Crowd of Strangers = Romance!

I was waiting to get into a show at the Hayden Planetarium this weekend (that's right the Hayden Planetarium!) and while we were in the little pre-show holding area, the usher calls for everyone's attention and asks "Dawn" to step forward. Then this other guy joins Dawn at the front of the room and gives this speech:
"My girlfriend Dawn and I have been dating for a few years and she says I never do anything romantic...so I wanted to do this today. (pause) Will you marry me?"

I've never actually seen a public proposal before, and I kind of hope I never see one again. It's more awkward than uplifting. And it's creepy to be forced to witness what's normally a private moment. And, not to be mean, but this one just didn't deserve an audience. I still can't figure out what was supposed to be romantic about his proposal. Maybe they were both astronomers... or maybe he had a lifelong fear of public speaking and this was a monumental and touching breakthrough for him.

But most likely, though, he just did the math and saw that hiring a gospel choir or trained doves, or getting a gross of long stem roses is all, uh, expensive. And the cheapest shorthand for romance is just doing something in front of crowd of strangers. The underlying message of his speech wasn't "You think I'm unromantic, but check THIS out," so much as "You think I'm unromantic...uh, wanna marry me anyway?"

So yeah, no one really wants someone else's private moments forced down their throats - pointed out the guy writing a blog.

America's Favorite New Game!
"Who said it - bank robber with hostages, retarded kid, or girl starring on an episode of My Super Sweet Sixteen?"

1. "I want a brand new car!"
2. "I'm done talking about this - just DO IT!"
3. "I want everything to be shiny!"
4. "Whatever I want, I get!"
5. "Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!"
6. "I'm the princess!"
7. "No freshmen allowed!"

(Answer Key: 1. = robber & party girl, 2. = robber & party girl 3. = party girl & retarded kid, 4.= robber & party girl, 5. = retarded kid, 6. = retarded kid & party girl 7. = party girl (who may also be a retarded kid)

I'm not allowed to dress like a pimp

I was walking to work today and there was this girl who was dressed kind of stylishly, but also pretty hooker-ish - like, a short dress and boots and a big, wide belt. Nothing crazy, but it was in that gray area of "maybe she interns at Cosmo...or maybe she blows guys at Port Authority." But I realized that there's definitely a fine line between "sexy" and "whorish." And that line consists of whether the girl will take money for sex.
P.S. she would not.

I am a very savvy New Yorker !

On the street the other day, I saw these real touristy-tourists trying to hail a cab. There was a mom and a couple of teenage daughters. And the older daughter, who was probably 13 and who clearly had had enough of vacationing with her laaaaame family and, at the same time, was trying to prove that she was, you know, more "NY" than the people she was traveling with(she was probably wearing Uggs...I don't remember) -- steps out to hail a cab, complete with the textbook yell of "TAXI!" and the elevated, slightly-shaking index finger. And the taxi doesn't even slow down...because, naturally, it's already got a passenger in it.
And what's nuts is that I bet that family will go through the rest of their lives completely oblivious to the light system taxis use to let you know if it's available or not. They'll just think that taxi drivers really ARE crazy (just like in the movies!) and New Yorkers really are rude (again...just like the movies!), because nine out of the ten taxis they tried to hail just plain ignored them.
Man, tourists are fucking rubes! Hey - just like in the movies!