kate schmate

Lots of shiny fancy cars. And around them, lots of men trying to look like they can afford to consider buying one.

I was just typing a post, spaced out, and unconsciously tapped out the hyphenated word “endless-herring”.

Sometimes I miss New York so much I mentally gloss over the things that suck about it. At times like those, it’s helpful, for the sake of my present happiness, to be reminded. In that spirit…

Summer in New York: A Memory Montage by Conrad and Kate

• Descending from the oppressive sunlight into the heat of the West 4th A/C/E line and then even further into the torrid sauna of the B/D/F/V platform
• Going from freshly showered to sweaty and sticky the moment you step outside
• The smell of garbage soaking in warm pee, especially in Soho around 6:30 PM
• Having to re-install, maintain and stress about the energy usage of window air conditioners
• The combination of heat, crowds and stupidity around the 34th Street / Herald Square turnstiles
• Thinking of every potential social engagement in terms of how much miserable outdoor time it requires
• The total lack of relieving breezes outside, and the constant quest for maximal ventilation inside
• The conflict between the need to sleep with the windows open and the tendency* of loud people to congregate outside late at night (*especially if you live on Fulton Street in Brooklyn)
• Teenagers
• Broadway-Nassau (in fairness, it sucks year-round)
• The effect of summer heat on the feces one finds in subway station entrances
• The effect of summer heat on the crazy people one finds in the subway system
• Unceasing ice cream truck music
• Having a sweaty back, let’s face it, most of the time
• Having sweaty feet in closed-toed shoes or dirty feet in open-toed shoes
• The hovering specter of possibility that the subway car that’s about to pull up in front of you doesn’t have A/C
• Feeling indignant all summer for not having gotten a real spring that might have acclimated you to warmer weather

Is this where all my friends have been?