i leave for new york city tomorrow. in fact, i should probably be packing this very moment. however, the mood struck, so write i shall. i’ve never visited the big apple. this is surprising seeing as i at one point claimed to be a yankees fan, and i have always been an avid spider-man fan.

the former was really just something i lied about as a child. i was never one for sports or the like. (i currently don’t enjoy watching sports. i’d rather play something, but don’t go out of my way to do so). however, everyone seemed to have a favorite sports team. not focusing on one sport and one team, but a favored team in every possible sport. for baseball, i chose the yankees. it seemed plausible enough, but bring a smirk to my face now.

i’ve visited chicago (the other big city in the us) a number of times, and enjoyed the typical spots. but it’s those typical spots that i hope to avoid in this trip to the east coast. my dear friend kayla lives in brooklyn, and i’ve given her the request of visiting some holes-in-the-wall. hopefully, to that she can provide. i enjoy getting a taste of small places that you have to hear about by means of a friend at work or something. there are places in my own city that i haven’t heard of and need business just as much as the hancock plaza cheesecake factory. this is far from an independent business rant; i’d liken it more to a hidden treasure complex. and on a hidden treasure note, if you’re a gamer you should read all about this years independent games festival. my picks are world of goo and audiosurf

i’ll also be making the improv pilgrimage to the ucb theater to enjoy a show. the plan is to catch a group by the name of reuben williams as they improvise a sitcom episode. this could be a great learning experience. not only to gain some perspective on improvisation as a whole, but to see if it’s as difficult as it seems to fit a complete story arc into 20 minutes. of course, this is assuming that it’s an actual sitcom episode length of 22 minutes. hopefully i’ll walk away with something; what to do, what not to do, what works, what doesn’t. anything can help.

speaking of immeasurable help, i’d like to give heavy ups to ben gartner for fixing some javascript code for me. when you visit my portfolio page, you may thank him for such slick presentation.