Thursday, September 25, 2003

Goodbye and Hello

I am alive. Contrary to popular belief, I have not vanished to some small island with millions of neurotics and assimilated. No possible way that could have happened ; )

It’s ironic how when you don’t have time to write is when you should because there are actually things to write about. Thus, a synopsis of the past 60 days, incidentally one of the most pivotal two months of my life…

July/August
moved out of the Bay/moved into NYC
sold car/bought Metro card
packed/unpacked
said bye to friends/said hello to new ones

Now, it’s September and school is three weeks deep, summer is fading and like the fall tranquility in Central Park (and I use the word “tranquility” selectively in reference to New York City) I, too, feel like I can walk again rather than run, chew not swallow, and finally breathe rather than gasping for some NYC taxi smog-filled air. Just about settled into my new home and school. So, what am I left to do?

Light a cigarette from my $8 pack, sip on a $4.50 cappucino, endure through the humid heat, hop over urine puddles at the Time Square subway station, hop from bar to bar in Greenwich Village, eat in Washington Square Park, rollerblade in Central Park with an ice cream cone, weave through orange cones in the Bronx to get to the best paella in the city, jump back on the 6 train, a.k.a. Carrie Bradshaw's neighborhood, a.k.a. my new home.

And that’s where I’m at. It’s an aged, pre-war, above the neighborhood bar, laundry mat, and nail salon building built out of a shoebox, or at least it’s the same square footage. Okay, I just stretched my arms out and touched wall to wall. Everything is dual purpose: the bed doubles as the couch, table also a desk, bathtub can be used as a guest bed. In spite of tiny apartment and tiny budget I would like to have guests…only from Cali, of course.

Wow, I actually do miss my family and friends. Never had to miss them before, having been raised and schooled in the same area my entire life. When I told family and friends that I would miss them at my farewell, it fell to be true. So, what am I left to do?

Guess I'll have to see...