where dreams are made of...

So this past weekend I had the uttermost pleasure of hitting up New York with Carl. It took me 20 years to hit the mean NY streets which means last weekend was my first time, which explains the "uttermost" in the first sentence. Since I was a kid, all I have bothered my mother about was going to NY. I've had dreams and ambitions to go, but never did lol. When I got to college, I made countless promises that I would be in NY during someone's Summer or Winter break, but never did lol. Last Summer was the most serious I have ever been about getting up north. Still, I never did lol. Until last weekend, I had a pretty much free trip to NY and back. Shout out to Thais and her mom for having the juice. Our trip started at Penn Station in Baltimore.


Yea it's my first time going to NY, so yes-it's my first time being in Penn Station. I'm a nut so I walked around the train station in my own state looking like a tourist taking pictures and what not. I wanted to make every step of this trip memorable.






I love to travel, sit on planes and trains and stuff. But for some odd reason, I wasn't feeling the train ride. That was the fact on top of the other fact that I REFUSED to sit anywhere for 3 hours plus without music or a book. Don't have any books, so I took it to my friends iTouch for entertainment. The material was limited on that alone, but it faired well. Thanks Bree.



the clam was smart, but the clam knows this.



I felt even more grief as soon as I planted myself in my seat. Three and a half hours of this? Jesus, it was way over my head as to how these people do stuff like this weekly down to daily. But it was a put up AND shut up situation. It was still beyond me as to why I was so hateful to the train ride. Maybe because I was soooo anxious to hop off the train and breathe that NY air and to be blinded city lights of Times Square.

I dozed off a couple of times to the iPod. Then I woke up about a couple of times to fools who don't know how to cover their mouths when coughing. They sounded all swinded up on there. We had like 4 freaking stops before ours: Delaware, Philly, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. We refused to step foot off the train in Philly, for one we are NY bound during the World Series, for two-one half of us is a born and raised New Yorker, and for three-Beanie Seagle has a chip on his shoulder with Brooklyn heads. It was our best bet to keep it on the train.


Now I was confused, because I wasn't going to accept the fact that I spent a long time traveling in one direction to be in the same spot. Didn't we just leave a Penn Station. But I was informed that there's like a bajillion Penn Stations, we just happened to be at the one in New York.


...wait wait wait...did I say NY??....


...awww yes I did! So I did what I told myself what I would do as soon as I got off the train. Take a BIG whiff of that New York air, and yes....it's different than Maryland air! It's what I needed! The time away, the difference in atmosphere and people. I'll take it for two days, why yes I will.



Walking out of Penn Station we were greeted by the one and only Thais. YesYesYall! That's TyMoney in the purest of bone and flesh. Now, the last time I blogged Thais she had some stuff on her head called hair. Yea that stuff is gone now. She decided to cut her hair for Breast Cancer Awareness. Which is a noble and worthy move from anyone, especially a female. The good thing about Thais' case was that the cut looks good on her. It was like I've known her to have a ceaser just like me lol.

So first thing is first. FOOD. I need to eat, and Thais through out the words "greatest-chinese-food-ever". Well jeesh, Thais-I believe that could be found back in Chinatown in D.C.. She sat on the contrary and brought me on a expedition to and through Chinatown to this spot called Shanghai Joe's Restraunt...or Joe's Shanghai Restraunt. Blaaah I don't know man.






The train ride their was wicked! After dealing with garbage from the Red Line in D.C. all summer, to sitting on a super long train ride in D.C. with limited music-I definitely didn't need another slow train ride. Those things in the NY underground are speeding bullets. Craze I tell you.

So we get off the train and take, what I am now just realizing, a long expedition through Chinatown NY-and BOOM. There is Shanghai Joe's Restraunt...or Joe's Shanghai Restraunt...look yall-I DON'T REMEMBER!


We peeped this tag "Cornbread" left by the homie Orrin. You cannot dodge that guy, trust me!


The first thing that pops up in my mind was, "Busy Busy Busy". There was sooo many people in there. I guess Thais was right about her "greatest chinese food ever" comment. But I will let my taste buds be the judge of that.


What flipped me out the most was that homie was about to sit us at a big round table with other people. Now N.Y.-D.C.-P.A.-D.E., I don't care. I'm not feeling grubbin' at the same table with people I don't know from a can of lima beans. What makes things worse is I HATE lima beans. So Thais being the smarty body asked the guy to seat us a table by ourselves, and voila our own table. Now what to order? I was thinking the usual Lo Mein with Orange chicken. Thais flipped the juice up and got a lot of....stuff.


Let's see what do we have here, General Tso's Chicken, Shanghai Lo Mein, beef friend rice, and dumplings. The dumplings are sitting in the little bamboo shack in the middle of the table.


I had a couple of these, sike, like three of them. Was it my hunger? Was it the taste? Was it the MSG?

Nah, onTHEreallyREAL-that food was off the chain. The General Tso was seriously a problem. I was the one that finished the Tso and I was the one that was asking where did it all go lol. My hunger was met, my taste buds approved......and now I'm addicted to MSG....no..seriously.


So after the dinner was over we took it back home to Carl's crib. I was greeted by his Mom, his cat Mickey, and the greatest view of a city landscape that I have EVER seen. Now you may be currently look for or wondering where the picture of the view is. It's okay stop looking, because I am currently knocking myself on the head for not even thinking about taking a picture of it. I lived at that window....smh at me.

So the next day we took it to Carl's grandmother's house. She has plenty of love and Honey Bunches of Oates to go around. No really, she sent us home with 18 boxes of Honey Bunches of Oates. Now that's insane. After that, Carl's mom took me on a quick and super exclusive trip through out the boroughs of NY. Within an hour and some change, I saw everything.



Breakfast was on Thais by the way :-)




I am sooo foolin' with this pic.


The night began to fall upon us as we cruised through the city. By this time I done seen all the bridges and buildings within all the boroughs. Now we had to end it right.


TIMES SQUARE...


...TIMES SQUARE!!!

Now this part right here was an experience I tell you, the lights-the people-the smell of food-the stores. Literally, EVERYTHING was there.












Yea, people actually sit on this.


Pradas=gym shoes? I've been sleep that long?


Of course people were showing their Halloween spirit out all over the place. I had to get a snap with this guy. Oh yes, Halloween-which leads me to the last part of that night out in NY,

The tour was fufilling, well sort or, it was highly limited though. We were pressed for time because we had planned to go trick or treat with Thais' little brother Troy. I was excited because I peeped that people take Halloween to the next level up in NY.




I've never seen Halloween be put with soo much time and effort. There was one block where there was a live band playing on the porch of their house as they gave out trick-or-treat candy. They were really jammin' up there too.


Luckily, I was apart of the best effort that night. That right there is Bumblebeee-er....Troy! His costume was seriously taking it to the next level. Every block we walked, some one had to stop him and say-"wooooooow" and ask for a picture. It lit up, it was big, it was real! Best costume of the night y'errd meh.





Got me some pizza too!


Carl being Winzlow

We can transform ya!

So after a loooooong day of NY excursing (<---not a word), we took back to Carl's home to what's new to me and old to them.....chillin in the crib.


I had this weird feeling sitting with these guys. It was like a "sit down, shut up, and observe" feeling. I mean I knew these guys were close from all the stories Carl has told me, plus with all the iChat sessions I've had with them. Buy being there in person was something different. They've been doing stuff like this for about 10 years plus. Correct me if I'm wrong guys (Carl, Thais, Orrin, Duke). They may have had their bullshit, but they recognize what's more important. Which is why they are still sitting together in those same spots you see in the picture. I only can imagine what it would be like if I were still around the people I grew up close with in my neighborhood, high school, hell-even college. It makes me happy to see that there are people who actually GOT it down with out a flaw, but it saddens me to see that I'm still rushing to buff out the latest chink in my social armor. I'm still trying to build though, ehh-I'm rambling. Trust and believe me, these guys can show you how it's done.


That's Duke. Couldn't catch a face shot, but you will see more of him, bahleee dat! He is also an essential to the group, he just wasn't in the first picture because he decided to take the spot on the couch.

Waking up the next day once again to the beautiful view of the city, it was time to shop. Definitely one of the main things I've been looking forward to when hitting NY. But first thing is first!


BREAKFAST!


Once again on Thais :-) *sidebar: peep the shot glass of OJ, someone holla jaeger!*


According to the peeps, Mike's breakfast is seriously on the next. I was ready to throw it up and down. The OJ was super good too.


The eggs though?! My GOD! they were good! So were the sausages! Pancakes? Ehh, I could have made those. Lol, no dis to Mike though! Then I meant to take a picture of it before it went in on it. But the hunger called. But what bothered me was I didn't even finish it all. What bothered me even more was that I boxed it and left it in Carl's refrigerator back home! The left over Joe's Shanghai Restraunt, or...Shanghai Joe's Restraunt.....eff yall iight, totally left my memory. How could I forget such MSG in one take home bag?! Shame on [slick]. It was yum yum though.

As we were eating, a marathon was going like a street over, I had to get in on the action. It felt good to see it.


Soooooooooooo many runners, I'm talkin like hundreds, probably thousands! From all over the world, France, Korea, Italy, China, soooo many runners. I didn't know the cause, but hey-why not run. The cool thing was all the runners, well most of them had their names on their running gear. So the people on the side watching them could call their name and encourage them to keep running. Plus you could reach your hand out to give them high-fives of encouragement has they ran on. So nice. My hand was red from all the hands I high-fived. They also had the church playing gospel outside to get the Jesus power on the road. Hallelujah!


Hear are some of the high-fiving-encouragers. Hey, I'm on to something, don't ya think?

So after a bunch of watching and stuff, we took down to Soho to see where the threads were held. All the stores that I dreamed of seeing in person, it's now coming true. So excited!


"Bring it to your doorway, we are all from the streets..but you do it the BROADWAY". Yea Lupe is a beast. Soooo, Soho-where to start? where to go? As much as I wanted to milk the life out of ALL of these stores-I couldn't. For one, my funds are limited, and two we were still pressed for time because we had to catch the train back. Definitely can't miss the train back home. So I asked Carl to show me the ropes of Soho...which included.


The Louis Vuitton Store


Jamba Juice, thank GOD there are still standing these up. They took the only one I know of down back home :-(. *Fun Fact: Kanye West was standing out here one time, and Thais got to take a picture with him*


Hollister...or Orrin's job.


Flight Club, like seriousley...what was the hype of this store? No shots, I'm just sayin...You're better off online, unless you're a sight seeing tourist like me.


Supreme, this store was to the point. Everything you see online is in there in your face.


A script stand, they got everything you can think of.


Already have the sequels, peep it?


As Carl would say, going for blood.


The Adidas Store, Carl said something about it being likef 5 floors. He lied, I believed him


The Stussy Store, I'm mad I took to long and didn't catch the old one before they closed it down. Wasn't it like two floors? Well this one was dope, a lot smaller than the first one. I like it better than the one back home on Florida Ave.


The Wesc Store. Christ knows I need new headphones


The Bape Store, smaller in person. Not as flashy as I thought.


Of course, the infamous B.B.C. store.


To be totally honest, the B.B.C. store is smaller than I thought, but sooo much better in person. Better than the Bape store. It has Pharrell written all over it. Sadly, I couldn't get footage INSIDE the place because they're jerks in their. Oh well, my status will be upped soon enough to get my own SlickTalk in their.

Speaking of SlickTalk before I wrap up. I'm done with it. Well, I'm giving it a serious rest. You guys thought I was at first. But now I am. I really need my brain to rest from what I want to be on the next SlickTalk, who I want to be in it, where do I want to go with it. My equipment for one is really low-grade. I've turned into a perfectionist of my own kind. I did record pretty much all of what you've seen in these pictures. The very first tape wouldn't fully import and I was getting seriously angry and fed up with Microsoft, my camera, and Dells. That should tell you where I want to go with my stuff. I'm not killing SlickTalk, I'm just letting it go play in the park while I not worry about it for a loooooong time. I do plan on putting this NY stuff in footage. Just at a later day and time. Time to focus on this school work.


On a lighter note, my trip to NY was really motivating. It was exactly what I needed. All the mental frustration through these past months, NY did me right. I thank GOD for a roommate like Carl and for good people like Duke, Orrin, and Thais. Because of them I hardly had to spend a penny during my stay. I've learned a lot and plan to learn more...in NY. Yea, I was there for only two days-but I say this with confidence. GOODBYE MARYLAND/D.C.-HELLO NY! Maryland is not the place for me at all, NY is. It's as simple as that. I felt like I was at home walking those streets. I plan to go back soon, as early as Winter or as late as next Summer. Best believe I will be there in the Summer, that's a given. I need to start saving my money as right now. I have to repay my NY family for treating me so well. The deserve to see the bright side of D.C.!

...concrete jungle where dreams are made of,
joshua[slick]