i go to new york

it's nice how everyone else in the restaurant is looking at the camera too

thaurel birch

lol, that pic rules

was there another camera around?

feel like max and/or laurel got a photo when we had the largest group? I remember urging it but not having my phone out

I got one, but my photostream is refusing to upload it or something. Can I poke at it tomorrow?

Yeah, immediate Columbia area is not great for coffee spots. People rave about Hungarian Pastry Shop (Amsterdam and 111th? 112th?) but I think the service is lousy, also the lighting is deliberately bad and there is no wi-fi which is probably smart business. Amirita (110th just west of Frederick Douglass) is okayyy, not great. I used to hit up Zanny's (108th and Columbus) a lot just because I lived upstairs, it has really limited seating but a decent vibe and the staff are super friendly. Also over there, at 108th and the park, is a great basement Turkish diner, it's paper plate style but cheap and easy. My favorite diner diner up there is the Broadway Restaurant (Broadway & 102nd), solid prices and portions of your classic greasy spoon fare. Tom's is overpriced and coasting hard on the Seinfeld angle. I don't know Harlem as well but I think the part near Columbia, along Frederick Douglass between 110th and 125th, is increasingly riddled with coffee shops, upscale bars, etc.

oof! thanks!

hungarian is the ultimate grad studenty café, the service is fine, how can it be bad they just bring you some pastry

I did not add that accent aigu for the record my computer did that

On more than one occasion I've sat down an hour before closing time, paid for my drink and a snack and opened up a book to nestle in for a while, and then had staff come around to tell me they're closing in fifteen minutes. Well, if I'd known that I would have stayed home instead of going for a change of scenery to freshen up my reading!

I also think certain things are wayyyy overpriced. Don't get me wrong, place is fine and I love me some pastry but I can't wholeheartedly recommend it.

anyplace w/ unlimited coffee refills is automatically A+

the no wifi thing sux but is really the only reason there are every any seats ever

Oh, no, I totally understand the no-wi-fi thing, just think it's something someone should know before heading over there! They might as well just put up a NO ILX banner.

does anyone have a GP on the UWS (or anywhere in manhattan for that matter) they recommend?

http://www.yafferuden.com/

if you like americas wireless networks youll LOVE americas health care system

i am stoked!

oh wait, you mean like a walk in? you're probably gonna have to do a clinic or something unless you have american health insurance of some sort and even then I dunno how you would just walk up to a doctor's office.
we are insane btw

i mean i have what seem like some reasonable options for the insurance via columbia. and i figure if i'm getting the more expensive ones then i may as well get lots of fun tests done, since i haven't been to the doctor much ever in my life. but it seems like different plans give me access to different lists of gps, so choosing the plan involves choosing the gp too.

dr casino, which plan did you pick? i can't find anyone round here who didn't pick one of the two 100% options. the $11/month high deductible option is not available to me because of my visa : (

i am not ill now (although a (large, possibly bed?) bug flew into my EAR on amsterdam ave. on monday night and i had to go home and get in the shower and pull it out with tweezers and it really hurt!)

okay fuck that is horrifying

Uuuuugh re: bug story. We get the comprehensive plan as part of our program deal, I've just gone to Columbia health on campus for checkup type stuff. The way US insurance works is you have to go to an in-network doctor, and if you need to see a specialist, you have to get a referral to them from the in-network primary care provider. So that can be annoying but it's good insurance IMO - I had hernia surgery earlier this year and I think it ended up costing me... $32? I might be forgetting some other related bill in the $40 range or something but it's pretty good. Wish it had more in the way of vision/dental though.

"the" comprehensive plan? im being offered aetna, cigna and united, each in 80%, 90 and 100? did you get united 100?

That bug story makes my spine creep up into my brainstem and hide there.

Hmmm - maybe as a postdoc you have different options on the table? Normally for students there's the "Basic" and the "Comprehensive" plan choices, both Aetna AFAIK. http://health.columbia.edu/insurance/enroll-upgrade-waive

ah ok, i thought you were faculty!

laurel if it's any consolation the insect didn't seem to enjoy it much either.

I go to New York on Friday - anything fun happening next weekend?

Probably not, we're pretty boring.

JK um well the block I live on is having their annual biggest-event-of-the-year block party on Saturday, so I'll be at that.

http://www.cityparksfoundation.org/calendar/war-dj-set-by-dj-afro/

Coincidentally by being in NY I'm going to miss my own local block party, or "summer fete" in Britisher parlance. No bingo extravaganza for me this year :(

Also thinking about going to see Fanfare Ciocarlia in Central Park on Sunday.

going to see Dr Zhivago on Sat nite

flea market at oldschool noize dude bar 'daddy's' in brooklyn; i will be selling records. some other folks are selling tie dye shirts, tchotchkes, granola... that is daytime

am I going to melt y/n

nah it's cooled off some. it's 85 here, last week it was 95 and extra humid-y.

some other folks are selling tie dye shirts, tchotchkes, granola

disgusting hippies

i woke up last night because i was too cold. it was awesome.

Yay! Forecast for next week is 33-37 though :(

I wouldn't mind melting if it wasn't for those daily forecast thunderstorms THAT NEVER HAPPEN!

If it's too cloudy to see Manhattan Stonehenge tomw, Cheap Trick is playing free in Coney.

Isn't a certain Finnish fellow supposed to be here around now?

has been incommunicado on the board

atypically reserved

Theory: he realized late in the game that there wasn't gonna be time to fap w/us, and feels bad abt it?

i love his last post:

"Ah, okay. I read Amanda Palmer's Wikipedia page, and it seems she's some sort of an attention-seeker?"

his work here is done

wait, no it's not, he has to run the disco poll

We could go for a drink and put a picture of Tuomas on the table and say his name three times. Maybe he'd turn up then.

Jon Lewis theory otm.

Maybe he has been burning the candle at both ends, as the poor thing is wont to do.

is the candle a penis

slightly less awful today. woke up last night because i was too cold. splitting headache today. may have put my a/c on a bit too much.

how terrible an idea is it to buy furniture on craigslist? will i get bed bugs? is it something people do?