What matters

-A thank-you note from the family in the Bronx. The one whose daughter you tutored for several months. The one who thought you were so great they called the tutoring company the first day to thank them for bringing you to their family. The one who gave you pizza and ice cream on your last day because they knew those were your favorites. The one whose daughter passed the ELA and have extreme gratitude for you helping her in doing so.

-A compliment from a random stranger that made me smile all the way up to the 4th floor. Thank you, sir. You made my day the most beautiful.

-A strut down Park Avenue in a red dress to make you feel good.

Significance and the City

Is this all as significant as it feels? How do I know beyond both hands clutching my heart as I mention your name?

Are these signs just coincidences? How do I know they are not steering me in a path that ends with you?

Six months? 6 months..

We can leave that there, but don't leave me here.

I need a sign. A grand gesture.

For the record:

Let's just get one thing straight...

you kissed me in that cab, sir.
did you miss my cheek, or were you out for my lips the whole time?
closed, but nonetheless, my 25-block cab ride uptown was positively floaty.
it was the alcohol, yes. yours and mine.
but it was also the underlying attraction, which my friend, is undeniable.

the hamburger was delicious. and so was the 16th floor view overlooking the upper east side.
the drinks, the setting, the company... it was all so... new york.
complainer i am not, for i enjoyed our departing, but you caught me off gaurd..
can't we just forget about the rules?
its ok. i won't tell HR.

Semi-Full Circle

The fact is this thing intimidates me just like this city does sometimes. It's been nearly a year since my move here, and as cliche as it sounds, the time really flew. Maybe thats because at the beginning I was really just trying to figure things out... not that my life is a vision of clarity now, because thats certainly not the case, but my pathway is a bit clearer. It's been a year of changes: losing best friends, loneliness of living miles away, first real job, first new york crush/heartbreak/love(?), first steamy 'balcony scene', my first apartment in the city, first taxi ride with strangers from Israel, my first gay bar (just this past friday night), my first this and my first that.

Jaded I am not, but the city things have become a part of my everyday life. Madison-Park-Lexington-103-96-86-77-68-59-51-42-work. The noises. The smells. A new spot in the park. A bench with great sun outside of Yeshiva. That stoop on E 31st. The findings come everyday if you look. Perhaps that is the joy of this place: nothing can ever be fully discovered.

Here's to uncovering more...

Your Subway has Turkey on Whole Wheat with Lettuce, Tomato, and Extra Cheese

Mine has bootleg DVDs, 5 for $20, a gloves salesman, a foul mouthed drunk man at 96th Street who might just fall into the tracks when the train pulls away and a really bad reputation on the weekends.

Hello Snow.

Right Now for

New York, NY

Light Snow

24 degrees

Feels Like 17 degrees

This is more than LIGHT SNOW! And its still "Fall"...

Though I did not leave the apartment today, I know this is just the beginning of what I am going to face during my first winter in the city. It's Me vs. The Elements out there, with no car to protect me. I'm bound to go down with frostbite and numb limbs.