Remembering Januaries

As with previous months, the responsibilities of my expanded job position and ups and downs in my personal life have prevented me from blogging as regularly throughout January as I would have liked. Thus, affecting my Year Three in Preview, where "posts of present accounts of being will end with 'a year ago- and two years ago- today' links to the past of becoming until the third year comes full circle and the 'Becoming a New Yorker' blogtale is complete."

So here is a year ago this month and two years ago this month for January:
January 2008
January 2007

"Things I Love" Thursdays - Catching a Cab

I love hopping into a cab after a long day of work or a happy hour with friends when the darknes of night is sprinkled and splattered with the lights of the city. Whenever I'm alone, it always reminds how catching a cab at night makes me feel so "New York".
"Things I Love" Thursdays are inspired by "I Love New York" (BNY, February 14, 2007).

A Year Ago Today: To Quote DrunkBrunch, "La Cena Buena"
Two Years Ago Today: The Classic Cab

There Will Be Scaffolding

Scaffolding builds its way into your life in New York City. Some days you love the shelter it provides from the rain and snow. Other days you despise its distraction from the beauty of many New York streets. And sometimes it reminds you just how beautiful those streets are when you make a right onto Eighth Avenue and wonder what's different.

A Year Ago Today: Comparing Ends
Two Years Ago Today: No post

"Things I Love" Thursdays - 917

I know it's cliche, inane and artificial, but I love my new New York phone number.

I decided today to numerically leave North Carolina behind and joined the 917 area code; I've paid bills, fines and taxes here for three years, and I'm subject to the same jury duty summons risks as any other New Yorker, so why not? And even though I share Carrie Bradshaw's sympathies with keeping sweaters in her stove (I stack shoeboxes in the fireplace in my bedroom), the 917 area code is not extinct.

Of course, I recognize my true identity as a New York Transplant, but there is corny satisfaction in knowing that my family and friends can now reach me at 917-...
"Things I Love" Thursdays are inspired by "I Love New York" (BNY, February 14, 2007).

A Year Ago Today: Endings on Repeat
Two Years Ago Today: Life Decisions

The Official-Unofficial Inauguration Party

Making responsible choices - like not flying back to D.C. yesterday after work on the 7:55pm JetBlue flight for a post-inauguration gala party hosted by Jeffery Wright, to which my best friend was invited, and fly back today - SUCK.

Our plan was for me to return to New York this morning on a 6 o'clock flight out of Dulles. Just in time for me to drag myself into the office in yesterday's little black dress. The only obstacle that stood in our way was car service to the airport directly from the party at 4am. Car service companies were either completely booked, charging $200+ from Georgetown to the surrounding airports or requiring three-hour minimum reservations. And on-call taxi companies were expecting to run on two-hour-plus delays. All options that diminished the welcome surprise of a fairly inexpensive, last-minute, round trip airfare.

Since I had already afforded myself the entire three-day weekend for a last-second trip to D.C. and enjoyed the adrenaline rush of spontaneity on my race to JFK a few days earlier, my best friend and I agreed that a mature, 29-year old, with a middle-class income and upper-class rent, would opt not to return to D.C. less than 24 hours after leaving. I reminded myself to be grateful for the recent inaugural opportunities of which I had been able to take advantage and decided not to pout.

While alleviating the final wisps of disappointment with a bottle of Two Buck Chuck, my roommate and I discussed our New York City Inauguration options: pricey socialite, celebrity and charity balls, neighborhood bar presidential specials, our living room ... And that's when we - and our empty bottles of Two Buck Chuck - devised a most excellent plan. We would have an Official-Unofficial Inauguration Ball in our Hell's Kitchen apartment. We would dress up in evening gowns. We would pop cheap champagne. We'd serve light hor'devours from Food Emporium. We'd watch Barack and Michelle dance their first dance as First Man and First Woman from our own four-floor walk-up. It was brilliant. Never mind the weeks of PR surrounding Obama's Neighborhood Ball, where the use of interactive technology including text messaging and webcasting, would link together attendees at other neighborhood balls across the country. Our idea was incredible. We invited Neighbor Dave. He happened to have a tux. It was like kismet.

Our plan was to dance and drink in our apartment until we were brave enough to venture into the bar downstairs in our formal evening attire. Instead we danced and drank until we fell asleep.

The country awoke this morning in a world where a Black family is making the White House a home. And I woke up remembering that I'm not 19 anymore ... but it sure is a great year to be 29.

Photos to be posted.

A Year Ago Today: The London Post
Two Years Ago Today: Juilliard Sunday Football

Other Inaugural Recollections

The energy in D.C. was electrifying. There is no other way to describe it. I have heard it compared to the positive and uplifting vibe that John F. Kennedy brought to the nation's capitol when he was the President-Elect of the United States. Having just turned 29 on January 18, I cannot recall the emotions of watching JFK being sworn into office ... since I did not yet exist, but I feel a new empathy for that time and the mentality fueled by a country's hope for a historic change.

The personal highlight was joining my best friend in some of her first baby steps onto the Hollywood social scene, but the bigger picture was entirely consumed by narcissistic pleasures. The weekend was made all the more memorable by the droves of Obama supporters swarming about D.C. There was a steady hum that made the hair on the back of your neck stand up. There was a collective realization that we were witnessing the preparation for something extraordinary, a simultaneous moment in time that would have a distinct and simultaneously united view from every angle. Though I regretted not being able to stay through Tuesday for the Inauguration, I was grateful that I got to sense the anticipation and experience the atmosphere first hand.

At an awards brunch on Sunday, I heard Kerri Washington and Hill Harper give incredible politcal activism award acceptance speeches, each poignantly recounting their campaign journeys or their personal interaction with Obama. Washington's message was one of unity, reminding supporters that he is equally an interracial symbol of the evolving face of America as well as a role model for those of color, who are now finding the courage to consider the possibilities. Harper told a beautiful and endearingly witty story reliving the semesters he shared with Obama at Harvard Law School.

After an interesting first night that led from the chaos of car keys (permanently) lost by the valet to oddly-formed new friendships and various jaunts around the capitol to witness the sights, we rounded out the three-day MLK weekend by celebrating my 29th birthday yesterday before today's afternoon flight back to NYC. We had dinner at Marvin and hopped over to an Eric Roberson concert at The Black Cat. Afterward, we went out for drinks with my secret service buddy (off duty from his assignment to Joe Biden) and his fellow agents at J. Paul's in Georgetown. Throughout the course of the evening, my secret service buddy mentioned his admiration for my spontaneity with regard to my last minute trip on one of the most hectic and historic weekends in Washington D.C.'s history.

"You're doing something that very few people really do," he yelled over the bar chatter in J. Paul's. "And you know what it's called?"

He leaned into my ear, "It's called living."

I could not have been given a better compliment on my birthday.

Impromptu In Review

My best friend had called me in New York at 10am to see if I could join her for a few entertainment industry events in Washington D.C. surrounding the Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama. She joked that as an H-List celebrity, she does not often receive much advanced notice for events, and since her husband could not attend at the last minute, she hoped I would join her for the three-day MLK Weekend and pre-inauguration festivities. I was on a plane out of JFK by 3:30 in the afternoon.

The focus and highlight of the weekend was watching my best friend find her place amidst Hollywood minglers. After ten years of watching her perform at WCU, The Juilliard School and in the small but gratifying array of professional stage, TV and film credits to her name, it was incredibly surreal and exciting to join her in this weekend's perks of her budding success and act like I attend stuff like this all the time without also appearing trite and contrived.

If my best friend ever becomes an A-List celebrity, events like these may likely become commonplace routines in her life, which will ultimately lack the electrifying amateur excitement of rookie Hollywood minglers. I can only hope that her talent and love for acting breeds a career that makes her a famous A-Lister - not because of socialite association or shock-valued scandal - but because the skill in her craft touches the spirit, moves the soul and inspires the creativity of art imitating life. Until then, her "H-List" status will ensure that industry events, to which she may be invited - even if her RSVP is not A-List priority - will continue to make us giggle like school girls at the end of the night.

A Year Ago Today: No post
Two Years Ago Today: Becoming 27 in New York City

Not Your Typical Rush Hour

The irony of Twitter per twitter.com/JKrums ...

jkrums: Leaving the city, had a great day. Trying to beat the traffic. Wish me luck! about 1 hour ago from Twittelator

jkrums: http://twitpic.com/135xa - There's a plane in the Hudson. I'm on the ferry going to pick up the people. Crazy. about 1 hour ago from TwitPic

And coincidentally, JKrum's Twitter update, which I followed on Twitter, prompted an interview on MSNBC and a post on another reputable news source: Gawker.com.

I wonder if he helped haul Monique's boss out of U.S. Airways Flight #1549 bound for Charlotte, which experienced a crash landing in the Hudson River just off the shore from my apartment in Hell's Kitchen.

Sometimes the world becomes so small when you're just trying to beat rush hour traffic. And kudos to the pilot for skillfully avoiding my 42nd Street office building and my West 50's abode on his descent.

Thurs, 5:12pm EST Update: And a Facebook friend just uploaded the same photo in his profile. Instant globalization through technology at its best. I bet JKrum had no idea that he would be on MSNBC this afternoon thanks to a TwitPic or that his name would be googled more than "Kim Kardashian's ass" by the end of the workday. Actually I know that for a fact because his updates on Twitter don't indicate that he wondered about either of these things this morning. But I suppose the bigger picture here (no pun intended) is that I bet none of those passengers thought they'd be standing on the wing of a sinking plane in the middle of the Hudson River. And I'll bet my 401(k) and employee stock that they had no idea they'd crash land within a hop, skip and a few breast strokes from my* Midtown apartment.

Thurs, 5:38pm EST Update: The media has labeled the cause of the crash a bird strike. Is this a final attempt by the Bush Administration to embed war-on-terror propaganda in news headlines?

Thurs, 5:54pm EST Update: One of my coworkers just forwarded me an email that was sent by her cousin with JKrum's TwitPic attached and the following note: Coworker is on the ferry on the Hudson right now… took a camera phone pic.

If JKrum had been an anonymous blogger (or twitter-er), I'd now know where he works ... but based on his Twitter updates, Facebook link and his willingness to accept interviews, he's not worried about remaining anonymous or encouraging virtual stalkers. And he's lucky I'm not crazy cause his profile pic is h-o-t. Maybe Janis Krum will become my next news-breaking celebrity crush. Move over, Chris Cuomo. But I'll suppress the urge to add him on Facebook.

Fri, 9:30am EST Update: I overheard another coworker mention that one of her close friends was on the flight bound for Charlotte.

Sat, 11am EST Update: Reporters have been contacting my parents in North Carolina regarding the whereabouts of their neighbor, who was one of the flight attendants on Flight 1549.

Mon, 10:30am EST Update: Monique sent an article written about her boss, who mentions having held the front cabin door open for a flight attendant named Sheila (my parents' next door neighbor in NC) as she worked to assist passengers escape from the sinking airline.

*BNY, author of "Becoming A New Yorker", a blog whose personal explorations and astonding revelations of daily NYC transplant-life receive an astounding 14 page views per day (information courtesy of SiteMeter)

A Year Ago Today: No post
Two Years Ago Today: No post

Run-On Update

Returned to post-vacation reality last Friday, was thinking about aspiring to become a housewife instead of a Corporate New Yorker on Monday, hadn't figured out the whole "housewife-without-being-married" thing on Tuesday, but began to remember why I love working in New York City today.

Life on ...

A Year Ago Today: No post
Two Years Ago Today: No post

Rost in Tlansration

Greetings for a final time from the land of redundant packaging. See photo below.

Today is my last day in [city eradicated] ... not quite my last day in Japan as I have an 8-hour layover in Tokyo tomorrow before my 13-hour flight back to the armpit of the northeast, I mean, Newark. As usual, Terrence was busy most of the day with game film meetings and basketball practice, but I was able to enjoy one of very few sunny days that I've had during my trip. Most days were windy, rainy and snowy. Scattered showers. Lows in the twenties. Between team trips to away games in other cities, I caught up on a lot of much-needed sleep and discovered watch-movies.net over sushi and Japanese pastries.

Terrence has a comfortable, furnished apartment decorated with tatami mats and shoji screens. He doesn't live in the most lavish neighborhood in [town eradicated] , where I was told that the per capita income is higher than any other city in Japan, but his neighborhood has adorable, narrow streets lined with tiny restaurants, cafes, bakeries and shops. Bell Bakery, two blocks from his apartment, has become a daily favorite of mine. They have the best bread and cakes. It's always crowded before noon and the wide variety of baked goods go fast. I am certain that everything is fresh every day because one evening I went in and literally bought the last bag of rolls.

Very few people in [town eradicated] speak English so I have purchased quite a few things that weren't exactly what I thought they were - the outcome of which has had diverse effects. Grocery shopping, for example, is a lot harder than one may think. Imagine walking into a grocery store where none of the packages or cans have labels; that is what it feels like. Or imagine sitting in a restaurant and trying to order what-you-thought-was-chicken based on a faded, blurry photo adjacent some Japanese characters. The experience overall has been a lot of fun - and certainly memorable.

The Japanese also have an amusing disregard for what Americans would accept as proper English spelling and grammar (much to my delight). In the past three weeks, I've noted the following: a candy called Crunky (pronounced Crunchy); a T-shirt with the words: "Love is Brind"; a sign that read: "Wishing Christmas pals to bring you a happy time"; a hardware store called Hard-Off. I wish I could remember some of the other good ones. The variances in spelling and grammar have to do with Japanese pronunciation. R's are pronounced like L's and some L's are pronounced like R's - even though the Japanese don't seem to be able to produce a true R sound. Terrence's fans, for example, were always shouting: "Tellence! Tellence!" And his teammate Rodney has learned to answer to "Law-doh-ney." I also found much delight in this and encourage Tellence to legally change his name.

As I prepare to leave Japan, I am reflecting on the experiences and discoveries that I am logging to memory. One of the greatest lessons I have learned is that, in my 28 years, I have vastly underestimated the value of a heated toilet seat. I am also quite sad to leave behind the posterior shower and bidet spray. If I ever own a home, I fully plan to invest in importing one from Japan.

Until then ... sayonara.


A Year Ago Today: NYC Real Estate: You Do Not Get What You Pay For
Two Years Ago Today: Penmanship Approved

Must ... Stop ... Clicking

Sentences like the second one in this blog post are why I am searching for an A.A. group to help me phase online social networking out of my life. Every time I try to deactivate my Facebook account I choose "This is temporary. I'll be back." when I know the truth is "I spend too much time using Facebook." I deactivated it once for awhile, but before I could truly allow my withdrawal symptoms to subside, I was reactivated and relieved that my profile was indeed "restored in its entirety."

Since I can never get myself to re-click that ominous red deactivation bar with the appropriately selected radio button indicating that I am an addict, I decided that my first step was to stop telling people to "find me on Facebook". Then I changed my privacy settings, made it impossible for more acquaintances to search for me, request me as a friend or invite me to join groups. I couldn't even get myself to delete my adolescent MySpace account so I updated my profile with a note that I would be checking in intermittently so one should email me instead. Email! There's really no way out of the abyss.

Poking, status update stalking, mindless personal photo surfing that subtly fosters my inner narcissist, and other inane applications are just an endless misuse of my time, and I must stop the madness of secluded virtual interaction.

Not that blogging is the most productive use of my time either since my public posts are rarely revolutionary, introspective or inspiring ... not like BNR's. About to go leave comments on other people's blogs instead of further exploring the gorgeous Japanese city in which I am vacationing for only two more days.

A Year Ago Today: Random Act of Kindness
Two Years Ago Today: Please Use All Available Doors ... If You Can Get There Before I Shut 'Em

A Yen For Your Thoughts?

Lack of non-Christian-based Japanese religions aside, I was confused by the message of this sign in a Japanese hotel.


A Year Ago Today: The Moments That Make the Ride
Two Years Ago Today: Brush with Death

"Things I Love" Thursdays - The Crossroads of the World

I'm alone in Terrence's apartment in eastern Japan, listening to Times Square celebrate the New Year on the other side of the world. It's just after two o'clock in the afternoon here. Beyond the shoji screens of the floor-to-ceiling windows, the morning snow that topped the oriental bushes is gone. The space heater is warming my bare feet on the tatami mats. I can't decide what to eat. Terrence has a jam-packed first day of 2009 with game film sessions and basketball practice. My mom and I talked via Skype for her last 30 minutes of 2008 while I watched live streaming video of Times Square on boxingvid.com.

The video is still playing in another web window, and Louis Armstrong's magnetic voice is crooning What a Wonderful World over the horns and screams in Times Square. I know it sounds more savvy as a New Yorker to announce that I hate the tourist trap in the Crossroads of the World, but I don't. I can't say I'm always happy squashed between a family from Minnesota decked out in the latest and greatest tourist gear and a homeless man pushing a shopping cart filled with trash bags of unwashed clothes, a broken coffee maker, a Scooby Doo plastic dining set, and a step ladder, but I do love living within five blocks of Times Square on a narrow street tucked away in Hell's Kitchen with Broadway in my "backyard." I love that magical moments can actually happen outside the gaudy souvenir shops, below the neon lights and oversized billboards. I love that my intimacy with the streets edifies me to avoid the crowds when I want to and provides solace in familiarity.

I imagine this is how a jealous lover would feel, watching someone else dance with the object of their affection. Or maybe it's more envy of not being able to join them because I would gladly allow others to cut in if only for the chance to share that beautiful, dirty, wonderful, grimy, charming, smelly city. New York moments are, after all, best when shared.

Ringing in 2009 in Japan roughly 14 hours ago wasn't too shabby, however. I joined Terrence and his American teammates outside a Japanese castle in the city square, which was haloed in a gorgeous fireworks display at the stroke of midnight. But I still thought of New York.

Last year, I gathered for the 2008 countdown with my New York friends in an apartment on Bleecker Street in the West Village, continued to celebrate at after-hours on the Lower East Side ... and somehow ended up in Jersey.

Three years ago, I brought in 2006 working in a smoky casino in North Carolina holding a tray full of drinks and watching the guests around me jump up and down, blow horns, and kiss and hug each other. It's weird how you can feel completely alone in a sea of people. I quietly consoled myself among the masses with images of what my night could be like a year later somewhere in New York City. It would have to be in Times Square. My next New Year's Eve had to be better. For me.

So for 2007, I found myself again in a sea of people, but for a few brief moments, I felt like I was one with everybody in the new city that I called home. It's so cliché but the sheer, non-alcohol influenced happiness was absolutely surreal. For the first few minutes of 2007 - despite what hardships may follow - we were at peace with ourselves, our lives and the world.

Immediately after "Auld Lang Syne," Frank Sinatra's voice floated over Times Square as confetti drifted in loops and swirls to the jubilant bodies below.

Start spreading the news
I'm leaving today
I want to be a part of it,
New York, New York
These vagabond shoes
Are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it -
New York, New York
I want to wake up in a city that never sleeps
And find I'm king of the hill, top of the heap
These little town blues
Are melting away
I'll make a brand new start of it
In old New York
If I can make it there
I'll make it anywhere
It's up to you,
New York, New York.

I sang along at the top of my lungs, completely off key, and half swaying off beat and half jumping up and down, waving my long, red balloon, and thanking my lucky stars for that first night of '07.


"Things I Love" Thursdays are inspired by "I Love New York" (BNY, February 14, 2007).

A Year Ago Today:
On the Brink of 2000-Great
Two Years Ago Today:
Rockin' New Year's Eve
Phone Photo Ops - First of 2007

Thursday, January 1, 2009
4:10am JST (Japanese Standard Time)

If you are reading this post from any location west of the general geographic alignment of latitude 36°00' N and longitude 138°00' E prior to midnight in your time zone, greetings from the future. It is 2009 here, and we've just returned from celebrating in the streets and bars of "The Land of the Rising Sun."

Wishing the world all the best for the new year!
See the rest of you when you get here.

New Year, Old Me

The end of one year and the start of another often - if not always - brings self-reflection and resolutions. I don't know that I'll sign on the dotted line for any new goals at the stroke of midnight, but I will continue to try to understand who I am and what I want. Here's what I think I know:

The basic themes of the novel Rules for Saying Goodbye generally define me. But I realize something new about myself once or twice a week. I don't seek to constantly reinvent myself, yet I might not ever really know everything about me all at one time because different parts of me change, sometimes frequently; this should probably bother me, but it doesn't.

I don't have a very good awareness of my personal space so I often bump into things. Because of that, I accidentally shaved off the very top of the middle finger on my right hand and permanently disfigured the nailbed when I was five years old, broke my right arm when I was six, and I have a permanent, dime-size, swollen bubble over the third metatarsal on my right foot. There are various scars on my legs, arms and back, and I generally have a few bruises or a twisted ankle at any given time.

I wish I was wittier, but I typically end up bordering on corny and sarcastic. I like to surround myself with people who provoke thought. I'm a sucker for a sense of humor. I don't fall in love easily, I don't get attached easily, and I have to be both of those things if I'm going to get jealous easily; I can probably thank a military brat upbringing for that. I was nominated for the "Most Friendly" Senior Superlative at my second high school (I am still usually nice 10 years later). I like to step back and absorb certain moments so that I can remember the details; I do that most often when my friends are laughing.

I have - not so much a phobia of - but a general repulsion of clumps of dust, hair, and I despise grimy countertops. Despite a few isolated circumstances, I feel like a fairly lucky person - especially considering all of the horrible things that can happen and have happened to others in the world. I'm boycotting diamonds, and not because I don't absolutely adore them and not because of the movie Blood Diamond, Kanye West's song or other trendy political fads, but because of the book When You Ride Alone, You Ride With Bin Laden by Bill Maher.

Moving to New York City three years ago was the best decision I ever made.

When I used to have a kitchen with enough space for a table, I liked to read the back of the cereal box while I ate breakfast. I love Manhattan, Lox cream cheese with my Friday morning bagel ritual, weekend brunches, and Pinot Noir. I have a dark side, and I generally do not trust those who don't. I'm a chain gum chewer; not a nervous habit or to break any addictions - just do. I believe that only time tells all things, and it is the one thing I firmly stand beside and simultaneously fear because it is an undeniable, unpredictable constant that both richly and unremarkably defines all of us.

A few general standards that seem to remain constant about me include the following: I like astronomy (not astrology), chocolate, cultures, horseback riding, maps, national and international political affairs, nutrition, photography, reading (for fun, knowledge or to pass the time), some sports, travel and writing ... and if you've got undiagnosed OCD like me, you'll have noticed that I listed my general interests in alphabetical order. I just do organized shit like that with minimal effort.

I'd like to sit with Stephen Hawking and talk about the mysteries of the universe over red wine and lightly toasted miniature bread roll slices topped with raspberry jam and warm brie cheese. Oh, and I have a girl crush on Ellen DeGeneres.

A Year Ago Today: Again
Two Years Ago Today: Tonight's the Night the World Begins Again

Remembering Decembers

As with previous months, the responsibilities of my expanded job position and my trip to Japan have prevented me from blogging as regularly throughout December as I would have liked. Thus, affecting my Year Three in Preview, where "posts of present accounts of being will end with 'a year ago- and two years ago- today' links to the past of becoming until the third year comes full circle and the 'Becoming a New Yorker' blogtale is complete."

So here is a year ago this month and two years ago this month for December:

December 2007
December 2006

In Japan

I made it to Japan. I arrived in [town eradicated] late Thursday night (Thursday morning in the U.S.) and roughly 24 hours after I left Newark. Friday morning, I rode with Terrence's BJ league basketball team to another Japanese town, which is where I am now - about six hours from his seasonal home. The girlfriend of one of his American teammates is also visiting (from Los Angeles) so it's nice to not be the only girl on the team bus. It was a beautiful drive north along the coast before we looped south around a chain of enormous snow-capped mountains. I do also have to mention that the Japanese coastal tunnel system is quite impressive. I took lots of pictures, of course.

The team had a game yesterday, which they won. Their fans are amazing. I was surprised at how many of them made the six-hour trek to support the team this weekend. You cannot miss them because they were dressed head to toe in fan gear and were waiting at the arena to welcome the team when the bus arrived for Saturday's game. I don't think I have seen anything quite so adorable as watching Japanese fans, dwarfed by the American players, asking for photos and autographs. Some of the children are as tall as Terrence's knees and stand with pen and paper in outstretched arms with their heads cocked so far back that the backs of their necks disappear. After the game, they waited around the bus to take more photos, get hugs and then stood waving until the bus pulled away. I have always thought it to be corny when entertainers and athletes tell their fans that they love them, yet - even though their fans had absolutely no interest in me whatsoever - I felt something like love watching them interact with the team. The sincerity of their admiration and the pride in their smiles were so genuine and warm.

There is another game tomorrow at 2:30pm before we head back. The day after Christmas, we leave for another Japanese city.

A few initial notes on Japan:
- The Japanese definitely have the cleanest genitalia in the world. I find the toilet posterior shower and bidet spray quite refreshing.
- When I arrived, I noticed that random people were wearing surgical masks. The American in me assumed that these random Japanese were phobic of other people's germs or air pollution, but Terrence told me that they wear surgical masks when they have a cold or other contagious ailments because they do not want to infect others - something I could never see happening in the U.S.
- They have squid jerky here. I took a few pictures.

A Year Ago Today:
What I Love About New York
And More
Two Years Ago Today:
Homekeeping
Morning Star Sighting

En Route to Time Out

In approximately four hours, a car to Newark airport will be picking me up for my flight to Japan. I highly recommend 212-333-3333. The next time I will see New York will be in 2009.

Sayonara!

A Year Ago Today: No post
Two Years Ago Today:
Drunk Santa
Chinatown

Phone Photo Op - Close Quarters

Our neighbors rarely remember, take into account, or care that our living room being positioned directly opposite their bedroom means that we can see them.


A Year Ago Today: No post
Two Years Ago Today: Saturday Night Lights

Phone Photo Op - Snow Day

Corporate afternoon view


A Year Ago Today:
Morning-After Text Messages
On Cloud New York
Two Years Ago Today:
I Love Michael Kors

Phone Photo Op - Living Room Picnic

You know you have great friends when your girls' night sleepover in Queens (hence the spacious living room pictured below) opens with a carpet picnic on Mayra's baby blanket with wine, cheese and chocolate.


A Year Ago Today: "Things I Love" Thursdays - Fall Foliage
Two Years Ago Today:
Swirling Diamonds
5pm Pic

Phone Photo Op - NYPD Police Horse Trailer

In case you've never seen one ... I hadn't either.


A Year Ago Today: Choices
Two Years Ago Today: The Morning After

"Things I Love" Thursdays - Evening Views

I love the view of Midtown from my boss's glass office.

"Things I Love" Thursdays are inspired by "I Love New York" (BNY, February 14, 2007).

A Year Ago Today: BNY's Installment of Gawker Stalker
Two Years Ago Today: Corporate Holiday Party

Phone Photo Op - Women in Black Against War

Peaceful protesting on the steps of the New York Public Library


A Year Ago Today: Around the Office
Two Years Ago Today: More Food for Thought

"Things I Love" Thursdays - The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly of It All

Speaking of Christmas trees, the most wonderful - and equally annoying of all - was lit in Rockefeller Center last night. I was trying to run errands in Midtown, four blocks from my apartment, in the Rockefeller Center area when the absolute madness forced me to flash my employee ID at NYPD officers and fib that I had to deliver the contents of my Saks 5th Avenue shopping bag to a photo shoot within the restricted blocks. To my mild surprise, it worked.

Upon completing my errands just before 9 o'clock, I was walking toward Hell's Kitchen on West 51st Street when I heard Beyonce singing from Rockefeller Center. I was too cold, carrying too many bags, and too irritated with the masses to hang around on the crowded streets. But her voice was so beautiful. It echoed along 51st Street, scoring my walk home with Christmas carols, and reminded me that for every one thing I hate about this city, there are 10 things that I love in its celebrity-obsessed, overpriced and tourist-infested streets.

A phone photo op from 5th Avenue as I weaved my way through the slalom of Rockefeller tree-lighting spectators with my "bag for the photoshoot."

When I finally got home, I entered my apartment building, letting the door bang shut behind me, shrouding me from the holiday insanity. Seconds later, as I finished the grueling ascent of the four-floor walk-up, my heart was ironically warmed by more Christmas cheer upon discovering that my roommate and our neighbor had decorated our hallway with strings of lights.
"Things I Love" Thursdays are inspired by "I Love New York" (BNY, February 14, 2007).

A Year Ago Today: No post
Two Years Ago Today:
This Just In
Deflation Countdown
High-end Furnishings

Celebrity Sightings & Overpriced Surroundings

In New York, you're more likely to see NFL stars guest appearing on TV shows while walking from the office or browse $100 Christmas tree ornaments at Saks.




A Year Ago Today: No post
Two Years Ago Today: Bloomingdale's Blues

Phone Photo Ops - Christmas in New York

In case there is any doubt where you are, according to New York City, it's definitely Christmastime.






A Year Ago Today: Men in Macy's
Two Years Ago Today:
Sobieski Sighting
Subway Symphony

Remembering Novembers

As with last month, and under the moderate strain on my time created by my upgraded job responsibilities, I have not bogged as regularly throughout November as I would have liked. Thus, affecting my Year Three in Preview, where "posts of present accounts of being will end with 'a year ago- and two years ago- today' links to the past of becoming until the third year comes full circle and the 'Becoming a New Yorker' blogtale is complete."

So here is a year ago this month and two years ago this month for November:
November 2007
November 2006

Phone Photo Op - Thanksgiving Dominican-Style

Last night, my roommate and I joined friends in Harlem for a Dominican-style Thanksgiving feast. And in the grand tradition of the Dominican timetable, we started drinking at 6pm and eating at 9:30.

It was worth the wait!

A Year Ago Today: Annual Conference
Two Years Ago Today: Bad Day Average

"Things I Love" Thursdays - New York Romances

I love this table at Seeda Thai II on West 50th Street.

"Things I Love" Thursdays are inspired by "I Love New York" (BNY, February 14, 2007).

A Year Ago Today: No post
Two Years Ago Today: No post