silly shoes and other necessities

Another fun week and spending more money than ever, but only on bare necessities like shoes, expensive eyewear and alcohol. For my birthday last week, I took myself up to Saks and tried my best to buy myself gorgeous. I failed. Megan took charge of the situation during a shopping date in SoHo on Saturday where I achieved success: new sunglasses (I broke the old faves again, and they're two years old anyway!) and silly shoes which jumped out of the shop window at me. And they're really silly and a little bit Ronald McDonald, but in a cute way - bright red and blue and sneakery. God knows where I'll wear them but that's hardly the point. And I'm loving myself sick in the new sunnies. Megan's description was "elegant". And just buying something from Jeffrey New York (the super-chi-chi mega-boutique in the super-chi-chi Meatpacking District) was a joy in itself. Can anyone say "superficial"?

And a lovely group of new and not-so new-friends joined me for birthday drinks at Therapy on Wednesday night where I supped on Freudian Sips - a gingery martini number. The night ended for me once again in everyone's favourite sleazy boy bar in the East Village which shall remain nameless in case my mother is reading this again.

After a beautiful hint of spring weather mid-week, winter came back with bitter vengeance by the week's end when we had a whole day of snow and sleet. It was kind of fun in theory - until I decided to trek up the street to the post office and almost didn't come back. The streets were covered ankle-deep in snow. Not one to refuse an invitation at the moment, I also ventured out on Saturday night in these conditions. On Sunday afternoon, the sun was out and I went up to Central Park for a wander. And it's true - it's absolutely beautiful after snow.



A few random observations of New York this week:

• More seems to be more when it comes to meaningless pleasantries. A simple "thank you" becomes "thank you so much" at the very least. I heard one woman in a shop say "You know something? Thank you" and she was actually expressing disappointment.

• Clunky, ironic-ugly black-rimmed glasses are big news in Williamsburg. Some new friends took me to a local gay bar The Metropolitan and every third boy was wearing them. Every other boy had shaggy hair and/or a beard, and several boys all three.

• Ethnomethodology is alive and well (thank you four semesters teaching introductory anthropology). I went to the enormous Whole Foods supermarket at Union Square at 6pm tonight where I was joined by about a million other people, most of whom were in check out queues. What would have taken over 2 hours at Coles Broadway took less than 10 minutes. They had staff dedicated to the smooth running of the queues which were winding around the store, including someone I will call the queue bitch because he had the supermarket equivalent of a velvet rope and used it to physically refuse people from jumping the queue, plus a guy holding a flag indicating the end of the line! At the top of the line, which had now branched into four, an automated system announced which of 20 checkouts to go to - in strict Line 1, 2, 3, 4 order. Amazing! For what could have been a social disaster of the widest proportions, nobody appeared to be agitated. Not even me, and I was in a serious hunger slump.