In which I allow that it is possible that I [heart] New York.

As I'd feared, this past weekend was a dangerous thing: put Nora in a big city and give her some friends and a real burrito and what happens? She begins to draw even more unfavourable comparsions between this possible life and her current life.

Yes yes y'all (tick tock y'all, to the beat y'all, ya don't stop...), my maiden voyage to New York was a total success. On Friday night, as we walked to the diner, we acted as first responders to a pretty serious cab-and-bike accident that happened right in front of our eyes, and my lady hit 911 first--an accident in New York reported by a native Wisconsonite visiting the city from her home in Boston but calling on a phone with a Chicago number. We are modern young America and we move around a lot.

We walked all over the place on Saturday, a fine, sunny, cool day to be in Central Park, watching the beautiful people stroll their bebes about and the bikers ride their beautiful bikes... Then to Brooklyn to the art museum and the feminist art exhibit including The Dinner Party, about which I'll write later. Indian food on the outskirts of Park Slope, and staying up late talking with friends who live in Hell's Kitchen.

Sunday brought me to my set of tasks: yogurt, shoe store, brunch. Check, check, and frickin check: we hit the Lower East Side, Soho, Little Italy, and a few other slivers of neighbourhood that I certainly can't discern from each other. I bought a bag that looks a bit like it's made out of tanned human skin--it is not and it is vegan. We popped into a candy store (Economy Candy) that was filled with kids acting like some kind of kids in candy stores. We brunched in a precious place in Freeman's alley staffed entirely by fellows with moustaches and lithe girls with effortless ensembles (damn their lack of effort!). My friend Jen took a shine to the lipstick our server (server? waitress?) was wearing and asked after it. A quick boutique search and she'd become That Girl With The Red Lipstick On, very oo la lah. All this and a trip to Zabar's for bagels and a $20 tub of truffle stock, with which I'll make some knockout risotto later this week.
I feel a little stupid, a little imprudently smitten. There was just...something about being in a city laid out on a grid again, a city with a big ass subway system, a city! My lady's and my dissatisfaction with our geography grows, and the lure to leave is great. My employer has a large New York office; surely there is much work in immigration law for my partner. One thinks, why not? It is never too late, and one is obligated to search out happiness because life is short.

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Life is short and the bag I bought is made by a house of design. My bag has a name on it that is not the name of a friend, as was the case with my previous bag. I'm not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, it is a really delicious bag. On the other, am I not a brand-name girl; I own almost nothing that is marked on its exterior by its maker. I'm afraid that someone will say to me "oh, is that the new 'name & name' bag?" and I'll have to say "Umn, yes."

It's really a soft, glossy bag. I femme out on bags and shoes. I've made my choice and I stick by it.

This one goes up to eleven.

A more challenging week--in terms of my feelings of personal effectiveness. Inexplicable sinus pressure settled in at the end of last week for a few days as the weather turned back towards 30, chilly, damp, joint-aching. Questioning of geographic life-path (note: not career path) continuous in frequency. Overall dissatisfaction moderate to high, 7 on a scale of 1 to 10.

I'll explain:

10 - Cry Self To Sleep Each Night And Wake Crushed By Weight Of Own Self-Indulgent Sorrow (Seriously, Who Says Sorrow Unless They're Completely Over The Top Melodramatic?)

9 - Massive Ill-Advised Road Trip (note: no car) or Destructive Flirting (9.5)

8 - SHAVE HEAD! SHAVE HEAD NOW!

7 - Dreams of Currently Unattainable Past Satisfactions

6 - Perhaps I Should Buy New Jeans

5 - Those Girl Scout Cookies Sure Are Good And I Think I'll Have Another (Box)

4 - Today I Shall Dress In An Inappropriately Aggressive Manner For Work And Social Engagements

3 - I'll Think Mean Thoughts About Every Other Stupid Commuter On This Stupid Train

2 - Self-Indulgent Blog Updates

1 - Gee, I'm Bored, I Think I'll Wake Up The Cat

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I've never really been to New York City, but we're going this weekend. I shall be bold and wear my light jacket. (Let it not be said that I am not an optimist in some things.) I only have a couple of things I intend to do, so that I can keep it unoverwhelming: see the recently installed Dinner Party at the Sackler gallery, get some of that 100-yr-old-culture yogurt at Yonah Schimmels on the Lower East Side, go to the vegan shoe store, and take a recently explosively dumped friend out to drown his sorrow. I'll report back on the level of relative deadliness I experience on the beleaguered Fung Wah bus line.

Bad Blogger! No Biscuit!

Despite my best intentions, etc. etc. I'm sure you see what's happened here.

I still have the job (yeehaw) and it does take up ENTIRE WEEKDAYS, if you can imagine it. There is a lot to learn and not a lot of time to learn it in. I have two bosses, between whom I am expected to split my time evenly, 2 1/2 days' worth of hours per week each. This is...a challenge. Additionally, there are many acronyms being tossed around in the office, and I don't yet know what any of them mean--one acronym I should mention here, though: TPS report. No, really. I've had to fill out numerous TPS reports to request access to various IT utilities. Next thing: I bet I get a PC Load Letter error on the fax machine in the corner...

Winter still holds Bostonland in its unsubtle hands, but there are signs that things are beginning to ease up. In between arctic fronts that have settled on New England in the past two or three weeks, there have been sunny days with temps over 40. Today is one of those days, and I went out on a limb and wore my light jacket.

I'm dogsitting in Southie this weekend, bizarrely enuff. Yes, I'm not a dog fan. But I am a "pretending to be on vacation" fan and a "paid to simply hang out at your house and let the dog out in your yard from time to time" fan. I brought my bike down, and I think I'll take a little ride in a few, explore the environs, try to buy some lunch somewhere.

Gosh, I sure did feel like I had a lot to say. Let this be a lesson: one doesn't actually have that much to talk about, usually.

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I've been thinking a lot lately about my feminism. More to come on this, I'm sure, later. Everywhere I've looked, it seems, there have been things that inspire thoughtfulness.

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I've been thinking a lot also about what it means to be living in the diaspora--in my case from Chicago and from my friends. Less on this later.