Oh man... I really do fail.

I wait until 7 at night to post, and then it's THIS? bleh. Breaks from school suck.

You know what rocks, though? The New York City subway system. My dad just pointed out these two little islands under the Verranzano bridge to me today that are made of the dirt that was dug out to make those subway lines. I was impressed.I recently realized that I really do love New York. Yeah, it's got it's setbacks- crime, crazy high rent prices, my mother lives here, etc, but it sure beats living in Providence. I don't say this because I need the fast pace city life with its taxis and Broadway shows and whatnot. In fact, when I first got to Providence I fell in love with the brick sidewalks, the canal running through the center of town, the old houses... it had a much calmer, nicer feel to it. I prefer the small town (yeah, I know, Providence is a big city by RI standards, shut up) feel of things. Then... I lived here a while and I realized that there were about five small, personally owned restaurants and stores and everything else was some chain place selling the same stuff as the next chain place. Frankly, highly processed American food is starting to piss me off.

It's weird, and it freaks me out. When I walk through midtown Manhattan, I'm more likely to run into a few Teriyaki Boys than I am Burger King, Taco Bell, and Pizza Huts combined. Until I came here and started to meet who were used to (and love) that sort of thing, I had never been to an Applebees or Chili's or Cracker Barrel. Why are all of the restaurants here so fancy and polished and lifeless? Even the regular non-corporate ones have that dull tinge that lets you know that it's just like every other place. Where are the little hole-in-the wall places with the stained yellow walls and the best food in the world? Where are the little places that have been handed down from generation to generation of family?

Shouldn't smaller towns have more mom and pop stores? On the rare occasion that we find a grocery store around this place, they're all giant corporation supermarkets- Whole Foods (which I now know to be an evil, horrible place), Shaws, Stop and Shop. It's sterilized. All of it. Why are all of the vegetables in prepackaged bags? I don't want some machine to pick which peppers I buy. Who the hell needs their lettuce cut and Where are all of the little markets with the fruit out front and the odd assortments of food? Ok- I know this one is a more new york thing but.... WHERE ARE THE DELIS??? JESUS. I found one place that's a half hour away that's seedy and wonderful, but THAT'S IT.

Seriously. I'm going to have to find me some immigrants who don't speak English and follow them to wherever they're hiding the good stuff. Maybe I can find some REAL Asian food, maybe even a Vietnamese place.

Also, I miss Greenwich Village, which has an amazing array of tiny shops that are great to browse through. I do not miss Cooper Union. That part of the Village can be demolished for all I care.

P.S. I realize that part of the reason why there are more privately owned niche places in NYC has to do with the fact that there are more people, and that those people are MUCH more diverse and have different needs. There's also something about it that makes it harder for these giant places to do as well here. I don't know what it is. There's this weird lonely little strip mall at Ceasar's Bay, and only one of the stores there has been able to stay open for the entire time that I've known it. Also, Walmart isn't allowed to open shop in New York because it doesn't allow unions and New York has a law saying that you must allow unions.