Love and Air Conditioning

Some nice stories from New York Magazine.

for a visitor

some lesser-known new york (good weather) recommendations:

• walk down a major avenue such as madison, fifth, or broadway above 34th listening to flight of the conchords' "fou de fa fa," with gusto.
• eat a bagel with lox
• eat it standing or walking
• go to central park; lazily enjoy people-watching at sheep meadow and toy boat pond. feel concerned at being misinterpreted for pedophile in wanting to take photos of kids with their frenchie model sailboats and crawling on alice in wonderland statue just north of pond.
• a long walk, such as battery park, east river park, across brooklyn bridge (okay not as lesser-known).
• visit a deli that offers way too many ethnic cuisines under one roof. select from the most credible/benign cuisine. often this means diet coke or bagel, usually you want to steer clear of the indian food that's been sitting under lamps for hours.
• newly opened highline in uber-trendy meatpacking district.
• stroll through williamsburg, the LES, or even (gasp) the east village, secretly smirking at over-done hipness.
• have some frozen yogurt, and/or a cupcake. so hot right now.
• sit in bryant park. suck up the beautiful calm in the storm.
  
• see a free outdoor performance, such as shakespeare or concerts in the park/ on the river.
• buy food from a cart. street meat if you are brave.
  
• ride the subway to one of the outer boroughs. stand clear of the closing doors.
• stand in line for a ridiculous length of time at shake shack in madison park, to be rewarded for your patience with delicious burgers or ice-cream based desserts.
• walk through SoHo, residential West Village, and/or billionaires' townhomes around the Met uptown to marvel the lives of others. it's amazing what other people's walls, light fixtures, and ceilings say about them.

the city life

did I write this? transposed from my mind by others-

from the NYT

overheard on broadway

I was walking directly next to a a black guy who was walking up to a group of other young black men, part of the import-export scene on the crowded sidewalks of broadway at twenty-seventh street. Hugging one, in a tone of both intimacy and youthful bravado, he says:

"you gotta get some pussy and stop fighting, man."

truer words... truer words....

twilight zone

Not that it really came out of the blue, but my professional life has turned haywire with a sudden jerky acceleration of a downward cycle of my office. Bad economy combined with a tremendous flux of people and work here put the design office I began working in eight months ago into a spin at pretty much the same time I started. There were maybe two awesome morale-building events the month I started at this fancy-looking penthouse office with a stunning view, and then things started to turn sour.

So here we are eight months later, three rounds of layoffs and twenty-five less people later, and we're starving in the drought. In a couple weeks more than half of us will be on reduced salaries. Not all, and not equitably, which has caused stress. I am lucky enough to be in the first round and have my salary reduced to nearly half... 24 hours. Ouch.

I'm getting resourceful and contacting my firm's offices in other cities in an effort to take control of my own destiny. Normally I'm a bit of a passive individual, but I can't make it long on half pay in Manhattan. I wasn't that flush to begin with, with rent that's half my salary.

I have moments of frustration, but I maintain that this is all an opportunity. I may rewrite my identity and destiny if the circumstances bring major change. Part of me thinks that I have a lot more in me than I'm using right now; I have the potential to be a modern renaissance girl if I ever develop the gumption and plan to try it. Writing, art, craft, botany, community service, education, and environmental awareness are all things I'm pretty passionate about and could love working more on if the opportunity arose.

If it all comes down to it, I still love Seattle. Going back at the end of the summer would feel like the experience was brought to a premature end, but it's been pretty great as it is.

One should love and embrace what they've had for what it was, what one has currently for what it is and may become, and anticipate all that one may have in the future. It makes this unsure period kind of exhilarating. Mystery writing, museum-guiding, city-blogging, garden-designing me, here I come...

swept away

Been awhile... the hubub of spring and warmer temperatures has engulfed me and the city in a fog of busy-ness. Not to mention working a lot, but that's another story itself.

Shedding our shrouds of dark wool and down, the true seasonality of New York is fun. Spring is like waking from hibernation. We lose the leggings and stockings and find hems creeping and shoulders bare. Boots give way to the strappy sandal of the moment and the plumage of bright fabrics and patterns emerge. We dive deep into spring fever in a matter of a week or two when the temperature breaks.

Spring fever... it's everywhere. Eyes in the subway, glances over happy hour drinks, walking arm in arm beneath the street trees. The East Coast is a little more traditional in relation to the genders- men will more openly check women out here, and if you find yourself in a more working-class neighborhood, a girl on her own or among other ladies is likely to be addressed in terms relating to her appearance, in coos or whistles if not shouts. Doors are held. Older men smile at you as if to say, "oh, if I was younger..."

I found myself in Spanish Harlem yesterday on my way to the Museum of New York City and it was like being in a stereotype of NYC from another era- thick with people socializing on the streets; men in groups on the corners almost territorially; conversations sitting on the stoops; and people shouting from the fifth floor windows down to their neighbors across the street; all happening on a per-block basis. Of course I was addressed and watched, but it made me smile.

Feminist that I am, and coming from the more gender-neutral, Scandinavian-esque northwest, I notice this more than some might. But I love it. I won't say I've not been caught up in the spring fever the past couple months. It's fun.