it MUST take a village

throughout the time i was in new york- whether it was running through harlem or on travelling on any part of the subway- i felt that i could locate that particular spot on a map. then lauren and i rolled into the village. the village, as i was informed, is the larger part of what i originally thought of as the east village (i'll accept any comments on this one helping me with my geography- or spelling if need be). the village was something i was excited about as i was really looking forward to what i thought was a genuine new york way of life. as we exited the subway at delancey i was pretty sure i had no idea where i was.

life unfolded as it normally does after school. kids either try to rush home for something they've been looking forward to since 9am, or kids meander through a "jeffy from family circus" comic- following a dashed line in a path of diversions and mini-adventures. people on the sideway could have cared less if lauren and i were there and frankly that was exactly my goal. so we decided to stroll over to orchard street in search of what lauren assured me as "lots of great shopping deals". i was excited (as was she, i must admit) for the pickles at Gus' Pickles. we didn't get to Gus'. we did see josh harnett filming a movie: seven days of gotham- or something like that. i was quick to point out that he wasn't THAT cute in person. so when the movie comes out in a couple years (lots of editing to mr. harnett's acting i'm judging) lauren and i are standing next to the camera as he chases after a delivery truck, stumbles, and yells "thanks for nothing!" oscar, oscar, oscar.

after our brush with hollywood, we rolled into my favorite street in nyc. this being said, i have no idea the name of the street (i realize my earlier reference to map superiority, but memory is another issue). the street was littered with tattoo studios and used cd stores. we scoured a vintage clothing store and i toyed briefly with giving directions to a french couple- they must have sensed my internal compass. however, after a time the vibrancy and energy that felt much more authentic than time square began to wear me down. it was either the vibrancy or my single large coffee for the day. i gave nyc the benefit of vibrancy only bringing a person "up" and ducked into a coffee shop. after some coffee and lauren's diffusing of a bomb threat (no joke), we bounced back on the subway for dinner.

perfect timing: rush hour. we joked about having nothing to rush either to or from. my guess was that all the folks leaving the village had such a wonderful time either at work or visiting they couldn't wait to get home to tell everyone about their great day.