I'm not going to lie -- For a while I was hating this city. You would think after three years of experiencing east coast winters, this Cali girl would be used to it. I'm not. This year, winter did not seem to end until this past weekend. The sun was burning bright and there were parades and more parades. I love a parade but I didn't go to any of them because I am lazy. I should have, because although it's practically the middle of June, today it is (as I type this) stormy and practically snowing outside. After work this past Monday I took a nice long walk from disgusting midtown, all the way down 7th Avenue and through the Village until I stopped in Washington Square Park for five (free) games of chess. That's about a four mile walk, and in those four miles I was able to find sufficient evidence that A) NYC should not be destroyed by martians and B) It's possible to have fun in NYC without any money: * Exploring fruit & vegetable stands (squeezing and smelling fruit is both fun and free, although vendors aren't crazy about that) * People Watching in the following categories: - Dog Walkers who Look Like Their Dogs - People Walking Way Too Many Dogs At Once (funny!) - Ultra tiny/Against Nature & God toy breeds (I want to squish them) I generally hate everything, but must admit in the face of abundant evidence that there is a lot of cool/free 'ish going down this summer.

What am I doing tonight? Professor Thoms' Bar - Horror Flick Tuesdays: Saw/9pm

*free shots of bloody kamikazee anytime that creepy little puppet makes an appearance*

If all else fails, I like to see how many people I can get free games of chess out of in several parks around the city, but if you aren't into chess or don't have an imagination, you can also check out this site: FREENYC.

Updated on a daily basis, FREENYC helps those with tiny budgets and the inability to Google to find fun & free things to do. Example from their site: Tonight is the Museum Mile Festival. It's the one time of year that nine of the country's finest museums, all ones that call Fifth Avenue home, collectively open their doors for free to New Yorkers and visitors for a mile-long block party and visual art celebration. This traffic-free, music and art-filled celebration fills the street and sidewalks of Fifth Avenue from 82nd to 105th street. Over 50,000 visitors attend the festival annually. Click here for map and schedule. _______________ Some FREE/LOW-COST IN NYC Links WIFI SPOTS - 'nuff said. The Broke City Dweller - get answers to your "I'm broke and need/looking for _____" questions Bumble and Bumble - free good haircuts NYC Open Bar Search - Where's all the free booze???!!! Oh, here. I will be randomly blogging about my experiments in cheap/no cost NYC summer fun. TAG: Summer 2007