Quisquilia: Lib. nov.

(i) Spell it all out: „Watermelon chunks / USA // Watermelon, chunks Great snack for the hot summer ahead. Delicious, mouth-watering. Ingredients: Just Watermelons!!!!! Nothing added, nothing taken off.“ (source: Fairway price tag $4.85 / 1.39 lb)

(ii) Abundance all around. It is too much: strictly speaking of quantities. As if the 2 liters (2.1 Qt) soda bottles weren’t enough or the 8 fl oz (236 ml) of lemon juice, a minimum 500 count of cotton swabs seems excessive even in these parts.

(iii) A dove bravely ruffling her feathers on the fire escape railing outside my window, unmoved by my ever so encroaching curiousity. Even the birds prove tough New Yorkers here.

(iv) In the Time Warner cableverse, somewhere there is always a Law & Order franchise running. 24/7.

(v) What does this tell us about the American psyche and what it is longing for?

God is Kung Fu!

(vi) The Five Points Mission: „Finding God through martial arts“. Really?

(vii) E Houston / Forsyth St (Sara D. Roosevelt Park), late afternoon: A brother with earplugs, smartphone is preaching the gospel, and white middle class America is passing by, rushed, at a distance. In the background kids, playing the game on the basketball court, hazy future deities of sports.

(viii) Rush hour, Times Square, hopping onboard the 3 Express Train, on the local track: a surprise stop at 66th St.

(ix) Two words I, as a non-native speaker, need to teach my Manhattan-bred, Manhattan-native host: cutting board and kitchen knife. Seriously, even a Manhattanite needs such lest cutting carrots proves a chore.