I will try to keep each one of these brief (that's a challenge for me, we all know how I can go on and on, oh shit I'm doing it again....!)

Last Friday at the airport a girl asked if she could sit across from me at my table while I ate seasame chicken (ah, airport chinese, there's really no other good option), so I said sure, seeing as there was no other place available. I stared down at my plate, a bit awkwardly I suppose, so as not to make direct eye contact with her; she struck up a conversation first asking where I was from. Noticing she had an accent, I asked where she was from and she asked me to guess. I musta guessed every other country in the world BEFORE Germany, where she is from. I gave her my card and cell # in case she wanted to meet up in the city before she headed back. 4 days later, I'm walking with my mom and sister in Hell's Kitchen, just down 9th Ave., and I feel a tap on my should - spinning around, I realize it's Juli - the girl from the airpot, standing there shrugging her shoulders in that "it's such a small world" kinda way.

The next day I was at H&M and I ran into a Dutch family; their son was trying on clothese in the dressing room next to mine - I asked if they knew of Tilburg in Holland (my roommates last name is Tilburg) so we shared a laugh and I spoke a bit of french with them. My mom's birthday gift to me was buying me some new, "more hip" clothes, but the Dutch man asked if I had a girlfiend (i.e why wouldn't she help you pick out clothes) and upon answering 'no' to his question he laughed at me, the poor, pathetic American who's not gettin any and needs help from the next best thing to a fashion consultant, his mother and sister.

Later in the week, I ran into Simon, from Brighton, England, moving out of my building. On my way down to the gym, I helped him carry a few boxes.

I'm standing on the curb and notice a woman trying to hail a cab; as she does this, one cab overshoots her, and another car pulls up behind. Behind that comes another cab, who spots the woman; meanwhile the first cab that overshot is trying to get the woman's attention and the car behind him starts beeping violently (green light, go you pr*ck!!) As the woman brushes the first cab off with her hand, indicating him to move on, another more agile woman slips in and takes the second cab in line, leaving the woman looking puzzled and alone.

These encounters make me even more thankful I live here, as my interactions with people from all over the planet (most of whom conveniently speak English :) is daily. This allows for a 'richer' life - a life that is constantly being brushed by others from different backgrounds, and I often wonder: how did you arrive to this H&M today; how'd you decide on moving to Brooklyn? What have you constantly done almost everyday for the last year, if anything? Did you just come from the apartment of the person with whom you are having an affair? Did you just strangle a person to death? You nevcer know as you walk along these streets who you're gonna meet and what they've got behind the face, ya know?

People, not the magazine.

People in New York.

What do you think when you read the above sentence? I've had a few run-ins lately; some more humorous that others. Riding the bus downtown a few weeks ago to meet Dan, I started to get up because the bus came to a halt, and the door opened, and a police officer got on. Before I could get out, the bus driver shut the door (rather abruptly) and drove off. I said, "I thought that was a stop," to which he replied, "it wasn't." I was in some kind of mood, so I said, "You know you could say it nicely, you deal with people coming on and off of this bus all day; you gotta work on your people skills." He then raised his voice, said again that it "wasn't a stop" and criticized me for 'giving him attitude.'

Last Friday night in NYC's terrible awful Meatpacking district, I was trying to get into a bar for a friends B-Day party. For me, this neighborhood is pretentious, fake, overpriced, and might as well break off of Manhattan island and float away. Anyway, the bouncer wouldn't let us in (2 am on a Friday night) for a reason I didnt (and don't) quite understand. I was slightly drunk, and sure, I was being argumentative, but I dont understand how a place like that (which, honestly, wasn't all that special) can act so "exclusive" and actually turn away customers. It wasn't that crowded. My friend even came out and asked them to let me in. No dice. The bouncer said he was going to have to raise his voice and 'throw me down the fuckin stairs' if I kept bothering him. It ended with my friend and I walking away, yelling 'FUCK YOU! AND GOODNIGHT' to the bouncer. Then I peed on the side of the hotel.

Yesterday on the subway, a dude made a speech about the Victoria Secret bras and underwear he was trying to sell - clearly a joke, as he priced each one at $100, and his two friends were cracking up in the background, this was extremely funny. He's like, "I am not selling this for my basketball team, or anything else, just for me" If I was rich I think I woulda bought one just because I liked his humor.