turns out. ive enjoyed it thus far.
thats all. goodbye.

tonight frenchy and i missed dinner at the DC, so we made our first meal in our kitchen and it was wonderful. chips and salsa and frozen pizza. we're quite the suzy homemakers.

its another martin luther king day and my heart is heavy once again. dr. dwight perry gave us some heavy things to think about this morning. but hearts are hard and prideful and people refuse to listen. people are still upset for having to get out of bed and being "forced" to be challenged. my heart is heavy for the classmate who says "oh, so their not taking attendance after all, there's no way im coming to the afternoon session!" and the other classmate who simply dismisses it all and says "i thought it was a bunch of crap." when will we actually listen and begin to realize what's going on...not to be politically correct but to be bibliocentric and christocentric in our lifestyles as we (christians) say we are. i dont know. these days are always a little long and hard for me.

"For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility...you are no longer foreigners and aliens but
fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household..." Eph 2

"Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and is in all." Col 3

"Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, 'Here's a good seat for you,' but say to the poor man, 'you stand there' or 'Sit on the floor by my feet,' have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? . . . If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing right. (You are a success!) But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers." James 2

but you've had a long hard weekend...you deserve a break today...you dont need to be challenged...and besides, youve never owned a slave...and its not your fault you were born white...youre not a racist...so have a great day.

not much going on here. i watched the colts do their best, but the new england weather was just too much for them. i felt awfully bad for peyton so desperately trying to make one last go at it with 3 minutes left but unable to connect.
the plan was to go see house of sand and fog tonight, but we got a late start and decided we wouldnt be able to make it. thats our 3rd failed attempt to see it, we are going to try once again tomorrow night.
watching the eagles now...donovan is hurting and the team is looking like the same team that has choked in the nfc championship the past 2 years...we'll what they can do. staley's pretty much their only hope at this point. the second half is starting.

I'm the suicide with blanks
I am fire in the tank
I'm the dishes in the sink

I'm the silence you can hear
I'm a voice inside your head
I'm a word that's never said

I'm the blood upon your sheets
I'm the air you cannot breathe
I'm the darkness you can see

I'm the pain inside your back
I'm the joke that you don't get
I'm the razor at your neck

I'm the lie that you will tell
I'm the soul that you will sell
I'm the vomit on your sleeve

I'm the reason you all fell

(im a lover, not a fighter, but if only i would love to fight.)

we decided at lunch today that oliver is a pretty cool name. not only is it a cool name, but it goes pretty well with pretty much any last name. we predict its going to be the next popular name.

last night i went to jared's room and we recorded "grace greater than all our sin" on his digital 8 track complete with guitar, bass, harmonica, accordion, egg shaker, tamborine, finger cymbals, and me singing. we were gonna throw in some cap guns, too, but we ran out of room. i was pleased with how it turned out.
this morning i woke up at 12 and ate at the DC...i made bacon egg mcmuffin thingers and they were delicious and im not sure why it's taken me 2 and a half years to think of that. it was heavenly.
this afternoon ive just been working on homework. nev and disko and i and some other guys were gonna go see a movie in ft wayne tonight and i was gonna go back to the apartment, but there's a pretty bad ice storm today and roads are pretty wild so we've decided not to. so we'll see what tonight holds.
im listening to music again which is pretty great.

i decided to come to upland for the night but that was kind of a mistake because absolutely no one is here so im doing the same thing here that i would be doing in ft wayne but oh well no big deal. im really tired too.
holy moly fridays at elementary schools are not much fun. fridays as a student were always pretty great but when you're the teacher daaaaaaaaaaaaang. the class lost a recess, got 3 extra homework assignments, and pulled lots and lots and lots of cards. i ruined one poor girls day by making her pull a card in the last 15 minutes of the day but man oh man she had it coming from me all week so i did my best not to feel too bad.
my math lesson went well and my professor was pleased so that is one more class requirement down.
the kids are still having a hard time figuring out and pronouncing "shorb." this is really quite humorous, because the teachers name is mr. uebelhoer (pronounced eeble-hair...what a name, huh?) and they can pronounce that just fine. i really wouldnt mind if they called me "mr. s," but its just the principle of it. they dont call him "mr. u" and his name is a whole lot harder than shorb. i cant say his name, that's for sure. my lips always quit on me halfway through and i say "mistel eebelhail"...i can say it, it just sounds like i have my tongue frozen to a pole or something.
have good weekends.

remember that long time ago when i predicted brandtson would be signed by militia and then i thought it was coming true and then it didnt and i felt stupid. well militia signed them. i was right after all.
tonight i was typing on frenchy's computer for a while and i one point i stopped and i happened to smell my fingers and they smelled like a computer keyboard and mouse and i was instantly taken back in a flashback to middle school when we bought our very first brand new packard bell computer and it was a whole new world and it was amazing and i would spend hours looking at and playing with the cd-roms that came with it and i was so excited and it was all so magical and for a moment i was in flashback bliss.
goodbye.

“You have a very special gift inside of you, a free gift that God gave you… l i f e …He gave you a heart to live, and to live for Him, because He loves you.”

school is going well although i am getting more and more tired as the days go by. my teacher is expecting more of me which i guess is mostly cool but he's not giving me a whole lot of guidance which isnt cool.
one girl told me i was "tight" so that made me feel a little better. another likes to read with me and makes me take over when there is "cussin" involved and then i have to read it and edit it on the spot.
ive been teaching health lessons on the spot, which is the last subject i ever expected to be teaching on the spot. but its going ok.
i have yet to actually make a kid "pull a card" yet...but i have threatened quite often and i think it will happen tomorrow cuz i have to let these kids know that i am not bluffing and i mean business.
i made my first bulletin board and it's pretty terrible but i have a feeling its just as good as anything my teacher has ever done. he doesnt seem too bulletin-board-savvy.
things are going well but i am pretty wiped out and really cranky and overwhelmed which mostly stinks.
now that school has started up ive gotten behind on my reading which also stinks.
but i did some artsy fartsy painting last night which was enjoyable. frenchy was my lovely assistant.
goodbye.

the first day at irwin elementary was good. my teacher is a die-hard packers fan and he was depressed, even more so when he found out i was an eagles fan. all the kids were rubbing it in pretty good. we watched sportscenter over lunch (all the female teachers sat in the teachers lounge telling stories of PMS and pregnancy...us two MEN sat in his room and watched sportscenter) which was the first i saw of the game. what a game it was. go eagles. SPORTS!!
here's something humorous for you...
the first day back at school here at taylor..it was pretty snowy. some rebel of a troubled kid, probably mad at the world because his parents forced him to go to a christian school, found his revenge in stomping in the snow quite large the phrase: "WELCOME TO HELL." as if that wasnt funny enough, a goody-two-shoes decided to add on to it to make it say "WELCOME TO HEAVEN." but..unfortunately...they spelled it "WELCOME TO HEVEAN." aaaahh yes, the ever-so-intelligent christians get the last laugh once again.

today was very profitable i think. i slept til 11 and i finished reading the samuel morris biography and i finished reading my classes textbook (which is the first time ive ever read an entire textbook cover to cover and i feel proud for it) and i read the entire frog and toad box set and i played organ a lot and i played guitar a little and i ate dinner with neville and disko and now jared is here and we broke into the girls' dorm and we are surfing the web in their fancy schmancy basement and yeah. if only a computer lab were open i could do homework and print stuff out that i need to print out but nooooo no computer labs are open in ft wayne ever.
i got two parking tickets in a matter of 15 hours. campus safety will be hearing from me as soon as they decide to be in their office.
tonight jared and i are taking part in our very first goth knitting club meeting. we are neither goth nor knitters so things should be interesting. please dont worry, mom, i'll be fine.
goodbye.

just got back from 3 days in chicago. it was a pretty good time all in all. chicago is an amazing city and we got to see a good deal of it. i will spare you the details and say that god is doing some amazing things in the city and it was very encouraging and exciting to see first hand.
im writing this from some random computer in some random building...i think it's the computer of someone official or something, so i may be intruding...im not sure. but the computer lab is open until 6:00pm on friday and is closed for the rest of the weekend. the library closes at 6 on friday as well, and is open from 12-6 on saturdays. things are really convenient around here.
let me know whats up. i hope you are well.

i forgot to mention that in order to get from the computer lab back to my dorm...i have to cross the street in a cross walk at a traffic light!!!!!!!!!!! it's glorious!!!!! yes...this town has a traffic light!!!!!!!!!!!!! and its ON CAMPUS!!!

i am now in the beautiful city of fort wayne, indiana for the month of january. i do not have a computer in my room which will make my blogging a lot less frequent and a lot less insightful. perhaps that will be best for the both of us.
i am doing an "urban practicum" which i am really excited about. my heart is here in the city much more so than the middle of nowhere, indiana. we travel to chicago on wednesday for a couple of days and the rest of the time i will be observing/helping/teaching in a fifth grade classroom, all day everyday, in a fort wayne community school. i cant wait.
i am "fasting" more less from a computer and stereo for the month. it started out as convenience...i didnt really feel like disconnecting everything and lugging it up here. but then i decided it would be pretty refreshing to not have the distraction. and hopefully starving myself from my music will instill some god-given-musical-creativity by the end of the month. we'll see. so far we dont have a tv, either, so, maybe that's one less thing to deal with. if im lucky i'll get a lot of reading done.
i got a hair cut before i came back. it was a little hard to deal with but im over it now. i forgot how much of a unibrow i had and erica had to give me a plucking job as well. she's a great woman.
thats all for now. if possible, get rid of a distraction for yourself for the month of january with me. maybe it'll do something for you.
oh, today, a principal recommended we read a book called "results." she went on to say "i hope taylor is making this book your bible. everything you do and say should be orchestrated by this book." i laughed really hard at the irony...i dont think she realized what she was saying.
bye.

its no secret to me that ignorance is bliss...but i am having a hard time figuring out whether that is good or bad.

this is the new year, and i dont feel any different...
happy new year...here's some odds and ends....
- i hate new years eve. this years celebration, although somewhat awkward and boring at times, was all in all, fairly pleasant. we saw fireworks in bethlehem, and i always enjoy making fun of the people watching them. but happy new year.
- andy and jodi bought me coldplay's parachutes for christmas. andy so graciously explained, " i knew you wanted both of their cd's, but i decided to get you this one, because i knew 'rush of blood to the head' was more popular, and you dont really like the popular stuff." i thought that was funny.
- oopsilon the fish has been on his deathbed this break...we've all been quite concerned...but he's been eating and swimming the past couple days so things are looking better.
- top 5 albums of 2003 off the top of my head and in no particular order:
death cab for cutie - transatlanticism...it really is perfect...i think by far the best death cab album...not much filler unlike the others.
postal service - give up...im sorry, im a sucker for ben gibbard. this is interesting and unique, but still has the normal gibbard flare that makes in wonderful.
ester drang - infinite keys...this was a 2003 release, right? takes some getting used to..but honestly the most creative, unique music being made right now.
unwed sailor - marionette and the music box....beautiful.
ok, i cant think of a 5th...mates of state team boo? damien jurado where shall you take me? saxon shore four months of darkness? there is a lot i havent heard that im sure would top my list, as well. ummm yeah.
- hard to believe break is over so soon...i hate it!! its been fun though and im looking forward to living in ft wayne for a month. ummmm, yeah, happy new year suckahs!!!!

i feel safe in new york city
so here's what happened tuesday...
erica and i decided to go to nyc to go ice skating at rockefeller. i was proud of myself, because the whole break i was freaking out about how the heck to get up there - train, bus, cheap, etc - and nothing was coming together and nothing was planned. normally i would say "let's not go" but this time i got a new york city map, we drove right in, found rockefeller on the map, and we did it. it was all pretty spur of the moment, and i was proud of myself. it turned out to be a mostly great day...it was an adventure if nothing else.
we get to the lincoln tunnel without a problem. the only problem was, we didnt plan on what to do once we got out of the lincoln tunnel. we had no idea where to go..but we just went with the flow and parked at the first place we saw. the place we parked ended up costing 30 dollars, but, thats the same as 1 round trip bus ticket, so, it's not too bad all in all.
the parking deck was shady to say the least. we realized as we pulled in that we needed to get out of the car immediately so the attendant could park it. which meant we had to gather all the stuff we needed to take for the day - so we frantically grabbed everything we needed and shoved it in erica's bookbag. we had no idea what was going on and i think we were both about to cry. but we got what we needed and sent the car on its way. the man had an accent and i had no idea what he was saying to me when he was giving me my ticket...i was too stressed out to listen anyway. we said goodbye to the corsica, praying we would see it later that day, with the same amount of miles on the odometer and scratches on the paint job as we left it with.
well, we soon discovered, as we were getting organized, that we forgot erica's phone in the car. this was kind of essential because we were hoping to hook up with rata and dale and the boys later in the day. you're not supposed to go into the parking deck at all, attendants only, but i told the guy and he muttered something in his accent and i went down to find the car. holy moly. cars everywhere. bumper to bumper. parked in. chaos. it took us about 5 minutes to find my car in the chaos. the cars are left with windows open and keys in the ignition. we grabbed the phone, said goodbye to the car, shook our heads, and went on our way.
we found rockefeller without a problem, went ice skating without much wait, and it was all very fun and pleasant and picturesque and great. we really enjoyed ourselves. gentlemen, if you live near NYC, have a girlfriend who is a professional figure skater, and need a fun holiday date, take her to rockefeller.
we then made our way to a little place to sit while calling rata to figure out what was up. we were next to radio city music hall. we chatted and found out that neither her or dale were at the guys' apartment, and while im friends with the other guys, it would have been somewhat awkward, so we decided we wouldnt be visiting their pad. she told us that dale's store where he was working is on 7th and broadway - on broadway between 7th and 8th. at that point, i think we were sitting on 7th ave, or close to that, and broadway was a couple blocks away. we said, oh, that's not far at all, and set out to find dale.
we found ourselves wondering through masses of people in the middle of times square. we were confused to find that 7th and broadway are the same thing at spots...so his store could not be on broadway between 7th and 8th if broadway IS 7th. we asked some streets vendors..they gave us weird looks. after checking a few streets between 7th and 8th, we asked a times square security officer. he called information, gave us the address, and directions, as well as some friendly chats about pennsylania and steel mill country. we walked to the address, and were a little confused to find a high rise office complex...we found american apparel on the little index thinger, but the guy at the desk said they were closed today, and went on to explain this was the wholesale showroom, not the retail store. . . . . . . . wrong address.
we went on pretty much every other street between 7th and 8th, weaving back and forth, and could not find him at all.
we gave up, walked back towards the parking deck, stopped at a cool little park on 6th ave called bryant park. there we talked to rata, she was as confused as we were, and suggested we probably had 7th avenue and 7th street mixed up, and they are two completely different things. (she was right).
we were wiped out. so we walked to the parking deck, and as we got there, we saw before us, broadway. there was a little light from heaven shining on it and i think i heard some cherubims singing. rata had told us the address of the store was 718 or something like that, we saw the numbers on broadway were in the 1300s and we said "oh, he cant be very far off." we were on 36th street. we started walking. at about 30th street a lightbulb went off and i said, "erica, hold on. he's on 7th street. we're on 30th. this we are walking 30 blocks. are you sure we want to do this?" (we were pretty exhausted already). she insisted and we kept walking.
at about 25th street, dale calls! he tells us he is at the store, on break, picking up his paycheck. well it is a good freaking thing that he is on break picking up his paycheck at that store, because he was working at the other store that night and just happened to be there. otherwise, we would have walked 30 blocks to find a store without dale...and im pretty sure erica and i both would have started sobbing, curled up in the fetal position in the corner of american apparel.
well we finally got there and met up with him. he was on his way to get dinner. we went with him to this cool little place that sells hot dogs and fruit juices. he treated us to a recession special - two hot dogs and a papya juice for 2.25. they were good hot dogs, too. we went back to work with him and checked the place out. he got us on a subway - thank the lord in heaven above - and we rode back to 34th street and found the parking deck. the car was unscathed, barely, and old man explained how to get back to the lincoln tunnel, and we finally made it home. it was a good day but man oh man were we sore the next day.
we checked it out, and those 30 blocks alone was 3 miles of walking. the entire day - for 7 hours - we were either skating or walking. we probably sat for no more than 30 minutes the entire day. we're guessing at least 7 or 8 miles of walking over the course of the day. we were pretty wiped out...but we had a lot of fun.
so next time you're in NYC, dont call rata for directions, and dont mix up avenues and streets.