People Watching Watching People

I have a favorite path through Central Park. My trips there always include the Mall and the fountain at the end. On the weekends, I've had the chance to watch bits and pieces of this hilarious street performance that takes place at the bottom of the west stairway leading to the fountain. Even though today was my third time of seeing it, Seth and I still stopped and watched the end of it. This was my view as I headed into the crowd to find a spot for the show.

Bethesda Fountain

President Obama

Some Park Sloper must be excited about our new President-Elect. Whoever it is climbed the pole and added a tag to the street name! :)

Rescue Me

When I came above ground from the subway on Friday, the streets were lined with trailers and other large vehicles for filming... The lady at the coffee shop told me they were filming Rescue Me down the street. For those of you who watch TV know it's a television drama dealing with fire fighters... Crazy to have filmings taking place in my neighborhood. I should have walked back and taken a look around, but I was on my way to get some health insurance paperwork faxed at Staples (paperwork that the school should have faxed, but I was not in the mood to be treated like crap by the school secretaries).

Wall of Moss

From our trip North of the city - Sleepy Hollow... wish I were wondering the cemetery now.

I am a Human Pillow... Again

I'm wondering how I could let this happen again! Sleeping Creepster somehow ended up sitting next to me for a second evening commute home again! The post about the first time is here. As he was falling on me and crowding me into the window, I began jabbing my elbow into him enough to make him realize he should Stop. At one of the stops, he comes to enough to turn his body so he's sitting sideways on the seat and leaning against the back of the seat rather than me. Good Plan, I think to myself... until he starts leaning back on me. I can't even believe he slept through my elbow jabs... the ones jabbing right into his back... but he did... This Sleeping Creepster kept falling further and further back, pushing me closer and closer to the window and closer to claustrophobia.

I'm watching for this guy from now on, and I will make sure Not to let him sit by me. He really pissed me off today, especially when I was trying to get out of the corner to get off at my stop. He pissed me off enough that I had to pull out the "F*ing people" comment under my breath as I yanked myself out from where I was lodged. That's a first... I guess maybe NY is rubbing off on me. (Sorry for the language readers, but that's how much he pissed me off today.)

Flea Market

Love Flea Markets. I stopped by the local one a few avenues up this last weekend. Thought this was an interesting thing to have sitting out. I didn't touch it, nor would I touch the towels under it. I would expect to see something like this back home, not in a flea market in the middle of Brooklyn.

The Clothes Line I Wish I Had

Subway Rider

I love the subways (most of the time). They sometimes have a mind of their own, like the other day when the D turned to an F... and became Very slow. Or... when 3 B's came before the D decided to show up. They provide me with many opportunities though... like time to grade papers, which I can do for the whole hour commute I have from between home and work. Or the opportunity to see some great dancers... like today, when I saw some of the best "subway performers" I've seen to date. (Involving a young child with major talent)... I even donated money (granted it was less than a dollar), but I have made it a point to only donate to the ones that are the Best. Subways also provide me with an opportunity to completely space out. I turn up my iPod music and will disappear from this world, only existing in my mind with No clue of what is going on in the outside world. I also love subways because I get the opportunity to people watch. Sometimes I'll be the only people watcher on the subway... Other times, I share the space with other wondering eyes, trying not to make that awkward eye contact with my fellow watcher.

The other thing I've noticed and started enjoying about my morning commute is meeting up with the people I commute with, the regulars who hit up the subway at the same time as I do. I see them almost daily, but I don't know them. I won't know them. They just join me as we jump on the train and head to the city for yet another work day. They join me in peering out the window as the sun starts to wake up the city and reflects the beautiful morning colors across the windows of the skyscrapers in downtown Manhattan. Ahh, yes, I do love the subway, especially the one that crosses over the Manhattan Bridge.

Expressing Feelings

Check out the sign on the left side of the building...

Water for the Runners

One more shot from the weekend Marathon. The street was lined with tables full of water and Gatorade. Are we surprised it's Poland Spring Water?

Free Ice Skating

Bryant Park Ice Skating Rink is open for skaters. I stopped by for a quick look on Halloween as I was trying to get home during my 2 and half hour commute.

NY Marathon

This morning, Seth and I got up and headed down an avenue to cheer on the marathon runners as they passed. We were down there for about 2 hours and had a blast. Seth was completely getting into cheering as runners passed. People near us were getting a kick out of his yelling... :)

Not the best picture of her, but here's Paula Radcliffe as she passed us around the 7 mile marker. She won the marathon with a time of 2 hours 23 minutes 56 seconds. When I got home I looked her up on the internet. I thought I'd seen her somewhere... like the Olympics!

There were so many characters along the race. Check out the guy with wig.

Mile 7 - our hangout spot during the Marathon.

To the left is a hippie and in front is a guy decked out with American pride.

The race was filled with people from all over the world. There were many runners from Italy, like these ones, wearing colorful tights!

Even Uncle Sam showed up for the run.

Seth will probably have a sore voice box after all his yelling. He definitely enjoyed himself and many runners seemed to enjoy the cheering. We especially enjoyed when their names were on their shirts so we could specifically cheer for them.

Not sure how easy it is to run with a lighthouse on your head, but this runner took the challenge.

Hotdog Head.

The street was packed with runners. They just kept coming and coming!

Albert and the Schoolmarm

Halloween in the city was fun this year, despite my extreme exhaustion from a week of working. After meeting up with friends, we headed to the Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village... but never quite saw the parade (too many people). The sidewalks full of people were entertaining, though. We saw so many different costumes.

Albert Einstein and the Schoolmarm

Picture of the Night, as dubbed by our "cop" friend. Like the gut?

A part of our group while we were waiting for the subway. Mario was great - he even had a tail!

What an interesting ride on the subway. There were so many characters. My favorite was the peacock with the real peacock feathers. She was at the far end of the car, so she didn't make the picture.

I loved this one! Our friend dressed up like a McCain fan! :)

Hey, look! Einstein has his own poster!

Ghosts were roaming the streets. We saw Sarah Palin, both Presidential Candidates, Past Presidents.

Spooky Trail Mix

During our afternoon Halloween Celebration my students made a wonderful trail mix. I've been snacking on the extra trail mix all weekend! It was a perfect combination of treats!