One of my favorite things to do is wander the city. I've found amazing coconut popsicles in Queens, a taxi driver ironing pants on his hood on the Upper West, a flock of parakeets in Brooklyn, and video projections on a salt mound on Staten Island. I have an undying love for this multicultural, creative, hospitable, stinking town, even when it does me wrong. Right now I'm most in love with Brooklyn and am trying hard (lie) to get over my fear of bikes so I can explore more.

Other things I like: old people eating ice cream cones, tugboats, trying to grow plants even though I know I have the touch of death, photos, finding notes strangers wrote to other strangers on the ground, making up background stories for people on the train, apes, reading The Atlantic, listening to Radiolab, shiny things, animal noses.

Just went through a pretty big job change, and feel like a completely new person. It honestly feels like I'm starting a new life. Been in NY for over 8 years and I'm hit with that same excitement I felt upon arrival - everything looks shiny and new again. Must be what coming out of a cocoon actually feels like, though less creepy looking.

In my new life, I work in fundraising for a humanitarian aid organization and so far things are pretty damn great. I'm engrossed in conflict, suffering, and violence all day, but get to work on ways to assist people displaced by fighting and disasters - hoping we can make unimaginably hard environments a little less so. I really feel like I've found where I belong, for now. This "great" extends to most areas of my life, which I'm having a pretty awesome time reclaiming post bad job. I'm back!

Overhearing conversations while paying attention to the one I'm in.

I'm a little tall.

Books: Overall favorites would be David Foster Wallace, Jose Saramago, Barbara Kingsolver, and Donna Tartt. Currently on Cannery Row and What is the What.
Movies: General tastes tend to lean more toward slightly odd documentaries, like Okie Noodling, The Cruise, or Grey Gardens.
Shows: Breaking Bad, Arrested Development, Louie, Trailer Park Boys, Damages, Downton Abbey (that's right). Currently dorking out to PBS/Nova/National Geographic documentaries - archaeology and polar bears.
Music: Varies, and I'm tired of what's on my iPod, so open to suggestions. Lately have veered toward standbys like Bon Iver, Lucinda Williams, Neko Case, Dirty Projectors, and Deerhunter.
Food: Love. I actively work to overcome food fears, though I don't have that many. I never want to be held back in a food situation because I don't like something. Currently working on a couple holdouts: cilantro and ginger. I will win this battle.

Cheese
Windows
Living near water
York peppermint patties
Headphones to drown out people on the train
Books with pages

Writing a user manual for sidewalk-walkers. It would be based off of a driving manual for the most part, containing tips like, "Treat yourself like a car - you would never stop and bang a uey in the middle of the highway, so don't do it on the sidewalk." There would also be an entire chapter about slow vs. fast lanes and another about pulling over to the emergency shoulder when you need to make a pit stop. I figure most people in NY are transplants or visitors from car driving cultures, but seem to forget everything they know about traffic flow once they hit the streets, so maybe airports and train stations could be stocked with gently phrased etiquette pamphlets. I manage my sidewalk rage well, don't worry.

I lost track of how many times I've listened to my Bell Biv Devoe cassette tape in the past year.

You like showing off your favorite dive bar, or you want to explore the city to discover "new to you" areas, preferably centering jaunts around food.