Thing of the Day: Taxis

Things I dislike: cab drivers who do not have change for really small bills. What the f? How can a cab driver, a person who by profession picks you up, drives you to a location, accepts your payment, and does virtually nothing else (except perhaps the rare breed of excellent cab driver friend--that which consoles you when you are intoxicated and sad, tells you stories of their homeland, blasts pop music and allows you to smoke out the window while encouraging you to find Jesus), not have change for a FIVE dollar bill? This morning, I hopped into my usual Allied Cab, prepared with Starbucks and cab cash (for those of you who do not go to Vanderbilt--cab cash: a genius Vanderbilt University invention that allows you to charge multi-colored Monopoly money to your student account and then pay cabs with this "money") to go to my internship. $6.90 later, I arrive at my destination, hand the driver two cab cash fives, and ask for two dollars back. To which he responds, "Oh, no, I do not have change." SIR. Are you joking. How is it possible for you not to have TWO DOLLARS in change? I may be gullible and impatient, but I was not about to let the scheming no-change driver keep my ten dollars. So I sat at the corner for at least a full minute, scooping dollar bills, quarters, and even dimes out of my purse. I would have considered this a low point had I not found a twenty dollar bill neatly stuffed behind my ID card in my Blackberry case (on this note, I think I am going to start hiding monetary surprises in all of my belongings for such low-point situations). I paid the man, got out, and am now left with a sense of disappointment in Nashville cabbies, impressment (word?) with the amount of money I found in my purse/pockets/Blackberry case, and reminiscent of cab rides past.

So, despite the fact that I love and miss my subway commute and will always be a huge and devoted fan of public transportation, a list of my favorite cab experiences to date. In no particular order.

-Last week, on my way back to campus from my internship, an Allied Cab driver asked me if my weekend plans included church. When I explained to him that I was Jewish, he enquired politely whether Jewish people a)go to church, and b)believe in Jesus Christ our Saviour. My answer of "no" really didn't strike a pleasant chord with this man, who then turned abruptly and demanded I explain how I think we all came to be in the first place and do I believe in anything and don't Jews go to "Jew Church?" After five minutes of explaining/arguing the Big Bang theory in broken English, he accepted my cab cash, hugged me, and encouraged me to find God as soon as possible. Then he gave me his card.

-This summer, en route to meet a friend for cheese fries at 3am, I got into a yellow cab and explained to him that I had no money and really high heels, so if there was any way he could just drop me off at Pomme Frites and call it a night, I would really appreciate it and be sure to send good Karma wishes his way. He did. And waited outside while I entered the glorious french fry establishment to make sure that I was okay.

-Last spring in Rome, when my friend Geneva and I took a cab from the airport to our hotel in Campo di Fiori, the cab driver used the hour-long ride as a guided tour to the city, taking us past all the major monuments in the city and explaining their origins, history, and key details. He then dropped us off at our hotel and recommended a restaurant on the corner that served giant glasses of boxed wine with massive portions of pasta for 8Euro per pasta/wine dish. I believe we got two each. And then free tequila shots which Geneva's friends requested in Spanish, because "they don't really care what language you speak if you're pretty."

-Not a single experience but does anyone remember the Disco Cab? It used to drive around campus freshman and sophomore year decked out in strobe lights, Mardi Gras beads, and surround sound blasting the lastest hits and allowing you to cram as many people as you wish into it's comfy leather seats. I believe our record was 14 girls in two rows of seats, with two crammed into the front, loudly singing/screaming "I'm bossyyyyyyy" while en route to Bar Car. Ugh, on that note, does anyone remember Bar Car?!

-Last winter in Copenhagen, when a cab driver allowed me to not only stop for a gyro (oh, the pre-vegetarianism days of smoked meats, assorted sausages, prosciutto by the slice, greasy fried chicken and onion-ring smothered steaks...despite almost taking a bite out of a tailgate hotdog this weekend, I have held out for almost four months now and feel great about it), but proceeded to let me eat said gyro in the front seat while discussing the Danish system of socialism, universal healthcare, and free education and its' many benefits over the American system. He was a really young and attractive cab driver (due to the Danish system of socialism, 20-somethings often hold jobs they never would in the United States), and I gave him my Danish phone number. I'd like to think that I gave him the wrong number, or perhaps he was just playing me like a fool, but I never heard from Sven(?) again.

-The time in high school where my best friend Rachel and I sat in the backseat and dangled our feet out of opposite windows while our driver stopped at every red light to pray over the wheel--upon third or fourth prayer we realized that in addition to being a religious fanatic, our cabbie had NO FINGERS on one hand. I miss high school.

Off to a delicious lunch at Cantina Laredo with the roommate. We will be driving ourselves, thank you very much.

Thing of the Day: Nashville

Yo yo yo. Things have been hectic to say the least. I got to Nashville a little over a week ago and it already feels like I not only never left for the summer but also spent spring semester here rather than travelling around Europe. A very wise away message once told me "Its funny how things change--even funnier how they stay the same," and that's definitely how I feel about returning to Vanderbilt.

We've had an amazing first week back, from the 15 hour road trip down, to reuniting with all my favorite Nashville eateries (Sunset Grill changed their dinner menu! Summer salad, anyone? Seafood PLATTER? Artisinal cheese assortment?!? Also the waitress who has worked there for the past 3 years and served me copious quantities of 50% off Pinot Grigio asked me for my I.D last night and upon seeing it very happily exclaimed "You're actually legal! Happy birthday--I can serve you with a clear conscience now...just kidding, I never cared") to exploring downtown Nashville (The following pictures are from the Music City Beer and BBQ Festival yesterday--beer in plastic bottles, roasted corn and sweet potato fries,excellent Nashtrash people watching (favorites included baby with beer bottle and man who offered us sweet tea flavored whiskey and barbecue to hang out by his tent and "make him look good") and fine country music) to our final year of dormitory living (Question: what do you get when you add 6 sorority girls and thousands of dollars spent at Target? Answer: veryyy brightly colored chaos).

Living with 5 of my good friends has actually proved really excellent, and the apartmentmates have already implemented several senior year rules. On Sundays, we take turns cooking family dinners and on Tuesdays, we plan on exploring a new Nashville restaurant that we haven't been to. We've really jump-started this program and thus far have been to Rumours Wine and Art Bar (adorable), and Tayst (delectable). Future venues (on color coded post-its at my bedside) include Urban Flats, The Wine Loft and Cantina Loreda in the all-of-a-sudden really cool and trendy Gulch area, Restaurante Zola, 1808 and Firefly Grille in the greater Vandy area, South Street, The Blue Moon Lagoon and Martha's at the Plantation in the "funny Southern food" category and a wide list of "places we kept meaning to try" throughout Nashville. Reviews to follow. Outside of the eating category, various apartmentmates have pledged to do hot yoga, run half marathons, apply to graduate school, ace LSATs/GREs/GMATs, volunteer, go abroad, learn Spanish/piano/photography and develop post-grad life plans. So it should be a very interesting year, to say the least, and I'm psyched. My personal goals for this year:

1. Take the GREs/GMATs. Since I ideally want an MBA but am the sort of person who sent deposits into three colleges and two study abroad programs,will consistently order 2-3 appetizers instead of entrees and told 2 people I would be their prom date in high school, I really can't make the choice to close the door on graduate degrees of other sorts. I know I don't want to go to grad school for at least 3-5 years after graduation, and by the time that rolls around I could be anywhere from the business world in New York, volunteering in China, a homeless surfer in California or practicing at a monastery in India, so I think I should get both tests over with while I still have brain cells and am in a school mindset.

2. Train for a half/ marathon. I am not sure if I want to bike or run, but due to my diet and excercise pattern of "run when I feel like it" and "eat whatever I want," I've never been in really good hot-girl-jogging-in-sports-bra shape and I feel like it'd be nice.

3. Expand this blog. I want to add photographs, post more often, and develop some sort of following that isn't composed entirely of friends who laugh at my rants and rambles.

4. Get a 4.0: This sounds reaaaaally ambitious, but (duh) it's not. I am doing an internship for my major this semester (hi, Universal Music! I am so excited for my first day this week! I even bought an appropriate length dress with SLEEVES) and the internship program consists of one class and one (really really) long paper. I think I can handle it.

5. Develop a hobby that isn't: eating, writing about eating, watching TV, writing about watching TV, drinking, and reading strangers' blogs. Self explanatory. Suggestions, anyone?

6. Have an amazing senior year! It's off to a great start.

Thing of the Day: Fall

Helloooo darlings! I have been the most terrible of internet perusers lately, selfishly Facebook stalking and buying shoes instead of updating the blogosphere. I come back to you wiser (I now know the favorite quotes and interests of about half my middle school) and wealthier (in closet, not wallet), and full of thoughts, observations, and of course, complaints.

Since finishing my internship one week ago, I have spent a considerable amount of time destroying both my skin cells and my liver while lounging by pools and beaches with wines and beers galore. I would love to say I worked out every day and maintained a healthy diet, but the only days I didn't gorge myself on delicious homemade Russian goods and at eateries still holding on to Restaurant Week (yes, capitalized) were those when I was too busy or too hungover to--so alas, I return not only wiser and wealthier but also wider.

Life goes on. In addition to good food, this past week was excellent in terms of entertainment. Belated, I know, but can we talk Mad Men premiere? Don Draper, I want to bear your illegitimate children. Let's play good, bad and ugly:

Good: Don Draper's illegitimate children, my girrrrrrrrrrllll Joan Holloway, skinny and moderately attractive Peggy, the flashback opening scene with Don's prostitute mother, said mother saying "dick" on cable (AMC! Whoaaaa), Salvatore's new badass TV director position, THE CLOTHESSS

Bad: Hello, Betty Draper scenes? Where art thou? Same for Peggy scenes, you can't just show her slimmed down and sexy without any background information. Don--you are having a small child, stop shmoozing waitresses/flight attendants/anything with an orofice, Pete Campbell--nobody feels sorry for you, stop bitching and let me know what you are going to do about your lovechild with P.O?

Ugly: As happy as I am for Salvatore's televized man-love experience, was it really necessary to pair him with a bellhop half his size? I'm impressed with AMC's reach-in-the-pants-scene ballsiness (mild pun intended), but I think Sal could certaintly do better. He's a pretty suave dude.

That being said, I'm happy enough with the premiere. Mad Men, True Blood, Hung, Dexter and Weeds will be good enough to get me through summer/fall TV.Good lord, I really need to take up some new free time activities. Or not.

Other quality entertainment this week included 500 Days of Summer (great), an impromptu Beatles cover band by Central Park (greater), and an amateur freestyle rapper who "spit sick beatz" for an hour non-stop as I soaked in the sun at Brighton Beach (greatest).

15 hour road trip to Nashville in the AM. Expect musings. I have quite possibly had the best summer of my life since those spent at the mountain house and nerd camp (more on nerd camp later. Just go ahead and Google "Center for Talented Youth" and feel free to judge me. Or lament the fact that I have gone from talented youth to "adult of average intelligence"), and for the first time since getting to college I am kind of sad to leave New York City for Cashville, Tennakee. I had a summer of excellent adventures, from exploring new neighborhoods to trying new cuisines to going out way too much to finding myself in situations I had never ever expected to get in. But it was good--great, in fact. At the beginning of the summer I set a goal to try 100 new restaurants/cafes/bars/clubs and can proudly say that as of my departure I am 102 venues fuller and drunker.

Goodbye Northeast. Helloooo Dirtyyyyy South.