New York City is very frustrating sometimes.

This Friday, I was at Strand (a bookstore) and I overheard some pretentious book store dude mention something along the lines of: I've never been to LA. Does LA even exist? I think its just some far away make believe land that someone made up. I just looked at him and smiled and headed to the register to pay for my new Steinbeck novel. I miss LA.

So I am just about done with summer session A. Classes end this Tuesday and I just have one final paper to work on. After this, I get a half a week off until I begin summer session B. I'm registered for two classes: Into to Special Ed and Women of the World. I would love to say that I'm excited about these classes, but I'm just ready to be finished. I'm so close to being done with grad school yet so far away.

Since last time I was here, I've had two ridiculous experiences in the city. First, on Friday the 13th, I feel down a flight of stairs on my way to my favorite Indian restaurant. It was totally hilarious, but my foot still hurts. Second, after waiting about 2 hours in line in extremely humid weather in Central Park, the free Vampire Weekend show was cancelled due to thunderstorms. With no umbrella, I was stuck on the Upper East Side soaking wet for about 2 hours. This again is another experience I will never forget.

I've been going record crazy lately. Ok all the time. This is some of the new stuff I've bought:
Lykke Li
The Chapin Sisters
Lightspeed Champion
Fleet Foxes
Sam Sparro
Does It Offend You Yeah?
Veviter
The Virgins

Listen to She & Him. It will do you some good. Zooey's voice has the power of soothing the soul. It's like hot chocolate with marshmallows on a cold rainy day.

E

There are days where I hate NYC, curse it and wish that I would have gone to school in LA where it's warm, people drive and Amoeba records exists. Then there are days like today where I am grateful that I have an opportunity to live here.

I took a walk this afternoon to a local park close to my apartment. It snowed this week and the park was a total winter wonderland. It was great. I played with the snow a little, took some pictures, and had some coffee. It was almost perfect.

School remains a struggle since I am now beginning my job search, which is another course in itself. It also does not help that I am being certified in NY state, but want to teach in Cali. I've already gotten word back from some schools in LA, which is promising.

Still totally addicted to LOST. My new best friend is my brand new shinny green ipod shuffle. The new Raveonettes record is amazing. It's a contender for album of the year for me. It's totally poppy and fuzzy in all the right places. A nice mix between the Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, and well, the Raveonettes. The new Goldfrapp record is out on Tuesday.

Next I'm off on a trip down the road of writing a paper on social justice and justice oriented citizenship for students. Fun!

E