Cool Cherry Cream

So this summer, my family and I are going to New York City again, and a few other places. I say again because we previously went there in June/July 2010, but I never blogged about it. I was still pretty messed up healthwise then — and even worse, I didn’t realize how bad it actually was. I’m now going to try to reconstruct my memories from about a thousand photos and a point-form text file.

June 30, 2010

Well, I guess we left June 30, 2010. Our hotel was in New Jersey, and we would take a shuttle through the tunnel each day. I’m pretty sure I went through the tunnel when I went to NYC on a school trip, but this time, I was nervous. It took so long. Anyway, I can remember it still being light out when we got to the hotel.

The shuttle dropped us off at the big Port Authority building or whatevers it’s called. We went to Times Square, and I led the way, saying I knew where everything was. Well, I *was* the only one who had been there before, and the city is laid out pretty logically. Plus, I had done tons of research before going there, and made maps of which streets bounded each neighbourhood.

So, we walked around Times Square, I think we went into like Hershey’s store or the M&M’s store and some other knick-knacky touristy rock and roll stores. Forever 21 had a big video screen that showed the street, and everybody was looking up at themselves on the screen.

That night, we went to see a Broadway musical: Rock of Ages. I think we must have came in like minutes before the show started. The show was pretty good. The lead guy was on American Idol, Constantine Maroulis. Oh yeah, and he totally looked right at me a couple of times. I honestly can’t remember that much about the show except that during the intermission, my dad turned to me and said:

“I didn’t realize this was going to be so gay.”

That was like the best moment of my life ever. Needless to say, we will not be seeing any more fruity musicals this time. At least not with my dad.

July 1, 2010

Next day was Canada Day. We weren’t in Canada on Canada Day, and we were even in the States on July 4th, so we didn’t get to celebrate anything.

Back to Times Square. One of the CitySights tour bus guys found us, and we bought tickets for the red and blue buses, which had stops all over Manhattan that let you get on or off wherever you wanted. We also got tickets for another Brooklyn bus, a night tour bus, and a speed boat ride.

We got on a bus in Times Square went up town. I’m pretty sure the first tour guide we had sucked. We rode on the top of the bus; I have a few pictures of close-ups of street lights; we probably had to duck a few times.

There were some statues on the top of several buildings; it looked like people who were going to jump off, but it was actually some sort of art thing. There are tons of interesting buildings in New York; most of this part of the trip was just taking pictures of all the buildings. We went past the Dakota; we’d stop there later. We stopped near a church for a long time. I remember this, and I also took lots of pictures of this church. Saw the Apollo Theater, the Guggenheim. At some point on one of the tour buses, a guy on the street came up to the bus and started yelling about 9/11.

We got out I think by the Metropolitain Museum, then we walked through Central Park thinking we would cut across and see The Dakota, but we got a bit lost on the way. I think someone stopped to help us get in the right direction.

We went to see Belvedere Castle in Central Park. It was a little disappointing because I thought there would be a little more there. It was just a nice old building in Central Park with a nice lookout. Also saw the Spiderman bridge, and this big ole obliesk thing called Cleopatra’s Needle.

Next we stopped at Strawberry Fields. No flowers or anything there that day. Then was the Dakota. I think when I went to New York on a school trip, we just walked by on the other side of the street, and it was rainy that day. But this day, it was very nice out, and we went right up to it. There were two guards at the gate, so you couldn’t go in, but you could see right where John Lennon died. I got a bit choked up, and I think my mom did too.

We hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast, and it was nearly 2 pm now. There was a hot dog vendor nearby, so we got hot dogs. I took a picture of my hot dog so I would remember that we got hot dogs, and the hot dog guy was very amused by this. My mom took a picture of me taking a picture of the hot dog, and you can see the guy laughing. There was also a “Curb your dog” sign nearby, which I thought was rather funny.

Then there’s a gap of two hours. I’m thinking this might have been when we went to Hooters for lunch, since my mom doesn’t like hot dogs. We spent a long time walking around looking for a good restaurant. I understand those sentences made no sense. Looking for a good restaurant in New York and we picked Hooters?! Well, good restaurant to my family basically means fast food that we have had before. I don’t think any of us actually *like* Hooters food (does anyone?), but we knew at least it was cheap and we could get something to eat there. I remember feeling uncomfortable sitting there with my brother waiting for my parents who had gone to the bathroom, and then the waitress comes over and gives us a napkin with her name and a little heart on it and asked us if we were ready to order our drinks.

Anyway, after that, we went back through Central Park to catch a bus on the other side, where we had gotten off the bus, which took a long time. We could have caught another bus by the Dakota, but then we would have seen everything we had just seen (all of uptown) again.

Back on the bus, we were soon in Times Square again (on the other side this time), where we saw Elmo and Mickey and Minnie Mouse. The lines at the TKTS booth, where you buy tickets for Broadway, were insane. When we went the night before, there was hardly anyone there. I have a picture in Times Square of a bunch of people on a sidewalk looking up; I’m tihinking they must be looking at the Forever 21 video screen.

Driving along, we see the Empire State Building and Macy’s and soon the Flatiron Building, which is probably one of the coolest buildings in New York.

There was one street that the tour guide told us they had to turn off their loudspeaker when they went down it, because the residents complained that it was too noisy. I’m thinking this was around Bleecker Street and/or Greenwich.

I think it was also around this street that there seemed to be some filming going on. We saw a trailer that said “Curb Your Enthusiasm Inc” on it, but we thought it was the name of a production company and not the actual show. I googled around later and found that it probably was the show. I have a picture of a bunch of cables and long coloured sticks and bags that say Paramount, and also possibly some smelly grip’s butt.

I took a picture of an Emigrant Savings Bank, because I knew the place where Fillmore East used to be is one of those now. Pretty sure it wasn’t the right one though. I also took a picture of a store named Papyrus, which seems to be a custom print shop. It’s looks like the logo is in Neutraface.

Next we were in the financial district, and we passed by the Wall Street Bull. I seem to remember a very old Asian man taking a picture with the bull’s balls.

We stopped somewhere in the financial district for a long time. I took lots of pictures of a guy selling fruits and some birds on a streetlamp. Soon after, I think we walked around South Street Seaport a bit, then went to China Town for some shopping.

In one store in Chinatown, there was someone talking over a speaker system throughout the store. I wasn’t paying attention to them until they said something like “Can I have your attention? Can I really have your attention?” and I’m like, um, okay. Then they proceed to talk about things they have on sale in the store. They kept doing this the whole time we were in the store.

It was getting cool out, so my mom and I bought New York sweaters at a street stand. Back on the bus again, we went by the Trump World Tower and the Waldorf Astoria, which I believe is the hotel the Monkees stayed at in New York. Soon, we were back in Times Square.

Then we either walked or (more likely) got another bus back to take the Staten Island Ferry (for free!). We got on at about 7 pm. It was a nice sunset; not all pink and purple and orange, but nice. I’m thinking it was kind of cold on there too. I can also remember lots of little kids. We saw the Statue of Liberty, and there was also a cool looking pirate-y ship.

It was a ten minute ride across, and then it seemed to be about a forty minute or so wait before we got the ferry back to Manhattan, but it was good because the sky was more orange and the city lights were starting to come on, so I got some nice night pictures.

From the tip of Manhattan back to the Port Authority building is a long walk, so we took the subway. I think my dad and maybe the rest of my family was nervous about it, because scary, New York subways, but I felt safe in New York City. We had a bit of trouble getting the tickets, and then no one even checked if we had any. I wasn’t scared at all about scary people on the subway, but I was a bit worried that we took the wrong one and we were going through Brooklyn and all around. I was also a little anxious, the being underground and all. It felt like a really long ride.

We went back to the hotel and had Outback, which was very close by, for dinner. It was really late when we got back.

July 2, 2010

The next day, we got on the shuttle, crossed the tunnel, and ended up back at the Port Authority building. From there, we walked westward to catch the speed boat tour. I’m pretty sure we couldn’t have taken the tour buses, because they go in a circle, and don’t go to the outer streets. When we got there after a long walk, we found we didn’t have the tickets, just the receipt. That put everyone in a bad mood. I also got a very nasty sunburn on my shoulders that day.

Then we walked back to 5th Avenue (so basically, we had just walked from 12th to 5th, and these are the long blocks). We saw the Trump Tower (the one on The Apprentice) and I somehow convinced my brother (who had extremely short hair then!) to stand in front of a sign that said Playboy Enterprises.

Next, we stopped by Abercrombie and Fitch. We didn’t intend to shop there; just to get my brother to take a picture with the model. He oblidged, and then took his own shirt off to reveal his very hair chest. He was clearly planning to do this, because he had a little lotion/oil bottle that he rubbed on his chest too. The model laughed, and so did other people who saw him. The model also posed for some pictures with my brother, and there was even someone who worked for the store who gave us a little Polaroid of my brother and the model.

I then somehow convinced my brother to stand in front of Carnegie Hall, and I’m sure he did a John Entwistle impression. I don’t know why my brother was being so cool with having his picture being taken.

We also stopped at F.A.O. Schwartz at some point. I made it out to my family to be a gigantic toy store, and it was, but not as much as I remembered. They had a make-your-own-Muppet area (for lots of $$$ I’m sure). The Barbie section was very small. I couldn’t find the old fashioned toy section, which used to be the back corner on the first floor when I went there before. It might have been significantly shrunk down, unfortunately.

Somewhere around here, we also went to the World Trade Center, umm, area. I had told my parents there was really nothing to see; there had been no memorial or really anything when I had been there before. There wasn’t one there then either; I think there might be one now. My parents still wanted to go anyway, but I think they were disappointed and or confused that there was really nothing there.

At some point, I think we went to McDonald’s for lunch. Not too exciting. It was probably around Chinatown. They had a bathroom where there’s only one toilet, and it kept being full.

Back on a tour bus. This was soccer World Cup time, and our tour guide was a Dutch girl; the Dutch team ended up going to the playoffs (or whatever they call those in soccer) that year. There was a game that day, so the tour guide was excited. She might have had an orange scarf or something. We passed by a restaurant or bar or something in Times Square and there was a sea of people in orange shirts celebrating. I think she yelled on the loudspeaker asking for the score. This tour guide was very enthusiastic and fun, and she called our bus the “party bus” or the “Holland party bus”. At one point, we passed by another tour bus, and she wanted us to yell hello to them or something.

Anyway, we took the bus back down past the giant button, Macy’s, the Flatiron Building, and the Wall Street Bull. There was a place where the ground was concrete and was marked off in rectangles with duct tape and cardboard. I had no idea what was going on at the time; I think now they may have been doing painting? I also took some more pictures of the guy who sold fruit. My dad copied me and took pictures too.

I think we were told by someone from the Manhattan tour bus that the last Brooklyn bus was just about to leave, so we hurried over to South Street Seaport. I think when we got there, I think we were told it had already left, and then that it was coming, and then it had left, and I dunno. We waited around for awhile, not sure if we were going to catch the bus or not, but eventually, it came, and we went over the Brooklyn Bridge to Brooklyn.

The Brooklyn tour guide was awesome; I’m pretty sure his name was Darryl. He kept saying, “Remember, Brooklyn is real people!” or “Remember, real people live in Brooklyn!” or something like that. Brooklyn was really neat, lots of character; I especially liked all the brownstone houses.

We passed by a pizza place, and the tour guide said it was the best pizza in Brooklyn (or maybe New York). I don’t remember if there was a huge line-up of people at that time, but he said people would line up around several blocks to get a slice of pizza there. He asked us if anyone wanted to get off and wait for some pizza.

We passed by some kids playing on a basketball court, and he asked if anyone wanted to get off and play them. He asked us several times, if anyone wanted to get off and do something; we couldn’t actually, unless we took the subway back, because that was the last Brooklyn bus of the day.

The tour guide also told us about an area of Brooklyn called Flatbush, which he said we might remember from a Tina Turner song called “Flatbush City Limits” (which is actually “Nutbush City Limits”).

We also must have went by Prospect Place, because I think my mom and I turned to each other and said “Prospect Place Willie?”.

One of the best places we saw in Brooklyn was a place called Junior’s Restaurant. The tour guide said they had the best cheesecake in New York City, and there was another Junior’s in Manhattan. Well, we knew where we were going for supper/dessert!

Then, back over the bridge and back to Manhattan. We passed by an area at Rockefeller Plaza and W. 48th where there was a stage with lots of American flags on it. Not sure if there was filming going on or what.

Then for supper, of course, we went to Junior’s in Times Square. The food was okay; the cheesecake was brilliant and yes, probably the best cheesecake I have ever had.

I’ve been looking for a new camera since my old Olympus conked out a little while ago. Well, it could just be that all three batteries died at the same time, but I figure if I buy a new battery and the camera’s the problem, I’m out twenty bucks. If I buy a new camera, I’m out five hundred bucks, but at least I’ll have a shiny new camera. My Olympus C8080-WZ came out in about 2004, and I’ve had it at least since 2007, so a new camera has got to be quite an improvement over that.

My new camera is a Panasonic Lumix FZ-150. It’s not a Canon, it’s not a Nikon, and it’s not a DSLR. I started out looking for a DSLR, because those are like big professional cameras. Quickly I realized I didn’t even know what DSLR meant and why it was better. I also thought about how I’d like a smaller camera to take on trips and not have to worry about changing lenses and buying new lenses which costs even more money. Plus, I just don’t take pictures enough to justify the cost of a DSLR. Over the summer, or at least the next few weeks, I’ll probably take pictures like a maniac, but come September, probably not so much. My old camera usually sat around for months, only being used during birthdays and holidays. I don’t need a DSLR for that.

So that’s why it’s not a DSLR. It’s not a Canon or Nikon because I spent a lot of time comparing the features of all the current bridge cameras, and I found that the FZ-150 had the best specs for what I was looking for, even though it was the oldest of the bunch.

The Nikon Coolpix P510 felt great when I tried it in a store, but it had the worst stats of the five I was considering (bad minimum aperture, bad battery life, bad macro, bad minimum shutter speed, and no RAW). I don’t remember much about the Canon Powershot SX40; I liked the feel of the Nikon better, but my main concerns about the SX40 were no RAW, small screen resolution, and the fact that it limits shutter speed and ISO settings. I also looked at the Sony Cybershot DSC-HX200V a bit. There was nothing terrible about it, but there was nothing that really made me love it either.

The Fujifilm Finepix HS30 was my second choice. It had pretty good stats, but it was the biggest and heaviest of all the cameras I was looking at; still lighter and smaller than my Olympus though. Actually, I found my hands felt cramped with the smaller cameras as well, so there weren’t any big negatives about the HS30. However, when I tried it in the store, I just didn’t like the feel of it. It didn’t focus very well when zoomed in and the pictures I took were quite grainy, even when lowering the ISO. At first, I thought the zoom by turning the lens was cool and more professional, but I found I actually like the zoom levers more. There are definite benefits to that kind of zoom (increased battery life and more precision), but I’m all about friendly interfaces, and I’m used to the lever.

I was rather disappointed that I didn’t like the HS30, because my first choice, the Panasonic, wasn’t available in any stores. It’s back-ordered on Panasonic’s website, and Henry’s website says the camera is not in stock. I went to Henry’s to check out the cameras in person, and I was surprised to find they had one FZ-150 there for display. I got to pick it up and check it out, which I felt is quite an important thing to do before buying a camera. The guy offered to sell me the display one, but my dad said he’s always had trouble buying display models of things, so I decided against it. He didn’t even offer us a discount. He *did* try to sell me a seventy-five dollar course to learn how to use my new camera though. I could tell he thought I was just a clueless kid who wanted an expensive toy (which, okay, I did call a part of the camera “the twirly thing”, but I still know how to use it, and if I didn’t, I could read the manual or watch YouTube videos for free). Plus, when I was hemming and hawing about which camera to get, he said something like, “Don’t be like every woman ever and look at everything before you buy it”. Wow, buddy. I *really* want to buy a camera from you now. Anyway, the guy told us there were fifty back-orders of that model, but there were two in stock in their store in Dartmouth (which for some reason they can’t order from). My dad said we would go there, not realizing it was in Nova Scotia.

Anyway, after much searching, we found a store in Toronto that claimed to have the camera in stock. My dad and I drove out yesterday afternoon to get it. I was so worried they wouldn’t actually have it in stock, but they did. I was pretty excited.

I didn’t get much chance to play with the camera yet, since as soon as we got home, we had to go out to St. Catharines to sign a lease for a house my brother and I are renting next year. We had previously found a great house, but the landlord was sketchy, and I found some suspicious information when I googled him. It was all too good to be true, and there were a lot of little things he said and did that didn’t add up. Everything was much easier and straightforward with this new guy, so I hope it all turns out alright.

As we were coming home, we passed by a store called Target Apparel which was having a takeover sale, so we decided to stop in. It’s a good thing they’re closing, because if they weren’t, I’d be spending all my money there. They had tons of adorable shoes, and I *hate* shoe shopping. I got two pairs of cute little summer shoes for fifteen dollars each. There were some nice boots there too, but I figured I had already spent enough money for the day. I also got some pants for the gym, since I’ve started going there with my mom a few times a week. There was a three for ten dollars sale on scarves, and my mom bought two, so I got a third. I don’t really wear scarves, but I think they’re so cute. I can at least wear it in winter.

As we were driving home, the sun was setting and it was just gorgeous. We drove along Lake Ontario, as we always do, and at one point, the sun was over the lake and the lake was still and it was pretty awesome. I wish I had had my camera then.

At that moment, I was quite happy. I know it makes me sound shallow and materialistic to be happy about buying a new camera and new shoes, but I was. Quite often lately, I’ve had minor existential crises when I’m trying to go to sleep, just wondering what the point of my life is, and how scary it is that one day I’m just going to not exist, and how it could happen soon, and if it does, that would suck majorly because I’ve accomplished so little, and also with me being sick, it could happen sooner than I’d like it… just not nice stuff to think about. Anyway, the camera, the shoes, and the sunset just made me feel comfortable and happy. If I get a lot of little moments like that in my life, then maybe things will all be alright.

I had a small bowel MRI today. I was a bit nervous, since I haven’t done one before. I’ve had a CT scan, a barium flow, two colonoscopies, and probably quite a few tests, but I can’t remember having an MRI.

My appointment was at 1:30 pm today, and my instructions were to not eat anything after midnight last night, and only clear fluids this morning. I slept in as late as I could, and I didn’t really feel hungry until about lunch time. I drank some water this morning, but I didn’t want to drink too much, because I knew I’d have to drink a lot later.

At the hospital, the MRI technician told me about the procedure, asked all the standard medical questions, and made sure I didn’t have any bits of metal on my clothing or body. Then I had to start drinking the Sorbitol mixed with water. It looked and tasted like water, but with just a hint of something sweet. Makes sense, because Sorbitol is a sweetener. There were three doses, each taken twenty minutes or so apart. Each dose was about the size of a large styrofoam cup, and I drank it with a straw. I got the each dose down in about five minutes. While I was drinking the stuff, I got to watch a movie; I chose Aladdin. I don’t quite remember what the point of drinking the Sorbitol was; it has laxative properties, but I think she said it was meant to coat my insides or something. I was worried about how much I had to drink, since I haven’t been good at drinking large amounts of fluid in the past, but this was no problem. At the very end of the last dose, I gagged a bit, but I was fine. The technician said to just get down as much as I could.

Between the second and third dose, the technician put an IV in my arm. Then, another guy came in and put something in the IV; I think it was called Buscopan. This would stop my bowels from moving during the MRI. My heart started beating faster after they put the stuff in, but that only lasted a little while.

Then it was time for the MRI. I lied down and went in feet first. There was a pillow below my heads and knees. They had two boards on top of me, which the technician said were cameras. I had earplugs in my ears, a ball in my hand that I could squeeze in an emergency, and headphones and goggles so I could watch a movie during the procedure; Cinderella this time (and they even fast-forwarded through the credits at the beginning, which I thought was super considerate). I didn’t pay much attention to the movie, but it took my mind off the procedure, and I’m glad they had that.

The technician’s voice would come on the headphones and tell me what was going on and what I had to do. I had to breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out, and hold it for fifteen seconds, then twenty seconds, then thirty seconds. I did that a few times each. When I was supposed to hold my breath for thirty seconds, she said to hold my breath as long as I could, then breath slowly after that. At one point, she said to just breathe normally, and it would be very loud for about four minutes, and the machine would shake.

Soon after I had been put in, the technician asked me if I felt like I needed to burp. I said no, and she said my stomach had a lot of air in it. I’m kind of glad she noticed that, because for years I’ve occasionally gotten this sensation of air bubbles in my throat — usually when I get nervous, but sometimes for no reason — and maybe that has something to do with it, and they can figure out why it happens.

Halfway through the procedure, they put some more Buscopan in the IV, since the effect doesn’t last very long. They also put in some contrast dye. Then I had to hold my breath again a few times, and it was all done by the end of the Cinderelly song. They said the whole procedure would take about thirty minutes; that seemed about right. Afterwards, I sat down, and the guy took the IV out and had me hold some cotton to it so it wouldn’t bruise. We got my mom, and the guy said the doctor would have my results in seven to ten days, and then we left. They said I might have blurry vision for up to forty-five minutes after, but I didn’t notice that.

I was quiet the whole way home because I was tired and hungry and still nervous. While my mom was backing the car into our driveway, I told her to stop, and I got out and threw up. I felt much better after that, but I’ve had a sore throat ever since. I also went to the bathroom a few times, but I wasn’t on the toilet all night.

All in all, a pretty painless experience. I just felt tired for the rest of the day and was quite hungry until I got home.