NYC Observations.

Another day, another step closer to never figuring this city out. I'm eating leftover carrot cake cheesecake for breakfast, sort of a delayed dessert from last night's Texas BBQ. After the atrocious "Texas Embassy" restaurant in London, I expect any Texas-themed eatery to be equally horrendous, but last night's brisket, green bean casserole, corn bread and drink in a mason jar (!) was pretty darn good, if I might say so myself. They even have Blue Bell ice cream shipped up regularly for your $4-a-serving pleasure.

On that subject, I've been somewhat surprised at how reasonable Manhattan seems to be. Minus the ridiculous "big" costs (rent, Metrocards, parking, etc.), the day-to-day costs aren't as inflated as I expected, although my only real experience (and comparison) to "big city living" consisted of not only the most expensive city in the world, but also an exchange rate that halved the value of my dollar. If your first grocery bill doesn't give you a stomach ache, you have no room to complain.

Anyway, here's what I've learned:

• Don't karaoke - the musical theater actors surrounding you will get up on stage next.
• Everyone here works for a cool company - The Onion, Wall Street Journal, Sesame Street, Time Magazine...
• Don't try to find religious books in used book stores - people are either hoarding them or they never bought them in the first place.
• Trader Joe's is the cheaper alternative for groceries - what?!
• Walk around at night - it's cooler, less-crowded and the crazies are even crazier.

Enjoy some pics from yesterday's Central Park visit.