I'm Blue (aba-dee aba-di)

So today I was going to work on the subway and I saw a girl painted head to toe in blue body paint. I mean, literally, head to toe. She was a walking mass of blue swirliness and eyes (wouldn't be my first choice), wearing nothing but a thong (she even had a face painted on one of her butt-cheeks). No bra or anything. Craziest thing I've seen in the city so far.

Speking of no bras ... yesterday I was editing this story about the workplace generation gap. Now for any of you non "gen Y"-ers/personnel management types, have you ever had a 20-something employee show up at a business meeting in a crop-top? Or send you a text message asking if bras were REALLY part of the dress code? Sure there's a generation gap (at The Times, for example, it tends to manifest itself in discussuions about whether the rapper Paul Wall should be referred to on second reference as Mr. Wall, or whether The Simpsons is instrumental in understanding America). But let's be serious. Or maybe it's some rich-kid thing that I'm just not aware of.

I heart NY ... and bulleted lists

So now that people are actually reading this, I guess I have to write something.

The walking, eating, shopping and working continues. I can't believe it's almost over; less than two weeks left. I even have a hair appointment scheduled at home, which is a (slightly consoling) reminder that real life is looming.

That being said, it may still be a little premature, but, in the tradition of my Spain blog, here is what I miss about home (in no particular order):

1. My roomies, even though they were just here
2. Jenny and Anna, who I hadn't seen for way too long before I left in the first place
3. The family, and the pets
4. Wearing sweatpants in public
5. Running across the street without hearing, HOOONNNNNKKKK!
6. Nature, in any form
7. Cheese curds and Spotted Cow
8. The Spectator, strangely enough
9. TV (and Internet that's not in a dorm lobby)
10. My car!

And here is what I am going to miss about life in the city:
1. Having practically everything I need within walking distance
2. Working at The Times!
3. The other interns, who will soon be scattered all over the country again
4. The sheer variety of random happenings/things that can be found just by walking around for awhile (for example, street fairs and coconut ice cream served in half of a real coconut shell)
5. Street performers, from the truly talented (the a capella group that makes its way through the subways) to the utterly bizarre (the man in Port Authority who plays the keyboard accompanied by a band of little anamatronic people)
6. Random moments of tranquility, for example in the busiest parts of the city at about 6 a.m. on sunday or the view across the hudson river from Lower Manhattan
7. The village/union square, which remind me of the best parts of spain
8. Strand Bookstore
9. Cafe con leche (and iced coffee at Dunkin' Donuts, for that matter)
10. The Village Voice (which reminds me, it comes out today)
11. H&M!

I have some more pictures upstairs; I'll get to those later. But it's almost time for work.