high culture, low culture

Spend the day running around - over to J&R [camera sale!], down to Abercrombie at Southstreet Seaport for my sister [I spend max. 2 mins walking through the store repeatedly thinking I fucking *hate* this shop then have to leave] and to Pier 17 where the view down the East River of the Brooklyn Bridge and beyond makes everything feel strangely fake.

Then it's back to Brooklyn, rest up for a few minutes, meet up with Dan then head up to the Met for some overdue culture. I've barely been to the Met - just one time on an MB organised trip that was ruuuuubbbbish - so I'm pysched to finally see it. The place is immense. We check out the mummies and the two exhibits and some photos and then spend a while trying to find a picture I want to see: "It's a number 5. It goes with that William Carlos Williams poem." "Okay. Who's it by?" "Ummmmm..." Figuring it's gonna be in the Modern Art section we head there and slowly but surely locate the painting I was talking about:*

By now we're both being old people and our feet are killing so we head home. I get in, text Lauren to see if she wants to get dinner in the 'hood instead of Union Sq - but apparently the party we're meant to be going to [that, truthfully, I was considering bailing out of 'cause I'm knackered] will have food. I sit down for five minutes, sugar up on Nerds, then have to head back out again to go meet Lauren.

We head to Shallon's book party just off Union Sq. We're like the first people there. We have the open bar and the snacks alllll to ourselves. Awesome. We hover by the chips-n-dip after pouring generous vodka-Frescas for ourselves until people we know turn up. Rob Hitt, Sarah H, Alex Sarti, other Crush Mgmt peeps... We're hanging out by the cupcake table - cupcakes with letters on them that, originally, spelled out 'Congratulations on the book Shallon'. Only after a fair few drinks...




All the free alcohol means things descend even further...



...until some of us decide to split. Lauren, Sarah, Sarti and I leave and, for lack of decision of what else to do, head to Beauty Bar where Omri is spinning. While there I also run into Jenny, the Lula photo ed., who I haven't yet seen in NY, which is pretty cool. We take a seat and argue about what to do next... Annex... Guns 'N Roses afterparty ["It's in midtown? Ewww."]... no decision seems to be reached but we head out anyway, waiting while Lauren runs into KFC to use their bathroom. There's a rat out front of the restaurant, just hanging out. It's kinda gross.

Standing outside the KFC, we all realise we're tired and a wee bit drunk perhaps, so - more old people antics - decide to head home. Lauren and I wait for the L and as it pulls in I notice Andrew and Alex Littl'an, and LaRue already on the train so we jump in their car and say hi. I entrust Lauren to them at Lorimer and stumble to the G to get back to Carroll Gardens...


*the painting is by Charles Demuth
**I stole most of these photos from Lauren