Yesterday was not as much of a success as the previous days. It started off pretty well. I headed out to The Bronx, where I made Tino’s Delicatessen my destination. Of course I walked around the neighborhood some too, and I liked what I saw. There were a lot of people out on the streets. I also liked the unique, tall brick residential buildings. My sandwich at the deli was spot on.

After dodging the rain a bit, I made my way to the Upper East Side in Manhattan. There, I visited a ridiculously overpriced cafe called Via Quadronno. I just had a latte and some gelato, both of which were pretty good, and it kept the cost down. I dodged some more rain drops and got on the subway to head to Housing Works Bookstore in Manhattan’s East Village. My purpose for going here was to attend an anarchist meeting. I was sorely disappointed and discouraged that no one showed up for the meeting.

From there, I walked, which was stupid of me because of the rain, to Revival where there was a CouchSurfing event. I met some nice people and I met some bizarre people. But it was fun. I also got a “I Couch NY” shirt, where the couch is a graphic instead of a word – a spoof on the “I Heart NY” shirts. After this I headed back to the place in Brooklyn. I stayed up all night doing laundry, packing my stuff and talking. At about 5:30am I made my way to the bus stop, where I caught a bus to Boston, which is where I am right now. I’m looking forward to my two days here.

I am not in much of a writing mood today so this may be a bit short. But I can always update it later.

I started the day yesterday by bumming around Chinatown for a bit. Nothing too exciting. Then I met up with the Harlem couch surfer for lunch; I feel much better about the situation from the other night even though it still doesn’t make much sense. We had some pretty good Vietnamese food.

He recommended to me that I go to Bluestockings book store, so I trekked over there. I believe I actually fell in love with the book store. My love for it might be equivalent to my love for City Lights. I picked up a few books and a t-shirt for myself and a friend.

After that, I walked back to Chinatown and got a massage. It was the first paid massage I’ve ever had and it was awesome. Only $21 for 31 minutes too. I might go back today.

I then walked over to Greenwich Village in a post-massage daze to meet people for pizza and gelato. Both were tasty and delicious. The normal activity of having a few drinks at a bar followed in unspectacular fashion, but we still had good conversation of course. Back to the Bushwich loft we went to hang out on the rooftop again.

Yesterday was a good day. Today I hope to go somewhere in Brooklyn, maybe a more relaxed day to do some reading. Tonight there is an anarchist meeting I will go to.

Yesterday was a bit more relaxed than day three. As noted previously, I woke up on a couch that was too small for me. Not having a remarkably comfy bed to sink into, I woke up early, at about 9am, considering that I went to sleep at about 6am. The other three people in the apartment slept surprisingly late! Not that I minded. It gave me plenty of time to write on here and Yelp.

Once people were up and about at about 2:30pm, we went across the street to Tasty Thai, which was remarkably lacking in the taste department, at least for my red curry dish. My friend and I then made our way to 5 Pointz, a huge building covered in some excellent graffiti. I took pictures, of course. That was neat but there is only so long you can look at something.

Unfortunately we had our bags with us which was a little bit of a pain, but we forged onward nonetheless. The next stop was Strand Book Store near Union Square. This is a spectacular place with mostly used books but also rare books and discounted new ones. I picked up a book called The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse for 48 cents. The text from the back is as follows:

A boy named Jack sets out to seek his fortune in the big city, but when he finally gets there, it is Toy City, formerly known as Toy Town. There is a serial killer loose upon the streets. One by one, the old, rich nursery rhyme characters are being brutally slaughtered. The Toy City police are getting nowhere. Bill Winkie, Private Eye, has also mysteriously vanished, leaving only his sidekick, Eddie Bear, to take care of business. But Eddie is ready, and when he teams up with Jack, the two set out on an epic adventure, not to mention a lot of heavy drinking, bad behavior, fast car chases, gratuitous sex and violence, bizarre toy fetishism and all-round grossness of a type not normally associated with Toy Town.

It sounds like an enthralling read.

We didn’t browse for as long as I would have liked to, on account of the bags and also the fact that we had to get to our respective sleeping locations. But that didn’t stop us from first dropping by Coffee Bar, which I can’t find a link for, for a couple of drinks and some cheese fries.

Off I went to the Bushwick neighborhood in Brooklyn. I arrived at this spectacular old building that was now being used as housing in the form of lofts. The naked guy was indeed there, but everyone else was clothed. Honestly it didn’t really bother me. He was otherwise a pretty normal guy. After a few hours of rooftop revelry, I went to sleep on a sleeping bag located on the floor. It wasn’t as uncomfortable as I would have imagined, but certainly not that comfortable either! Joining me in the loft were four people that actually lived there and six other couch surfers, if I am counting correctly. I like it here. It is a very festive and communal environment. I’ll be here for the next two nights as well.

Today I am going to probably get lunch with the guy that ditched me in Harlem the other night; I really don’t think he meant to so I won’t hold it against him. And then I want to check out Revolution Books. For dinner I am meeting people in Brooklyn for pizza. After that is open.

I am still having a great time.