This came in the mail today. :)

(Stickers to block out the address.)

I know most websites believe 한글 is secondary to learning words

I disagree though.

Let's use "내가 제일 잘 나가" as an example. Not just because I love 2NE1, but because this is a perfect example of the problem with not learning 한글 as soon as possible.

When romanized, 내가 제일 잘 나가 should be naega jeil jal naga. Nae-ga jeil jal na-ga. However, I have noticed, especially on Tumblr, when people attempt to romanize this themselves with no knowledge of 한글, they romanize it as "naega chae chalaga." If you wrote that in 한글, it would look completely different than 내가 제일 잘 나가. It would turn into 내가 채 차라가 or 내가 채 찰아가. I don't even know, that "l" is problematic because if it is not the last letter in the same syllable block as "cha," it is the first letter in the next syllable block, turning it into an r/l sound. I've gone off on a tangent though. The point is, it sounds like "naega chae chalaga," but it's not.

I have also noticed that when romanizing lyrics, some people purposely change the spelling so that the pronunciation of each word is easier for the people reading them. That's really nice of them. But it is also misleading because those words aren't correct. If someone took a word and tried to go from the romanized version to 한글, it wouldn't work.

TTMIK will give you both the romanized word and the word in 한글, which is really great because then you get to see what the word is supposed to look like. But if you do not study that word, and really understand what each letter is, it's not going to get you anywhere. That is why I think it is so important to study 한글 as soon as you can.

I am not a professional by any means. I am a beginner. This is just something that I feel is really important because you cannot always rely on the romanizations you see.

More TTMIK Lessons!

Yesterday, before I was in Thanksgiving hell, I bought three more TTMIK lessons. I keep saying it, but Talk to Me in Korean is the BEST source of information for anyone who is learning to speak Korean. I bought their first textbook and Level 1 review kit already. I downloaded all their podcasts (and just moved all the PDF files to my Kindle). I swear by their lessons. They are amazing.

I cannot do a review on the lessons I just bought because I haven't had much time to look at them yet, but I did browse through the PDF files and from what I've seen so far, they will be very helpful. Let's talk about what they are and why I chose these particular lessons.

100 Top Phrases in Korean Movies

This lesson includes phrases found in the top ten most popular Korean movies of 2009. The teachers included 100 phrases and two sample sentences for each phrase. It comes with 10 MP3 files and one PDF file.

I purchased this lesson because I figured that if these are the 100 most frequently used phrases, they are probably worth knowing. And from what I have seen so far, they definitely are. (I'll save examples for when I begin studying them.) 

Slang Expressions in Korean - Volume 1

The description of this lesson is as follows: Learn 30 slang expressions, their meaning, different ways to conjugate them, common usages, and much more with Part 1 of Korean Slang Expressions! 

Included in this lesson are 4 MP3 files and one PDF.

I thought this lesson was important because these are phrases that you will not learn from a dictionary. If you overhear them in every day conversation, you may not be able to figure out what they mean.

My Weekly Korean Vocabulary - Week 4

Each weekly Korean vocabulary lesson includes seven words, one for each day of the week. Each word includes twenty other phrases using that word, that are commonly used in everyday conversation. This lesson includes 7 MP3 files and one PDF file.

Why did I choose week 4 instead of starting at week 1? The vocabulary words in this week were all words that I would use often. Some other weeks had words I wouldn't use in every day conversation (though they are still worth knowing and I will buy them later on). Included in this set are:

1. 기분 (feeling, mood)
2. 조용하다 (to be quiet)
3. 사람 (people, person)
4. 시끄럽다 (to be noisy)
5. 공부 (studying)
6. 열다 (to open)
7. 지하철 (subway)

My Weekly Korean Vocab Mini E-book

This book is free and it includes images based on keywords and sentences included in My Weekly Korean Vocabulary Weeks 1 - 10. You will find 70 words/sentences in this E-book. I would definitely recommend downloading it, you can't lose with this one.

Before TTMIK, I didn't really have much use for my Kindle, aside from bringing it with me if I were travelling. Now, it actually has a purpose! I've added all the PDF files from these lessons to it, and as I mentioned before, the PDFs from the podcast as well. I have also added all the audio files from each lesson to my phone so I can study wherever I am from now on. If I have ten free minutes, I can just get out my headphones and Kindle and review everything.

If you are interested in any of these lessons, they can be purchased from My Korean Store.

When all else fails. Cats.

I'll have a book review up soon...Hopefully. This is a really busy week.

Until then, here's a picture of Bogart ruining Monopoly.

TTMIK SUPER INTENSE REVIEW KIT (LEVEL 1)

I just bought TTMIK's Level 1 review. You can find it here: http://mykoreanstore.myshopify.com/collections/ttmik-review-kits/products/reviewkit1

I have not really had a chance to use it yet because...Well. The obvious, I just bought it. And I am still working on Level 1. I was doing really well for a while, studying every day. But then I had family visiting all throughout September. My cousin was indirectly responsible for spraining my foot, so I was not spending a significant amount of time on the computer during the first couple weeks in October because I couldn't keep my foot elevated at my desk. And then TTMIK announced the release of their first textbook, so I figured I would wait for that to arrive. And now it has! So I am going to get back into my routine starting tomorrow night and then when I feel confident that I have learned all the material from Level 1, I will come back and review the Review Kit!

I can say that the PDF file is 27 pages long. I put it on my Kindle. It also comes with five audio files that  are 15:00, 17:40, 13:46, 17:05 and 11:48 minutes long respectively. I have added those to my iPhone. I really like being able to store them somewhere other than my computer. There's no way I can fit every lesson from the podcast on my iPhone, so it's nice to have something I can take with me everywhere so that I can review what I have learned regardless of where I am.

I do not even know where to start with Silent Hill Revelation. Should I talk about how bored I was through 90% of it? No? Okay. Then let's start by discussing the plot because I guess it's important to mention what this movie is about, even when it really isn't about much of anything.

Silent Hill Revelation is inspired by the events in Silent Hill 3 (you know, it's a video game). Except...It's not. I can't explain the differences without giving away spoilers for either the movie or the game, so if you are really curious, go look up a plot synopsis for the game and I'll tell you what the movie is about. Members of a cult are searching for Heather, for reasons I won't even begin to explain here, and they kidnap her father so that she will go to Silent Hill to find him.

The movie follows the game enough to irritate fans of Silent Hill 3 with its inconsistencies and confuse people who have never played the games so that they cannot put together what is going on. I have never understood why people take so many liberties when making movies based on video games. Why bother if you are not going to stay true to the source material? It is not like this movie was just inspired by the Silent Hill mythos, it is clearly based on Silent Hill 3. And they could not have changed the storyline to make it more understandable to people who have not played the games because if anything, the movie makes even less sense.

I will give them credit where it is due. They did a nice job of showing the relationship between Heather and Harry and the Lakeside amusement park segments stayed close to what was depicted in the game. It would have been nice to see the Borley Haunted Mansion included, but it's not as if that is relevant to the plot, it is just a fun (terrifying) little section from the game. The soundtrack was great, but that should go without saying.

There was also this exchange, which is probably the only part of the movie that is even worth noting. When prompted to share information about herself with her new classmates, Heather says, "Let me make this easier for you. This is the fifth school I've been to since I was eleven. Me and my dad, we move around. So I do this. A lot. So don't bother trying to remember my name because I'm sure as hell not going to remember yours. Don't talk to me, we won't be friends. I won't IM you, or Facebook you or tweet you. Read your blog. And whatever you're thinking of saying or doing, don't bother because I've seen it before and I'm just guessing here, but I don't think there are too many original thinkers in this room. And by the time any of you have found out anything about me that's worth knowing, I'll have moved on." Vincent is then asked to introduce himself, to which he replies, "Are you kidding me? I can't follow that."

As for the negatives? Well. The whole movie is basically one long negative. I constantly found myself wondering when it would be over because it did not hold my interest at all. Again, they changed the story for no reason other than the fact that they thought they could. The ending was anticlimactic, even with its references to other games in the series. But there is one semi-major issue I had and a MAJOR, world-ending issue I had.

The semi-major issue was Pyramid Head. He makes another useless appearance as if he's the only important enemy who has ever been in this series. They don't even explain why he's there, what he signifies or where he came from to begin with. People who haven't played the games probably wonder why he is there and it is never explained in either movie. They just include him because he "looks cool" and they assume the fans want to see him.

My biggest issue was Vincent. If you don't already know, Vincent is my favorite character from the entire series. He is a villain who is in NO WAY a teenage love interest for Heather. He's not even kind to her, he plays mind games with her to make her think she is killing people rather than monsters. In the movie [SPOILERS], Vincent is still part of the cult, but he is clearly not the same character he was in the game. Why even include a character named Vincent in a movie clearly based on Silent Hill 3 then? Just create a new character for Heather's unnecessary love interest. I do not understand what their reasoning was, but as a huge fan of the series and that character, it annoys me more than anything else they have done in either movie.

Still, I don't hate Silent Hill Revelation as much as some other people seem to. It is definitely not the worst video game inspired movie I have seen, but I'm not impressed. I want to see a  fan made movie because they seem to be the only people who know how to handle it properly.

For example:

Talk to Me in Korean Level 1 Textbook

I have already mentioned Talk to Me in Korean on my blog several times. Mostly because, I absolutely love their podcast and website. They offer such a great way to learn Korean, and it is completely free. Their podcasts come with PDF files so you can read the words as you are hearing them. (Their website is http://www.talktomeinkorean.com/ and you can find the podcast on iTunes.)

I was away for a few days following Hurricane Sandy (that is a topic for another post) and when I arrived home today, I was SO EXCITED to see that my TTMIK textbook had finally been delivered.

As you can see, this book comes with a companion audio CD, so you can hear the pronunciations of the words as you are reading them.

If you have been following TTMIK's podcasts, this lesson probably looks familiar. It is almost exactly the same as the PDF file for this lesson in the podcast. So why should you pay for this book when you can get it for free online? You mean, besides to support the TTMIK teachers for putting so much work and dedication into these lessons for us? Okay, I'll tell you.

For each section, you are told which track from the audio CD goes along with each lesson.

Perhaps the nicest aspect of this book is the addition of review sections. You will be asked questions to test your knowledge on the lessons you have learned. It will give you an indication of what you still need to study and what material you have mastered. The answers to each question are included in the back of the book, so you can even grade yourself.

While you may not NEED this textbook, it is a nice addition to your studies and it is beneficial to your learning experience. It is really nice to have the lessons in book form. Now, you no longer have to be at your computer to learn Korean. You can copy the audio CD to your phone/iPod and bring the book along with you wherever you go. If you have five minutes free during work or in between classes, you can review a lesson.

The TTMIK textbook is beautifully put together. The pages are very nice (not cheap at all).  The lessons are divided perfectly, with each one including sample dialogue and a review at the end. It is 152 pages long, so it is not bulky (again, making it very convenient to take along with you wherever you go).

If you are a beginner, this is the perfect textbook to help you get started. And it is affordable, unlike some other Korean textbooks. You can purchase it here: http://mykoreanstore.myshopify.com/products/ttmikbook1

감사합니다, TTMIK!

At the pumpkin farm

The highlight of this little outing was the cat. As soon as I walked over, it ran right up to me and followed me around for an hour. I wish I could have brought it home with me.

The easiest way to learn Hangeul/Hangul/한글

When I first started learning Korean, I wasn't sure where to start. The Talk to Me in Korean website/podcast is a great source of information. It's all free, you get the PDF files plus you are able to hear the pronunciation of the words. All of that is great.

I was perplexed because there are sounds in Korean that we do not use in English. Therefore, you really need to learn 한글 (the Korean alphabet) in order to say these words correctly.

The problem is, where do you start? Do you learn the words first or do you learn 한글 first? And if you learn 한글 first, what is the best way to go about it? I wanted to find the most efficient learning method and this is what I realized.

The first TTMIK lesson teaches you how to say "annyeonghaseyo" 안녕하세요 and "gamsahapnida" 감사합니다 (hello and thank you). The PDF shows it romanized and in 한글. I didn't know it at the time, but the TTMIK teachers really know what they are doing because here is what eventually happens if you are committed to learning.

I wrote 안녕하세요 over and over on a piece of paper. I was trying to perfect the letters, not memorize the spelling. That did not help me. Sure, my writing was a bit better, but I still couldn't commit any of it to memory. So I finally said, even if I ONLY remember the letters in "annyeonghaseyo" 안녕하세요, that is enough for now. I began writing it in 한글 again. (ㅇ=placeholder if a vowel is the first letter in a syllable block, ㅏ=a, ㄴ=n, ㄴ=n, ㅕ=yeo, ㅇ=ng, ㅎ=h, ㅏ=a, ㅅ=s, ㅔ=e, ㅇ=placeholder, ㅛ=yo.) This time, I was able to remember what each letter was and I could recognize these letters in other words, even when I didn't recognize the words themselves.

This is the most effective way, in my opinion, to introduce 한글 into your studies. Just memorize the letters for one word. Start with "annyeonghaseyo" 안녕하세요, just like in the TTMIK lessons. Then, once you have mastered that, move on to "gamsahapnida" 감사합니다. I say this because "gamsahapnida" 감사합니다 has a lot of letters that are not in "annyeonghaseyo" 안녕하세요 (ㄱ=g, ㅁ=m, ㅂ=p, ㅣ=i, ㄷ=d), so it will implement those into your studies. And this is also one of the first words you learn with the TTMIK curriculum. After that, you can move on to the rest of the alphabet.

If you start by using flashcards, you may feel overwhelmed. (I was.) It isn't particularly difficult to learn 한글, but you are learning an entirely new alphabet and that is a lot of information to memorize. It helps to be able to associate it with something rather than just reading each letter separately on an index card.

**It should be noted that some letters (ㄱ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅎ, ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ, ㅣ) change sounds depending on their position within a syllable block and the letters that proceed/follow them.

The Good Guys of Reality TV

If you have ever watched a reality show competition, you know the people on those shows are usually less than friendly and quite a lot of them are only out for themselves. They will do whatever it takes to win, whether it is saying their grandmother died or throwing a teammate under the bus. These shows make people ruthless and it is incredibly rare that you will find one person who has convictions and a kind enough heart not to fall into that trap. So imagine finding two of them.

When the first episode of Project Runway season 8 aired, I immediately wanted A.J. Thouvenot to win. His designs were fun and whimsical, like a cross between Betsey Johnson and [the now defunct] Heatherette, only better. (His taste in music is impeccable as well, but that really isn't the point.) There was something about him then that really interested me and I wanted nothing more than to see him make it all the way to Bryant Park, just based on his work alone.

And then came the dreaded team challenge. That was honestly one of my least favorite challenges in Project Runway history. For whatever reason, the designers threw away their own aesthetics and decided to create a cohesive collection that had none of their signatures on it. Because of this, A.J.'s team landed in the bottom. Before appearing in front of the judges, they all decided not to put the blame on any of their teammates. When asked who the weakest member was, however, they caved and used Michael C. as their scapegoat. Only A.J. refused to do so, naming himself instead. That is when I wanted even more for him to go to Fashion Week. He was not like the others. The garment he made was not something he ever would have sent down the runway during an individual challenge. It was unfair that he went home because of something that just wasn't him and because he refused to give someone else's name to the judges. I had so much respect for him in that moment, and I still do now.

Face Off is another talent-based show, featuring makeup artists from around the country. On the first episode of season 3, Rod Maxwell rushed over to help two of his fellow competitors who were having trouble with one of their molds. Actually helping the people you are competing against? Unheard of! Not only that, but when he appeared with his teammate before the judges during the first challenge, Rod talked him up so much that I was sure he would be the one to win. Instead, Rod won. And I was really happy for him because it is so rare to find someone who thinks of other people while competing on a show where they are supposed to try to win.

Unfortunately, Rod was eliminated tonight. It broke my heart because he seems like such an amazingly nice person, with such a good heart, and only good things should happen to him. This is what he said on Twitter after the show aired:



Even after his elimination, he was still so gracious. It's very admirable and it only makes me wish he would have won even more. He is immensely talented, so even though he is no longer competing on Face Off, I know he will do well elsewhere.

There should be more people like A.J. and Rod on these shows. I would rather see friendly competitors than all of the drama between contestants.

Pseudopod - Kill Screen

If you are look for a good scary story and enjoy video game creepypasta, I have something for you!

Kill Screen


This is one of those video game stories, but since it’s not based on a game like Zelda or Pokemon (you know, a game that is so well-known that it’s almost impossible to take the story seriously), it actually is kind of creepy.

Plus, they play 8-bit music in the background. It’s awesome. That alone makes it worth listening to. It adds another dimension to the whole, “Oh, my video game has a mind of its own and is trying to kill me,” thing, one that you don’t get when you are just reading text on a screen.

Here are some other horror-themed podcasts you can find on iTunes.

Horror! Old Time Radio

Vintage Horror Radio

Happy October!

It is finally October! And that means that I can openly declare my love for all things Halloween without people giving me weird looks like they did in September. It's like you start putting the Halloween decorations out September 1st and people  get all judgmental on you. Do not even think about it now. I can do whatever I want until November!

So what do I want to do?

Ideally, I would go to Salem again. But that is out of the question, especially considering that I still cannot walk on my foot. (Well, I can, but I probably shouldn't because it still hurts.)

That means the next best thing is to update this blog every day until 11:59 p.m. on October 31st.

I just scoffed at myself. Because for one thing, I should update my other blog instead, since that is the "real" blog and this is just the backup blog for when that one crashes for good. But I like it over here and I don't have to worry about flooding anyone's feed with constant updates throughout the rest of the month, so this is where all of my Halloween needs will be met.

The second reason I scoffed is because, regardless of what I say and how much I love Halloween, I have serious doubts that I will update this blog daily. I literally started thinking of ideas for posts ON September 1st and I have written exactly one since then. In my defense, I had family visiting for the last two weeks of September and I dedicated a lot of time to learning Korean. I have good intentions, but I am easily distracted.

We'll see how it goes!

Resident Evil 6 Demo

I just finished playing the Resident Evil 6 demo and I have mixed feelings. There were some things I loved about it and some things I was not crazy about.

The first thing you should know is that it is multiplayer, so you can invite your friends to play with you. I was happy about that because I wasn't sure if it would be included in the demo and I wanted to play with James.

Leon's scenario is a return to the more traditional survival horror that fans of the older games loved so much. It is not exactly the same, but it definitely gives off a more claustrophobic feeling and it is nice to see zombies make a comeback because we have not seen them in the most recent games. That being said, these zombies aren't pushovers like they used to be. I saw more than one wielding a weapon, though I don't know if they are just carrying them or if they can actually hit you if you get too close. They are also able to hop fences, which means that they can get to you even if you think you are safe. (I wonder if they can open doors?) This was the only campaign I really enjoyed playing. I did not think it was scary, but I was playing with James so that could have something to do with it. Multiplayer takes away some of that fear (which is unfortunate).

Chris' scenario felt like more of the same, almost an extension of Resident Evil 5. It was not interesting, it was not scary. I found myself wondering when it would be over. On this mission, not only do you have two playable characters, but there are also other people who work with you running around. There were times when I thought enemies were my teammates and I ended up being shot because of it. They did not do a good job of distinguishing between them. El Gigante 3.0 makes an appearance and I have to say, I was neither impressed nor happy to see him. That is one of my least favorite enemies in the entire series and I wish Capcom would just let it die. This part didn't feel like Resident Evil, it felt like a war game.

Lastly, there is Jake's scenario (featuring Sherry from Resident Evil 2). I did not care for this one either. It was action oriented, like Chris'. I have no idea how to even describe the enemies. Some of them looked (and sounded) like dinosaurs. Others would freeze after being killed, and it looked like they turned to stone. I even jumped over one of them. It was very strange. At the end, it sounded like there was another chainsaw enemy, but it was difficult to see clearly and that is where the demo ended.

Aside from all of that, here is what I liked. You are now able to walk and aim at the same time. FINALLY. Thank you, Capcom. When this series turned into a shooter, that should have been the first thing they updated. You are able to roll and duck. Environmental kills! I smashed a zombie's head into the corner of a table and it died. I was really excited to see that happen. All of the new locations look amazing. Ammo/herb/point drops are now given to you AND your partner. You no longer have to fight over who will pick what up. You are also able to switch shoulders which is really nice, especially when you are hiding behind something, you won't have a wall blocking your view.

There really is not much to complain about, other than the fact that I did not particularly enjoy Chris and Jake's campaigns. I was not able to take cover throughout the entire demo. James said that you are able to, but I could not get it to work regardless of how many times I tried. Button prompts still exist, for reasons I cannot understand. The camera isn't perfect. You are able to completely move it around, which is not something you could do in RE4 or RE5, but something about it still does not feel right and I am not quite sure what it is. My last complaint is that you will now trip over things that are lying on the floor. Like zombies who are playing dead. It gets really annoying after the second time. You cannot tell me these people are so blind that they trip over every single body.

Overall, I was happy with the demo and I am excited for Resident Evil 6. It really seems like Capcom listened to everyone and tried to create a game that all their fans, both new and old, could enjoy.

Resident Evil: Retribution

This review contains some spoilers for Resident Evil: Retribution.

What I am about to say will make it seem like I am tearing Resident Evil: Retribution apart. So before I start, I would like to make it clear that this is not the most awful movie ever made. (House of the Dead still has that "honor.")

Retribution started off really well. It appears as if Alice wakes up in a world devoid of zombies. She is married to Carlos, has a daughter. It's. All. Very. Normal. And you know what that means. This is not what it seems. These people are not really Alice or Carlos. They are more clones being tested by Umbrella and things are about to get very bad for them.

Umbrella has simulation rooms set up all over their headquarters, designed to look like New York, Tokyo, Moscow and Raccoon City, featuring many different enemies. The entire movie focuses on Alice (the real one) attempting to escape with the help of Ada Wong and, of all people, Albert Wesker. Wesker tells Alice that the Red Queen is on a mission to destroy humanity and he is basically her only hope of making it out alive. Where do I even start...

AI is scary. I am sure we have all seen enough movies and played enough video games to know that you can never really trust it. Even so, I cannot understand why the Red Queen's goal now is to kill everyone on the planet when her initial goal in the first film was to prevent the spread of infection. How does she even exist when her circuits were fried? I suppose there could be another Red Queen, but giving her the same name is misleading and they probably should have considered this while making the movie.

As for Wesker, he does not suffer from Nemesis syndrome, as other people have claimed he does. While it is true that he does appear to help Alice escape from Umbrella HQ, his reasons are purely selfish. I do not believe his game counterpart would ever have enlisted help from any of his enemies, regardless of how desperately he needed it, but I think we all realize by now that when it comes to these movies, all bets are off.

Someone on IMDB called Retribution "Resident Evil All Stars." That is accurate. And not in a good way.

Ada, Leon and Barry were all unnecessary to the plot. If they had been cut out, it would have been the same film, just with less characters running around for no real reason. I am a fan of the games first, but these characters served almost no purpose in the movie. They are fan service. I would rather see them excluded than wasted. I think the inclusion of Barry was the worst, since he has no ties to Leon in any of the games (unless you really want to include Gaiden) and that is who he is working with.

Chris and Claire are nowhere to be found this time around, which is a good thing because Jill, Leon, Barry and Ada were poorly written (or barely even utilized at all). At least they escaped this film.

 I do not mind a unique take on the series involving new characters, but when you bring in established characters and make them barely recognizable, it is a problem. There is no point to it.

Many enemies are included in Resident Evil: Retribution, most of which we have seen in the previous films. There are incredibly fast zombies in the Raccoon City simulation, but after that, they disappear in favor of the Plagas (who do not translate well to film, they look ridiculous). If you have played Resident Evil 5, you already know that Plagas are smarter than zombies. They drive cars, ride motorcycles and they will shoot you with whatever they can get their hands on, whether it is an SMG or an RPG. Also included from RE5 is the Executioner (who I mistakenly thought was the Bogeyman from Silent Hill Downpour, I forgot what I was watching for a moment) and the Chainsaw Ganado from RE4/RE5. The "big bad" is a giant super-licker, bigger than any enemy I remember seeing in the films before. And of course, there are also the clones of Carlos, One and Rain, led by a mind-controlled Jill Valentine.

There are a lot of references to the games that could leave people lost if they have never played them (where did the new enemies come from?) and a lot of additions from the games that will leave people who HAVE played them wondering why they bothered to include them. Everything happens too fast, the movie feels rushed and it suffers because of it.

Look at where the first film started and where we are now. The plot is so convoluted I do not even know what is going on anymore. The first movie had its flaws, but I genuinely enjoyed it. Now I feel like things are being made up as they go along just for the sake of dragging out the series and making more money. It could have been planned better.

Overall, Retribution was entertaining enough. I was not bored watching it. Maybe I am used to how bad the movies are, maybe my  expectations are lower. Maybe I am just beyond caring at this point. It was not the worst movie I have seen in this series, but it is still far from good.

I spent Thursday in the city

This trip didn't include many pictures. We started off the day at the 9/11 memorial, moved on to the Jekyll and Hyde Club in Greenwich Village for dinner, went to Strawberry Fields in Central Park and then walked around Times Square before ending up at Ellen's Stardust Diner for ice cream. After that, I went back to my hotel room and watched Project Runway. It was an early night and I was fine with that.

9/11 Memorial

I really tried to be as detached as possible while at the 9/11 memorial. Not out of disrespect, but because I never want to relive that day. I remember everything that happened (I even posted about it here last year) and it is painful. The events of that day were something that I really struggled to deal with for a long time. It was one of my worst nightmares come true (our country being attacked), I did not know what was going to happen next. I had just spent several days at the Marriott at the World Trade Center one month prior to the attack, everyone working there...I cannot even think about what happened to some of them. I could not watch the news. I did not watch the towers fall. Even now, if I see video or pictures of it, I turn my head away.

Being at the memorial felt surreal. I was there and I knew why I was there, but it did not seem real. And if I had allowed my mind to wander, I knew I would break down.

I have been to both Jekyll and Hyde Clubs (it has been at least ten years since I have been back though) and I preferred the one in Greenwich Village. There are animatronics on the wall that "come to life" at different intervals.

This gargoyle will take you on a plane ride to Hell.

These skeletons were hanging upside down from the ceiling.

My experience this time was pretty miserable. There is a man who works there and will come over and "talk"  (more like grunt) to you after you are seated. This did not happen the first time I went there. At first, I accepted it as part of what happens when you eat there, but the more I think about it, the more disgusted I am.

I played along because this is part of what they do there and I felt that it would have been worse if I didn’t, but…

I feel like this is one of those things that crosses a line. You know how if you go to a haunted house, the people working there can get as close to you as they want and harass you for as long as they want, but they are NOT allowed to touch you? There are boundaries. And Jekyll and Hyde should learn what they are because it was not just that this guy was touching me (and everyone else that I was with), he was literally ALL OVER us. He had his arms wrapped around me. Wrapped around my head, wrapped around my shoulders, he was hanging all over me. And not for one second. He lingered there for at least thirty seconds each time he did it.

And now, I will never go back there again. I love it there, it is really fun, but. It is not worth it. I thought once our food was served, he would go away. But even while we were eating, he was still all over us. It stopped being entertaining and got really annoying/uncomfortable. I do not know this man. I have no idea what he is thinking. He could be nice, but maybe he is not. I am uncomfortable when people I know touch me like that, so having a complete stranger do it made me cringe.

Strawberry Fields, Central Park

It was already dark by the time we got to Central Park, but I really wanted to walk through it because I have only been there once and I wanted to see the John Lennon memorial. It was really nice and there were a lot of people jogging, biking and walking in every area. It felt completely safe. However, after I went back to my hotel room and turned on the news when Project Runway was over, I found out that a woman was just attacked there recently. Had I known that prior, I probably would have been a bit apprehensive about going at night.

Inglot billboard

The city is ready for Halloween! I was so excited.

A new view of Ellen's.

It was not the worst day I have ever spent in the city, but it was very somber to start off with and Jekyll and Hyde pushed me over the edge. Hopefully next time will be better.

New York City

This was originally posted on my other blog on October 18, 2010. And I'm just now getting around to moving it here.

These are from the first night when we were on Park Avenue...Before we got lost.

We went to Serendipity for dinner and Frrrozen Hot Chocolate...I was so disappointed. Everything was horrible. It did not live up to the hype.

So after we got lost, we saw this little guy on the street. (We saw several of his older brothers and sisters as well...This was the first time I EVER saw rats in the city.)

The Majestic. Phantom of the Opera was incredible. I was overwhelmed by it. And I know they're two completely different musicals, but I actually loved it more than Legally Blonde. (If you don't know about my obsession with Legally Blonde, then that probably doesn't mean much.)

Walking around Times Square.

The Palace Theater, where Legally Blonde used to be. 

The George M. Cohan statue.

Conan billboard.

Ellen's Stardust Diner.

The Palace again, where the Legally Blonde sign used to be.

Toys R Us!

Chinatown and Little Italy

Times Square, before we left.