I'm back from NYC - it was a very nice break. Despite the bus getting delayed due to Pope-related traffic.

I had less of an agenda for the final day I was there - which led to a quick stop at the New York Transit Museum, listening to Beatles songs on my iPod at Strawberry Fields, people watching in Union Square, and drinks with a bunch of my friends from the Israel excursion (I've missed you guys so much!)

A friend of mine pointed me to a site called Muxtape - where you can upload MP3s to make an online mix tape of sorts. Ah, the lost art of the Mix Tape. So I went ahead and posted a Muxtape at msager.muxtape.com.

Finally, many of you still talk about Mike's Rules for Dating Nice Dudes (yet nobody comments here - only in Facebook...). My friend Lola pointed me to another blog post that goes along well with the dating guidelines - The Nerd Handbook from Rands in Reprose.

I checked out Shea Stadium last night, for me the first & only time (unless I come back in the summer which I would say is fairly unlikely due to work load). I can see why the Mets want a new park, though I will observe that there were next to no concession lines, and the team store was stocked full of goodies. Lerners, please take note.

Tonight was Yankees versus Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. I knew I was entering hostile territory, but I did not recognize just how much every stereotype Yankees fans have are true. They are obnoxious, rude, self-important, and needlessly petty. The Mets fans I met at Shea were polite, funny, knowledgeable about baseball, and very good spirited. Sure they made comments about my Nats jersey, but they were kind-hearted. The Yankees fans, on the other hand, were just rude and crass. While it may be true there is not the same level of rivalry between the two teams, I legitimately felt threatened by the Yankees fans for where my Sox jersey while I felt welcome at Shea Stadium. Add in the fact that Yankee Stadium itself is old, and the lines were atrocious - and while it was still an enjoyable evening, it was far less relaxing. Without a doubt, should I ever move to New York - the Mets will be my team. In fact, I will cheer for them gladly should they be playing teams that aren't the Red Sox or the Nationals. I would have pictures, but Flickr is being temperamental.

On the non baseball front, I had lunch today with an old friend from the Kerry campaign - which was absolutely delightful. We then went up to the MoMA, which was quite fun. My favorite modern art museum remains the Tate Modern in London, but the MoMA has a great selection of Rothkos, Duschamps, Picassos, and Pollocks - how can one argue with that?

I also finally went to the Empire State Building - what I thought would be a quick trip up to the top. Sadly, they have you wind through line after line. The observation deck itself was lovely, with great views of NYC. But it was hardly work the headache involved with getting there. Do I REALLY have to go through the damn gift shop just to get to the exit elevators?

I do love the fact that I have been asked for directions while I'm here - I blend in fairly well with the locals, it would seem. And I feel that I have mastered the New York City Subway - a much more difficult task than mastering the Washington Metro. But the Metro is definitely grander, and cleaner. But would I trade that for some Express tracks? Without a doubt.

There's a HBO store on 6th Avenue in Midtown. I dropped in, and sure enough - they had John Adams merch. After my triumphant 5 second performance in the film, I felt I had to pick up a mug. I almost bought a Frak/Battlestar Galactica mug at the NBC store - but I thought that was sillier.

I know, I know - I haven't been updating much. Leaving all ten of you readers vaguely missing something...

I'm heading up to New York for a short vacation - needed to get away to do something relaxing. So I figure that I'd go to Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium while I still had a chance, and both the Nationals and the Red Sox are in the city. Tonight is Mets versus Nationals - should be a fun game. I'm sure I'll be one of the few wearing a Nationals jersey while I'm there. Tomorrow is the Sox game - hopefully I won't get beat up for wearing my Red Sox jersey.

This is my first try at the inter-city buses - thus far I'm fairly impressed - it's comfortable, and we seem to be making decent time. And there's electrical outlets and wifi (obviously). Now if Amtrak could just begin offering interwub on their trains...

I'll try to remember to post some more from the city.

I picked MLB 2k8 over The Show for two reasons - one, my copy of 06 The Show's franchise mode was buggy - contracts wouldn't stick, and there was general weirdness. But more importantly, Pitchfork was involved with picking the music for 2k8 - as any licensed hipster knows, one cannot deny anything with Pitchfork's stamp of approval.

I played 1 full game last night, and had started one before I stopped because I realized I had yet to eat dinner.

The first game, which only lasted 3 innings, contained one very ominous sign - Nick Johnson hit a slap single, and was immediately pulled from the game for spraining his ankle. Doh! As hunger called, I shut off the game and cooked some of my delicious bounty procured earlier in the evening from Trader Joe's.

Next, the actual full game. First impression, Patterson looked pretty good - only gave up one run through 6, but he started to run out of gas. Since it was a one run game, I kept Rauch and Cordero in the pen and put in Wagner - bad move. Wagner proceeded to load the bases. Brought in Rivera, who proceeded to completely cough up the game. But the good news was the Nats hit two homers, both over the left field wall - Nicky J and Lo Duca. Perhaps the Nats homer drought will be over with this new park?

The Park itself didn't look great in the game, but I don't fault them as they had to program this WELL before they could actually see what the real thing looks like. I'm not at all concerned - the new stadium looks wicked pretty on the construction web cam. I can't wait for opening day (and yes, I do have a ticket for it - it pays to have friends who are season ticket holders.)

You see, nice guys operate under a different set of rules than the rest of the male population. Most of the time, there aren’t even nice dudes available on the market as they probably met their soul mate while in college and are off being hyper-successful and living somewhere interesting. You’ve met these people before – you probably got drunk at their wedding.

Mike’s Rules for Finding & Dating Nice Dudes (by Mike, a Nice Dude)

1. When you say “no”, we take you at your word. You see, when you say “no” to a super douche bag, he interprets that as “it’s not no until she’s calling the police.” This is a big part of WHY they’re douche bags. Douche bags hear “no” as “please continue to try to fuck me. Even if I’m very explicit in what I want and do not want.” Nice dudes hear “no” as “Please discontinue your advances.” And what do we do? We respect your wishes, and move on!

2. We might initiate some physical contact, but if you do not reciprocate then we will interpret that as “no”. In the sex ed scene of Monty Python’s Meaning of Life, John Cleese asks his classroom how to start “the vaginal juices”? One child responds, “stimulate the clitoris?” John Cleese indignantly responds, “What about a kiss boy? A simple kiss?” To us, we’re not sure when to lean in for the kiss – we haven’t had a lot of practice with meeting new girls because once we click with someone, we’re not just trying to fuck them for that particular evening. So early in the process, it’s a little awkward. But we’ll put our arm around you. We’ll sit close. We will initiate some small level of physical contact, and wait for you to respond. If you do not respond, that’s not a “keep going”. That’s a “uh oh, perhaps I am making her uncomfortable.” Goto 1.

3. We are not trying to fuck with your head. We are well aware that you are trying to fuck with ours. We understand this is a game, there are rules and protocols and other inane bullshit. But then there will be that totally awesome chick that comes along and ignores those rules and is all like, “Hey! Sup? So you’re cute and like Linux, I’m cute and like Linux – let’s go out for a drink.” And you know what’s going to happen? I’m going to go out for a drink with her!

4. We don’t like to use women, but that doesn’t mean we don’t like to shtup either. No nice guy is above having a one night stand – provided it is understood what it is going into it. As nice guys, when we’re single sex can be a bit of a rarity. As a result, when the opportunity presents itself – we’re probably going to go for it, even if we’re actually interested in dating someone else. Call this a lack of confidence, call this hedging one’s bet, call this pure unadulterated no-strings attached coitus – call it whatever you want, it happens. So if you’re interested in a nice dude, and you play it all traditional and “hard to get”, and are then confused when he goes home with some other chick who clearly he only wants to bed – it’s because you weren’t forthright and he probably hasn’t gotten laid in a while.

5. If you’re not interested – say so. We’re trying to learn these ridiculous rituals that you ladies have put in place that only serve to frustrate and enrage, but we’re not doing a good job of it. From time to time we’ll have the courage to say something to someone ourselves, but we still have that scar from Middle School where we asked out the cute girl & got laughed at. There’s a reason these things are called scars.

In time, I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts to add to this discussion. But here’s a good place to start. And so you know, my friend who wasn’t sure about this before she proceeded to follow the advice above – yeah, she’s TOTALLY smitten with her new boy (as he is with her).

So as I sit first in a hollow aluminum tube with a couple of jets attached to it and then a second hollow aluminum tube that sits on rails, I've been trying to reflect a bit on the last 10 days, I can never seem to sleep on planes anyways – so it seems like a good time to begin the ol' “think-er-ing”. This was definitely a very unique experience – not a normal vacaction. I definitely do feel like I got the break I needed, but I think this spring I may take a long weekend somewhere for a do-nothing kind of vacation.

Quick Thoughts:
Shwarma and Falafel = AWESOME
Goldstar Beer needs to be distributed in the States
Cuban Pork sandwiches may be slightly extra tasty when eaten ironically.
I'm very glad that leash laws exist in the States after I saw a couple of mean dogs corner a Terrier in a Kibbutz. The little dog did escape unharmed.
Restaurant Food > Hotel Food > Airplane Food (duh)
If all Wine needs for Kosher status is to be prepared by Orthos, why the fuck have people been drinking Manishevitz?
Shintzel (Fried Chicken Patties breaded with Sesame Seeds) can be anywhere from ok to fuckin' awful.

Drawn Out Thoughts

Jerusalem is acutally a real place, not just a religious pilgrim desitination. They have roads, malls, shops, bars, hotels, light rail, freeways... And yet, it is the center of so much tension. And one begins to ask, “Is this city really worth all the blood that has been shed for it?”

There were two rounds of goodbyes last night/this morning. First, we said goodbye to the Israelis we'd travelled with and those from our group who were staying longer before we got on the plane. Then goodbye to everyone else when we landed in Newark. Both times it felt very odd – I've just spent an intense 10 days with this group of people, and none of them live in Washington so it's not easy to just go hang out with anyone. The closest people are in Richmond (ironically?) and New York. And oh how many New Yorkers there were. We all said we were going to keep in touch, but I'm truly not sure whom I'll see again, and who's forever left my life. Some people I have no doubt that I will see again. For others? Perhaps Facebook linkage, or perphas not... One thing we were trying to sort out is how to handle the photo sharing situation – something I fully intend to investigate when I get back home. I also intend to do laundry. And take a shower. Oy vey I smell! And soon, I will resume the company of my beloved Poodle. Who is now shorn. I need to brush him more.

Oh and Jeff, I brought you back Bissli. Mmmm...

We went to Jerusalem for a day, and will be returning back there tommorrow before we leave. While there, we checked out the Old City, including the Western Wall. I've been chewing over the whole experience for the last two days, and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. In some senses, Jerusalem seems like a perfectly normal city – highways, streets, etc. It's quite nice. But there's an underlying tension that is definitely abnormal. Perhaps I'll get a better sense of the place once we return.

Tel Aviv is a wonderful place. It instantly felt familiar. I think the best comparision I can make with Tel Aviv is Miami – metropolitan, populated, on the beach, and full of Jews – albeit in Tel Aviv they're more my age then my grandparent's age. It is quite odd to go out to a bar at night, knowing that probably everyone there – from the patrons to the wait staff – are Jewish.

While here I've done some shopping, ate at some good restaurants, and walked along the Mediterranean. The hotel, however, is a shit hole. C'est la vie.

Apparently, one can purchase over 15 drinks, including shots, for under $75 US at Kibbutz bars. I made it a point to buy the first round on new years. There's something inherently gratifying about picking up the tab befo tore people can realize it – and doing it first is a great way to ensure future drinks purchased for you by others. Alcoholic dividends, I suppose (I guess it's not completely al-cohol-truistic.

I am continually struck by the similarities between Israel and California. Warm client, diverse terrain, driving everywhere, McDonalds all over...

Coffee-maker technology has seemed to escape the Israelis – everywher you go, it's instant coffee. With such devotion to the crap, it doesn't surprise me that Starbucks packed up and left.

Admittedly I haven't been going out as much as I would've thought, but that probably has a lot to do with the absence of places to go. Carlsberg Beer is fairly prevalent here – and it is quite good on tap. I shall have to remember to order it more during my next trip to the Brickskeller. I did finally get to try a Goldstar Lager, which was a dark beer. I was quite impressed.

As I type now, we're pulling away from the Galil Mountain Winery. Aside from an over the top, sexually charged, intro video – the wine was quite good. I wasn't too impressed with their Yiron blend – their flagship wine. But they had an excellent Pinot Noir, of which I picked up a few bottles.

One of the absolute best pieces of the trip is the friends I am making. While most of the people here are New Yorkers (which is really feeding a desire to move to NYC), there are at least a few people here with whom I'm fairly certain I will keep close contact. Many of the photos you see of me on here and Flickr were taken by my friend Stacy who is a professional wedding photographer. If you need wedding photos in the NYC area, let me know and I will put you in touch with her. I also know a good one in DC – but I digress.

I knew I had a problem when the Passport control officer looked at me and said, “What happened to your Passport?” Oh. Fuck. “Um...it kinda went through the wash...” It was either that or I sweat profusely like any Jew of Russian descent spending extended periods of time in the Carribean. A few questions in an interrogation area... “Have you ever been to Israel before?” “Do you speak Hebrew?” “How many people in your group?” And then I was cleared. Phew. International incident averted. Shortly thereafter, we were on our way!

It was onward to the Kibbutz Gezer (Carrot) for orientation, and lunch. After, we headed South past Be'er Sheva to Kibbutz...umm...not sure of the name here. I think it's Masahabim-Kaktus, but that's only because that's the SSID of the Wifi.

There's been much group bonding already – which is quite awesome. And then, there have also been COWS!!!

Who wants steak?

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There's something to be said for Amtrak Business Class – quiet, comfortable, fairly empty. I'm currently enroute to Newark to fly to Israel – though this will obviously be posted sometime later when there's internet access.

Train tracks often run through the most rundown parts of a city – the land is the cheapest. Whether the tracks were built because the land was cheap, or the land is cheap because the tracks are there is a question not easily answered. There is a stark contrast between DC and Baltimore in this particular area – there is starting to be a resurgence in the neighborhoods along thet racks in NorthEast DC. Redevelopment at New York Avenue (though Uline Arena remains sadly neglected), the old Hecht warehouse about to be redeveloped... The same cannot be said for the area along the track in Baltimore. Rundown row houses with disheveled cars parked outside, Unkept lawns. Trash strewn carelessly about. Shattered windows in warehouses that clearly haven't been used in over 20 years.

As we ride through, I am reminded of living in Richmond. While my neighborhood was populated and well kept, there were many parts of the city that weren't just boarded up – they were bricked up, and falling down. American ruins. Same in B'more. One asks – what were these neighborhoods like 50 years ago? 100 years ago? Were they alive? Vibrant? Or were they built desolate?

The tune remains familiar as one rides up through Wilmington, Philadelphia, Trenton, and into Newark – decay upon decay, with occasional spots of renewal.

And now I'm writing on the plane itself at approximate 4:40 AM Israel time (22:40 EST).

There's a lot of waiting once I arrive in Newark. Wait to check in. Wait to go through security. Wait to board plane. I begin meeting my fellow travellers – and it becomes abundantly clear that I picked the right trip. Everyone is in their mid 20s – real jobs, real life, etc. The other group that's on our flight is full of...kids. I can't believe I just referred to them as such, but yet... (I felt really old the other day when I called the police on the skateboarders across the street from my apartment building...at 2 am).

The flight itself has been pretty decent. Except that we were automatically ordered the Kosher meal. I, for one, prefer the trayfey goodness of the goyisha meal. C'est la vie. I've made a truly valiant effort to sleep...but at first I was kept up by a “sanctimonious douchebag” a couple rows behind me telling his life story to an old woman sitting next to him. His voice, quiet annoyingly, appeared to share the resonant frequency of my bones – every word felt like it pierced as I tried, in vain, to doze. I tried the iPod – and it only served to have nasally resonance in the background of Sigur Ros. Fortunately, he finally shut up – but by that point, sleep had successfully evaded me.

Several years worth of campaigning and sleepless election days have allowed me some functionality on next to no sleep. I have sworn to myself that while I reserve the right for a nap here or there, I will not SLEEP until it is the right time – even if that means 36 hours straight of being awake. Every moment I sit here makes me wish more and more that I was the kind of person who'd gladly drop a couple k on a plane ticket so that he could sit somewhere that wasn't within 2 centimeters of the seat in front of him. But I'm also tired, so naturally I'm kinda bitchy.

On the pre-trip paperwork, it was requested that someone bring a guitar. I came very close to doing it, but then I decided to eschew being “that guy”. Sadly, nobody brought it and there was a lament at the lack of available musical instrumentation.

That Kosher meal totally didn't fill me up. I have Wasabi Peas in my bag, but sadly – I do not have a beverage with which to wash it down. Curse my taste for exotic snackfoods!!!!