Restaurant Hopping - Rogers Style

Its the weekend which can mean only one thing for me in NYC, the guests are coming. I've had quite a few friends come to town in the two months I've lived here and many have stayed at my place. My weekends are booked through the month of November. This week Ryan and Laura are in from San Francisco. Laura flew to Boston on Wednesday to see her brother and then they drove to NY together. Ryan flew the red-eye Thursday night and arrived early Friday morning.
Last night Ryan and I went to the Met and then waited at various Starbucks for Laura and Chris. When they got to town, we went into the village and met up with the ever elusive Matt Rogers.

I ran into Matt randomly at and elevator a few weeks ago. Ryan and I gave him a call and decided to have dinner tonight. Ryan brought some coupons he got off the internet so we ate in Chelsea and I had the sirloin steak for under $10. Mmmmnm. After, Matt took us to the 'number two' restaurant in the city for dessert but the kitchen was closed. It was 11:30 pm. Since the 'number two' was closed, we walked four blocks to the 'number one' place in the city.

Gramercy Tavern is on 20th at Park Ave. South. I expected it to be full of fancy decorations and fancy people eating fancy food, fancily priced. It was nice inside but the people looked like any yuppie I've seen in the park or at Starbucks. The dessert was average dessert prices but Matt said entres were about $90. He choose a bottle of Hungarian red wine which I cannot pronounce but I can vouch that it is the best red wine I've ever had. Outstanding.

We had good conversation remembering good times in college. Ryan and Matt met in BYX and I met Matt through some friends at various events. We talked about our separate and similar paths now. Matt has been working very hard and is burnt out. We is on his way to vacation in Florida for awhile to maintain his sanity. He really wants to be purposeful in what he does and mentioned some hot topics in my mind. We talked about his desire to start a foundation of sorts to send aid to needy places. He also said he wanted to move to Sudan to fight for the people suffering virtual genocide there. Both of these are important issues in my mind and I look forward to talking about them more with him.

It was a fun night with Ryan, Laura and Chris and I'm ceratainly glad I could find Matt. I now consider him one of my friends in NYC so now I'm up to about four.

Down the Hatch

I am about to celebrate my two month anniversary in New York. Time is moving fast and things are going well. My parents came into town for the weekend and we had a great time. I took them to see all of the tourist hot spots followed by a few favorite locales of my own like McSorley's. On Saturday my dad and I watched the A&M football game with Andrew and Matt Polk while my mom shopped. That night we saw the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall which was very cool. The next day we hit up Times Square Church with Jenn and then walked to the park to see Andrew run the last mile of the NYC Marathon. I had a great time and it was hard to say goodbye to them just like in September when I moved out. I'll be back to Houston in early January on the concluding leg of my '04 Wedding Series.

On a smaller note, more serious note. I'd like to warn the readers about the dangers of eating too many buffalo wings. Andrew, Tom 'Doorbomb', and I went to a place called 'Down the Hatch' last night. Their claims to fame are 1) Connect Four boards for every table and if you're alone the bartender will play with you 2)the Monday Night Football special where $19 gets you all the wings you can eat and three pitchers of beer per person. That's a lot of food intake. Fortunately we only had a couple beers each, or else I might not be here writing this. Turns out, we all woke up at 3:30 AM with a stomach ache from the 4 baskets of wings we each downed. I was worried that they might decide to come out at work today, but I made it. I will use caution in the future and I suggest you limit your greasy orange chicken consumption too.

Cursed No More

Pigs are flying, Hell has frozen and the Bambino has rolled over in his grave. Last night my beloved Red Sox put an end to an 86 year championship drought by winning the World Series for the first time since 1918. Andrew and I viewed the game at a bar in Noho. Afterwards, Sox fans were running down the streets of New York and shouting in celebration. Just a few hours after the game was over, I awoke for my opening shift at work. On the way out the door, I donned my lucky Sox hat in order to signal my side to the locals. As I walked down the subway platform at 6:30 AM to catch the downtown A-Train, New Yorkers who were still wearing their ugly Yankees hats, glared at me in utter jealousy and embarassment knowing that I was the champion. Now they have to deal with the curse being reversed and trying to win a championship back from the defenders, the 2004 Boston Red Sox.

Espresso My Thoughts

For the first time in months I am settling back into a routine. I go to work and pour some coffee, then come home and read. Not much too it. Therefore, I am lacking material to write about. Just by looking out my window I feel like I should have a new adventure to describe but honestly, during the week I often forget that I live in New York.

If its Starbucks that you are so interested in then I'll tell you about my life as a Starbucks Barista. I am being promoted on December 1st to Shift Supervisor; $10/hr. Not bad for a college graduate, right? Most of the people I work with are 19 year old girls. There are only two other guys in the store. The girls love to bring their prissy little attitudes to work and share them with me on a regular basis. I can't even make a move with out this one girl, Monifa, criticising me for doing it wrong. Oftentimes, what I do isn't even wrong but she still tells me that it is. Just wait until December when I get my promotion. Then they'll know who the boss is; the guy with the college degree and $10 an hour. That's right, biaaatch. (I learned that at work)

Since we're on the topic of bad stories I have from work....today my manager was singing 'Gin and Juice' and when she got to the chorus, I chimed in with "Laid Back!" and she just thought that was hilarious. I guess its because I'm white and not supposed to know rap songs. Actually that's one of the four I do know.

Anyway, I'm gonna work this job for awhile. Until I run out of money or go insane. Then I'll start searching for a 'real' job. I wouldn't mind working for the Starbucks office, but that would entail my transfer to Seattle. I could look for a company in NYC that would pay me to shuffle papers and decorate my cubicle. We'll see what happens, and you'll be the first to know. Until then, "Would you like room for milk?"

Ease His Pain

Its that time of year in New York where the weather is cool, the leaves begin to change and the Damn Yankees make my insides churn. I am just 90 minutes from the start of game seven ALCS. It is the night I have been anticipating since last year's game seven when I threw a chair across my house in front of my roommates guests. The Red Sox have made an unbelieveable recovery from a 3-0 deficit and will try tonight to be the first baseball team ever to come back from 3-0 and win a playoff series. The tension is strangling me.

This year has been very different from my previous playoff experiences. I am in the city of my much loathed rival and to top it off, my roommate is a die-hard Yanks fan. We've watched 3 of the past 6 games together and have swapped enough trash talk to fill the Newark landfill.

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Its now 35 minutes until game time. There is an eerie dark fog hanging over Manhattan. I've donned my lucky Red Sox shirt. I'm so nervous. I'm speechless. Go Sox!

Kaboom!

I awoke this morning to the shuttering of my walls and the deafening sound of sudden death. At 7 AM today a car exploded about 200 yards from my house and shook my bed until I awoke bug-eyed. The sound was as if my head was in a metal trash can and someone ran and slammed it with a baseball bat. I froze, wide awake, and thought frantically about what just blew up. My roommate and I met in the kitchen leaning out the window to stare at the pillar of smoke rising up just two blocks away. Almost immediately, a line of police cars made their way to the scene to be soon followed by a hook and ladder fire truck and ambulances.

The news first reported that it was a domestic disturbance gone deadly, as if the angry wife had wired her husbands car to blow. It turns out though that the lone victim of the blast worked in a chemical factory and for some reason had two spare tanks of acetine gas in his trunk. They must have leaked because when he turned the key....lights out.

Later in the day the U.S. Arson and Explosion investigation team showd up along with the ATF, K-9 units, and everyone else looking for action. The story made the NYC news and I think my apartment showed up on the morning video.

So welcome to the big city, Alex.

This Trash Can Dream

Now I know, "Spanish Harlem" are not just pretty words to say.
I thought I knew, but now I know that rose trees never grow,
in New York City.

Until you've seen this trash can dream come true,
You stand at the edge, while people run you through.
And I thank the Lord, there's people out there like you,
I thank the Lord there's people out there like you.

This Broadway's got, its got a lot of songs to sing,
if I knew the tunes I might join in.

I go my way alone, grow my own,
my own seeds shall be sown, in New York city.

Subways no way, for a good man to go down,
Rich man can ride, and the hobo he can drown.

Until you've seen this trash can dream come true,
You stand at the edge, while people run you through.
And I thank the Lord, there's people out there like you,
I thank the Lord there's people out there like you.

While Mona Lisas and mad hatters, sons of bankers, sons of lawyers,
turn around and say, "good morning" to the night.
For unless they see the sky,
but they can't and that is why,
they know not if it's dark out side or light.


"Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" by Elton John

Money Matters

So I'm finally starting to feel my groove here in the Big Apple. This is my first blog from my apartment and as I type I can look out the window to the Manhattan skyline. I'm also into my third week at work and things are going great there. However, I still haven't been able to locate a weekend job to curb my finacial situation. It seems a few times a day I catch my self estimating my monthly salary in my head to see if I can afford rent. I think that with my current work situation, I can afford rent, utilities, and two bologna sandwiches.

Still, I have defininitely had a good time up here so far. Its not like I'm going to a Broadway show every night or having dinner with Donald Trump, but I have had an enjoyable time and it has cost me alot-of-money. For instance, last night I went into the city to have dinner with some friends, no biggie. My sandwich, "The Catcher in the Rye", cost $12 and I ended up leaving $15. I needed to get home and go to sleep since I had an early morning the next day and I realized walking to the bus stop would take nearly 45 minutes so I got a cab. That cost me $8 even though I asked the cabbie for $3 back from my 10. So after dinner, the cab, and a bus ride home, my three hour outing cost me $25. Ouch. Anyway, I'm not here to save for my retirement or put kids through college. If I breakeven, that will be a success. I mean, afterall, Money is for Spending.

Weehawken, Woo Hoo!

This is just a quick update for my slew of readers out there. I became an offical resident of the city today. I now have a place to live in Weehawken, NJ. I will be moving in on Thursday with my new roommate Collin. He is 25 and very affable. We each will have two rooms to ourselves and will share the rest. I have no idea what to do with two rooms which is a great problem to have when moving to New York. I think one will be my bedroom, obviously, and the other will be my reading room where I can listen to jazz and read books and fill out my blogs which will be inspired by my new metorpolitan experiences and... my incredible view of Manhattan through my window.

My purpose in NY revealed, Kenny.

I knew from the beginning that if God wanted me to be in New York, he would provide. But, the Lord wouldn't bring me to the city unless there was a purpose for me to be here. Today I felt like my purpose has already begun. I haven't started work, I don't even have a home yet, but I feel like God is already using me here, and I love it.
As I wandered the streets today searching for a job as a waiter, I came across an odd man outside a restaurant. He looked like a normal person but wasn't at work and needed to shave. When he started talking to me I realized that something was missing upstairs. I smelled some alcohol on his breath and knew he was pretty drunk. It was only noon. We didn't really talk about a certain topic, rather he rambled on about...I don't know. He did mention, though, that he was a Christian Jew. I asked him to explain to me. I also asked if he believed in Jesus and he said absolutely. He also dropped hints about his recent past as a struggling alcoholic. He can't see his daughter and recently lost his job. Out of nowhere he mentioned that he "goes" to church at Times Square Church, which is where I visited the day before and Loved it. I told him I went there and he could hardly believe it. Right then, we both realized that we were meant to meet right there on the street.
I felt horrible for the things he has been through and encouraged him to quit drinking. He is certainly struggling through life right now and it is only getting harder as he continues to drink. I promised to pray for him all week and urged him to be at church on Sunday. When we departed, he was in tears. I could see the Holy Spirit convicting him as we spoke.
I was so excited that I met Kenny and was able to pray for him and encourage him. I know that I will see Kenny somewhere, sometime soon. How awesome it feels to know God has already begun to reaveal his purpose for me here in ministering to people who are suffering with out His lead in their life. I can't wait to get settled into this city at work, in my community and in a church home. I am so excited to see more opportunites to minister and see God's hand move in my life.