Gary's seasonal 9-hour stroll through Manhattan

An absolutely FANTASTIC day...despite miserable late day rain, though I largely avoided it. From 12:30pm till 9:45pm, I walked from 41st Street down to Spring Street, then BACK again. In between, I had lunch with an old college acquaintance I haven't seen in YEARS before lugging her luggage to Penn Station, then Christmas shopped at ENDLESS stores, then savored 2 Blue Moon beers with another friend, then treated myself to McDonald's, and ended my romp, fittingly, at Macy's for MORE holiday gift perusing, before huffing back to NJ. Oh, yes, and I also wound up chatting with an English woman activist and being filmed for her documentary...but more on that in the next blog. I really cannot express what a wonderful time I had. Sure, some slow moving dolts annoyed me, but overall, I was consumed with the holiday spirit. As I've said before, too, I people watch like a sonofabitch, and NYC is the best place to do it. Merely walking the streets was a joy. I was even more polite than usual, saying "excuse me," "thank you," "have a good day," or "have a great holiday" constantly. Then I let a guy who may or may not have been ahead of me order his beer first, even after he said I was there first. I also shrugged off numerous jolts to my back by drunken customers bumping into me in the cramped bar. They said "excuse me" and/or "i'm sorry," mind you, but I wasn't bothered by it in the first place. Dammit, I EVEN had a smile on my face -- honest! -- half the time I walked the streets. It's such a cliche, but I wish people could be this nice to each other all the time...there was definitely a friendliness permeating the island. I also actually walked at something resembling an actual "stroll" a lot...not my usual marathon pace...though it should be noted, I was ALWAYS conscious of moving out of the way of faster walkers, a thought lost on too many. Oh, and the new New York Times building is quite dazzling, I must say. Yeah, this blog has been rather boring...nothing controversial, little profanity, not that funny at all. I'm rather weary after walking for more than 9 hours, and nothing I wrote could match today's NYC experience. You had to be there. You had to be ME. And you're NOT, are you? Another one of those days where I'm beyond grateful to live where I do. You can't beat New York City.