You are a tourist (part 3)

Last stop Williamsburg, Brooklyn. When I tell you that this place was swarming with hipsters, that is no exaggeration. Clad in collared shirts and vintage eye wear, this group of people takes their thrifting very seriously. I was beyond overwhelmed. The flea market boasting over sixty tents, I had no idea where to begin.

Who doesn't like a little entertainment? After checking out the Brooklyn clientele I was seriously questioning why my residence is in Pennslyvania. The pictures hardly do this place justice, but I can safely say that Williamsburg is home to some of the most attractive people I HAVE EVER SEEN. There were too many inter-racial couples to go unnoticed. I swear EVERYONE had an Asian girlfriend, or maybe that was just my wistful thinking... It was like Micheal Cera's life in Paper Heart. There's no reason to get my hopes up because if I had a pie chart to represent all the men who have hit on me it would look like this.

At this particular moment if I could have wished for anything, it would have been a bottomless bag. I wanted to buy everything in sight. Curse my empty wallet and less than sturdy suitcase. I did manage to pick up two records, a Polaroid camera, and a pair of shorts. I have no idea what one of the records is. I THOUGHT I was buying one by Billie Holiday, but it turns out that the record was in the wrong casing. THAT'S FINE. OKAY. The other one I purchased is by The Who.

All pictures were taken by me; Canon T1i 50 MM Lens

Walking back to the subway station we passed a lot of open cafe's and restaurants. The last time I ventured to Brooklyn, it seemed really dead and uneventful. I think I was just in the wrong part of town because there's actually a lot to do here. Join me on a hypothetical date. We can sip red wine over the faint but audible sounds of the guitar. We can discuss fine literature, and independent films. It'll be the most pretentious date you've never been on. I'll explore more next time. My father and I had to hurry back to Penn Station to catch our 5:00 train back to Pennslyvania. My flickr apologizes for its projectile vomit all over your computer screen. Because I didn't want to lag your browser TOO BAD... the rest of the pictures can be seen here.

You are a tourist (part 1)

And if you feel just like a tourist in the city you were born then, it's time to go. And you find your destination with so many different places to call home.

Welcome to the three part series of Occasionally Leah... that I like to call "Braving the streets of New York with one lone can of pepper spray" or "I feel 100% more Asian / Jewish while in Scarsdale". One would assume that I would start this series in sequential order. 1. Scarsdale > 2. Soho > 3. Brooklyn, but just to shake things up around here I thought I'd start with number two.

I warn you in advance. Your internet browser is going to want to commit suicide after loading all these pictures. My most sincere apologies (unless you use Internet Explorer).

My train left this morning at 9:17, which meant I arrived at Grand Central roughly around 10:00. Miwa if you're reading this, sorry for the abrupt goodbye (come visit me). AND THE TICKET WAS DOUBLE THE PRICE ON THE TRAIN. Who knew... Anyways the day started off pretty slow as stores and whatnot don't open until 11:00. Here's a tip for anyone traveling to the city; don't look like a tourist, don't look lost, and absolutely DO NOT PULL OUT A MAP OR DIRECTIONS. Unless of course getting raped/mugged is your thing. Some people are into that... To say that I looked pretty lost would be the understatement of the year. I knew where I WANTED to be, but as I mentioned before everything was shut down. "On the outside looking in" that was me. It must have been a pretty pathetic sight seeing me ogle at all the inviting clothing in the window displays because someone working in the store would always shoot me a pitiful look. Alas after what seemed like hours UNIQLO opened up. Uniqlo's a Japanese run company that sells both Men and Woman's clothing. Their "Barbie" collection had just come out, hence the pictures. I was five years old again.

From that point on it was pretty smooth sailing. I wandered into a couple boutiques, and bought some really nice things. I remember my parents giving me a credit card before I left. They said something about "emergency... situations", but that information's all fuzzy to me. I believe I spent one hundred dollars in Soho. It's going to be such a funny story when my parents get the monthly credit card bill.

Around 12:35-40 I took the subway back to Grand Central. I was paranoid because I had to meet my father by 1:00, and as my luck would have it... I was on the wrong subway. Mine was going downtown... and by using your deductive reasoning skills I think you know what one I should have taken. I took that subway to the last stop, and thankfully it turned around taking me in my desired direction. Because "MOST PEOPLE" tend to get off when the intercom goes "this is the very last stop", I had an entire car to myself. If you've ever been to New York, you would know that an "empty subway car" is unheard of. This was the defining moment of my trip where I thought I was going to die. This is it. A pedophile is going to waltz right in this unattended subway, abduct me, and no one would even be there to witness it . It's been real...

Thankfully I made it back exactly at 1:00. I met up with my father, and we set off for Brooklyn (which in its entirety is its own post). Until then~

Concert Envy

Did you miss me? No? Okay. Sorry I haven't been as "active" as I've normally been. I would say upcoming finals are the reason for the lacking posts, but... it's really just my laziness. I thought I'd spare you the blog post on how I managed to down a jar of nutella in one sitting. My life... THIS DOESN'T SOUND REPETITIVE OR ANYTHING.
I promise that after this weekend I'll have quality posts once again. I'll be heading up to Scarsdale New York on Saturday where I'll be staying with Miwa. Let the fun times begin... and on Sunday my mother and I are going around the City. I'm taking her to Williamsburg, Brooklyn. OH YES.

The Flea has expanded to a new site on the Williamsburg waterfront. Located between North 6th and North 7th Streets just south of East River State Park, the Sunday Flea features the same mix of vintage, antique, handmade, and food vendors as Fort Greene, with a gorgeous skyline view to boot.

You can't honestly tell me that doesn't sound like the time of your life. Who doesn't find the idea of browsing through a bunch of deceased people's clothing appealing... Also if you happen to be in the market for a vintage typewriter or some records you've come to the right place. I have no shame in saying that I am a collector of vintage electronics aka "OLD STUFF". I have no idea what I'm going to do with the 1950 radio transmitter I bought the other day... IT WILL BE OF USE TO ME SOMEDAY. I'm going to be swimming in a sea of hipsters Sunday. I bet if I wore my thick rimmed glasses I'd fit right in...

It's basically summer, and to me summer translates to concerts. I can't claim that I've been to too many shows, but the few ones I have... have been amazing. I saw Weezer last month with Fun, and Panic at the Disco. While that WAS fantastic... it doesn't nearly compare with seeing Tokyo Police Club in January. Dave Monks, forget about our 9 year age difference. Be with me. I can satisfy you in ways you didn't even think were possible.

TOKYO POLICE CLUB - Wait Up (Boots of Danger) from Mitch Fillion (southernsouls.ca) on Vimeo.

Amplified: Tokyo Police Club from Amplified on Vimeo.

Sometimes I wing it

There's only one word that describes my life as of late, which is weird. Now it only makes sense that I would follow up a sentence like that with some sort of explanation, but no I'll just leave it at that. I have a love hate relationship with June. June's a fairly solid month... It's hot, and humid but overall I don't mind the weather. What I'm referring to is school in June. Lately all I've been doing is watching movies, or listening to my ipod during class. Cyrano de Bergerac anyone? There's absolutely nothing wrong with this, other then it being a HUGE WASTE OF MY TIME. Hello... these are potential summer days I could be talking about. Sure we have the occasional test or quiz, but really I "CBA" (couldn't be arsed). I'm used to just "winging" things these days. "Oh so we have a presentation today?" = time to test out my improvisation skills. The producers in Hollywood made a movie about my life, it's called "The Art of Getting By". Just kidding... unfortunately it's only the film title that pertains to me. IF ANYTHING the only Emma Roberts movie that does somewhat of an accurate depiction of my life would be "It's Kind of a Funny Story". Let's hear it for suicidal/manic depressive teenagers!1

I look stupid today. My hair looks stupid. I'm getting a haircut tomorrow.
I'm disappointed that this new salon doesn't give you free chocolate chip cookies. The place I go to now gives me a better cut, but no food. IS IT BETTER TO LOOK GOOD, OR GET FREE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES. These are the issues I struggle with... My life is so hard.



Now it wouldn't be a proper blogpost if I didn't share a video with you. That's my blogging formula. Rant about day + Gratuitous self portrait + Video = Decent. If I had any guts or courage I think I'd like to do something like this. A man braves the streets of New York, and asks pedestrians what they're listening to on their mp3/ipod.

Dude Stops People Wearing Headphones To Ask What They’re Listening To « Thought Catalog

Upon seeing the title of this video I expected it to be some kind of lightly malicious, funny video in which passersby were somewhat harassed and annoyed by a juvenile sort of prank, but it actually turns out to be quite smile-inducing. It’s cute to see people grin sheepishly and ‘admit’ to what’s on their headphones, while others’ matter-of-fact reactions give an insight into their lives – who they really are and how they’re, at that moment, perceiving the world around them.

I'll make a better post tomorrow. I'll try to look more attractive or something. It'll be a struggle, but it's a challenge I'm willing to accept. It's that or I suddenly become more interesting... WHICH IS NOT HAPPENING.