Up the Tree » Books http://upthetree.com swing low Thu, 12 May 2011 22:59:19 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Renewed Writing http://upthetree.com/2011/03/renewed-writing/ http://upthetree.com/2011/03/renewed-writing/#comments Fri, 25 Mar 2011 18:51:17 +0000 Funtime Ben http://upthetree.com/?p=859 Continue reading →]]> Sleepwalk With MeI’ve recently been reading Mike Birbiglia‘s Sleepwalk with Me: and Other Painfully True Stories and really been enjoying it. There have been some full on laugh-out-loud moments and I normally don’t laugh-out-loud while reading — I hate those people. But now I’m one of those people and I have been thinking, I should write more! Why don’t I write more? I have funny stories too?

And so, I have been writing again. It’s taking a lot longer than expected and also longer than it takes to read Mike’s stories, which seems like a ridiculous thing to measure against, but I do. I think oh this is funny, I can do this too! And I start dictating in my mind, which is a terrible habit because my mind never writes anything I tell it down. And then I’m like PERFECT send it to press and my mind goes, sorry I wasn’t writing ANY of that down. I don’t even have hands, what were you expecting? Also ‘send it to press’? Where are we Citizen Kane, the 40s?

I should really fire my mind and get a real assistant. Keep an eye out for some ridiculously embarrassing stories soon.

Update: You should also check out my new bestie Kimmy Gatewood’s blog My Boyfriend Tolerates Me – very funny and has also been inspiring me to write more.

]]> http://upthetree.com/2011/03/renewed-writing/feed/ 2 Not For Tourists Guides Free (as PDFs) http://upthetree.com/2006/06/not-for-tourists-guides-free-as-pdfs/ http://upthetree.com/2006/06/not-for-tourists-guides-free-as-pdfs/#comments Thu, 15 Jun 2006 21:51:58 +0000 Funtime Ben http://www.upthetree.com/2006/06/15/not-for-tourists-guides-free-as-pdfs/ Continue reading →]]> I love my Not For Tourist Guide for New York City that I purchased back in 2003. While I don’t look at it much, it has been invaluable for solving arguments, finding restaurants, and navigating the oddly named streets of Soho that I just never have committed to memory. Problem is, just like with all resource books published, my little guide is starting to show it’s age. Especially in Brooklyn where new restaurants are started and ended faster than that time I rented Big Mama’s House 2 from Netflix [by accident].

Good news for us cheap bastards Not For Tourist’s website provides their maps free of charge as high quality PDFs that you can even print out. No more pixelated MapQuest maps, now you can get a map worthy of any shindig. Especially useful for family (or Music Friends) coming to visit, plan out an itinerary complete with the best Liquor Stores! My family loooooves that feature.

Not For Tourist BoCoCa

Of course this accessible PDF does have one quirk, the icons in the PDFs are a little crazy on the web download for New York, but what do you expect you good for nothing little cheapskate.
Locations available for download right now are:

  • Atlanta
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • Los Angeles
  • New York City
  • New York City: Queens
  • New York City: Brooklyn
  • Philadelphia
  • San Francisco
  • Washington DC

So plan a trip, download your NFT, and act like a local.

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