A Year In New York

Today Joo introduced me to her favorite tree. A Seattle native, she had beat me to the West Coast by a few days and by the time I arrived she had already settled into its green, sap-scented vibe. I was irritable on the drive out to Anacortes, jogging my foot against the floorboards, still in [...]

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On my first night in San Francisco I wait at a taco joint, and while people in line watch the cook sizzle up some carne asada, I watch the people. I turn to my friend Sherm.
“You know what it is about Californians?” I said to him.

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Some obligations on the West Coast are calling, so I jumped on a plane, first stop Philly. (The next few days I’ll be galloping from San Francisco to Seattle to L.A., and I’ll take you along for the ride.)
The propellers whirled to a stop and we were released onto the tarmac. This made me glad; [...]

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Okay, you well-wishers, I’m back — hold your shipments of Zoloft for now. I relaxed a bit by watching “The Dark Knight” at the movie theater off Union Square.
While I’ve always enjoyed Batman movies, I watched this one with new eyes. After all, aren’t I a new resident of Gotham?
What would it really be like [...]

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It is 1 a.m. and Joo and I are eating mozzarella sticks outside at a burger joint called Jackson Hole when I feel woozy all the sudden.
There isn’t enough air to breathe. The miniskirt girls clomp down the sidewalk, talking too loud, and 2nd Avenue is a yellow river of taxis that are moving too [...]

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Joo and I visited a Duane Reade drugstore late at night to get her a toothbrush. I was in a good mood and was singing, out loud, to Christopher Cross’s version of “Sailing” that played on the store PA. Meanwhile, Joo examined the toothbrushes in aisle 5, getting madder and madder.
“Do you have toothbrushes that [...]

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I just started a 10-week skills clinic offered by the New York Road Runners to get a swift kick in the butt. Running in Central Park is pleasant, but these sleek New Yorkers keep passing me.
Class met at P.S. 6 (that’s Public School 6) on East 81st Street and I expected that, who knows, 20 [...]

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The apartment has come together. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I thought I’d shut up today and let photos of my living room tell the story.

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With food shortages popping up around the planet, I’ve been drawn to visit the art museum known as P.S. 1, which this summer has built a rural farm right in the middle of Queens.
The exhibit, called Public Farm 1, occupies the courtyard and is composed of cardboard cylinders planted with 51 varieties of edible veggies [...]

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Today I walked into my first New York bike shop, Toga Bikes on East 63rd, after a month of mulling it over and curiously looking into store windows. Not that they would have what I’m looking for.
The salesman, Jonathan, approached me with the blue-eyed, yo-brah enthusiasm of a mountain biker and an incongruous Queens accent. [...]

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