Category Archives: New York

Like a Bouncing Ball

I found myself in New York again last Friday and I’m still here. At every juncture when I think I’m going to plant myself down for at least a good amount of time, I end up leaving sooner rather than later. At any rate, it looks like I’m sticking around New York for a while.

Continue Reading …

+

A List of Things I Consumed

This is a little late, but in December, the lists came out—‘best of’ lists, what’s in and what’s out lists, lists of New Year’s resolutions etc. So I figured, what the heck, I may as well make a list. I mean, that’s kind of what Internet content is all about— realizing the compulsion to express an opinion, regardless of intrinsic value — right?

Continue Reading …

+

It Don’t Cost Nothing

Tomorrow morning at 07a, Continental Flight 145 takes me to Los Angeles, and a week later I’m off to Singapore. So it’s my last day in New York City. I’ve put a Herculean effort into avoiding another overly sentimental goodbye, but in the end, I’m only human, you know?

As a parting gesture, here’s my semi-secret tip for making metropolitan life a little bit more bearable: With each and every encounter with sales help (deli cashiers, sales clerks, cart vendors, anyone and everyone), I made it a rule to smile when I said “Thank you.” Regardless of how miserable or inattentive or outright rude they might have been to me, I would always, always smile. I know this sounds absurdly Pollyannaish, but it makes a difference. Give it a try, it’s free. 🙂

Continue Reading …

+

Anywhere I Go, Here I Am

Leaving New York a second time isn’t going to be much easier than leaving it the first time. I think I understood this, at least subconsciously, before I left Singapore; it was part of my reluctance to come back. I knew once I grew re-accustomed to the particulars of living in this city again, I’d renew an attachment to it that I’d begun to suppress at the end of July. Now it’s two and a half weeks since I’ve returned, and I’ve spent that time working among my old colleagues and hanging out with my old friends. Generally, I’ve been having a blast in all of my old haunts while, in the back of my mind, also dreading another impending departure.

Continue Reading …

+

New York, See You Later

Fitzgerald wrote: "The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and beauty of the world." He was writing about a particular approach-way to Manhattan, but it’s the same sentiment anyone feels when the city is just out of reach. Seen from beyond its limits, it’s a tremendous promissory oasis — the greatest repository for possibility ever constructed by human hands. This is its elusive sleight of hand: New York is never so romantic than exactly at those moments when it cannot be had.

Continue Reading …

+