these are the things that i love about our apartment:

1 - every thursday night there are people lined up down the block waiting for the movie theater to open its doors for that week's big release. not only am i up to date on what the big movie is this week, but i can also gauge how well it's going to do by how long the line is.

2 - for the past couple of days, mike and i have been seeing very strange outfits coming down the street. they are clearly costumes, but it's not halloween yet and the costumes are not quite recognizable as anything specific (but you know that a 20-something girl in purple tights, a purple frilly polka dot dress and big circles of blush on her cheeks has got to be wearing a costume; even in new york that is not an acceptable street outfit). this morning i saw two girls in navy sailor suits. at 8 a.m.

for a little while, i felt that i was in one of those movies where the world has gone crazy no one warned me. then mike figured it out today: there is a comics/anime conference at the convention center near our apartment and these are all the attendees.

3 - finally, across the street from us is the manhattan center. we've never quite figured out what goes on there, but it seems to be some pretty important stuff. there are always lines at least a block long outside the front doors - with food carts every 20 feet along the line (which makes me wonder: does the cart at the back of the line make more money (more time to eat before going in) or is it the one at the front (people are hungry from waiting so long and give in)?).

a couple of nights ago, i was walking home and noticed a great to-do over by the manhattan center. lots of black cars with tinted windows, lots of security, cameras, and (most importantly) lots of people on the opposite sidewalk, gawking.

i stopped by a small group and asked what was happening.

"a president," they told me. "from whatever country that flag is from."

"it's from france," i said. "it's probably the french president."

we watched quietly for a moment and they said "i wonder if he's going to come out."

"i wonder if he brought his hot wife," i replied. (seriously! carla bruni!)

"yes," they told me proudly. "she must be here. they must have closed macy's for her so she could shop."

i was thinking about this later and realized that if you asked these people what they thought of the city, they would probably tell you that it was dirty, that the subway sucked, that the people were rude, that they couldn't wait to leave. and still, standing on that corner, they were so proud of their city that they had no doubt that the first lady of france, who lives in paris, would take every opportunity to come to our city to shop.