Battle Bunny

I’m finally getting around to posting about my trip to New York earlier this month!

I knew that the trip was off to a great start when I ended up sitting next to a wonderful older gent who spent his life studying fruit flies. This pushed every one of my nerd buttons. He was brilliant and spoke in geek-tongue. Something about isolating proteins and blah blah blah. All I know is that at some point I caught myself staring up at him with amorous eyes. I told him that I loved E.O. Wilson and he lit up, saying that he had received one of his books as a gift from a colleague. I asked him, “Was it Ants? Because that book is over $100 and I totally want it.” He looked a little shocked and answered that I was right. I guess he probably doesn’t run into too many tattooed bug geek girls.

It was late by the time we arrived and the plane swooped down low as we circled around the city. I’ve not seen many things as stunning as NYC in the dark from the air. All cities shine at night, but New York shimmered! The skyscrapers were densely packed and lined up in tight little bundles that pushed right up to the water’s edge. Bridges were laced in strings of lights that reflected and twinkled in the water. It was just breathtaking!

Thursday my friend Ben and I wandered over to Union Square and then into the ginormous iconic bookstore, Strand.  We meandered through the “18 miles of books” that were piled from floor to ceiling. We asked about Ants but they didn’t have a copy, which was probably a good thing for me.

Strand in 1938

After Strand we ended up at The Museum of Sex. My friend Mel made me promise to go there and encouraged me further by informing me that their two featured exhibits were The Sex Lives of Animals and The Sex Lives of Robots. The animals section was the most interesting part. And let me just say, people who say that homosexuality isn’t natural have no idea what happens in nature! I’d like to drop a bundle of those people into a troop of bonobos and watch their jaws drop! The robot section consisted of just one little display which I found photographed online at Toro Magazine. I was a little disappointed that this exhibit was so small, but then a few days ago I read on the M of S website that The Sex Lives of Robots is actually a stop-motion film that is currently in production. And you all know how much I love stop-motion! To be continued…

That night we went to a Venezuelan restaurant called Caracas and ate delicious arepas and fried plantains. I’d never eaten (or even heard of) an arepas before. Caracas’ site describes them as dense yet spongy corn-flour rounds. I describe them as mmmmm! If you get a chance to try one, I highly recommend it!

Friday we packed a lunch and ate in Central Park, then wandered around 30 Rock (huge fan of the show) and into St. Patrick’s Cathedral since it was nearby, then over to The Museum of Modern Art. I was able to see plenty of Gauguin, Matisse and Rothko so I was happy as a clam. It was so fantastic seeing works from Frida Kahlo for the first time. I waited forever for the crowd to clear enough that I could get a picture. I’m just glad I didn’t have to resort to hip-checking old ladies.

That night we saw The Handsome Furs play at the Mercury Lounge. It was a pretty small venue and they completely rawked. I love them so much. It was kinda nice to go to a show where I wasn’t the oldest person in the room. Apparently there are other things to do in NY besides getting married and reproducing, unlike in SLC. (I don’t sound bitter do I?) I couldn’t get any good videos or pics because I’m only 2 feet tall. Oh well…

Saturday we lounged around in Central Park for lunch and then walked over to The American Museum of Natural History. First we went to the IMAX movie, Wild Ocean. It confronted the overfishing crisis and had some wonderful footage of swirling schools of fish, but really Planet Earth has just set the bar so high that it’s hard to match. Afterwards we toured the different sections of the museum. My favorite parts were the giant blue whale replica hanging from the ceiling, the dinosaur replicas and some of the monkey bone replicas.

That last night we ate at a wonderful little Mediterranean restaurant called Mundo.  We gorged ourselves on red sonjas (red lentil patties on leaves of lettuce), cheese rolls (stuffed with feta and accompanied by a raspberry sauce) and a fire-roasted eggplant dip. But the real champion was the mascarpone and toasted almond cake. It was glorious and I’m still recovering from it.