A couple weekends ago, my family and friends (who are my family) came into Newark to visit from the great state of Kansas! My mom, her boyfriend Dave, my brother Andy, and my friends Matt and Kelsey all made it up and decided to see what the Northeast had to offer. Kelsey and Dave had been to this area and to NYC before, but nobody else had.
While most of the party hadn't been to the city, the touristy things were things that absolutely had to happen. The first day I played the tour guide and took them all into Manhattan. We began with a walk to the train station which is about a 15 minute walk through downtown Newark. The walk consists mostly of walking on Market Street which is mostly shoe shops, clothing stores, and places to get weaves/buy wigs. I have taken this walk countless times now and it doesn't effect me anymore, but I could tell that it was kind of a culture shock for some of the others in the party when they noticed that they were the only white people on the street. I embrace this and can't say enough about the diversity that this area and the school and going back to Clemson will likely be a challenge to me.
We get onto the train to the World Trade Center and land on the South side of the island in order to walk to see the Statue of Liberty (again). We get great placement on the Staten Island Ferry and actually ran into a fellow KU grad in which we shared "Rock Chalks" before we went on our merry ways! The view of the symbol of freedom doesn't get old (and I'm not the biggest patriot for sure), but the looks on my mom's face was worth it. She never stopped taking pictures the whole time and enjoyed the experience thoroughly.
After that adventure, we had decided to go uptown to the Museum of Natural History! If you haven't been there, its the most intense museum ever! You could literally spend your whole day there and not even get close to seeing everything. The most noteworthy thing to see there are definitely the films that they play. We bought tickets to the space themed film that is shown in the planetarium. All of the seats in the room tilt up in order to see the spherical screen above the audience. The screen essentially makes you feel like you are watching a 3D movies except way better! You literally feel like you are zooming through the universe and learning crazy stuff about the forming of planets, stars, and everything else! The other awesome part of the museum is the dinosaur bones! Every kid/adult loves dinosaurs and want to see the remains of these dominant beasts. My mom couldn't keep her excitement within herself and we had an absolute blast looking at things within the museum and sharing a great experience. Not being used to the walking, the rest of the party was so tired that we decided to go back to Newark.
While in Newark, Dave was determined to find a liquor store within walking distance, which I assured him that there wasn't one (I would've found that a long time ago son!) and after a while, he returned saying that he had found a bar that was close to where we were. We went to this bar that was about a block away, in which there were only about 4 other people in when we first arrived. By the end of the night, it was totally packed with people. We also noticed that we were once again the only white people within this bar. You could tell that all of the people within the bar were frequents to the karaoke night that was about to start and were excited to see some new people! One man came up and asked who was going to sing and of course, everyone said that they wouldn't sing... and I said I would! If you know me at all, you know that I only sing songs that are pure gold, so I quickly flipped until I found a Phil Collins song and found, "Another Day In Paradise" (youtube it). I, as you expected, absolutely killed the song and people wept with how beautifully my rendition was. Phil himself would be proud. Either way, the cranberry vodkas I had been drinking, which were about 99 percent vodka, helped sing that song for me. I was quickly asked to come back the next week.
The rest of their trip was a lot of fun, but not particularly worthy of blogging... We had an excellent time and I enjoyed their visit so much!
The next Friday, my friend Nick, who is one of the other interns, and I decided to go into the city and find a cool place to have a drink or two (or however many fit in our bodies). While in the east village, we notice that we wouldn't fit in to many of these upscale places so we Googled anything that had "pub" in the name. We found an Irish pub that was really close to use and sat down to watch a baseball game and be served by legit Irish people! Our bartender was super nice to us and was an Irish chap named Patrick. After Nick and I had talked with Patrick and consumed a few drinks, Patrick offered us a free shot... we accepted and chose Jameson (what else would you get in the most Irish experience that NYC has to offer?) and decide to start making our way back home. We ran across a Taco Bell on the way back and decided, while its not as good as authentic Mexican food, it was about to fill our bellies with goodness. We hadn't had it the whole summer and the nearest one to Newark is about 15 miles away. It wasn't as good as hearing all the fun stories that Big T tells us in Clemson, but it did the trick. We made it back home and passed out in order to get up and have another adventure the next day.
Saturday, Nick and I decided to do what everyone had told us we should do from the first second that we accepted this postion... GO TO THE SHORE! We walked to the train station once again and on this occasion, while in the financial district, there was a particularly vocal homeless person that decided to sing, "white boys.... white boys" to us. We thanked him for his input and continued our venture. We missed the first train by about 3 minutes so we got our tickets and got Dunkin while waiting for the next train. We took two trains to get to Point Pleasant Beach and walked the 2 blocks from the train station to the beach. Side note: everybody calls it the shore up here and if you call in the beach, you may be corrected... Anyway, everyone was heading to the shore on this incredibly perfect day. We made it to the boardwalk in which there your juicehead gorillas and guidettes scattered about throughout trying to get into the various bars that are on the water. We, on the other hand, decided to get a good spot next to the water and take a dip. Meanwhile, I've seen a beach once before... in the winter and at night... so this is my real official experience with the ocean. The sight of endless water was overwhelming and my heart almost jumped out of my chest when laying eyes on how beautiful it was!
I was ready to get into the water and swim! I found out quickly that there is no slow way to get into the water when the tide pulls you in! My body bobbed around in the waves and the feeling of waves splashing on my head was something I enjoyed thoroughly! I could have stayed there the whole day/week/life. I even cut my foot on something below the water, but didn't seem to notice because of the fun that I was having!
After a while of swimming, we explored more of the boardwalk and saw a place that served quite possibly the most intriguing deserts ever... fried twinkies and oreos (I can hear all of the Southern mouths watering now!). I, while feeling absolutely gross, had to try these sinful goodies that are unique to the shore. Both of them are battered and deep fried and covered in powdered sugar... and yes, they are as good as that sounds, so you can be jealous.
We had had our fill of the Jersey Shore cast wannabees and made our way back to Newark. We quickly got ready and headed into NYC to go to a comedy show in Times Square starring Judah Friedlander (Frank from 30 Rock). We got into the place and noticed that Judah had just finished an earlier show and was signing things and meeting those that had shown up. This excited us and we hoped we would be as lucky! The show was absolutely hilarious! The first comedian stayed mostly on racial jokes, which I'm not usually a fan of, but he was very real and advertised the fact that we all need to make fun of ourselves, which I try to do quite a bit. The second comedian relied on jokes about how he can't get women, which was totally believable, but funny. Judah Friedlander came on and absolutely killed! His show contains mostly a huge bit on how he the the "world champion" and can do anything better than anybody else, which if you have seen him in real life, you would get the joke. Youtube him and you can see how hysterical he is, but we had an amazing time! Afterwards, we were at the front of the line to meet him and it turns out, he is a super nice and sweet guy to meet!
This was one of the best days of my entire life and will be a valuable memory of my summer here in Newark. I couldn't have asked for anything else for that day and the weekend itself was phenomenal. I can only hope that everyone else has as much fun with the things they are doing as I am right now!
I apologize for how long this post is, but it's been a busy time and I thought you all should know! As for my last weekend here (tear) I'm going to be sharing it with Tina Choi! It's time for the baby person to meet the big apple! We have fun to have and things to see! Please go out and find some fun for yourself and let me know how that works out!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Friends!
The last couple of weeks has involved myself being a tour guide of New York City for many of my friends and family that are taking advantage of my living arrangement for the summer.
Before my friends got here, I had an impromptu dinner in the city with my supervisor and one of the co-interns at an Ethiopian place. Upon entering, it was really dark and festive looking! We loved the atmosphere they were trying to create and quickly were impressed by the place. Our supervisor showed up and we asked if we could move to the more "traditional" seating which involved sitting around a table made of some sort of straw. It kind of looked like you were eating out of a sombrero. We all ordered something knowing absolutely nothing about whatever it was we ordered. None of us had had Ethiopian before and the menus were either very vague, or they explained the tastes of things in ways that none of us could understand. The food gets to our little sombrero and there doesn't seem to be a lot of it. We had ordered a little bit of everything and it came on one big bread/tortilla/flat bread looking thing. Each one of the dishes was a sort of brown paste that looked kind of like excrement, but I'm not one to judge especially when I'm hungry! So we had to take the same kind of break that the pastes were on and scoop it up from the sombrero using our hands. Many of the pastes were good, but were very bitter. All in all, I liked the place, but its not something I would crave and make a trip to go to again.
The next day, my friend Mr. Tony Paquette (pronounced pack-it) showed up to visit for the 4th of July weekend. I had to go meet him in the city at the Port Authority Bus Terminal which is right outside Times Square. I quickly found him wandering in the terminal (to my surprise) and we decided to walk around a little before going back to the wonderful world of Newark. I showed him Times, which was right outside, then progressed to some street food outside of the 34th street Macy's (the largest department store in the world... no big deal). Tony was tired of carrying his luggage around and having to dodge all of the tourists so we headed back. After coming back, we decided to go get a drink in Newark. I have been to a place called Nick's (not that one Clemson people) a few times and enjoyed it, so we headed that way. We get to the door of Nick's and there is a tall, built woman in an all black security outfit with the doors shut (which I'd never seen before). The lady was nice, but told us that there was a cover... alright... and then she said that there was a lesbian party that night... I don't think we fit in and we didn't want to crash their party. We then went to the bar across the street which was a sort of Irish pub, but it was very inviting and full of cheer (and 90's music! Hooray!) so we had a few there.
When we woke up the next day, we decided to go into the city and do some exploring. We took the World Trade Center train into the city and were going to walk down to the Staten Island Ferry. The walk down is long, but full of interesting things to see. We went into the financial district (Wall Street, etc) and saw a lot of people observing the stock exchange and all the other settings of corruption. Eventually, we get down to the water and can see the place we are going. We remind ourselves of how many dead bodies/trash/whatever else makes it into these waters and continue on our journey. The sea of people in the ferry station is overwhelming, but luckily, I'm a New Yorker for the day and snake my way toward the front. We get a pretty choice spot on the railing of the ferry and have an excellent view of the Statue of Liberty (put your hand on your heart Jenna). I've seen it before, but this day was as sunny as it gets and on the most patriotic weekend of the year... it definitely meant something new to me this time. After coming all the way back, we continued into Central Park and wandered around that area for a while. While resting, we decided to people watch for a bit and see what crazies we could see in the park! We saw a guy trying to sell balloons that he had clearly bought from the guy further up the path and cat calling every girl that walked by (and failing miserably), a bunch of model-looking women, and, of course, a celebrity. After hanging out for a while, we decided to meet up with my supervisor at his friends swanky apartment that I have mentioned before! Tony and I journeyed over to the apartment and he had the same awe that I did when we were walking toward it. Also, there was some sort of kids playground that had been blown up like a bounce house, but it was all striped. It looked like something out of a Tim Burton movie, so it was pretty trippy. We get up to the apartment and the view is still unbelievably breathtaking and I imagine it was more so for Tony, who hadn't even really seen the city before. We enjoyed beverages on balcony of the 35th while Shigeo took pictures of us with his fancy new camera (look on my Facebook and you'll see them!) while enjoying the high life! Shigeo once again showed off the perks of the apartment complex, which the highlight is always the arcade. Tony was impressed by the bubble hockey, I was impressed by the Golden Tee golf, and we all were impressed by the bar-style multi-game touch screen game that includes Photo-Hunt. After a while, we said our goodbyes and came back to Newark so that we could get up early in the morning for the next part of the story...
In the morning we made our way to Queens in order to see... The Subway Series game! No, not the Subway sandwiches (which I refer to as "Sub-dub"), I'm referring to when the Yankees play the Mets. We got tickets the day before and were pumped about seeing this intense rivalry game and witnessing the occasion that few outside of NY have done. First of all, it was raining it **** off and we were worried that the game would get rescheduled for when we couldn't go. Luckily, by the time we arrived to Queens, the rain had lessened and the game had been delayed just enough to allow for some relaxation time. We arrived at the new Citi Field, which is just as impressive at New Yankee Stadium, to the gaggle of Mets/Yankees flooded into the stadium. We found our way to our nosebleed seats (which I still think were awesome) and quickly remembered that we are at a baseball game... beer! With the game being delayed, it gave us time to enjoy an adult beverage or two (at $8 a pop... not tooooooo horrible). Now that we are good and relaxed, the game starts and we decide to move around a bit to see if we can stand in a better place to see. We roamed around and saw the game from at least 7 different spots, but the game was so close the whole way. We enjoyed the chants that went "Lets go Yank-ees... Yankees Suck!" and viewed the game as it became heated. By the bottom of the 9th, the game had been tied with a series of great hits by the Mets, so we headed into extra innings! I will skip the play by play, but the Mets ended up winning in the 10th and we got excited that we saw the team that we root(root root)ed for won (if they didn't it would have been a shame). Overall, we enjoyed it and its something I will remember for the rest of my years!
On Tony's last day we had no real plans, but to watch fireworks! We roamed around the East Village, which was not touristy and full of artsy fartsy people! We went into a bar that looked like it should have been in Italy somewhere (hwhy hyello Majka!) and we enjoyed a couple very expensive drinks while admiring this establishment! We decided to venture on down the block and go into a less swanky bar to enjoy a baseball game. The bar we came to was about as wide as a residence hall room, but about as deep as 3. It was covered in that stuff that they make hula skirts in and had American flags weaved into them. The only bartender was the old man that was the owner of the place, which was a change to the obviously once art student from that midwest who is now a big city person because they where skinny black jeans and have white streaks in their hair and kisses both people's cheeks when they say hello... just making assumptions. Either way, this place was more our style. We enjoyed a few drinks and watch some of America's national past time before calling it a day and heading back to Newark. We came back and called Shigeo to see if he had any plans for the night to watch fireworks (and I had that stupid Katy Perry song stuck in my head the whole night... thanks Kristen!) and we found out we could get on the roof of the residence hall we were in. We had a great view of all of the surrounding fireworks displays, including NYC's which is the biggest in the US! It was a great way to end the night and Tony's visit to the city!
The next day Tony was on his way back to Ithaca to observe more of the crazy hippies that are up there and I went back to work with the crazies here! I enjoyed having him here and can't wait for more of you to come! My family's in right now and there may be a few of you coming in later... Until then, have a great rest of the summer and hopefully you enjoyed reading!
Before my friends got here, I had an impromptu dinner in the city with my supervisor and one of the co-interns at an Ethiopian place. Upon entering, it was really dark and festive looking! We loved the atmosphere they were trying to create and quickly were impressed by the place. Our supervisor showed up and we asked if we could move to the more "traditional" seating which involved sitting around a table made of some sort of straw. It kind of looked like you were eating out of a sombrero. We all ordered something knowing absolutely nothing about whatever it was we ordered. None of us had had Ethiopian before and the menus were either very vague, or they explained the tastes of things in ways that none of us could understand. The food gets to our little sombrero and there doesn't seem to be a lot of it. We had ordered a little bit of everything and it came on one big bread/tortilla/flat bread looking thing. Each one of the dishes was a sort of brown paste that looked kind of like excrement, but I'm not one to judge especially when I'm hungry! So we had to take the same kind of break that the pastes were on and scoop it up from the sombrero using our hands. Many of the pastes were good, but were very bitter. All in all, I liked the place, but its not something I would crave and make a trip to go to again.
The next day, my friend Mr. Tony Paquette (pronounced pack-it) showed up to visit for the 4th of July weekend. I had to go meet him in the city at the Port Authority Bus Terminal which is right outside Times Square. I quickly found him wandering in the terminal (to my surprise) and we decided to walk around a little before going back to the wonderful world of Newark. I showed him Times, which was right outside, then progressed to some street food outside of the 34th street Macy's (the largest department store in the world... no big deal). Tony was tired of carrying his luggage around and having to dodge all of the tourists so we headed back. After coming back, we decided to go get a drink in Newark. I have been to a place called Nick's (not that one Clemson people) a few times and enjoyed it, so we headed that way. We get to the door of Nick's and there is a tall, built woman in an all black security outfit with the doors shut (which I'd never seen before). The lady was nice, but told us that there was a cover... alright... and then she said that there was a lesbian party that night... I don't think we fit in and we didn't want to crash their party. We then went to the bar across the street which was a sort of Irish pub, but it was very inviting and full of cheer (and 90's music! Hooray!) so we had a few there.
When we woke up the next day, we decided to go into the city and do some exploring. We took the World Trade Center train into the city and were going to walk down to the Staten Island Ferry. The walk down is long, but full of interesting things to see. We went into the financial district (Wall Street, etc) and saw a lot of people observing the stock exchange and all the other settings of corruption. Eventually, we get down to the water and can see the place we are going. We remind ourselves of how many dead bodies/trash/whatever else makes it into these waters and continue on our journey. The sea of people in the ferry station is overwhelming, but luckily, I'm a New Yorker for the day and snake my way toward the front. We get a pretty choice spot on the railing of the ferry and have an excellent view of the Statue of Liberty (put your hand on your heart Jenna). I've seen it before, but this day was as sunny as it gets and on the most patriotic weekend of the year... it definitely meant something new to me this time. After coming all the way back, we continued into Central Park and wandered around that area for a while. While resting, we decided to people watch for a bit and see what crazies we could see in the park! We saw a guy trying to sell balloons that he had clearly bought from the guy further up the path and cat calling every girl that walked by (and failing miserably), a bunch of model-looking women, and, of course, a celebrity. After hanging out for a while, we decided to meet up with my supervisor at his friends swanky apartment that I have mentioned before! Tony and I journeyed over to the apartment and he had the same awe that I did when we were walking toward it. Also, there was some sort of kids playground that had been blown up like a bounce house, but it was all striped. It looked like something out of a Tim Burton movie, so it was pretty trippy. We get up to the apartment and the view is still unbelievably breathtaking and I imagine it was more so for Tony, who hadn't even really seen the city before. We enjoyed beverages on balcony of the 35th while Shigeo took pictures of us with his fancy new camera (look on my Facebook and you'll see them!) while enjoying the high life! Shigeo once again showed off the perks of the apartment complex, which the highlight is always the arcade. Tony was impressed by the bubble hockey, I was impressed by the Golden Tee golf, and we all were impressed by the bar-style multi-game touch screen game that includes Photo-Hunt. After a while, we said our goodbyes and came back to Newark so that we could get up early in the morning for the next part of the story...
In the morning we made our way to Queens in order to see... The Subway Series game! No, not the Subway sandwiches (which I refer to as "Sub-dub"), I'm referring to when the Yankees play the Mets. We got tickets the day before and were pumped about seeing this intense rivalry game and witnessing the occasion that few outside of NY have done. First of all, it was raining it **** off and we were worried that the game would get rescheduled for when we couldn't go. Luckily, by the time we arrived to Queens, the rain had lessened and the game had been delayed just enough to allow for some relaxation time. We arrived at the new Citi Field, which is just as impressive at New Yankee Stadium, to the gaggle of Mets/Yankees flooded into the stadium. We found our way to our nosebleed seats (which I still think were awesome) and quickly remembered that we are at a baseball game... beer! With the game being delayed, it gave us time to enjoy an adult beverage or two (at $8 a pop... not tooooooo horrible). Now that we are good and relaxed, the game starts and we decide to move around a bit to see if we can stand in a better place to see. We roamed around and saw the game from at least 7 different spots, but the game was so close the whole way. We enjoyed the chants that went "Lets go Yank-ees... Yankees Suck!" and viewed the game as it became heated. By the bottom of the 9th, the game had been tied with a series of great hits by the Mets, so we headed into extra innings! I will skip the play by play, but the Mets ended up winning in the 10th and we got excited that we saw the team that we root(root root)ed for won (if they didn't it would have been a shame). Overall, we enjoyed it and its something I will remember for the rest of my years!
On Tony's last day we had no real plans, but to watch fireworks! We roamed around the East Village, which was not touristy and full of artsy fartsy people! We went into a bar that looked like it should have been in Italy somewhere (hwhy hyello Majka!) and we enjoyed a couple very expensive drinks while admiring this establishment! We decided to venture on down the block and go into a less swanky bar to enjoy a baseball game. The bar we came to was about as wide as a residence hall room, but about as deep as 3. It was covered in that stuff that they make hula skirts in and had American flags weaved into them. The only bartender was the old man that was the owner of the place, which was a change to the obviously once art student from that midwest who is now a big city person because they where skinny black jeans and have white streaks in their hair and kisses both people's cheeks when they say hello... just making assumptions. Either way, this place was more our style. We enjoyed a few drinks and watch some of America's national past time before calling it a day and heading back to Newark. We came back and called Shigeo to see if he had any plans for the night to watch fireworks (and I had that stupid Katy Perry song stuck in my head the whole night... thanks Kristen!) and we found out we could get on the roof of the residence hall we were in. We had a great view of all of the surrounding fireworks displays, including NYC's which is the biggest in the US! It was a great way to end the night and Tony's visit to the city!
The next day Tony was on his way back to Ithaca to observe more of the crazy hippies that are up there and I went back to work with the crazies here! I enjoyed having him here and can't wait for more of you to come! My family's in right now and there may be a few of you coming in later... Until then, have a great rest of the summer and hopefully you enjoyed reading!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Stange man in a strange land...
So, it's been a while since I updated so hang with me...
There hasn't been a lot of notable things since my last post since I have been drowning in work in preparation for the oodles of conferences coming to the university.
After a week of hard work, my friend Nick (one of the new NODA interns) and I decided to take in a Yankees game. If you know anything about NYC, New Yankee Stadium is located in the Bronx, which is North of Manhattan. The train that we took in goes the the World Trade Center, which is in the Southern part of Manhattan. So we already know it's going to take a while to get to the stadium, but we are ready for the adventure. So, the initial PATH train was just bursting with tourists who love to disclose themselves as such. I, of course, am able to blend in as a New Yorker and carry myself with dignity.
Once we get on the island is where the adventure begins. We get on one train that will take us to Columbus Circle so we can transfer onto the train that will take us to the Bronx. While we are on the first train, there is a delightful young lady yelling at her child about his behavior loud enough for the whole train to hear. The mother was attempting to embarrass this kid and was clearly succeeding, because that kid was trying to tell his mother to calm herself down. I tried not to appear to be watching/listening, but everyone on the train was watching the soap opera unfold in front of our eyes.
When we got to the circle, we transferred trains. We found that the train that we had been waiting for wasn't running, but the other train that ran would take us to where we need to go. So we finally get on the train to take us to the stadium and find that there is a man that is talking very loudly and deciding to spread his hobo-logic. At first, we thought that he was just a crazy man/regular New Yorker, but after deciphering his babble, I realize that he is actually doing a stand up routine to each subway car for tips. The first thing I hear him say is, "everybody better get out or I'll pull these shoes off... then this place will clear out quick!" Then he moved on to explaining that he had found all of his clothes in parks... in which I had to congratulate him for his noble effort of finding clothes! After realizing what he was doing, I sneakily started to record him with my phone (if you run into me, I can show you!) in order to document the gold that was happening before me.
So after we left the homeless Jerry Seinfeld's house (the D train), we emerged from the train station and could immediately see the New Yankee Stadium. It was an amazing sight to see for any sports fan and even though I'm not a Yankee fan, I still wanted to gain this experience. We make our way to our seats, which were up in the nose bleeds of course, but they still gave us a great view of the enormous stadium (and the projects in the Bronx)! Nick is originally from Colorado and is an avid Rockies fan and was one of the ten within attendance that day. I couldn't help but actually want the Yankees to play well in order to see the fans go crazy, which they did for the three Yankee home runs that we saw! It was super intense and a great experience that I will treasure for years to come.
After the game, we had to wait a while to avoid the crowded train that everyone is taking. I got a sweet Babe Ruth jersey-shirt thing and then we decided we are going to head back home with less trains taken then we did on the way there. On the ride home, we had to transfer trains once again at Columbus Circle and right as I'm about to get onto the previously crowded train, I see someone that looks strikingly familiar. I realize it's my first RA Sara from KU! I was able to get her attention and quickly catch up before her and I have to part our separate ways. I couldn't believe how small the world was at that exact moment! The rest of our trip home was uneventful and I was thankful for that!
The next day, I had to help the outgoing Associate Dean within the housing office at RUN move to NC. He had asked if I could drive his car/dog down to Greensboro, where he is moving and working for UNC-Greensboro. Honestly, not a lot happened along the trip that was notable... until I got to the South, of course! Once we got into Virginia, we had the pleasure of driving through the beautiful mountains and saw a mountain lightning storm happen (baller!)... Right before we got into NC, we decided to stop and get some food. I immediately got the familiar sights and sounds of the South in the local Lynchburg McDonalds. First, there was a Bojangles (I could hear Brice salivating). Second, there were some killer Southern accents all around me. Third, the heat was wet and painful to breathe. Lastly, there was definitely a 19 year old that had a 4 year old child... Now I've grown to love the South, but I also know that it's got some strange fellers in them there parts... Sorry Southerners, you just have to admit that it's a fact!
We made it to NC without any problems and its strange to be back so soon, but today I'm leaving to go back to the fine town of Newark! I can't wait to come back down here in about 4 weeks and see my fellow tiger friends... I hope all of your journeys are as eventful as mine! This weekend Mr. Packet (that's right) is visiting. Blog worthy events will happen... I assure you, fun will be had! Keep me posted with your lives and keep on keeping on!
There hasn't been a lot of notable things since my last post since I have been drowning in work in preparation for the oodles of conferences coming to the university.
After a week of hard work, my friend Nick (one of the new NODA interns) and I decided to take in a Yankees game. If you know anything about NYC, New Yankee Stadium is located in the Bronx, which is North of Manhattan. The train that we took in goes the the World Trade Center, which is in the Southern part of Manhattan. So we already know it's going to take a while to get to the stadium, but we are ready for the adventure. So, the initial PATH train was just bursting with tourists who love to disclose themselves as such. I, of course, am able to blend in as a New Yorker and carry myself with dignity.
Once we get on the island is where the adventure begins. We get on one train that will take us to Columbus Circle so we can transfer onto the train that will take us to the Bronx. While we are on the first train, there is a delightful young lady yelling at her child about his behavior loud enough for the whole train to hear. The mother was attempting to embarrass this kid and was clearly succeeding, because that kid was trying to tell his mother to calm herself down. I tried not to appear to be watching/listening, but everyone on the train was watching the soap opera unfold in front of our eyes.
When we got to the circle, we transferred trains. We found that the train that we had been waiting for wasn't running, but the other train that ran would take us to where we need to go. So we finally get on the train to take us to the stadium and find that there is a man that is talking very loudly and deciding to spread his hobo-logic. At first, we thought that he was just a crazy man/regular New Yorker, but after deciphering his babble, I realize that he is actually doing a stand up routine to each subway car for tips. The first thing I hear him say is, "everybody better get out or I'll pull these shoes off... then this place will clear out quick!" Then he moved on to explaining that he had found all of his clothes in parks... in which I had to congratulate him for his noble effort of finding clothes! After realizing what he was doing, I sneakily started to record him with my phone (if you run into me, I can show you!) in order to document the gold that was happening before me.
So after we left the homeless Jerry Seinfeld's house (the D train), we emerged from the train station and could immediately see the New Yankee Stadium. It was an amazing sight to see for any sports fan and even though I'm not a Yankee fan, I still wanted to gain this experience. We make our way to our seats, which were up in the nose bleeds of course, but they still gave us a great view of the enormous stadium (and the projects in the Bronx)! Nick is originally from Colorado and is an avid Rockies fan and was one of the ten within attendance that day. I couldn't help but actually want the Yankees to play well in order to see the fans go crazy, which they did for the three Yankee home runs that we saw! It was super intense and a great experience that I will treasure for years to come.
After the game, we had to wait a while to avoid the crowded train that everyone is taking. I got a sweet Babe Ruth jersey-shirt thing and then we decided we are going to head back home with less trains taken then we did on the way there. On the ride home, we had to transfer trains once again at Columbus Circle and right as I'm about to get onto the previously crowded train, I see someone that looks strikingly familiar. I realize it's my first RA Sara from KU! I was able to get her attention and quickly catch up before her and I have to part our separate ways. I couldn't believe how small the world was at that exact moment! The rest of our trip home was uneventful and I was thankful for that!
The next day, I had to help the outgoing Associate Dean within the housing office at RUN move to NC. He had asked if I could drive his car/dog down to Greensboro, where he is moving and working for UNC-Greensboro. Honestly, not a lot happened along the trip that was notable... until I got to the South, of course! Once we got into Virginia, we had the pleasure of driving through the beautiful mountains and saw a mountain lightning storm happen (baller!)... Right before we got into NC, we decided to stop and get some food. I immediately got the familiar sights and sounds of the South in the local Lynchburg McDonalds. First, there was a Bojangles (I could hear Brice salivating). Second, there were some killer Southern accents all around me. Third, the heat was wet and painful to breathe. Lastly, there was definitely a 19 year old that had a 4 year old child... Now I've grown to love the South, but I also know that it's got some strange fellers in them there parts... Sorry Southerners, you just have to admit that it's a fact!
We made it to NC without any problems and its strange to be back so soon, but today I'm leaving to go back to the fine town of Newark! I can't wait to come back down here in about 4 weeks and see my fellow tiger friends... I hope all of your journeys are as eventful as mine! This weekend Mr. Packet (that's right) is visiting. Blog worthy events will happen... I assure you, fun will be had! Keep me posted with your lives and keep on keeping on!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Oh the places you'll go...
So, its been a little while since I posted and a lot has happened so I'm going to try my best to sum it all up without losing your interest while doing so... it's gonna be a long'n!
Flip, flip, flip-adelphia!
Last week, my supervisor told myself and the other interns that we were invited to be a part of the MACUHO summer conference and that it would be great professional development... FOR FREE! The best part of the conference is that it was in Philadelphia (in which it was "always sunny!"). I, having never been to Philly, was very excited for the opportunity to visit this amazing place! The first day was more of the arrival into the city and checking into the residence hall at Temple University. I happened to be the odd one out and got my own (baller) apartment in their suite style hall. We quickly met everyone that was from the region and introduced ourselves and came to find out that Rutgers-Newark had broght 75% of the interns of the whole conference there... which was the 3 of us. There was one other intern named Matt who coincidentally does his grad work at South Carolina! We exchanged our thoughts on the South (Seer Sucker, Sperry's, etc) and it was a great reflecting moment for me! Side note- Everyone up here considers me a Southerner even though I'm from Kansas. Even though I explain it's not the South, they try to pull the Mason-Dixon line out... not quite. Either way, I enjoy it. Back to Philly! We got to play Taboo with the others in the conference and had to introduce ourselves in interesting ways that involved alliteration. Mine was "Boombastic Billy"... by far the noblest name... just saying. Also, I forget the actual clue that was given to a certain word, but I did quiet the room by yelling "catheters!".
The next night was the more interesting night of exploring South Street in Philly. We first set off to the nearest cheese steak place to satisfy our touristy meal while being there. It was great, but not quite life changing... sorry Philly! We then walked down to the docks and saw the night lights dancing on the water and it was a very beautiful sight. Once we had our fill of the beauty, we starting walking back to, of course, get a drink! Cool moment on the walk- Saw a guy with a Chiefs hat and pointed it out to him... I don't think he was a psyched about it as I was, but I love the Chiefs more than most things in life... so I win! We stopped and got a drinks with others from around the region at this place called the "Copabanana" which was the oddest name ever, so I found it fitting to stop there. We relaxed and people watched for a while there for the rest of the night and then headed back to the campus to retire for the evening.
On our last day, we walked around and sight saw in Philly. We ate lunch at this huge market that had literally everything you could possibly want to eat from fish, bbq, chocolate mice, etc. After filling up, we did the touristy things like see the Liberty Bell of course and walked into a few neat museums. We ended up having desert by the water at an old timey soda shop (the guy that served us had a sweet 19th century style mustache) and the ice cream was unbelievable! We then decided to walk around a little more before going back home to the homestead.
Bean-town!
The very next weekend, we decided to take advantage of our friends that live outside of Boston to visit yet another place I had yet to visit. After a four and a half hour drive, we made it to Salem, MA... that's right, THE Salem where all of the witch trials were. Roxie dropped me off with my friend Tina (that's seriously your name now!) and Steven at Salem State. We quickly decided that a trip into Boston had to happen post haste and took the train in. The first thing we did was go to Fenway Park. Little did we know the New Kids On The Block and Backstreet Boys concert was happening there that very evening! There were all of these once prepubescent screaming girls that had become post-pubescent screaming ladies! We noticed on the train that there was a lady that had a t-shirt tucked in, fanny pack, and yelling random silly things was repping her very own shirt clearly on the way to the concert (and getting stuck on the subway with her was the worst!). Either way, it took us back to our high school years (and karaoke nights in Clemson) with which we couldn't get "I'll be the one" out of our heads! We walked around and did a bit of shopping in order to get jackets and shoes to rival the bitter cold that was sweeping about the Boston streets.
We then walked around and saw some of the historical sights that were scattered about the Boston area such as the Boston Massacre site, the place of the first reading of the declaration of independence, etc. One interesting fellow that we happened to see was a man walking down the street yelling, "meow meow meow pussycat!" which was humorous and slightly disturbing all at once, but I've been the NYC enough to know that these people are everywhere and I'm no longer as creeped out as I should have been. We made our way to little Italy and enjoyed the sights (and smells!) of that part of town. We went to the Quincy Market and were forced to make a difficult decision as to which of the hundreds of different types of food to choose from and decided that see food would suit us best for where we are!
After an exciting night of discovering Boston, we decided to head back for the evening and got on the train to head back to Salem. The next day, we were guided on a tour around the witching town of Salem, in which everything is witch themed in some way. Most of the things in the town are very silly and unnecessarily themed in Halloween style witch themes. The memorial that was built for those that were killed during the trial was actually very interesting powerful. The town was also very quaint and homey. It was a good town to walk around with friends and discover the silly witch themes in!
Needless to say, it was an exciting few weeks and there are more to come! A few of my friends and family are coming to visit me here in NJ and hopefully, therein will lye another gaggle of stories! Thanks for hanging with my long winded story and stay tuned! I love and miss you all!
Pictures at: http://s1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff447/billysmassey/Philadelphia/?albumview=slideshow
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Shenanigans...
Sorry guys, but this is a long one!
One of my supervisors invited the other interns and I into the city to see his friend's Manhattan apartment that he is dogsitting for. Of course, we accepted his invitation. We spent the afternoon on 5th avenue (I know, I stuck out) shopping and admiring the swanky stores along the street. After a while, we decided to make the long haul over to the apartment and meet our supervisor. This walk was at least 20 blocks, which isn't the first time we have had a long walk like this, but we finally made our way over to that side of the city. As we get closer, we get a text instructing us to tell the man at the front desk that we need to go to the 35th floor. As we look around, we have identified the building that we are heading to, but we refused to believe that this was the building we were supposed to be in. As it turns out, this incredible building ended up being our destination, to our disbelief. We head up to the 35th floor (there was only one floor above it), and head into the apartment. As we enter the apartment, we noticed the windows surrounding us on each wall. We quickly went out on the balcony which overlooked much of the Manhattan island. You can see the Hudson Bay, some of Times Square, the Empire State building, the Chrysler building, and the Statue of Liberty. WHAT?!?!?! We couldn't believe that we were actually there. A man from a small town from Kansas that has barely 600 people, on a 35th floor apartment in Manhattan! This day was also extremely windy and the railings had glass windows around them in order to see the city even when sitting down. This made me relatively anxious, but in a good way! My heart was jumping the whole time, but the disbelief was motivating me to stay out and enjoy this breathtaking experience! I truly wish you were all there to share that experience with me!
After a wonderful dinner and social time with my co-interns and supervisor, we decided to venture toward the Hell's Kitchen area and have an adult beverage or two. Side note: my co-interns are both classy young ladies that just happen to notice that it was fleet week. Fleet week, if you didn't already know, is when the city is invaded by sailors in uniform. They must have like 5 or 6 different uniforms because they wear them constantly because they know that it makes women of all ages melt... and they are everywhere! So my co's wanted to, of course, fulfill every girls dream and meeting a sailor man. We ended up going to a bar called The Pony Bar which offers a fine menu of microbrews (which excited me) and we spotted sailors going int (which excited them). While they were talking to sailor men, I watched the Yankees game with a guy that was from Jersey and was really friendly! After a while, we decided to change venues (i forget the name, but it was Toxic or something like that). In arriving, I quickly made friends with these Irish chaps at the bar. There were 4 of them and they were extremely friendly and were excited that I could understand their accent. I couldn't help but think that they sounded like Charlie from Lost... which I enjoyed!
At around 2:30am, I decided that I was tired and wanted to go home. The ladies weren't ready to go home and decided to stay for a little while longer, whereas I felt like I was going to turn into a zombie at any time with my level of tiredness! Therefore, I started my venture to the New Jersey Transit train station. As I walked, I noticed that I was at least 12 blocks away from the station. While I was not very drunk at all, I was extremely tired and not excited to be walking a long distance again! I just happened to run into the nice Yankees fan from the Pony Bar again and we had a small chat again before we parted ways. As soon as I made it to the train station, I looked on this giant board to see if I could see a train leaving for Dover, the train that goes to Newark Broad street, which is about 3 blocks from the residence hall I'm staying at. Alas, there was no Dover train listed. I decided to ask a police officer when the next train was and he explained that the next one was at 5:40am... uh oh..... So I then started walking toward the PATH station which I knew took longer, but I wasn't about to wait for 3 hours for a train and sleep in the station.
I get on the PATH train which I knew had to take me to Hoboken first on weekends. It takes me at least 30 minutes before I had to transfer trains, which is 2 stops away from Newark. As I get off the train to transfer, I asked a lady how long this usually takes, in which she said it wouldn't take long. So here I am, waiting on this train stop with about 30 other people that are drunk and dressed accordingly which is a story in and of itself. It takes about 25 minutes of tired me pacing back and forth on this train stop before the train FINALLY comes! I get on the train and notice that its about 3:50am and I know that the shuttle that runs from the Newark station (about a mile and a half away from home) stops running at 4am.
I get off the train and get outside at the strike of 4:04am. I have just missed the shuttle that runs to the university and now am weighing my options. I wanted to call them to see if there just happened to be a shuttle still running, but my phone had just died. I have $4, but can possibly go get money out of an ATM to pay for a taxi. While I'm pondering these thoughts, I begin to notice the demons that were beginning to surround the area of the Newark train station. Needless to say, there were some suspicious fellows beginning to prowl for those that are intoxicated coming back from the city... aka-me! I ask a police officer if he knew about the shuttle or a taxi that took debit and he said that he couldn't help me... douche! He also had the decency to explain that if I decided to walk back, I WOULD get jumped... thanks a lot bro! So, I decide a taxi is my best bet. I approached a few taxis and asked how much it would be to go back to the university... 8 bucks, but as previously explained, I have $4. It took a while, but a polite Pakistani taxi driver took pity on me and decided to give me a ride for said amount. He shared with me his story of where he lived and how he got to the USA during our short ride, but all I could think about is how unbelievably tired I am!
I made it home safely and made sure that they ladies were back safe. All in all, it was an adventurous night of learning and something I'm glad I experienced! I have plenty more stories, but this night was particularly eventful so I decided to share! I apologize for how long it was, but I commend you for making it all the way! Thanks friends!
One of my supervisors invited the other interns and I into the city to see his friend's Manhattan apartment that he is dogsitting for. Of course, we accepted his invitation. We spent the afternoon on 5th avenue (I know, I stuck out) shopping and admiring the swanky stores along the street. After a while, we decided to make the long haul over to the apartment and meet our supervisor. This walk was at least 20 blocks, which isn't the first time we have had a long walk like this, but we finally made our way over to that side of the city. As we get closer, we get a text instructing us to tell the man at the front desk that we need to go to the 35th floor. As we look around, we have identified the building that we are heading to, but we refused to believe that this was the building we were supposed to be in. As it turns out, this incredible building ended up being our destination, to our disbelief. We head up to the 35th floor (there was only one floor above it), and head into the apartment. As we enter the apartment, we noticed the windows surrounding us on each wall. We quickly went out on the balcony which overlooked much of the Manhattan island. You can see the Hudson Bay, some of Times Square, the Empire State building, the Chrysler building, and the Statue of Liberty. WHAT?!?!?! We couldn't believe that we were actually there. A man from a small town from Kansas that has barely 600 people, on a 35th floor apartment in Manhattan! This day was also extremely windy and the railings had glass windows around them in order to see the city even when sitting down. This made me relatively anxious, but in a good way! My heart was jumping the whole time, but the disbelief was motivating me to stay out and enjoy this breathtaking experience! I truly wish you were all there to share that experience with me!
After a wonderful dinner and social time with my co-interns and supervisor, we decided to venture toward the Hell's Kitchen area and have an adult beverage or two. Side note: my co-interns are both classy young ladies that just happen to notice that it was fleet week. Fleet week, if you didn't already know, is when the city is invaded by sailors in uniform. They must have like 5 or 6 different uniforms because they wear them constantly because they know that it makes women of all ages melt... and they are everywhere! So my co's wanted to, of course, fulfill every girls dream and meeting a sailor man. We ended up going to a bar called The Pony Bar which offers a fine menu of microbrews (which excited me) and we spotted sailors going int (which excited them). While they were talking to sailor men, I watched the Yankees game with a guy that was from Jersey and was really friendly! After a while, we decided to change venues (i forget the name, but it was Toxic or something like that). In arriving, I quickly made friends with these Irish chaps at the bar. There were 4 of them and they were extremely friendly and were excited that I could understand their accent. I couldn't help but think that they sounded like Charlie from Lost... which I enjoyed!
At around 2:30am, I decided that I was tired and wanted to go home. The ladies weren't ready to go home and decided to stay for a little while longer, whereas I felt like I was going to turn into a zombie at any time with my level of tiredness! Therefore, I started my venture to the New Jersey Transit train station. As I walked, I noticed that I was at least 12 blocks away from the station. While I was not very drunk at all, I was extremely tired and not excited to be walking a long distance again! I just happened to run into the nice Yankees fan from the Pony Bar again and we had a small chat again before we parted ways. As soon as I made it to the train station, I looked on this giant board to see if I could see a train leaving for Dover, the train that goes to Newark Broad street, which is about 3 blocks from the residence hall I'm staying at. Alas, there was no Dover train listed. I decided to ask a police officer when the next train was and he explained that the next one was at 5:40am... uh oh..... So I then started walking toward the PATH station which I knew took longer, but I wasn't about to wait for 3 hours for a train and sleep in the station.
I get on the PATH train which I knew had to take me to Hoboken first on weekends. It takes me at least 30 minutes before I had to transfer trains, which is 2 stops away from Newark. As I get off the train to transfer, I asked a lady how long this usually takes, in which she said it wouldn't take long. So here I am, waiting on this train stop with about 30 other people that are drunk and dressed accordingly which is a story in and of itself. It takes about 25 minutes of tired me pacing back and forth on this train stop before the train FINALLY comes! I get on the train and notice that its about 3:50am and I know that the shuttle that runs from the Newark station (about a mile and a half away from home) stops running at 4am.
I get off the train and get outside at the strike of 4:04am. I have just missed the shuttle that runs to the university and now am weighing my options. I wanted to call them to see if there just happened to be a shuttle still running, but my phone had just died. I have $4, but can possibly go get money out of an ATM to pay for a taxi. While I'm pondering these thoughts, I begin to notice the demons that were beginning to surround the area of the Newark train station. Needless to say, there were some suspicious fellows beginning to prowl for those that are intoxicated coming back from the city... aka-me! I ask a police officer if he knew about the shuttle or a taxi that took debit and he said that he couldn't help me... douche! He also had the decency to explain that if I decided to walk back, I WOULD get jumped... thanks a lot bro! So, I decide a taxi is my best bet. I approached a few taxis and asked how much it would be to go back to the university... 8 bucks, but as previously explained, I have $4. It took a while, but a polite Pakistani taxi driver took pity on me and decided to give me a ride for said amount. He shared with me his story of where he lived and how he got to the USA during our short ride, but all I could think about is how unbelievably tired I am!
I made it home safely and made sure that they ladies were back safe. All in all, it was an adventurous night of learning and something I'm glad I experienced! I have plenty more stories, but this night was particularly eventful so I decided to share! I apologize for how long it was, but I commend you for making it all the way! Thanks friends!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
New Adventures...
With this blog, I will share my experiences in the many places that I visit during this summer. Also, being near the New York area, one tends to gather a few interesting stories, which I will share for your reading pleasure! Enjoy!
First of all, I am in Newark, New Jersey currently. Before coming up here, everyone that I had run into either referred to it negatively because of either the Jersey Shore (MJ) and called it "Dirty Jersey". With my internship, I supervise and have a lot of contact with different students, many of which are from New Jersey. I didn't know before coming up here that there is a lot of pride and love of New Jersey from the students that are here. This was something that I could immediately appreciate and surprised me! Also, the most fascinating part of being in this area is the diversity! I'm one of the very few white people that are on this campus and just walking down the street, one wonders if they are even in the United States anymore. This immediately intrigued me and is something that I love about this campus!
Anyway, as much as Newark, NJ is not as bad as everyone was saying, the best part of Newark is how close it is to New York City! The other interns and I have ventured into the city a handful of times already since being here. Having visited the city a few times prior to my internship, I have a general idea of how one should govern themselves while traveling about the city. In order to blend in with the other New Yorkers, you must not stare at anyone no matter how crazy they appear (which they look crazier every day), walk during the "don't walk" signs at the cross walk, and not become freaked out by the subway rats! I was flattered when I have been approached multiple times to give directions to tourists! I had to stop myself from jumping up and down and yelling "I'VE DONE IT!", but a New Yorker would never do that.
Story #1: So I'm walking in the city near the Washington Square Park area and talking to my brother on the phone when I see someone on the street walk by that looks really familiar. I quickly realize that this is a movie star that I have seen multiple times named Liev Schreiber (Scream and Wolverine). Once again had to stop myself from becoming excited, but was able to successfully able to harness my excitement. Either way, it was a fun first day in the city by myself.
Story #2: After exploring the city for the 5th (6th, 7th... who's counting) time this week with the other interns here, we decided to finally head back to our humble abode of University Square residence hall in Newark. We had been walking around in the city for about 7 hours, exploring the Museum of Modern Art, creating shenanigans in the Plaza Hotel, meeting a reptile guy in Central Park, etc. After an exciting evening, we took the PATH train back to Newark, which the journey can take up to 45 minutes through all of the different connections and waiting for trains. Anyway, the girls and get into the PATH train and there is a intoxicated young gentleman holding a sign that had clearly been stolen from something that just said "Wet Paint" and was showing it to everyone on the train. He and his friends had sat on either side of the train in the seats and as we got closer to NJ the train took on more people making it harder for this man to see his friends. He began to yell things like, "hey Matt! You can't see me!", "JERSEY!", or "WET PAINT!". Needless to say, we had quite the laugh at this man's expense and he enjoyed our company beside him during our venture back to "JERSEY!" (I couldn't help it).
There are many more stories that I have and much much more to come! I will be updating this at the very least weekly so keep checking in!
http://s1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff447/billysmassey/?albumview=slideshow
First of all, I am in Newark, New Jersey currently. Before coming up here, everyone that I had run into either referred to it negatively because of either the Jersey Shore (MJ) and called it "Dirty Jersey". With my internship, I supervise and have a lot of contact with different students, many of which are from New Jersey. I didn't know before coming up here that there is a lot of pride and love of New Jersey from the students that are here. This was something that I could immediately appreciate and surprised me! Also, the most fascinating part of being in this area is the diversity! I'm one of the very few white people that are on this campus and just walking down the street, one wonders if they are even in the United States anymore. This immediately intrigued me and is something that I love about this campus!
Anyway, as much as Newark, NJ is not as bad as everyone was saying, the best part of Newark is how close it is to New York City! The other interns and I have ventured into the city a handful of times already since being here. Having visited the city a few times prior to my internship, I have a general idea of how one should govern themselves while traveling about the city. In order to blend in with the other New Yorkers, you must not stare at anyone no matter how crazy they appear (which they look crazier every day), walk during the "don't walk" signs at the cross walk, and not become freaked out by the subway rats! I was flattered when I have been approached multiple times to give directions to tourists! I had to stop myself from jumping up and down and yelling "I'VE DONE IT!", but a New Yorker would never do that.
Story #1: So I'm walking in the city near the Washington Square Park area and talking to my brother on the phone when I see someone on the street walk by that looks really familiar. I quickly realize that this is a movie star that I have seen multiple times named Liev Schreiber (Scream and Wolverine). Once again had to stop myself from becoming excited, but was able to successfully able to harness my excitement. Either way, it was a fun first day in the city by myself.
Story #2: After exploring the city for the 5th (6th, 7th... who's counting) time this week with the other interns here, we decided to finally head back to our humble abode of University Square residence hall in Newark. We had been walking around in the city for about 7 hours, exploring the Museum of Modern Art, creating shenanigans in the Plaza Hotel, meeting a reptile guy in Central Park, etc. After an exciting evening, we took the PATH train back to Newark, which the journey can take up to 45 minutes through all of the different connections and waiting for trains. Anyway, the girls and get into the PATH train and there is a intoxicated young gentleman holding a sign that had clearly been stolen from something that just said "Wet Paint" and was showing it to everyone on the train. He and his friends had sat on either side of the train in the seats and as we got closer to NJ the train took on more people making it harder for this man to see his friends. He began to yell things like, "hey Matt! You can't see me!", "JERSEY!", or "WET PAINT!". Needless to say, we had quite the laugh at this man's expense and he enjoyed our company beside him during our venture back to "JERSEY!" (I couldn't help it).
There are many more stories that I have and much much more to come! I will be updating this at the very least weekly so keep checking in!
http://s1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff447/billysmassey/?albumview=slideshow
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)