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Monday, 06/24/2002 Entry: "The Blognanymous Triptick from Hell"
The Blognanymous Triptick from Hell
Well, Seven is back home, Safe in the rural midwest. It was kind of fun having a sister for a week, and it was also fun to run around with her for most of the visit. But if I've learned anything, it's that having a life costs lots of money.
For four days, I worked and she ran around Manhattan. The night before, we would agree on sights in a given area or trajectory, print out maps from Yahoo, and I'd mark her route with colored pencil. We discussed where she could hit a bathroom, sit and read, or get something to eat. Then, we'd part company from my work area, with her arriving back there by 5pm. Helps to have a small park in front of the building though... She had the guidance of a local, so she didn't have to suffer tourist hell. For example: trying to get a boat to Liberty Island when you can take a free round trip ride on the Staten Island Ferry and get a pic of the statue from there? In the evenings, we ate at a different place each night. We had the best Chinese food (I'll bet she's still dreaming of that Salt Baked Shrimp from NY Noodletown), the best burgers, the best Jewish Deli food (second-best actually. We didn't go to Carnegie), and so on. We even went to my old neighborhood in Astoria to an Italian restaurant with the best sensory overload decor. For my days off, we hit strange places like Mitsuwa Plaza, this Japanese shopping center in New Jersey. She waited far off in the vegetable section when I was negotiating for a piece of octopus for Monday's lunch. These midwesterners I tellyuh... she cringed over the shrimp chips too. Anyway I got her hooked on Pocky sticks, a cookie stick dipped at one end with fine chocolate (this variety had crushed almond pieces - mmmm). Seven got to see the East Village and all its surreal estate. I took her to Enchantments, where I had someone do me up a candle for Midsummer. The woman - or girl - was very good at concocting the oil and incense, and her carving was very skilled. But this punk kid came around and kept chatting her up. I didn't appreciate the distraction. They don't have Old Navy where she lives, so we went to one and went nuts. She got flag Tees for everyone in her family (I usually send her one each summer), and I got flag pants, flag socks, flag shirts, flag jammies, a flag hat... okay so I REALLY went nuts. How often do I go to Old Navy? Evenings were spent planning the next day, watching Voyager or other things on tape, or attempting to install an upgrade to Win98SE (don't ask). When she fell asleep in front of the TV once, I took a pic of My Pets examining her a la Gulliver. Of course she had a main reason for timing her visit iin mid-June...
  
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