02 June 2006

That comes off the vacation list...

Growing up an hour and change out of midtown, I was neither immune to nor rapt by the charms of America's First City. I did the occasional touristy thing - the Statue, the Empire State - but didn't have to gawk and gape at "all them tall buildin's". For me, the city (and let's be honest here...it's this country's only city) was a great destination for all it offered: food; music; theater; sports. It wasn't distant, so I didn't think of it as a special treat. It just was.

Now, thousands of miles away in the midst of exurban sprawl, the city is a distant beacon of civilization. I don't get there nearly often enough, and rarely have enough time to enjoy it properly. And I feel much more like a tourist (though it's not like I'm going to see Phantom, or whatever ALW pabalum is playing this year.) But now, I'm not sure I need to visit anymore.

Apparently, New York isn't the mecca I believed it to be. There are zero "national monuments and icons". Bloomberg needs to stop begging for money and stop whining that HomeSec has "just started to distribute it as normal pork" before he endangers our fine friends in Wisconsin and Nebraska. All that talk of haraam is just going to engender more hate.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Funny, I seem to remember having a rather good time with you in 'the city' one day long ago....I know you liked it then! ;o)

Can you guess who I am??

Anonymous said...

Funny, I seem to remember having a rather good time with you in 'the city' one day long ago....I know you liked it then! ;o)

Can you guess who I am??

R.A. Porter said...

I could probably guess, but I'm far too lazy to do so. I guess you'll just have to tell me.

Anonymous said...

Well that wouldn't be much fun now, would it? Would you like a hint?

R.A. Porter said...

sure.

Anonymous said...

We went to the Botanical Gardens, a laser-light show at the Hayden planitarium and wound up at an Ethiopian restaurant. We were with another couple who weren't having a very good time - any of this help you????

R.A. Porter said...

Who could have a (prolonged) good time with Beth? She's too high maintenance.

How's married life treating you?

Anonymous said...

Good to know you still remember your old friends!
Married life is good - it's been over two years now - hard to believe. We have a dog (our 'trial child', as we call him) and all is well. How about you??