2014 began in a bar on Greenwich Avenue seated above a crowd of people who appeared to be enjoying life. I looked at my friend Glenn and asked him if he felt any different now that it was a new year, and he said he couldn't be sure. Then they started playing Clint Eastwood's first big spaghetti western in the man-with-no-name trilogy, A Fistful of Dollars, on this slightly large TV above the crowd.
My resolution this year is to stay alive, so I only drank a glass of wine instead of copious amounts of liquor. A little red wine is good for the heart. Letting loose on drink or whatever you choose to alter your state of mind is also good for the spirit, but I'd gotten up early and gone to work that day, so I just wanted to be around people, even if they were wearing those plastic gold Happy New Year pseudo-tiaras that people only get to wear once a year. That really is a shame for the other 364 days of fashion, but oh well.
At 1 am I bid my companions a happy new year and decided to head back to Queens to get a full night's sleep. There was a time when having the next day off excited me because I could stay out very late, but now I just want to get more sleep. I don't think it's necessarily that I'm old. It's just that I'm sleep deprived.
On the walk home I could see that the Empire State Building was lit up in these amazing psychedelic colors that were constantly changing and shifting, the stars were clear, the air was crisp, and the subways were filled with drunken revelers.
This morning got off to a slow start, but I continued the staying alive theme by eating mostly healthy food: Total whole grain with milk, a peanut butter sandwich on wheat bread, grape juice, a huge carrot, a Clif Builder's Bar, more milk, a banana and an apple. But then I finally got the energy to cook an enormous dinner: lentils, a bunch of broccoli, half a red bell pepper, half an onion, mushrooms, spinach, tofu and a glass of water. I felt like a billion dollars after that.
Best yet (maybe), the realtor for an apartment I looked at on Sunday reviewed my application and wants to sign a two month lease tomorrow morning. You never know with these Craig's list things. Some of the details seemed strange, because he has to leave town at noon tomorrow and won't be back for two weeks, and he doesn't want a personal check for the initial payment of first and last month's rent. So I need a money order, certified check or cash. My bank is upstate, so I can't do the certified check, and I'm waiting for a check which will clear in my account once the banks open tomorrow, but they don't open until 9, which is when I'm meeting this guy (at a McDonald's, which is also sketchy, but I checked him out online and he is a real realtor). Eventually I got him to agree to sign the lease in the morning when I'm on my way to work (because he has to sign it, not his underlings) but let me wait until later in the day so I can get a money order and pay the man who showed me the apartment the other day. That way I don't pay any money without getting keys immediately. Paying cash for an apartment is never a good idea. I would prefer he accept my personal check, but as long as I get the keys, I don't have to worry. Given my housing adventures over the past few years, I can never tell if I'm being paranoid or not paranoid enough.
So tomorrow I will either have my first room in New York City since I moved back here, or have signed a meaningless lease agreement without giving any money. If it were all simple and straightforward, I suppose it wouldn't be part of my journey.
If everything does work out, I will be living in Manhattan for the first time in my life, and a great friend since I was five years old, Glenn, will only be ten blocks away. Plus I get to say I live in Harlem (because I will live in Harlem), which is cool.
And it comes with a bed, shelves and a desk, so I can sleep normally, get organized and write a book.
WOO HOO!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
And if you, the reader, already have a comfortable enjoyable place to be, I wish you continue to be happy. If you are currently itinerant, then I wish you great luck on your journey in 2014.
My resolution this year is to stay alive, so I only drank a glass of wine instead of copious amounts of liquor. A little red wine is good for the heart. Letting loose on drink or whatever you choose to alter your state of mind is also good for the spirit, but I'd gotten up early and gone to work that day, so I just wanted to be around people, even if they were wearing those plastic gold Happy New Year pseudo-tiaras that people only get to wear once a year. That really is a shame for the other 364 days of fashion, but oh well.
At 1 am I bid my companions a happy new year and decided to head back to Queens to get a full night's sleep. There was a time when having the next day off excited me because I could stay out very late, but now I just want to get more sleep. I don't think it's necessarily that I'm old. It's just that I'm sleep deprived.
On the walk home I could see that the Empire State Building was lit up in these amazing psychedelic colors that were constantly changing and shifting, the stars were clear, the air was crisp, and the subways were filled with drunken revelers.
This morning got off to a slow start, but I continued the staying alive theme by eating mostly healthy food: Total whole grain with milk, a peanut butter sandwich on wheat bread, grape juice, a huge carrot, a Clif Builder's Bar, more milk, a banana and an apple. But then I finally got the energy to cook an enormous dinner: lentils, a bunch of broccoli, half a red bell pepper, half an onion, mushrooms, spinach, tofu and a glass of water. I felt like a billion dollars after that.
Best yet (maybe), the realtor for an apartment I looked at on Sunday reviewed my application and wants to sign a two month lease tomorrow morning. You never know with these Craig's list things. Some of the details seemed strange, because he has to leave town at noon tomorrow and won't be back for two weeks, and he doesn't want a personal check for the initial payment of first and last month's rent. So I need a money order, certified check or cash. My bank is upstate, so I can't do the certified check, and I'm waiting for a check which will clear in my account once the banks open tomorrow, but they don't open until 9, which is when I'm meeting this guy (at a McDonald's, which is also sketchy, but I checked him out online and he is a real realtor). Eventually I got him to agree to sign the lease in the morning when I'm on my way to work (because he has to sign it, not his underlings) but let me wait until later in the day so I can get a money order and pay the man who showed me the apartment the other day. That way I don't pay any money without getting keys immediately. Paying cash for an apartment is never a good idea. I would prefer he accept my personal check, but as long as I get the keys, I don't have to worry. Given my housing adventures over the past few years, I can never tell if I'm being paranoid or not paranoid enough.
So tomorrow I will either have my first room in New York City since I moved back here, or have signed a meaningless lease agreement without giving any money. If it were all simple and straightforward, I suppose it wouldn't be part of my journey.
If everything does work out, I will be living in Manhattan for the first time in my life, and a great friend since I was five years old, Glenn, will only be ten blocks away. Plus I get to say I live in Harlem (because I will live in Harlem), which is cool.
And it comes with a bed, shelves and a desk, so I can sleep normally, get organized and write a book.
WOO HOO!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
And if you, the reader, already have a comfortable enjoyable place to be, I wish you continue to be happy. If you are currently itinerant, then I wish you great luck on your journey in 2014.
No comments:
Post a Comment