Hollarween...
Halloween in New York is usually an amazing experience. This year it falls on a Monday, which means that the weekend is full of parties and party-goers and Monday is the great big awesome parade. I went to a party this Saturday and it was fun to watch all the people dressed up, although I knew only one other person there (besides my boyfriend who came along with me). Some of the more well-done and creative costumes: the absinthe fairy (my friend) the real estate bubble, stock market crash, a pay phone, Indiana Jones, King Tut, a bird of paradise, a samurai, Wilma flintstone, Earl and Randy (from "My name is Earl"), a bannana, an Olsen twin, a run-over prom couple, Christmas trees, and many many more. C and I both went as characters from the movie Sin City. I'm not so fond of the film but I liked the costumes and I spent lots of time making mine. I was Nancy (Jessica Alba) and he was Hardigan (Bruce Willis). It was the first Halloween that I'd had a chance to really do it right, and it rocked! I had lots of fun shopping and gluing and sewing and cutting, etc etc. I did my man's makeup and that was fun too. Here's a pic:

I'm becoming really bad at this... at writing in this blog. I have my roster of excuses but the truth is, if I really want to do something I will make time for it. Maybe this means I don't want to write as much as I think I want to write. Of course, I've never claimed to have a burning desire to write, so this is just a simple extra-curricular. A journal. Nothing big, nothing special. You know what, though? Having a blog allows me to write when I don't otherwise have motivation because I'm posting it here online, and perhaps no one will read it, but that's okay because it's there online anyway.

Blah blah blah.
Here in New York things are getting bleak. Here in the United States things are getting bleak. We've had enough hurricanes to wipe out a small country. Being a large country we're not exactly wiped out, but we are certainly strained. This has been an odd year. I admit I feel pangs of joy when I hear about high-level politicians being indicted or investigated for corruption. It gives me hope. Things are looking a little brighter on that end even if they are darker on the natural-disaster/human aid side.
It's dark in New York. Gloomy. We skipped the best of autumn somehow. Those clear, crisp, orange and flaming red days have been replaced by cold rain, and the leaves haven't even changed in full yet! Now is the time that I seriously consider defecting to the desert: when it's cold, when it's wet, when I'm walking through crowds of people and all I can hear is the deafening roar of traffic. I no longer stroll through town; I can't deal with it. I go straight home, to Carroll Gardens, to my lovely brownstone-and-sycamore-lined streets with tiny businesses and dog-walking residents. Thank god there are trees and plant life in my neighborhood. Thank god it's got more than gray concrete and glass! It's my saving grace. If it wasn't for my neighborhood, I'd be long gone.
Today I had lunch at the Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center. The cafeteria was deep underground, beneath the stage and the rehearsal rooms and production and it had two guard stations where I had to present my Lincoln Center ID. It was amazing down there, in those dark tunnels among hulking upright bass cases and pit-views of the theater. These experiences make me grateful; this is why I came to New York. Times like these. I've had so many "moments" here, so many beautiful moments in so many amazing places and situations that I often wonder why I don't want to continue much longer. Maybe because I want those moments to remain special rather than commonplace. They are already nearly commonplace. I wanted to take this place for granted. That was my whole intention. I wanted to know it like an old relationship. And like an old failed relationship I will remember it fondly, if not ideally, but I won't desire to return. At this point, I'm kind of wanting out. I may not get out, maybe not for a few years, but in the end I will escape. The next journey, the next phase of my life post-NYC will be driven by a completely new set of motivations.

I created this site for my friend John for his birthday. It's funny, check it out if you have time.

Sigh. I would write about all the terrible things that are happening in the world... Hurricanes, Earthquakes, Bombings, etc. etc. but damn, what can I say? I maintain respectful silence.

I certainly felt the terrorist threat on the subways this past Friday. The upside was that there were lots of seats available on the train. Everyone was driving so it was a big pain for commuters. Now there's a controversy: should Bloomberg have warned the city? Was the threat valid enough to scare everyone out of the subways and into their cars? Yes, people! Come on! Think about it: if something did happen, wouldn't we be outraged if we weren't warned? Isn't it better to be prepared? Wouldn't "ordinary citizens" be extra vigilant if they are worried about an attack? Didn't we learn anything from Hurricane Katrina: when in doubt, don't just cross your fingers and hope nothing bad happens.

Today I have the day off for Columbus day. What a joke of a holiday! I suppose I may owe something of my very existence to Columbus' journey to the Americas, but it's still silly that we celebrate white man's tyrrany. Well, it's good to have a day off anyway.

That said, I LOVE mornings like this. Tea, NPR, relative calm. Reminds me of the best parts of my freelancing days: weekdays off. I would head down to the coffeeshop with a book and a sketch pad and some paper. I would read and write and draw for hours in peace. New York is so PACKED on the weekends and the weekdays are so wonderfully calm.

This post is about the trouble with my apartment. I am posting it for two reasons: 1. To vent, and 2. For public record, in the event that something should happen. I will also post pictures later.

My apartment is falling apart. I lament the fact that I still have another 7 months there, because I'm concerned that it won't be standing in another 7 months. There is a large crack in my bedroom wall (water damage). There are large cracks due to water damage in the hallway. The roof leaks to the point of having corroded the ceiling in the hallway. There are mice running around. The super attempted to fill the mouse-holes with foam, but unfortunately there are too many holes to fill and some he is unable (or unwilling) to fill. The mice come out from under the stove and the heater. In the second floor hallway, the ceiling is coming apart and there is water leaking out from underneath the second floor bathroom to the point that there is a very visible wet spot on the carpet in the hall next to the second floor bathroom. As I mentioned before, I had HPD try to fix the leak under my third floor bathroom but it doesn't appear to have done much good. Oh, and there is water that leaks from the roof into the light fixture in my bathroom. You can tell because there are big yellow water stains in the light. (My co-worker has a friend who had the same problem, and the light fixture broke and the hot water scalded her all over her chest and upper body. She sued for 2 million). There was a huge hole in the first floor ceiling where the water from the second floor was leaking, but the super patched the hole without fixing the leak. Other problems: due to standing water we had a mosquito infestation until November last year. We have no fire extinguisher and no peephole in the door. The floor is very slanted as are the walls. The tiles in the bathroom floor are coming out. Mind you, Sean and I take very good care of the place. We are clean and careful. We don't "throw water on the bathroom floor," something our super has accused of us in the past. We don't have parties on the roof.
Grrr... I am angry. Sure I'm poor but do I really deserve to live in this mess? Nah, this isn't one of those "you get what you pay for" situations.

So I made an attempt to see an Opera and I ended up seeing an Opretta, which is fine, but I still need to go see an Opera. Well, I suppose it was a good intro.

I have a sneaking suspicion that J.K. Rowling has manufactured the literary equivalent of crack cocaine and she is peddaling it to children right under our noses. Adults, too. That explains, though, why the movies aren't as popular as the books. At any rate, I suppose it's better for you than crack so nobody's really complaining. There are a few moral high-horses and cultural snobs but otherwise people are okay with her new drug. Sneaky, J.K. That's why you are a billionaire.

I've been dealing with teachers a bit lately and I'm very sad that they must endure this constant meddling. They often seem very upset with the government(s) and administration. I truly feel that in order to improve schools, the faculty needs higher salaries. It's also widely known that schools need better funding. It's all about the money. Where will the money come from, who knows, maybe they can peddle some silly consumer good and turn themselves into a for-profit industry 'cause that's the only way to get any decent funding. I won't go too far with this, though, because I can write about it all day. All I can say is that I'm sad I live in a world where a company that makes hemorroid cream can spend a million dollars on a three-day conference (that features live elephants!) and yet schools cannot afford updated computers. By the way, I know about this hemorroid cream conference because I met a person who helped manage it. We are truly sick.

By the way, I made some awesome rice pilaf the other day. Cooking is fun, and it's a wonderful way to be creative and the results are instantly gratifying. Plus it makes other people happy. I do what I can.