love, hate. love, hate. love, hate.

manhattan can be a magical place. coming out of the subway at union square to the humming throngs of people, boys on bicycles popping peg-stand reverse manuals, gay cuties giving me the eye and crazies with hats made of shredded newspaper. the urban insanity of it all! this is why i moved to new york.

and then again, there are things not so good. $15 for a margarita?!? ok, it was a great margarita, but still...

i went out on a double date last night, and unfortunately my date and i were the unsuccessful half. i think i might have been suckered into the whole thing. a couple hundred dollars later, i'm pretty sure i should have just gone to dick swizzle's sudden death game show instead.

the highlight of the night was ending up at the rooftop garden of the hotel gansevoort in the meatpacking district. sure, stella was $9 for a half pint. i'd never seen a bottle service menu before, i try and avoid such places, but i've got to say it was a bit of a shock. $200 for a bottle of jack daniels? wow.

regardless of the absurd prices, it had been a long time since i'd had a night-time view of the manhattan skyline. the new moon rose high in the crown of the metropolis. the hudson shimmered. elevated tracks long since abandoned cast shadows across streets yellowed by endless taxis. the empire state and its building shone with the power of a thousand suns.

at that point, who cared if the date had failed? it was gorgeous.

this is the only night shot i could find on google image search -- funny, this was exactly the view we had from our table. i think it's remarkably appropriate, given the blurred insanity that was last night.