My cousin Danielle went to see The Gates a couple weeks ago, and she later confided, “I’m glad I saw them because they’re such a big deal, but to be honest I really don’t get it!”

I’m glad she said that because she’s my cousin and it’s good for me to get along with her. See, I decided I only get along with people who don’t get them. Those people who say, “Oh, they’re beautiful, this art is so amazing,” are not people I can communicate with very well. They’re like people who’ve never seen Star Wars; we have little common ground.

I think only real New Yorkers think they’re beautiful. And that’s prob’ly because it’s been a long time since they’ve seen, for instance, a bright orange sunset, which–on the scale of beauty of bright orange things–is a lot higher than bright orange fabric on bright orange steel.

Oh, sorry, I meant saffron, not orange.

While walking down Third Avenue, I picked up a menu from a Mexican restaurant called Samalita’s of California. I was all excited. Could it really be just like the Mexican restaurants back home?

First thing I always look for is the chicken quesadilla because it’s my favorite. They had two quesadillas on the menu:

Quesadillas
Corn Tortillas with Monterey Jack Cheese
Original Cheese – $4.75
Picadillo or Chorizo con Papas – $5.25

What the fuck? They don’t have a chicken quesadilla or a beef quesadilla, but they have a chorizo con papas quesadilla? Who orders that? And as if that’s not bad enough, they put both quesadillas on corn tortillas instead of flour tortillas.

Mexican food is so simple. It constantly amazes me when I see the great lengths to which Mexican restaurants in New York will go to screw it up.

This past weekend I was back in California for my grandpa’s eightieth birthday party, and I managed to visit many of the restaurants I miss. I ate at Del Taco, In-N-Out, El Torito Grill, Cafe Pascal, Claim Jumper, BJ’s, and Harbor House. If you’re in California, I highly recommend that you enjoy these places while you have access to them. I haven’t found better tacos, grilled cheese sandwiches, tortillas, quiche or crepes, potato cheddar soup, dessert, or milkshakes since I moved to New York.

Well, 24in48 is over. I think it’ll be a while before I take any more photos with my cameraphone, considering that my Verizon bill will most likely be outrageous this month and my life is clearly not all that interesting anyway. Actually, today we’re planning to go to the Chelsea Flea Markets, the Natural History Museum, and the Park, so this might have been a better day for sweet hot cameraphone action.

UPDATE: We ended up going to lunch with my Uncle and cousins instead, and then going to the Clelsea Flea Markets. We bought a weird (extremely heavy) mirror, and then it was very difficult to catch a cab back home. That night I went to watch Desperate Housewives at Chelsey’s, and it snowed, and Chelsey, Sharie, and I played in the snow at the park and threw snowballs at The Gates.

Based on the following Gothamist article, I think it’s safe to say that New York City is creepy at times. Please, no one forward this link to my mother. However, what I love about Gothamist is the graphic they made to go with it.

Body Parts Found in Subway

Last week Improv Everywhere pulled their most interesting prank ever. They put a fancy bathroom attendant in the men’s restroom at McDonald’s Times Square (via kottke).

Even the manager convinced himself that this wasn’t a prank, but a simple misunderstanding. Surely we were just at the wrong McDonald’s.

What I love about it is the huge variety of people who came in during a single hour on a Sunday, the way the attendant represented the company with their catch phrases and cheerful attitude, and the fact that everyone just accepted both the bathroom attendant and the guy snapping photos.

It’s only in a camera-crazy tourist haven like New York that you can go into a public bathroom, snap photos of men standing at urinals, and not only will they NOT be angry, they’ll often take out their own camera and snap a pic of that same urinal, thinking, “Huh, this toilet must be famous.”

I suspect that, as a result of this, McDonald’s Times Square will hire a bathroom attendant.

A few things I’ve noticed:

– When I add milk to Earl Grey tea, it tastes like Froot Loops. Perhaps that’s actually the Sweet-n-Low that tastes like Froot Loops, actually. Not that there’s Sweet-n-Low in Froot Loops, but… I think it tastes similar.

– The designers on those design shows always want to paint rooms really bright colors. And really, who does that? I mean, besides Chelsey, who recently painted her kitchen turquoise. But besides Chelsey, does anyone actually paint their walls a really bright color?

– In the winter in California, it was always colder when it rained. Here in New York, it’s always warmer when it rains. Technically I understand why, but it’s still a bit unnerving.

I’m planning to participate in the 24in48 project this weekend. I’m excited. Twenty-four people with cameraphones in New York City, including myself, will take photos this weekend and post them together on a website. They did this once before, last November.

Everyone in New York City with a weblog is writing something about The Gates and posting photos of it. I posted a few photos as well, just in case someone missed something while taking the thousands of photos already online.

One of the interesting caveats of living in New York is that you’re required to hear the song “New York, New York” at least once a day. Sometimes you hear it from a dancing stuffed animal at Duane Reade, sometimes you see it being played with a bow and a saw in the 59th & Lex subway station, and sometimes, like today, you get to hear old blue eyes himself being played at Starbucks. The last one is the best.