So, I've been in New York for four years now. Looking back, I'd say I'm in my third New York life right now. Just thinking back over the four years, everything's so completely different than I ever would have imagined they'd be. Besides my current career path, or lack thereof, I'm almost scared at how well everything's come together. Don't get me wrong, I got a lot of problems and gripes, but can't really complain. Not least of the pleasant surprises is that I'm living with my lady friend, in just about the best apartment I could realistically imagine living in. Plus, there are several types of cheeses in the fridge, wine in the wine rack for once, and a box of Cookie Crips cereal within my reach. And best of all, though things are good, they aren't so unimaginably good that I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.So... It's been almost two months since any writing, my biggest break from this ever. Can't say I missed it all that much, aside from the odd feeling of nagging guilt brought on by neglecting a once diligently maintained projet. Brief summary of the last two months:
A lot of seeing or hearing from people I hadn't seen in a long time. Saw my brother Galvin for the first time in more than a year. He's been in Japan teaching English. He sends me funny t-shirts. Anyway, most of the time with Galvin was spent reading comic books and playing video games, as well as drinking slushies. The good old days.
Saw Caryn at the Fountains of Wayne show in early July, didn't speak much. Hadn't seen her more than a year. I was actually a little disappointed we didn't get to talk. So a few weeks later I'm at a party that one of Miss Charming Melodee's friends took us to, and I'm standing there totally bored and then I see the familiar widow's peak of Caryn's friend Nate. And then Caryn behind him. So we got to talking, had out our different sides of what had happened, agreed to disagree on a few particularly contentious events, and decided to be friends again. So that was a pleasant surprise. Glad to have her back in the fold.
Shortly after that, I got an email from Rodzilla, who, again, I had not seen or spoken to in over a year. Good things come in threes I guess. Still waiting for the third. Ha. Anyway, she's moved back to New York. I will probably see her to retrieve my old desk, which I have been needing.The Blackout: Just awful. Walked home over the Williamsburg Bridge with James, had a beer at a bar on the other side of the bridge, and then somehow found my way back toward downtown Brooklyn. Total time: three hours. It was just after dusk when I got home. After taking a much-needed shower, the first thing I did was eat all the lox in the fridge. Couldn't let it go bad, could I? Then I sat around getting increasingly creeped out. I only had two candles, one flashlight, and an easily recounted and not easily ignored filmography of every scary movie I'd ever seen. My phone wasn't working, so I turned on the radio to see what the news was. It was completely black, and I with the radio on in the dark I got the eerie feeling of the movie Signs. Not a great film, but it really creeped me out at the time, and certain things still remind me of it. So I quickly turned off the radio. Then, sitting by candlelight by myself, I started to think about the movie The Others, which I had recently watched again. Still, I didn't want to leave my apartment. I thought about going over to Park Slope to see what the gang was up to, but didn't want to brave the streets. Granted, nothing too bad was going on, save for the barrel on fire across the street, but it seemed like a good idea to stay put. Later on I found out that Jed, Jen, Matt, etc. went to a bar in the Slope that hadn't officially opened yet, but was giving away free drinks. Anyway, it was, no lie, about 90 degrees in my apartment. I tried to go to sleep, just hoping I'd fall asleep quickly and wake up with the power back on. Holding a small fan to my face for two hours didn't help at all, nor did the singing or beating of drums outside. Not sure what brought that on. Anyway, after the worst night's sleep of my life, woke up at 8 am to see that the power had been restored seven minutes earlier. I immediatelyran into my bedroom, shut the door, and cranked on the air conditioner. Sweet sweet AC! and slept for a couple more hours. Took the day off like everyone else, met the gang in Prospect Park, and had a nice little day. Miss CM was stuck upstate for all of this, but luckily her parents live not far from her job. Also luckily, brother Geoff happened to be on his way back from Cape Cod and swung by White Plains to pick her up. Otherwise, no telling when she would've made it back.
The week after the blackout, MCM and I took a week off for our vacation. We mostly spent it around the city. The plan was to do all the things we never get a chance to do. Unfortunately, we were thwarted on several occasions buy circumstances beyond our control. We went up to MOMA in Queens, only to find out it was closed on Tuesdays. Then the restaurant we wanted to check out in Park Slope was also closed on Tuesdays. Turns out Tuesday is the new Monday. Who knew. We did manage to take a row boat around the Central Park pond, which was quite the fun time. In fact, the majority of our vacation was spent on or near the water. A trip to the beach was dampened by the many millions of dead krill or whathaveyou in the water. The last few days were spent at Jed's family's lake house in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, where the weather couldn't have been nicer. Spent most of the time jet-skiing, boating, and swimming, and at night we amused ourselves playing board games, and when those wore thin, we just made up games with what was available in the house. Matt and I spent a good while sitting across the room from each other, trying to hit each other with a plastic golf ball. A few in our party found this largely inane and went to bed.
I finished reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay over the past few months as well. Easily the best book I've ever read, as far as scope of story and detail are concerned. But not just that. Just a great read through and through. At more than 630 pages, it's also the biggest book I've ever read, yet found myself wishing it wouldn't end. Garrick gave me this book a year and a half ago, but I'm glad I didn't read it until now. I don't know, it just seemed like the right book at the right time.
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