salience
June 24, 2006
Ask anyone who works in a corporate environment and she will tell you each week feels like a day and suddenly it’s almost July 2006 but she still thinks of herself as being in July of last year in uncomfortable assimilation of post undergraduate graduation. In case I haven’t slipped it in between the lines yet, Shell and I saw Corteo at Randall’s Island Park in early May. She bused it up from DC and even with the vomit inducing detour into Flushing, we somehow made it to the tent in plenty of time to get a good gravel parking spot and people watch before the show. Corteo was great despite our final row seats. The tent itself was pretty small and the band was excellent. As expected, I loved the costumes and acts. So far, Cirque du Soleil is two for two. After flying to Texas for a whole four minutes to see Cynthia matriculate from UTAustin, I packed up my apartment in Levittown and began spackling and sanding my walls. There is no question I left that place cleaner and with stronger construction than when I arrived.
Alex flew in the Wednesday night before my move day of 9 June. Unfortunately he had to fly into Newark airport on a night of torrential downpours in the New York area and his flight had been delayed by hours. The good news is we were up early the next morning to get the UHaul truck and then drive into the city to paint the apartment. It took us a good six hours, with breaks, but we got the toffee orange on the walls and didn’t do too bad a job, although Shell will tell you differently. Yes, I can paint in my rental. Most places you can paint as long as it’s white. Here I can paint any color, as long as it’s back to white before I leave.
Thursday night we loaded the truck, knocked out the AC units (wherein I managed to fall over the corner of the bed as Alex pushed the unit into me from the outside, a la “My Best Friends Wedding,” only with a 5000 BTU unit in my hands) and had everything except details like Sphinx and a fan packed. Friday morning we were in the 10044 by 7:30, a full hour and a half before my scheduled elevator time. With the support of the concierge (yes, I have a concierge!) and building staff, we had everything in the new apartment by 9:30. Alex drove me and the empty UHaul back to Levittown, where we cleaned the old apartment, took out all trash, and managed to NOT get the new bolt I had put in out of the door to replace with the original or put the crap sliding doors back on the tracks which hid the kitchenette. I got my deposit back anyway and with a hug from my landlord and her well wishes, I said goodbye to Long Island. The rest of the weekend was spent unpacking (my boxes and a huge set of dishes and cookware from my aunt and uncle and cousins) and seeing Alex Clark perform stand-up at the Comedy Café. Plus we got to catch up with his novia Natalia. It was like 1661 times all over again, only two years later. No Remy/Nobleh/Kevin. And in a completely different place. It’s amazing how little can change in two years, even though we’d all gone through many changes in our own right. Alex and I had to fight the Puerto Rican Day parade traffic to get back to Newark for his flight to Vegas that Sunday but I managed to find my way back to Roosevelt Island without too many hiccups.
A week after getting used to my new building, sort of, and learning my new schedule being so close to work, Mod18A 2004-5 was reunited in New York City. Anna stayed with Kirstin in Brooklyn, and one by one, Shell, Kelly and Flora all found their ways to Roosevelt Island. We caught up and celebrated Kelly’s birthday a bit late at the Rio Grande downtown. We listened to Rhett Miller in Central Park and had a graffiti full lunch at The Burger Joint in midtown. We ate breakfast at the Coffee Bar in Union Square and walked around NYU and SoHo on one of the hottest days of spring/now summer thus far. We talked life choices and made fun of Shell too much, just like old times. I found an expandable table for the apartment complete with stackable chairs (which has yet to arrive) and am still looking for a dress to wear to a work wedding.
My birthday passed with a fuss this past week. I am lucky to have found a group of work friends I relate to, we’re six or so who get along easily and can laugh at pretty much anything, which helps immensely. Especially in weeks like these past few. They took me out Wednesday night for a four and a half hour excursion and then again Thursday night (after Dave and Jeff got me awkward!stuck in a turnstyle before hopping the 6 train as a joke) for a Cyro Baptista show with his new group Anthropofagia at the Jazz Standard club on 23rd Street. The food was spicy barbeque and the music was great. We sat in the very front in a booth on stage right. We could touch the pianos and Dave even caught an Oud that the bassist knocked down during one of his solos. It is good to live in New York City. Alex sent me a package full of buttons, a Gnarls Barkley/Blink/Brahms cd, and a turquoise and black bracelet crafted by Mrs. Jung. Truly beautiful, her work is seamless y’all.
The twins come to visit me this week. I can’t wait for them to see the apartment (my stuff looks so much better in a new, beautiful place with right angles) and my view at night. The city lights are amazing. I live on the Northern end of the Roosevelt Island, with a Southern view over the East River. On the 12th floor I can see the Chrysler building and the Empire State building. And my kitchen ya’ll. I have a four burner gas range, AN OVEN!, a full size refrigerator, a huge sink (with garbage disposal!), and a dishwasher! Not that I’ll use the dishwasher that often, but how cool! Plus central air and a walk in closet. And a landline! I have a phone jack!
There is no comparison between where I am now and where I was for the past year, my lifestyle is completely different. No more 20 hours commuting, instead I get to work in 20 minutes. The Roosevelt Island bus and the F train have replaced driving to/from the Carle Place station on the Huntington LIRR line and the E train. I still wake up before 5am just out of habit, but I can leave my apartment at 7:30 and get to my desk early. El Sphinx has adjusted nicely. He loves the windows and will often be asleep when I get home in the afternoon sun (I get home when it’s still light outside now!). It will be interesting to see how he reacts to Carmelita’s new gato, Joey, a male kitten. She wants to bring him up here so we’ll see how that goes. Pictures soon to come ya’ll, my camera’s battery needs some quality time with a wall outlet before I can get it to cooperate. In its defense, it has been one. Crazy. Month.
Alex flew in the Wednesday night before my move day of 9 June. Unfortunately he had to fly into Newark airport on a night of torrential downpours in the New York area and his flight had been delayed by hours. The good news is we were up early the next morning to get the UHaul truck and then drive into the city to paint the apartment. It took us a good six hours, with breaks, but we got the toffee orange on the walls and didn’t do too bad a job, although Shell will tell you differently. Yes, I can paint in my rental. Most places you can paint as long as it’s white. Here I can paint any color, as long as it’s back to white before I leave.
Thursday night we loaded the truck, knocked out the AC units (wherein I managed to fall over the corner of the bed as Alex pushed the unit into me from the outside, a la “My Best Friends Wedding,” only with a 5000 BTU unit in my hands) and had everything except details like Sphinx and a fan packed. Friday morning we were in the 10044 by 7:30, a full hour and a half before my scheduled elevator time. With the support of the concierge (yes, I have a concierge!) and building staff, we had everything in the new apartment by 9:30. Alex drove me and the empty UHaul back to Levittown, where we cleaned the old apartment, took out all trash, and managed to NOT get the new bolt I had put in out of the door to replace with the original or put the crap sliding doors back on the tracks which hid the kitchenette. I got my deposit back anyway and with a hug from my landlord and her well wishes, I said goodbye to Long Island. The rest of the weekend was spent unpacking (my boxes and a huge set of dishes and cookware from my aunt and uncle and cousins) and seeing Alex Clark perform stand-up at the Comedy Café. Plus we got to catch up with his novia Natalia. It was like 1661 times all over again, only two years later. No Remy/Nobleh/Kevin. And in a completely different place. It’s amazing how little can change in two years, even though we’d all gone through many changes in our own right. Alex and I had to fight the Puerto Rican Day parade traffic to get back to Newark for his flight to Vegas that Sunday but I managed to find my way back to Roosevelt Island without too many hiccups.
A week after getting used to my new building, sort of, and learning my new schedule being so close to work, Mod18A 2004-5 was reunited in New York City. Anna stayed with Kirstin in Brooklyn, and one by one, Shell, Kelly and Flora all found their ways to Roosevelt Island. We caught up and celebrated Kelly’s birthday a bit late at the Rio Grande downtown. We listened to Rhett Miller in Central Park and had a graffiti full lunch at The Burger Joint in midtown. We ate breakfast at the Coffee Bar in Union Square and walked around NYU and SoHo on one of the hottest days of spring/now summer thus far. We talked life choices and made fun of Shell too much, just like old times. I found an expandable table for the apartment complete with stackable chairs (which has yet to arrive) and am still looking for a dress to wear to a work wedding.
My birthday passed with a fuss this past week. I am lucky to have found a group of work friends I relate to, we’re six or so who get along easily and can laugh at pretty much anything, which helps immensely. Especially in weeks like these past few. They took me out Wednesday night for a four and a half hour excursion and then again Thursday night (after Dave and Jeff got me awkward!stuck in a turnstyle before hopping the 6 train as a joke) for a Cyro Baptista show with his new group Anthropofagia at the Jazz Standard club on 23rd Street. The food was spicy barbeque and the music was great. We sat in the very front in a booth on stage right. We could touch the pianos and Dave even caught an Oud that the bassist knocked down during one of his solos. It is good to live in New York City. Alex sent me a package full of buttons, a Gnarls Barkley/Blink/Brahms cd, and a turquoise and black bracelet crafted by Mrs. Jung. Truly beautiful, her work is seamless y’all.
The twins come to visit me this week. I can’t wait for them to see the apartment (my stuff looks so much better in a new, beautiful place with right angles) and my view at night. The city lights are amazing. I live on the Northern end of the Roosevelt Island, with a Southern view over the East River. On the 12th floor I can see the Chrysler building and the Empire State building. And my kitchen ya’ll. I have a four burner gas range, AN OVEN!, a full size refrigerator, a huge sink (with garbage disposal!), and a dishwasher! Not that I’ll use the dishwasher that often, but how cool! Plus central air and a walk in closet. And a landline! I have a phone jack!
There is no comparison between where I am now and where I was for the past year, my lifestyle is completely different. No more 20 hours commuting, instead I get to work in 20 minutes. The Roosevelt Island bus and the F train have replaced driving to/from the Carle Place station on the Huntington LIRR line and the E train. I still wake up before 5am just out of habit, but I can leave my apartment at 7:30 and get to my desk early. El Sphinx has adjusted nicely. He loves the windows and will often be asleep when I get home in the afternoon sun (I get home when it’s still light outside now!). It will be interesting to see how he reacts to Carmelita’s new gato, Joey, a male kitten. She wants to bring him up here so we’ll see how that goes. Pictures soon to come ya’ll, my camera’s battery needs some quality time with a wall outlet before I can get it to cooperate. In its defense, it has been one. Crazy. Month.
lasaliente, 23:07
