Tuesday, March 24, 2009

The Harlem singing man

I have a singing man. I first heard him soon after I moved into my apartment in East Harlem, but somehow I have never blogged about him. This is a massive oversight on my part, which I am now correcting.

Basically there's a guy who walks by my apartment late at night, usually sometime between 10 and midnight, signing along (I assume) to his iPod or whatevz. Apparently he loves current pop music as well as pop music from the 80s and 90s. I've heard him four times now, so it's not like an every night thing, his walking/singing routine, but it's common enough that I like to think of him as my singing man. Here is his playlist so far:

Missing - Everything But The Girl


Cry Me A River - Justin Timberlake


No Scrubs - TLC


Girls Just Want To Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper

Apparently Cyndi doesn't want me to have fun, because she won't let me embed her videos. Mmmmmmbooface.

Anyway, I will update whenever I hear THSM again. Every time I hear him, I am pleasantly reminded of the songs of my childhood slash high school experiences. Speaking of, how UHMAZING is Justin Timberlake? I had never seen that performance, but it just reinforces my undying love for him. Siiiiiiiigh.

In other news, I'm coming home TOMORROW for a long weekend. The South is beckoning, y'all. And I'm making a one-night trip to Oxford Thursday-Friday. I'm not going to lie-I'm really excited. I'm sure I'll go out Thursday night. I got a new dress that I plan on debuting. Mebbe I'll see some uh you bitches out and about.

Until next time.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

New Yorkers aren't assholes

Ha! It's my second post of the day, just in case you suspected my devotion had wavered. It has not. Plus, I had something blogworthy to write about.

As I was walking home from work-->train-->grocery store, I passed an old man on my block, just a few buildings down from mine. I had my headphones in, and as is the norm, I was just looking straight ahead, trying to avoid eye contact. (In New York, this is The Way. It's not because people are rude, it's just The Way it is.) But I could feel this man pause, and I could feel his eyes following me as I walked by. Not in a creepy way, but in a sweet old-man-wants-to-say-hello way. Something inside me stopped me and told me to take out my damn headphones and actually talk to the man. So I did.

He said, "You watching the parade today?" Never the biggest fan of St. Patrick's Day, I said, no, I'm not, and smiled.

He said, "Oh, well you look like you could pass as being Irish. Are you Irish?" I was charmed at this point.

"No, unfortunately, I'm not; not that I know of, anyway," I told him.

He said, "Oh, well you look like a beautiful Irish girl. I mean, you're a beautiful girl, of any nationality." Then he smiled and waved and we said our goodbyes.

It seems that every time I actually stop to talk to someone in New York, they're actually really friendly. True, most guys eyeballing me as I walk by are total creepsters, but this man lives a few buildings down from me and now we sort of know each other. I wish I had gotten his name and all that, but oh well. I'm sure I'll see him again.

Sigh, NYC. Just when I think I might be over you for good, you go and win my heart back. It's true what they say about living in and loving New York: it really is like a relationship. There are ebbs and flows, moments of love and moments of hate. But for those of us who truly love this city, it's an undying love, a marriage. For better or for worse.

Until next time.

Money, home, and some other things

Y'all. I am sorry. Srsly. I remember back in the day when I used to update this blog like every two days or so. It's now been 10 days since my last update. Wtf! I have a couple good excuses, but for the most part I'm just lazy, LBO.

Excuse #1: I started another part-time unpaid internship, my second. I'm blogging in a semi-official capacity now, which is exciting. Please check it out and holla at me. My avatar is, as you may have guessed, Ms. Meg. I have lots of ideas for what I want to do for the site, but I'm not sure I will get to implement them because...

Excuse #2: As some of you saw on fb, I got offered a paying gig with a magazine company. It's still just an internship, and it's only hourly with no benefits BUT it's still money, and it's editorial work. I will be broke as a joke for a while, and my parents will probably still be helping me out a bit, but at least I'm not selling my soul. I will hopefully keep blogging for my second internship in the evenings and on the weekends, but we'll see how that works out.

Excuse #3: I had what can only be called a mini-breakdown this past Sunday night. A spent the weekend with me in NYC, and we had a good time for the most part, and then Sunday night after he left I couldn't sleep, I was hot and couldn't cool off, and I just tossed and turned all night, and every now and then I would randomly break into tears. WTF. I was honestly just feeling depressed because of my joblessness, the long-distance thing with A, strained friendships, and missing my family and home.

I realized I was starting to question all my fundamental beliefs: what had I done so wrong to be so lonely in this big city--to be unemployed--to be longing for something, anything permanent to hold onto? I thought, maybe the universe isn't balanced after all. I have always believed that the universe gives you exactly what you need and leads you down the right path, even if it's not obvious to you that this is happening; but in my sadness over all this ish, I started to doubt it.

The next day I got the e-mail offering me the job. OK, universe. I get it. I'm back. Sorry I was being such a little bitch.

In other news, I might go home for several days/nights next week. I'm really excited. I miss my parents and I miss the South and I miss my cat tha Queen B and I miss cheese dip.

Until next time.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

New York weather

Last weekend, a foot of snow fell on Manhattan. Today, it was 60 degrees. Most of the snow has melted, except for a couple stubborn mounds (twss) holding on until the very last moment. The random warm days have happened a few times since I moved up here, and they all have something in common: they make me very, very happy.

Today I helped J move from the far west side of Harlem to the not-so-far west side of Harlem. On my way from my hizzy to hers, I boarded the bus, found a single seat by a window, and opened said window. As the bus started moving, a gust of warm, Manhattan air hit my face. Exhiliration. It was the first time in over two months that I've felt the wind on my face through the window of a moving vehicle. As I watched Harlem move by me, for perhaps the first time since I moved up here, I felt completely content.

It's March now, so I keep hoping this is the warm weather here to stay. Of course it's not, and there will probably be a couple more really cold weeks, but a girl can still hope. I want to walk outside in jeans and a tank top and flats and be totally comfortable. I want to take a book and a blanket to Central Park and lay down and read all afternoon. I want to go jogging outside. I want to eat brunch with my friends on an outdoor terrace.

Maybe it's true that moving here during the winter is just harder than moving here during any other season. The winter is very cold and grey and dirty here, but I'm glad I moved up when I did because I think it will make me appreciate the spring that much more.

In other news, I discovered RuPaul's Drag Race today. UHMAZING.

Until next time.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

So sorry

I just realized it's been nearly a week since I posted. This is criminal. But I have a good reason! I came to DC for a 3-day weekend and it turned into a 5-day one when it started snowing/sleeting on Sunday night and all the buses out of the district were cancelled. Mmmmmboo. It's Tuesday now and I'm sitting in A's apartment getting ready to go.

I had a bunch of stress dreams this morning about getting a job and my iPhone breaking and all this other random ish. Ugh. I didn't tell y'all but a few weeks ago I interviewed for a paid full-time internship with another national magazine's web site; I didn't hear back until last Thursday. They told me I was their top candidate, but they had some management shifts and decided to put the internship on hold until at least April, if they decide to hire anyone at all. Of course I was disappointed, because it seemed like it would actually be a great internship for me. But now I got another unpaid internship, which I start tomorrow. So I'll basically be working full-time for free. Is that even legal? Who knows. I just need to get as much experience as I can before someone will hire me for realz.

PS, things are great with A right now. I don't know what the future holds but I don't feel bad for wanting to do what makes me happy. And he makes me happy. So that's what I want to do. Twss?

Until next time.