Stephen Mizell

We returned home from New York City this past Saturday. My brother and I had a great time while we were there in the Big Apple, but we were glad to be home. You don't realize how far you have to walk around in NYC to get from place to place until you're too sore to think about it. The subway can only get you so far.

The travel to NYC was interesting. Our plane was too small to even stand up in and getting from the airport to our hotel took over two hours. We figured the excitement was over when we got to our hotel. We had no clue, though, our room would be taller than it was wide. It had no hot water, no air conditioning, no headboards, and no clock. Lucky for us, we had a beautiful view of an old brick building.

In NYC, everywhere you go smells like BBQ and cigarettes. There is one of those food stands on every corner cooking some greasy treat while everyone walking around is smoking. These were really the only two things that bothered me while hanging out in the big city. Everything else was awesome.

Getting around in NYC is an art. You have to know how to navigate the subways, know how to cross the street efficiently, and know who to not look in the eyes. When we got there, my bro and I walked around like normal tourists, but as the trip progressed, we were as good as the city dwellers. For using the subway, you need to know what "downtown", "uptown", and "express" mean. For crossing the street, watch the people who know what they're doing and follow closely (they'll usually step into the street to get an advantage to cross before the sign says "Walk"). Also, never do a double take on someone you see asking for free subways fares or money. You double take and you're theirs.

Walking the streets is interesting, too. There are thousands of people walking the streets at any given time and the ones who live there walk with a clear purpose. When you walk the streets there, don't worry about the "excuse me", because people don't want it and they won't give it. It's not that they are just rude, it's because it's pointless. Slowing to say "excuse me" causes a ripple effect that can slow down walkers blocks away and make some miss their chance to cross a street. The trick is walking fast, walking hard, and make it seem as though if someone ran into you it wouldn't feel good. Or you could just carry a bell.

We were able to see pretty much everything we wanted to see while there. We saw the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Times Square at day and night, Ground Zero, the Brooklyn Bridge, and Central Park to name just a few. I think my favorites were the Statue of Liberty, Time Square, and the NYC skyline at night. I have a lot of photos I'll upload to Flickr or something very soon.

Back when I was in grade school, my classmates and I would play basketball every recess we had. There were only 17 kids in the class with 7 boys, but we didn't let that stop us. On the blacktop, we always had dumb sayings and cut downs. One of my favorites was calling someone "Family Man." In the real world, a Family Man is guy who takes his family and heads out for that Great American Vacation like Clark Griswold. A Family Man travels, so if you traveled with the ball, you were called the Family Man. Think of six or so 13 year-old guys saying, "Oh, check out the Family Man! Taking his family on vacation!" I guess you had to be there.

Lately, I've been somewhat of a "family man" off the court. I traveled to Louisville last week to hang with friends, and this coming Saturday I'm going to Nashville with friends for a Predators hockey game (thanks to Ashley for inviting me). Wednesday after that trip, I'm going with my little brother to New York City for a few days to check out the sights and sounds of the Big Apple.

What am I going to do there?

1. See the Empire State Building
2. Go down to Chinatown
3. See the Seinfeld diner
4. Take a nap in Central Park
5. Avoid getting mugged
6. Maybe hit up a museum?
7. See the Statue of Liberty
8. See Times Square

There is a ton of other stuff to do there. Anyone out there know of other places to check out? Places to eat? People to meet? I hope Patrick Ewing is out on the town while I'm there.

Yeah, I've graduated already from college, but that doesn't mean I can't take part in Spring Break 2006. Some peeps and I are going to hang out in a cabin on the other side of the Smokies and have some rest and relaxation time, maybe even cook some s'mores. I'm hoping it's not cold so we can frolic in the mountainous regions and enjoy the outdoors rather than us sitting in the cabin the whole vacation while Mother Nature has all the fun.

I've started a new thing now as well, on top of the new old-fashioned journal, I'm now going to try and read a book at least every two weeks. I've never gotten into reading because of where it was on my priority list, so for once in my life I'm going to try and actually stimulate the mind. My brother randomly picked my first book for me at Books-a-Million and it's turned out to be really good so far. It's called Tuesdays with Morrie and I'll let you follow the link to read about it.

To add more to the list of unrelated topics in one post (a no no by Jakob Nielson, #8 on his list), I leave you with this final video of donkey basketball. It is me my senior year in high school playing basketball on donkeys (obviously), and it was lots of fun. Please don't watch the whole thing, as it is 35 minutes of donkeys, but drag the marker to about 17 minutes, 30 seconds to see the greatest shot ever attempted and made on a donkey.