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Serious Basements

After a tumblr hiatus, I’ve opened a new, all-literary blog at Serious Basements! …continue to check out my haphazardly-spaced posts there!

Tourism at Home

I’m here! I’m really, truly here! The city sure has been fun so far, in part because I’ve been doing lots of vacation-y New York tourist stuff (the park, Natural History Museum, etc.) and because my good friend Ben is in town visiting his brother until Saturday. The past few days have been dedicated to getting into mischief around the city, learning the train lines (LOCAL?! EXPRESS?! LINE CHANGES AFTER 10PM?! Good god), getting my bicycle in tip-top NYC shape, and soaking in my new environment. Also, check out my sweet new writing setup:

                      

I still have some family photos and things to put up, but it’s a process. One of the coolest things about my apartment is that we’re top floor, so we’ve got easy roof access. The weather the past few evenings has been absolutely gorgeous, so my roommates Scott and JT and I went up there to have a couple of beers and revel in our prime South Park Slope real estate. 

As far as leisure goes, there is a TON of low-cost entertainment to be had around here (going to Against Me/Japanther, some movie screenings, gallery stuff, etc. for $free.99 all this coming week). Besides friends and family, the one thing I really miss about Florida so far is regular ol’ grocery stores. Don’t get me wrong, some of the specialty stands, farmer’s markets, and bodegas have neat stuff, but one-stop-food-shops are few and far between here, and things are priced strangely. Par example: Trader Joe’s has awesome cereal for about half the cost you’d find it for at a Publix, but I was hard pressed to find anywhere that simple Kraft American cheese slices (am I disgusting?) didn’t cost your firstborn child. Also, lots of places are cash-only or only take cards on purchases above $10, and why the city would literally force people to be walking around at all times with wads of cash is beyond me.

Speaking of cash, while doing laundry this weekend, I found a ten dollar bill on the sidewalk between the machines and my apartment building. The city’s takin’ care of ya girl. For now, I’ll leave you with the daytime view from up top-

Kundera and Cardboard

The Unbearable Lightness of Being is my fiction selection of the moment. I really can’t believe that I haven’t read Kundera sooner. His style applies a unique philosophical (and dichotomous) vantage to love stories, and some of his characters’ affects invoke the faintest spectral memory of Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza (Love in the Time of Cholera is one of my favorite books, so I suppose I’m biased towards detecting similar elements in other literature). I’m halfway through, and, unless something goes horribly wrong, I predict that this one will land on the favorites shelf.

                   

Tomorrow, my dad and I are embarking on my great migration. I’ve been slowly Tetris-ing my way to a solution that will allow all of the boxes I’ve packed to fit in one carload. It doesn’t look like I’ll have to leave anything essential (read: guitar, record player, paintings, art supplies) behind. I did, however, have to cut back on a good number of books, though they’re mostly some of the undergraduate selections for which I didn’t really care. We’re hoping to make it to around middle or north Georgia tomorrow night… au revoir, Florida!

One Hundred Goodbyes

The past week has mostly been dedicated to getting together with friends - new and old - to celebrate our friendships and to toast their continuation. There have been brunches, nights on the town, last pickup soccer games, dinners, movies and the like, all of which have reminded me how truly lucky I am. Tonight is my last Spokes Council TKR ride as well as my last night in town, so it’s gonna be a good one. Thanks for having my back Orlando.

<3