Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Two months in NYC. Still alive, maybe?

•Work. Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion. 101 concepts a day. All to be shot down. THIS is why you guys get good working in an agency. And also why you lose hope.
•A month in, oops, sorry, going on vaca to Mexico!
•Mexico:
In a nutshell. Troy, Carla, Mike, Shelley, Joel and me. Zihuatenejo (Yes, like in Shawshank Redemption). Cool village next to big touristy Ixtapa. 10 room hotel, with thatched roof and wood doors that open on amazing pool, down the street from ocean. Amazing. Pool, snorkeling, beach, guac and chips for lunch everyday. Margaritas and fish every night. Thanks Marta, the amazing bartender and chef. A little haggling in the village. A little translation and illegal drugs at the doctor's office. A little open mic night at Rick's bar (Thanks Joel.) More to be added about Mexico from the crowd. Anyone? You, too can be famous on my blog!

BACK to NYC to REALITY:
•Movers came a day late after getting an 18 wheeler stuck only 8 blocks from our apartment. 18 wheeler had to be towed. Oops.
•Cell phone doesn't work in my own apartment. (New home #: 718.857.2204) I shiver in the cold and talk fast outside.
•Movers arrive at 7:30 am. Thank god Joel didn't wear my lingerie the night before.
(New address: 154 8th Ave #1R Brookly NY 11215)
•We unpack sans coffee, heroine, cereal, and all the other things normal people do to wake up.
•I rush to work, look busy for 3 hours, then take NJ Transit to Linden, NJ--the official hair on the armpit called Elizabeth, NJ.
(How depressing, a major city named after me and one need not be proud.)
•I arrive in Linden, and pick up our precious Nissan Sentra which has been shipped. It's nice to see an old friend.
•I make it across Staten Island. Nissan makes it across pocked highways. Everything in tact.
FAST FORWARD
•Thanksgiving: Me in Connecticut (Joel in Atlanta, he got to escape): My insane family...Aunt Sandy is reading my aura. Within first 5 minutes of the meal, there's talk of Aryan Samigidian ancestors, how much we need Bush to finish the war he started, homosexuality (nature or nurture), and how Mom thinks I should run for president. Somehow in this diverse gene pool that belongs to me (really?), we have fun.
• Joel and I unpack. To test any relationship, skip the road trip...move together and unpack together. If you can get through this, you can survive anything.
• Joel and I love Park Slope. The park and it's rolling hills will be perfect for sledding and cross country skiing (anyone know where I can get some used ones?) I love the fact that I can go for a quick run before work. We love the restaurants close by on 5th Ave. We love the architecture. Very old, very NY. We love the short skyline, so that all that can be seen is a mix of ancient cathedral towers kissing the tops of the the ancient synagogues, trees and blue sky.
• One drawback for Joel. He feels a bit of a yuppie when he tells people where we live. I'm 31 years old. I'm OK with being a yuppie. Yes, my conflicted activist Portland Amnesty AIDS counselor insides is fighting among the yuppie landscape. Better start volunteering somewhere fast...

TTFN. More later...