WRITERS' STRIKE DAY 23
NOTES FROM THE PICKET LINE:

Arguments continue about whether we should be chanting, what our chant should be, and if we write a chant, whether that breaks the strike rules. We ended up deciding to send a team out to buy a magnetic poetry set. We will randomly draw five words from the box and those words will make up our chant.

Photos by Alaina

It's time to revisit my fabulous trip to New York City, New York State. Click on the links on this page somewhere to read Parts 1-3 of my live blog from New York.

PHOTOS

This is the Bamn! Automat. The windows are filled with (mostly fried) food items by this woman who is condemned to work there during all hours of the night. The color scheme was lifted from the Barbie aisle at Toys R Us.

A view of our room at the hostel. Based on my New York experience, I would definitely be willing to stay at a hostel again. The staff was friendly, the rooms and bathrooms were clean, and the random shouting in foreign languages was minimal. I only saw one bug. And it was a tiny one.

There are so many things wrong with this.

1: Who calls their tutoring service "Kumon"? "COME ON, KID! WHY CAN'T YOU READ? WHAT ARE YOU, STUPID!?!?!? LET'S GO KID! COME ON!"

2: Why does that cartoon face have such a bored expression? Apparently nothing says "let's learn" like stoicism.

3. MATH. READING. SUCCESS. How can I trust these people to bring my child to a fourth-grade reading level when their motto is written in caveman speak?

Here we see the glorious cupcakes from Magnolia bakery. Lord, those were some delicious angel turds.

Lookie, it's me enjoying an audio tour at the Guggenheim. Audio tours are fantastic because if the tour guide starts to ramble on about nonsense, you can simply hit the "stop" button to get them to shut up -- unlike in real life where you just have to stand there and pretend that you aren't bored out of your mind.

Ummmmm....

PROVOCATIVE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT RACE AND SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS

If you walk around New York with your ears open, you are bound to hear some fairly interesting conversations that have been going on for about a century.

Overheard at an intersection...

One black man is trying to hail a cab. Another is trying to help him out. They turn their attention away from the street for about ten seconds, during which a cab pulls over and an older white lady hops into it.

Their conversation continues as we cross the street.

Overheard at McDonald's...

A black man is standing in front of McDonald's and acting as a doorman. On our way in, he says, "Enjoy your meal, and I'd appreciate a little help on the way out." So while I'm inside eating my Chicken McNuggets, all I can think about is how awkward it's going to be when we're leaving McDonald's.

WHITE GUY: Why don't you get a job?

SONG ABOUT THE NEW YORK CITY SUBWAY SYSTEM

As the doors on the subway close, a nice little "ding dong" sound plays over the speakers. This mini-melody inspired me to write a song about the subway, which can be found below. Print it out and sing it with your friends on the subway!

The Subway Song

Ding dong
Takin' the number 2 to 116th street
Exiting at Malcolm X Boulevard
Probably not the right stop
Gotta walk around this shady park
So we don't get shanked
'cause we made a mistake
On the
Sub-way.

NEXT WEEK, TRAVIS' TRAVELS GOES TO FLORIDA! Sorry, my Late Night Penn State sequel blog is just gonna have to wait...