Moving havoc

So I decided to stay in New York City for Labor Day weekend and it turned out that a friend was moving. So as my plans were suddenly vacant, I offered to help. I'm a swell friend, aren't I?

We started Friday night but couldn't get motivated. It was Friday, after all! We're sitting in his room, I brought over supplies (a bottle of vodka, some club soda) and we were contemplating what/how to do aka watching True Blood.

Needless to say we didn't do much but enjoy True Blood and the vodka, and then of course listened to some Justin Bieber. Who can't love that kid? I'll tell you, me.

All of his songs are so materialistic and fluff: baby this and baby that, I'll buy you a diamond ring and the finer things, themes that drive tween girls and gay twinks wild. Also, I'm aware that he is an excellent singer, having seen his YouTube covers of pop songs, but why the heavy hand of AutoTunes!? Just make him sing it til he gets it right! It didn't help that 4 of his songs were in a playlist that only lasted two hours. Needless to say, my friend is stuck in twink mode.

But we had fun, got pretty drunk, and ended up going out. Not much moving got done.

I crashed there and the next day we made a trip to Staples/Manhattan Mini Storage and packed up just about everything in his room and the kitchen/common areas. One of the easy things was that he was keeping the same roommate so we didn't have to divide up the goods, even though most of it was his anyway.

We finished up around 3am - we seriously took our time - and I made the trek back to Brooklyn craving nothing more than a shower and my own bed. I was not staying there as he had wrapped up his bed already and planned on sleeping on the couch. He had hired movers to actually move the stuff Sunday morning, and I figured for my own sanity it'd be best if I stayed home and waited to help him unpack in Queens.

I again set up his kitchen. Only one bowl broke in the move. I consider that a success.

All in all, he seemed happy to have it over with. Our mutual friend Laurence tasked himself and I with keeping him sane through it all. In a text last night, he described what I felt...

"Mission accomplished ;-)"

And to think, I could have gone to Asbury Park instead...

A post-St. Patrick's Day conversation

It's almost like we're grown ups!

me: and in to work before 10pm
on the day after st patrick's day!
this is like...
it's like...
er..
10 am
tom: yay for us!
me: of course i was getting texts from grant from like 3-5am
tom: same here
the concept of 9 to 5 work still eludes him
me: we just had a ridiculous fire drill to inform us of how to react to an envelope chock-ful-o' anthrax
tom: fun!
me: yeah those old epa guys are adorable
tom: why would people be sending emarketer anthrax?
me: corporate sabotage?
I am a very important person, Thomas.
i know terry also loves going to italy and speaks italian
tom: can't you have your assistant winkles open your mail for you?
me: I can
and do.
tom: it's probably him sending you the anthrax
me: bastard... i never even thought of that
tom: behind that innocent iowa facade lurks the sinister soul of a rebellious employee
he's probably putting laxative in your coffee too
me: damnit... the catch-22 of assistants.
they're all greedy little sociopaths underneath. just like in showgirls
tom: haha
showgirls?
i didn't see that reference coming
me: Only the classic picture of the understudy usurping the star!
tom: yes, it is modern day shakespeare
me: i do prefer the vh1 version
with the drawn on bras and panties
tom: well gilt group came through on the swimsuits today, but unfortunately the guys aren't that great
me: boo
me: oh, those vilebrequin shorts are all rehashes
tom: it's going to be swimsuit season soon too!
me: haha
tom: i need to shave my legs!
me: ...eiw

...ten minutes later...

tom: at least i didn't say back

Classy, Tom. Classy.

This aint no lump of coal...

How I came to New York is a bit of a peculiar story… As inevitable as it was I definitely took an odd route. I really do believe that I was meant to live here for at least a good portion of my life, but I was not totally doe eyed about the experience either. I knew that coming to NYC (and staying) would be hard and require a level of determination that I hadn’t experienced previously.

The idea was put into my head that I could survive here, or any other big city, on Christmas day. I was in a bar, drinking with my brother and his best friend. At the end of the table they introduced me to his sister, Steph. Steph was a little different. I could tell immediately. Maybe it was her really cool cell phone, the Razr, which at the time only drug dealers or techies were using back in Lancaster. There was something that I was drawn to but I really doubt it was her cell phone.

She was visiting from New York for Christmas and had brought a friend along but once we started talking we completely ignored everyone else at the table. It was like meeting someone I had known all my life for the first time. It was strange, I was able to open up to her completely. It started because we spoke about music and quickly moved on from there.

Steph, as I have come to find out, has a directness about her that helps to guide others. Which makes sense - she manages musicians for a living, notorious for being misguided and lacking direction of their own.

The conversation changed quickly to what I was doing, what I wanted to be doing, and where I wanted to do it. She spoke of the glory of the big city, the opportunities there in comparison to where we were from. I understood and grasped it immediately. She asked what I was doing wasting my time in Lancaster in that dead end job, working for someone else.

I wasn’t sure myself, and told her as much. She filled my head with ideas, saying that if I went to school in Chicago or NY that she could help get me an internship in music or business, that she saw a smart and determined individual in me, different from a lot of the people that are willing to settle in life. That I wasn’t going to be happy accepting the lot in life that I had placed for myself so far…

Yearly post... about time.

So I finally made it back to this place.

It's odd, I was walking around my neighborhood this evening and passed a cute boy who happened to do a double take as he walked past a pair of women holding hands.

This is Park Slope. Please move on. There are lesbians in the 'hood... just don't feed them.

I have nothing against lesbians, quite the contrary, I enjoy their company very much. I just think it's a funny fascination of most people. Live, girls, live.

Aside from that, a lot has changed since my last post. I finished reading Seven Pillars of Wisdom (months ago) and it was quite satisfying, if a bit long winded. I've also read several other books. I've been dating seriously for the first time. I started a full time job and have managed to keep it. A lot of friendships have developed exceedingly well and I'm more secure than ever. All in all, life is good... but for some reason I can't shake a feeling of stress. There is something within me that thrives on it, holds on to it, and can't let go. I'm not trying to invent stress, but maybe I do invite it. Passively...at least I'm beginning to recognize it, right?

A friend of mine said one of the most profound things today... she was concerned that one of her students was moving on, starting at a new high school and wouldn't have time to continue tutoring. While she was sad that her student of a few years was leaving, she said at the same time that she had to embrace it.

Maybe it was fate's way of telling her to move on, to not use obligations to others as a crutch for not pursuing new and possibly lucrative ambitions.

I admire her steadfastness and positive outlook on life... she is incredibly strong-willed and has what it takes to succeed in the world of writing. You can find her blog here.