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2006年10月18日

Hello New York!

New York is a crazy place. There is so much energy here that it just escapes out of people in words and song. Every day I walk past people talking to themselves or singing the ends of sentences in repeat.

I am staying in an abandoned building in Brooklyn. The bottom four floors look like the lair of a supervillian or the would be laboratory of a mad scientist. The apartment upstairs where I am living is actually quite civilized. I am rooming with an artist on the same track to fame and fortune and he has carved out quite a space in the rear quarter of the top floor.

I bumped into my friend Hung on the flight to New York and the journey went smoothly.

Things have not been quite so smooth since. My agency, Fusion, is no longer located at the address prominently displayed on their web site. Fortunately, I went into town on my first day with my roommate Erhan who was able to redirect me to the real address. Unfortunately, UPS never spoke to Erhan when they delivered my book (or “portfolio” in layman’s terms) to Fusion’s old address.

UPS will refuse to speak with you unless you have a valid tracking number. I suppose there would otherwise be way too many Williams from Calgary sending packages to Fusions in New York for the operator to handle.

I paid about $60 on my first day to get a phone card and phone number with Cingular and it still does not work.

Today I had my hair cut. The agency set up an appointment after confirming that “It will be about $30, is that OK?”. I was pleasantly relieved to hear a reasonable sounding price and excited to be getting a hair cut in New York.

The exceptional building has numerous floors and includes a cafe, a school, a studio, and a breathtaking view of the city. The portraits of supermodels with their Bumble and Bumble cuts reassured me I was in good hands. The haircutting big leagues.

I was offered a seat and a complimentary drink at the bar. I asked for sparkling water and got a San Pellegrino with a slice of lemon in a glass.

The stylist’s assistant fetched me and brought me upstairs to speak with the stylist who I put in touch with the agency so they could discuss the intricate details of my impending coiffe before proceeding. I also had a ‘reference photo’ — an earlier Polaroid of myself — for the stylist to consider.

The assistant took me to the manned coat check where I exchanged my outerwear for a black smock. There was a tip tray stuffed with ones.

So I had my hair sliced and diced, poked and teased, cut and caressed to the backdrop of the New York skyline. I got a little list of recommended ‘product’ to investigate on my way out.

I tentatively approach the till to wait for my $30 bill and consider a reasonable tip for a $30 cut.

William:I just had my hair cut by Dante.
Clerk:You have three products included, complimentary.
W:Great!
C:OK, you're William? What agency are you with?
W:Fusion.
C:We have an arrangement with the agency so there's no charge...
W:[Trying to suppress amazement] Cool.
C:We just ask that you leave a $50 tip for your stylist and a $15 tip for any assistants that worked with you.
W:[Trying to suppress amazement in a different way] Sorry?

After about four confirmations I was satisfied there was no mistake in communication. I felt rather shocked at the jump in price, then felt much better when I considered I had hundreds of dollars worth of service and bottled liquids for only $64. (I only had 4 one dollar bills after the coat check man instead of 5 so I cheated the assistant out of a dollar). Then I felt a little worse thinking of how much food I could have bought for $34. Now I’m rather ambivalent about the whole situation.

So what does a $205 dollar hair cut look like?

Uh... yeah.... well, it was raining cats and dogs out there.

So besides the above nonsense, in the past three days I have:

1. Spotted Nigel Barker


2. Seen a giant pumpkin


3. Bumped into an acquaintance from Milan


4. Met The Sartorialist


5. And eaten rice out of a U.S. style takeaway rice box. You know, like you see on TV in Canada when they (Americans) order Chinese food. Ok, I’ll take a picture next time.

Posted by William at 2006年10月18日 01:24

Comments

Posted by: Dan at 2006年10月18日 06:36

Posted by: Joel at 2006年10月18日 23:15

Posted by: Jason at 2006年10月19日 08:18