Two nights, two bars, two weeks disposable income.

Or rather, another reason why I don't like bars.

I wish I could say that it was all worth it, but really, from a fiscal point of view, I blew through almost $150 in two nights, and only have buzzed memories to show for it. $16 a drink? I sometimes really hate New York.

I mean, $200 would be like my entire food and beer budget for a month (having a beer a day is still expensive in New York, where good sixers are about $12). And I spent that in two days.

Note to self: no more hanging out in bars. I've got a future to save for, so long as inflation doesn't kill the dollar completely.

So, why the hell was I hanging out in bars again? Well, mainly because I'm a sucker for good company, and I had a lot of friends who wanted to hang out in bars. Terrible, I tell you. I'd rather pick up a few sixers from the store, and hit the pad where Iiptsos awaits, and complete control over the music selection to boot.

Then again, I'm considered somewhat anti-social. Though a friend tried to rephrase this anti-social behavior into a different terminology: I need social "naps." Basically, in a crowd, I sensory overload after a period of time, and have to remove myself from the situation. I haven't figured out the exact person-to-square/cubic-foot ratio, but I know when it's been breached.

So, how did I make up for this incredibly stupid spending you ask, all five of you? Well, by managing to finagle insane discounts on airfare! Yes, yours truly managed to get two cross-country roundtrip air tickets at an INSANELY low rate. As in, you would think me a liar. I'm flying my older brother out to NYC for a weekend as a birthday present, and myself out to the Bay to check out schools and a place to live in May. Between the 2 bar nights, and the 2 airplane flights, it's almost a fiscal wash. Almost. JetBlue rocks, except they still overcharge to fly into Sacramento. Bastards on that!

Also, as my time in New York grows short, and the weather improves, I'm starting, alongside my brother here, a project to experience the "new york" scene. So yesterday was the Queens Museum of Art, with a panoramic miniature of all five burroughs of New York. It was awesome. Incidentally, getting in is a voluntary contribution, and their cafeteria actually has really good food that's insanely cheap. Weird that, I'm used to an overcharge to get in, and an overcharge if you want to eat. I gotta hand it to the Museum, they run a nice ship there.

It's at this place, the location of the World's Fair back in the day, now called Flushing Meadows. New York is weird like that - you're in this total urban zone, then suddenly you're in a massive park, and the buildings become a backdrop. I still can't get used to it.

So then brother and I met up with a friend, had some Mexican food on Roosevelt Avenue (no, nothing compared to a mission burrito), then headed to a bar in Brooklyn. Actually, truth be told, Saturday night wasn't as bad as Friday night, whereby I had 3 drinks and 1 plate of food, and spent $80. Ouch.

Anyways, you all get to look forward now to weekly weekend missives of my mighty adventures through NYC, instead of the inane exploits of Chupecabra (though I'll certainly keep you posted on that as well, just for the hell of it).