Background

I left New York 3 years ago to live in beautiful Northern California, one of the best decisions of my life. When I get homesick (and I regularly do), I try to remember that the feeling can be remedied by a visit. I try to make it back a couple of times a year. New York gets a bad rap (particularly from Californians I know) about the Summer's humidity and lack of cleanliness. I say get over it; it's one of the best times to be around if you're looking for ubiquitous fun. I got into New York yesterday and have been living like I never left from the second I got here. Tons to do while I'm in town for the week, but I wanted to jot down some notes about initial impressions and experiences.

Arrival into Brooklyn

It was rough landing at 8am and trying to get from Newark (I'd rather not call it by its new name, "Liberty") Airport to Greenpoint, Brooklyn via the Airtrain, NJ Transit, and Subway (E to G Train). I chose not to tune out the workd with my iPod the way I used to before leaving; I thought it would be grounding to remind myself of the sounds and other stimuli. Funny how this stuff I used to tune out is now a novelty for me. I also needed as few distractions as possible. The transpiration channels are really great for people who use them everyday, but I'm so out of practice. I probably made 45 minutes of bad, sleep-deprived decisions. I finally made it to my good friend Alana's place around 10:45.

P.S. 1

Alana seemed to have the same amount of rest (or lack thereof—she mumbled something about a BBQ that went on until 5am) as I, but we were both ready to do nothing else than get ready for P.S. 1's Warm Up party. It was an amazing gathering of music, creative people, and art installations. The security staff wasn't at all fond of me; I seem to annoy those types, and I somehow managed to piss of about 4 of them. A new record for me. We thought I'd surely get ejected before the end of the day. Luckily, that didn't happen.

Water Taxi Park

Someone thought it would be a good idea to dump sand all over the ground in L.I.C. and make it look like a beach, a beach off of the East River? While surfers, real beach lovers, and everyone else I know who loves the outdoors would cringe, it was actually a great venue of an urban party. The Manhattan skyline painted the background, while people got to take their shoes off, drink, and dance. My friend, Greg, described it as more of a construction site than a beach; that's probably more accurate. I bumped into many new and old friends that night. We stayed until the thunder storms got a little too inconvenient.

More to come! My phone continues to ring, and there's so much to do. I just don't want to forget these times. Hopefully, jotting this down will help.