Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005
The Concert in NYC
The last time I wrote, I was very close to going to jail for unpaid parking violations. Adam was able to come up with the $600.00 and bail me out. We borrowed money from a very generous friend which enabled us to pay our rent on time and in full. My paycheck on Friday went towards my car insurance, half of the parking fines and I paid $100.00 on my credit card because the payment was due. There goes most of my paycheck, but the bills are paid at least. Now, I had to worry about spending money for NYC as well as the rest of the hotel money.
Most of Saturday I watched tv. Last year when Adam and I lived with Matt and Nicole we never bothered to get cable hooked up. This year, when Adam and I moved into our new place by ourselves, we never bothered to get it hooked up. Basically, for the past year and a half we've been playing video games or watching DVD's. On Friday night our neighbor knocked on our front door to ask us if he could use the dish on our roof that was left there from previous tenants. We said sure because we weren't using it. He rigged it up so that we have cable tv now! We plan on giving our neighbor about $15.00 a month to cover our half of the expense. We're stealing cable tv, but it beats watching the same DVD's all of the time.
That night Adam worked, so I took the last $20.00 in my wallet and went with some friends to play Texas Hold'em for a $10.00 buy in. I lost the first game that we played, but placed second place in the second one. I came out ahead, winning $45.00.
The next afternoon I did even better playing cards. It was the usual Sunday thing. A $25.00 buy in with around 28 players. At first I wasn't catching cards worth shit. I thought I'd be one of the first people out. When I finally did get a good hand I kept betting and raising and calling. I won the hand which really helped me out. I ended up making it to the final table and placing third. Once it got down to me and two other people I didn't care if I lost my chips because I was already in the money. There, I won $145.00! I was excited and happy. The money really couldn't have came at a better time.
My winnings went towards my trip to NYC. I met Liz, Sharry and Ana at Liz's house around 7am on Monday morning. From there, Liz's brother drove us two hours to the bus station. The car ride actually wasn't too bad. We listened to a mix cd that Liz made that had the most ridiculous old school songs on it such as Back that Ass Up, La Bouche, and Gansta's Paradise just to name a few. She also made a cd with Eminem and Fifty on it to help us get all pumped up for the concert.
The car ride was fun, but the bus ride sucked royally. I ended up sitting next to some lanky, pale white boy with high water jeans and a flannel shirt on who looked like he was from amish country. My friends were all scattered throughout the bus, each of them a few seats away from me so I couldn't talk to them. I closed me eyes and took a nap, not waking up until we were in Newark. When the bus stopped to pick up passengers there, my friends and I moved our seats to sit next to one another, only for about 15 minutes.
It was really strange driving into the city and not seeing the Twin Towers. I can remember going there to visit when I was really small. I would know we were getting close when I saw them. Two summers ago my friends and I were supposed to go visit, but it ended up not working out. One time because of the blackout and another time because of Ana. I haven't been to NY since before 9/11.
Our bus dropped us off at Port Authority. It felt good to get off the bus and stretch my legs out after sitting for so long. It was exciting seeing all the buildings and people rushing by. We walked around looking, stopping every so often to look in the stores. In one souvenir shop I found a NYC ashtray that I had to buy. We even went in KB Toys and debated on whether or not to ride the Ferris Wheel. In the end we decided not to. Even though I am 22 yrs. of age I wanted to act like I was 8 years old and play and cause a ruccus in this store. If I felt that way I wonder what it was like for actual 8 year olds. It must have been like their own personal heaven.
We ate at a pizza shop after we located our apartment where we would be staying for the night. I had forgotten how great the pizza is in that state. Around 3pm, after we were finished eating, we checked into the apartment which was situated just a few blocks from Times Square. The lobby area was incredibly nice. The other parts, eh....when we spoke with the man at the front desk, he got on the phone and called the manager of the place who said we were supposed to meet him at his office. My friends and I walked upstairs looking for an actual office with a desk, computer, maybe a few chairs for sitting. Well, his 'office' was an apartment like we were staying in. Just another room. The manager goes back behind the kitchen counter that he was using for his desk, takes out a few papers and has us sign them. Meanwhile, the tv in the room is blaring, and there was a lot of luggage sitting on the floor that I almost tripped on. How shady...
The apartment itself wasn't bad. It had hardwood floors, one bedroom, one bathroom, a sofa bed, small table, and small kitchen area. All in all, it was kind of cute. It was clean which was basically all I cared about. Besides, we were only using that place to sleep in. The rest of the time we were out exploring the city.
After we checked into our room, and set our backpacks down (we all only brought backpacks on account of having to carry them around the city before checkin and after checkout the next day) we almost immediatly had to go back out for dinner. To tell you the truth, I was tired from getting up early, the car and bus ride, and walking more than I'm used to. In fact, we all were. We had a few moments to throw deoderant on, fix our makeup and and brush our hair. Then, we were on the run again.
At the corner of 49th and Broadway is where we met Liz's Aunt Barbara. She's lived in Brooklyn most of her life and works on Wall Street. Earlier in the day we found out that she made reservations for us at a nice restaraunt, was going to treat us to dinner, and then walk us to Madison Square Garden.
In the restaurant I felt very underdressed. My friends and I were all dressed for the concert since we would be going there immediatly after dinner. Everyone else was a lot more dressed up than we were. Barbara ordered a whole bunch of foods for us. We had chicken pineapple fried rice, rice with chicken in it, spare ribs, spring rolls, and some thing that was filled with lobster. For dessert, we all split a sampler. This was one of the very few restaurants I've ever been to where in the bathroom there is someone who turns on the water for you when you wash your hands, then hands you a paper towel to dry them. We all chatted while eating and drinking our cocktails. Everything was excellent; the food, service and company especially.
From there, Barbara led us to Madison Square Garden. We practically ran there because the concert was about to start. When we got there we said goodbye to Barbara, thanked her for being so nice as to walk us there and to buy us dinner, then headed inside.
The concert had already started when we found our seats and Lil' John was on stage singing and shouting 'Yeaaah!!!' and 'Okaaay!!' Fifty Cent got on the stage and the audience went crazy. His performance was great. He sang all of his good songs, some old and some new. Other performers included G-Unit, Obie Trice, Young Buck, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, D12 and Lil' Scrappy. Okay, who is Lil' Scrappy and what does he sing? Because I have no idea. I've heard of him before but am unfamiliar with any of his songs.
Midway through the concert, I was wishing that my friends and I would have rolled a blunt to take with us. The people who were sitting in front of us were passing around four at a time. The people behind us were also passing shit. My friends and I were all thinking, pass that shit this way!
Obviously Eminem was the best performer at the concert. Not only was his rapping excellent live, he was also hilarious. At one point he made an apology to Michael Jackson, put on a surgical mask, then rolled out a baby carriage and threw a doll baby off of a second story balcony that was part of the set. He threw out autographed doll babies to the audience as he sang a song. I also loved when he sang 'Ass Like That' and incorporated Mariah into the lyrics. "Mariah Carey. Is so repulsive. I never want to see an. Ass liike that ... When I see her. On MTV. She's so anoy, noy, noying .." It was funny and I wasn't even high.
It was a bitch getting out of the building after the concert because they had the escalators shut down. Everyone had to take the stairs. Some drunk spilled beer on Ana and she was pissed.
Apparently after the concert Young Buck was arrested for having firearms in his van and a riot broke out. Glad I wasn't there to see that. It was funny though because as we were walking back towards Times Square we saw a van that we thought was probably one of the rappers. Now I wonder if it actually was.
I checked my cell phone for missed calls when we got back to the apartment. I had a voice mail from Adam saying that he was going out and would call me later. That was at 5:30pm. He hadnt called back and I didn't expect to hear from him that night seeing as how it was already about 2am. What the fuck? He didn't call later to find out if I was alright? That kind of upset me.
We ordered pizza, then all hit the sack. Everyone was exhausted. It was really weird not crawling into bed with Adam. I was sort of sad because I hadn't heard from him. I just wondered what he was doing. I felt the urge to cry but fought it off. I thought, 'hey I'm in the city. I'll deal with it tomorrow.' With that, I fell asleep.
When Sharry woke us all up at 8 the next morning I wanted to cry. I was still so tired. I hardly got any sleep Sunday night either. We were all ready to go by 9. First, we shopped. I bought two really cute shirts and a new bag. I wish I would have had more money to spend because I saw tons of clothing that I wanted. The clothes in NYC are great. I loved walking on the streets and seeing the fashions that everyone was wearing. I think the cowboy boots that all the girls wore were wonderful. I love that fashion but would get mocked at home if I were to wear those just because I live in a small town. That's what I really like about the city. You can wear whatever. Just about anything goes.
After a few hours of shopping we all began to get hungry. Since we had just spent the majority of our money we decided to go with a cheap meal; White Castle. Actually, I was glad to go there because there are none in Pa. The closest White Castle is in Jersey. Once, my friends and I thought of taking a road trip to White Castle just like in the movie. I always get cravings for the burgers and buy the frozen ones from the convenient store after the bar. I could seriously eat those little burgers every day. They are great.
Of course my friends and I had to do a very touristy like thing; stand outside of TRL. We were very close to getting in too. There were only ten people ahead of us in line. Ever since middle school I've always wanted to be inside of TRL. Now, time is sort of running out. I think you have to be between the ages of 16 and 24. I'm 22! A lot of people were standing outside because Fifty was a guest. He had a concert at Madison that night too. However, I was probably on tv when the cameras show shots from outside the building. We also saw Fifty, Kate Hudsen, and Tyrese all getting into their vehicles when the show was over so that was pretty cool. Tyrese rolled down the window and waved to everyone. The paparazzi was everywhere. It was crazy.
Shortly after that our bus was scheduled to come so we went to Port Authority and waited for it. Surprisingly it was on time. This time my friends and I were lucky enough to sit next to each other. Again, it was a long ride home. I thought about the great time I had and how I love cities. As soon as I saw the hills, and trees, I groaned. I'd much rather live in the middle of the hustle and bustle and noise instead of where I live. But hey, ... home sweet home, right?