Chinese New Years

     I mapped my walking trips for the last two days and just from wandering around Manhattan Tad and I walked over 10 miles.  Good for us although tonight it started getting really cold and my fingers did not agree with that.  I swear I tried to write yesterday but my Windows system decided it was no longer able to read my SD card damn you.  After about six different restarts I can now load my pictures to facebook or whatever.

     Chinese New Years Parade.  I didn't actually get to see the parade.  I, silly little me, thought that I could use a NYC events site to find out the time and vague location of the parade.  According to the Chinese society website I was using the parade started at 11:30 AM and went through the main streets of Chinatown.  So my sister-in-law, Tad and I headed down and hit Canal St. at about 11:45 finding a place near the start of the parade route on Mott St.  An hour passes, filled with jostling people and an old Chinese lady pushing her way past me and about four other people.  Maybe she couldn't understand us, maybe she could but she pushed through everyone to get a spot up with the kids right at the front.  About 1PM suddenly everything gets to me.  It could have been the crowd pressing harder and more fiercely, it could have been dehydration and overheating from the sun on me, it could have been I locked my knees and I was close to fainting.  All I know is just after 1 I start feeling nauseated.  My head started swimming and the headache I'd had all morning was overwhelming.  I stagger out of the crowd and take a moment to breathe.  In a crowd of who knows how many that's a little harder to do than you think.  I'm wedged in a store door corner trembling and doubled over trying not to vomit across the sidewalk.  Not fun.

     To make a long story short I got some juice and we wandered around and ended up at the corner of Mott St. and Worth St. right at Confucius Square.  I couldn't see a thing but we boosted my sister-in-law up on a trashcan rim at the streetlight and she took my great pictures.  Here are some now:

     

      In case you didn't know, it's the year of the Rabbit.  This is the first float and I think they were dual language.

      There you go, there are seven cameras visible in this shot.

      These signs are the different provinces of China.  Kinda cool if you can recognize them.

     Lion dance or something.  I dunno, it doesn't really look like a dragon.  Well, that's a brief summation of the Parade.  All I saw was the top of the dragons here and there.  Also a red head who complained very, very loudly just so the lady in front of her would move.

     Oh, also had amazing dumplings from Happy Dumplings on Mulberry St. across from Columbus Park.  $3 for eight veggie boiled dumplings.  Otherwise, $1.25 for five fried pork and chives.  Both were delightful. The place was overflowing after the parade so you know it has to be good.  Nom nom nom.  That's it for today.  I'll mention a few places I've been tomorrow.

Sleep is for the weak, aka me

     I have been back for a while today but I have only just now gotten my photos uploaded to the computer and onto facebook.  I will take time tomorrow (I swear!) to talk about the parade and what else I've found in New York.  One thing I will say is that the information about the parade was useless.  The site, which hosted the parade, claimed it was at 11:30 AM.  The parade did not even start until 1 or 1:15 PM.  Until tomorrow.

In the Winter, In the City

     Flew into NYC today.  There was a toddler behind me on the flight but he was adorable.  He grabbed my shirt while I was reading and then we played Peak-a-boo.  Luckily he fell asleep right before we descended so he didn't ruin his good impression with lots of screaming from aching ears.  I am only wearing three layers outside, I'm rather proud of myself: a long sleeve shirt, a short one atop of that and a trench coat.  My toes were numbing by the time we stopped in at a restaurant for lunner (lunch/dinner) so I think I need a second pair of socks for now.  Me and my wimpy extremities.

     Tomorrow is the Chinatown Chinese New Year parade so Tad and I are going to head over that ways tomorrow morning. I was going to say more but really, I will talk about it tomorrow.

     On a random note the only books I brought with me to NYC are Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson and a book of poems on NYC that my mother gave me.  The Mars trilogy is an award-winning trio of books mapping Mars from its start as a scientific colony to its own political and social force.  I'm about a hundred pages in and I really have enjoyed it.  I admit it isn't on my list of 501 books but sometimes you can't get everything.  This was recommended to me by a guest at Target one day a good year or two ago after we got talking about science fiction and Asimov and who knows what else.

Migration Patterns of Annoying Birds

     Here I am at my parents enjoying my last day in Florida in the only good weather in the country (71 degrees) and what do I wake up to? Drunk birds.  What? Never heard of a drunken bird?  Every year on their way up to the North the cedar waxwings stop on by and eat the fermented berries from the cherry laurels.  They come in droves and are deafening.  Absolutely deafening.  Well, after eating enough berries they start staggering.  I won't lie, I remember watching my cat as a child just sit on the porch, anticipating them falling onto the ground.  Unfortunately she was in a screened-off porch and when the birds fell they just bounced off and laid dazed and drunk out of their little birdie minds.  It definitely feels like that today. 

     It is also overcast and I get the great joy of flying into the Big Apple during 'intermittent snow.'  I hope that doesn't mean my flight will be intermittently canceled.  I can't wait to see Tad though.  He promised to meet me right off the AirTrain so that will be nice.  Yay for cold weather I guess.  It is supposed to get down to 14 degrees Tuesday night so I won't be missing out on all this freezing weather.  Oh darn.

     Packing some clothes is all I'm really up for today.  I have to return a game which decided to riddle my hard drive with errors.  All I wanted was a cheap, silly ten dollar game.  That will teach me.  Oh well, that's all for today.  I don't know what I'll be doing in NYC quite yet but we'll see.  I'll try and keep this up.

Egypt is Hot HOT HOT!!

     Yea, so now Egypt is burning and it is crazy over there.  Pro- and Anti-Mubarak protests are getting even more violent and now the army is joining in.  At least the violence has settled down since dawn has broken.  With the Army beginning to side with the protesters and their intervention last night who knows what will happen in the next couple of days (reference).  I wonder though, which side should we back.  I have my own opinions but I ask, should we side the pro-American dictator of 30 years or the democratic but religious-based protesters?  As America we should want democracy everywhere but we also want a stable and nonthreatening Middle East.  Hm.. Who knows?

     Spinning around the world Australia has been hit by a Category 4 hurricane.  They have been very unlucky with the weather but if you have some spare change please donate to a major (and not specific) relief organization to help all these unfortunate people.  I will post a few links at the bottom.

     On a lighter note, here issomething I bet you didn't know about Australia.  An Unknown Australian Danger: The Drop Bear

Doctors Without Borders
Queensland Government Disaster Relief
Red Cross

***One last thing.  I am tagging Stephanie Sanderson from House for Two. just for being so wonderful!***