When I am in New York...

In recent years I have developed a certain affinity for New York. I try to get there, in some sort of capacity at least twice per year. It might be my vice. When I am in New York it feels as though anything is possible and this feeling is not duplicated anywhere else and I crave it.

A few weeks ago I went to New York for the weekend to visit my friend, Josh. It's all fresh in my head what about New York is so appealing to me. I was conscious of it all this time & took note.

When I am in New York I am inspired and my mind is moving a million miles per hour with all sorts of ideas of what I could be doing or making or recording & watching. I walk all over leering and jeering. I jump on the subway and watch everyone around me trying to imagine their stories and where they're going and why.

When I am in New York I write down all sorts of lists of things I will do when I get home to Minneapolis: write more, journal more, take more photos, play piano more often....sometimes I follow upon my homecoming, sometimes I don't.

When I am in New York I try to spend at least one day to by myself walking and walking and taking photos and stopping to write here and there. I usually pepper it with dates with old friends. This time I did this while recovering from a weekend of debauchery thus I was a little slower and didn't see as much as I typically do. But I was able to have lunch with my friend, Melissa and see my friend Ted's work and work space for Space Gloves. Yes Space Gloves. Seriously.

When I'm in New York I drink more. I don't think it's because I'm on vacation either. In the middle of the afternoon on a anchored ship on the Hudson or in a piano bar filled with gay men singing show tunes, a drink in hand is supposed to be there.

When I am in New York I make all sorts of new friends. On the subway, at a thrift store, on the street...my most memorable was a few summers ago on the Staten Island Ferry. A life long Jamaica-Queens resident named Vernon & his young granddaughter Davina. We were all in it for the free boat ride. We sat together both ways and had a fantastic time. When we landed back in Manhattan they walked me to my train and hugged me goodbye. He confessed that while he was tempted to exchange contact information to keep in touch he truly felt we would cross paths again. I think of him fondly and kind of look for him every time I'm in New York wondering if our paths will cross again sooner than later.

When I am in New York, I try my hardest to blend in & feel I've succeeded when someone asks me for directions. I feel really accomplished when I can answer and direct them correctly.

When I am in New York I always spend one afternoon in a bookstore. Everyone reads in New York, have you ever noticed this? Everyone and I love that. I find myself picking up books in contemplation to buy that I would never in Minneapolis or anywhere else for that matter.

When I am in New York I feel fashionable. This kind of makes me giggle as New York is filled with people who are switching out their entire wardrobes every season. But just walking down the street whether it's 1st Avenue at 14th or Lenox at 119th I feel very chic and cool...and New York. This is also why I end of with mad blisters. Instead of wearing sneakers I wear Steve Madden flats with no socks and walk miles and miles.

When I am in New York I make a million and one resolutions to myself that someday, yes someday indeed, I will live there. Maybe only for a summer or a winter or a minute, but I will, I will, I will. I am supposed to at some point.

xoxx