We’re letting our lease expire June 30 (because we’re not terribly fond of our location, our building manager who takes months to get things fixed, our super who can’t fix things himself and who doesn’t speak English, our cafeteria tile floor, our mouse, and so forth), and we’re looking for a new apartment for June 1. We want a month of overlap so that we can paint the whole place our own colors, really design the interior, and take our time moving.

In a normal city, we’d start looking 1-2 months in advance. In New York City, the recommended time to start looking is 3 days in advance because they like to rent things immediately. There isn’t really a shortage of real estate, as the brokers would have us believe; they just don’t like to advertise an apartment until it’s truly ready for a tenant, and then they hope to get a tenant in there immediately. If you’re not ready to move in for a month or two, they’d rather keep looking for a tenant who’s ready sooner. Of course, that’s not to say they’ll find one, so often you’ll find the same apartment is still available when you’re ready for an immediate apartment.

Also in a normal city, you wouldn’t pay a broker half of your limbs, but in New York City they control, and solely represent, most of the buildings you’d want to live in. It’s a winning situation for the landlord, since the broker takes care of the advertising and screening and doesn’t charge the landlord. It’s a losing situation for the tenant, because the broker does very little work and gets paid an exorbitant amount, but the landlord and broker don’t care.

Today I contacted several brokers whose apartments were listed on Craig’s List. I’m going to view one of the apartments today (because I called that one instead of emailing), and I’m crossing my fingers to find what I want without too much hassle.

My boss asked me today, “Have you used Movable Type?”

Turns out they’re planning to use it for a bunch of projects here at work, and they need someone with expertise to administer it. And it just so happens I have that expertise, since I’ve been using Movable Type for almost three years.

So it seems like I should now be able to write off all my time spent working on my own web site as a business expense. Of course, as my boss helpfully pointed out, I can’t actually write anything off, since I’m not a freelancer. Oh well.

To all my friends in California, if you’re planning to visit Yosemite anytime soon, you should definitely consider staying at the Best Western Yosemite Gateway Inn. Just check out the generous amenities listed on their sign.

This weekend I was fortunate enough to stumble upon three street fairs while going about my business in the city.

There was one on 2nd Avenue which blocked my bus from reaching Urban Outfitters (my destination) on Saturday, but it was rather disappointing. There were very few vendors (each had his own block of the street, it seemed) and even fewer visitors. I think it was basically rained out.

The next one was on University Place, and I walked into it while wandering around Nolita later on Saturday. It was bustling with people, crafts, cheap wares, and great food. I was very excited to get my first street fair corn dog of the year. I also tried something new called an arapa, which is mozzarella between two sweet corn patties. It was… interesting. And of course, no street fair would be complete without an excellent nutella-filled crepe. My friend Michelle joined me, and we wandered up and down University for hours, enjoying the food, the occasional rain, and the vibe. It was definitely good times. We decided that the calories don’t count as long as you keep walking the whole time.

I ran into the third street fair on Sunday, as it was located on Broadway in the nineties, in front of the theatre where I was seeing a show. It was basically the same as the previous street fair, but it was more crowded (to the point of being “too crowded” instead of just “delightfully lively”). I grabbed a corn dog and then left.

Apparently there will be more street fairs throughout May, and I’m excited. I want more corn dogs.

If you’re in need of a great peanut butter shake in the theatre district, try the Renaissance Restaurant [Diner] on 9th and 52nd. Their food is typical diner food, so it’s not all that great, but their shakes are peculiarly amazing.

You know, I already had plenty of problems with President Bush, but now he’s holding an impromptu press conference when The OC is supposed to be on, and that’s just crossing the line of decency. And since when does Fox show the entirety of his press conferences? They usually just show a minute of it on the news later at night, not the entire hour-long speech. Why the heck did they suddenly change their policy? I want my news later at night, or the next morning in the paper, not at prime time!

Coke is having a bottlecap contest in which they’re giving away free Coke. Unlike Pepsi’s contest, it’s difficult or impossible to cheat, so I’ve just been playing it by chance. Still, I’ve won three times already. With 1-in-12 odds, it seems I must have consumed about 36 bottles of Coke since the contest began. That’s a lot of Coke. Either that or I’ve just been lucky. Really, though, I think I drink a lot of Coke. So I suppose it’s a good thing that I’ve got three free 1-liter bottles headed my way. I think I’ll take one Diet Coke, one Diet Coke with Lime, and one Diet Vanilla Coke. (I have to get Diet because it makes me think it’s healthy.)

I spoke too soon. Twyla Tharp is directing and choreographing a new musical using the music of Bob Dylan. Yes folks, Bob Dylan. And it’s a dance musical. No horrible idea I could have imagined could ever have compared with this, and it’s not even made up.

Good Vibrations is closing this weekend on Broadway. I’m sad about it because I’ve become quite a fan of the show. Still, you’d think it would spark the end of this era of classic pop music-inspired musicals (Mamma Mia, We Will Rock You, All Shook Up, Movin’ Out, and the soon-to-open Lennon, to name a few), but now it’s just getting even more random with the introduction of a new musical based on the music of Neil Sedaka.

Clearly there’s still time for me to write Lovecats, a dance musical based on the music of The Cure.

My friend Irene pointed this out to me, and I think it’s brilliant:

Redefined, an a cappella group from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, sing and act out a medley of Nintendo theme songs.

You should definitely turn on your speakers and go watch the movie. Make sure you have QuickTime installed in order to view it.