Happy Halloween! I hope everyone's having a spooky one.

  I can't remember anything from before the NYC trip but anticipation. The morning of I got up at 3 AM or so to fly out at 7. CHS is a nice but small airport and security is never very pushy there. The flight was alright, but the chicken and spinach wrap that I packed did not sit well when I ate it on the plane, and I imagine I looked quite pale for the rest of the flight. I felt like I was gonna puke. After landing, though, the feeling faded and I was faced with the daunting task of navigating the labyrinth known as JFK Intl' Airport.

  After a bit of bumbling around away from my gate I found my way into the exit strip of Terminal 7 where I realize later I conciously walked past one of my friends. We met for the first time IRL and waited for three of the others to arrive before waiting for our wheelman to pick us up. Lots of waiting and gawking at passer-bys. After that we were driven through animal traffic through NY into NJ to where our AirBnB was. It was a spot very close to a PATH station which would access directly into NYC. Fourth story, badly laid out, fairly cramped, and very amateurishly renovated; I suppose that's AirBnBs for you. The location was the most important thing, close enough to be convenient but far away enough to be economical.

  The trip seems a bit like disjointed events with the blur of menial walking/subway riding between them as I look back upon it. Most notable is when it came time to eat, we ate very well. As a native of a less expensive place, I expected the food to be overpriced, but I found that everything was at or below what I would consider a fair price. And whether we ate at a chain deli near the BnB, a fairly upscale Persian place, or a perfect atmosphere Italian resturaunt(which played The Smiths 4 times on one of our visits), the food blew me away. Hanger steaks, corned beef reubens, soup with pita, pane frattau, slouvaki, French cheesecake with English breakfast tea... it filled a hole.

  Other places of note: Central Park had an Asian man playing an oriental instrument and it made the visit feel like Sleeping Dogs. Saks Fifth is a tasteless construct of white marble and rainbow tinted glass which my friends and I took great pleasure in making fun of, similar to the Ralph Lauren and Polo stores. Trump Tower is very funny in its excessive use of red and pink marble, and the man at the gift shop was not very kind. Chinatown was boring to walk around at night. We went thrifting for a bit in Brookyln and I accquired a lot for very little. I hopped a PATH turnstile because fuck the PATH it only takes Metrocard and I didn't feel like getting a new card at that moment. One of my friends ate shit on his skateboard down The Hill off the Promenade and then we went to a skatepark in downtown Brookyln.

  It was a fantastic trip. I met my friends, one of which I've known for around a decade, probably more, and others I've known in excess of 5 years. They're pretty much the same in person as they are online, which is to say they're a great bunch. As for New York City, it's a place where it seems everyone is rushing unless they're sitting. It's got a lot of idiots, smells, money, and good food. The absolute nasal assault walking through Manhattan was insane, one second it wouldn't smell like much, then it smells like shit, then it smells like whatever that resturaunt over there is cooking, then it smells like car exhaust. The metro would have been easy to understand if I put any effort into learning it, but there's so many places it could(and won't, because of zoning laws) be improved.

  Getting through JFK security was stupid. We got transfered into a lower level than the rest of the people to go through security for seemingly no reason. They had people in there yelling like it's boot camp or something. Very annoying! My friend and I got through alright though. Ironically, it was the same friend I met up with first when I landed that I said my final goodbye to as I got on my flight back. Getting back, I got pretty upset as everything it felt nice to be away from got dropped on my head on the ride back, but I just had to get used to it again.

  Thankfully, not but 2 days later, my dad, brother, and I went to the Costal Carolina Fair and had a great time. We didn't go on any rides because we only had a few hours until the concert my dad was there for. I don't think I could have rode anything after having a big fat gyro, anyways. We watched some acts including Lady Houdini and Johnathon Wood with his raptor birds. I didn't expect to enjoy the concert but I really did! The band playing was Lit, known for a few rock hits in the 90s and 00s. They played those hits, some of their newer songs, and Let's Go by The Cars. It was awesome, and my first concert ever. I stood pretty much the whole time and my throat hurt afterwards from cheering. After that we got some cheese curds and elephant ears, finishing up right before the fair closed for the night.

  I've been settling back into it since NYC, trying to get back into my routines and working on some projects. Need to take pictures of stuff, have quite a backlog. Hopefully you'll see them next update.