PJ and I are off to New York today. We’ll be there until Friday. This is my first trip to the Big Apple, so I’m both looking forward to it and feeling nervous about it — new things and places always make me nervous.
I’ll be taking a break from blogging until the weekend. I hope to have a lot to post about when I get back!
![IMG_8341[1]](https://live.staticflickr.com/8644/27753735444_2ca20d29d0_s.jpg "IMG_8341[1]")
This Gaudy Gilded Stage 
I was just talking about my first trip to NYC in 1996 (I was 26 at the time). I remember being amazed by all the activity, the beautiful and city-evolved people, the scale and the pace, and the deep sense of entanglement with everyone and anyone nearby. I also remember feeling very infantilized by the overwhelming presence of consumer possibility and capital exchange. It seemed as if every square inch of space offered opportunities to buy highly desirable objects and services most of which I couldn’t afford. The difference is that there was no one to ask to buy things for me.
I hope you and PJ have a fantastic trip, which I’m sure you will
Thanks, Johnnie! I can definitely identify with your amazement now that I’ve been there. I found myself quickly tuning out a lot of the consumerism and commercialism. It became visual background noise. Maybe because of this, we didn’t end up buying much while we were there (plus I felt cash poor very quickly!). We had a great time.