Leaving Manhattan – Part I

As I predicted would happen, NeYork City has made my life as a recent college grad even more difficult to cope with. I came here seeking employment and was filled with high hopes of living in Manhattan. These desires only grew stronger as the minutes ticked by. Every person on the street, every taxi on the road, every wait in the subway, the endless sidewalks, scheduled protests for the RNC, getting ripped off at dinner, overspending my budget daily, getting sunburned in Central Park, seeing beautiful girls everywhere and then realizing my chances; all of these things are just a start to my endless list of things I love about New York. I want to live here so badly.
And now, as a result of this fantastic trip, my life is now filled with even more agonizing anticipation. I had two successful interviews with Starbucks over the past week but my future with them is still unknown. I expect to hear from them within the next two weeks; however, I am still not sure of their feelings for me. As odd as it may seem, I am rather optimistic about the situation but I’m not making any promises. Now all I can do is wait for the phone to ring and schedule that last interview and hope for an opportunity to move here. I feel like Starbucks is dragging me across hot coals to give me this job. It is just an Assistant Manager position but like Beene said, the process sounds like The Apprentice except when I win I won’t run a four-star Trump hotel, just pour coffee.
Anyway, as I was saying, this trip has only made me love the city that much more. I can’t picture myself living anywhere else right now but I have no guarantees that it will ever happen, just hope. I can only dream of my perfect life of urban living. I can only fantasize about my small apartment with holes in the ceiling, neighbors getting “intimate” every night at 2AM, no money in my wallet, working full-time for the rest of my life, still eating macaroni and cheese on a regular basis. Sheer Bliss!
And so now I sit in the Newark Airport with a wonderful view of the Manhattan skyline. I wonder when my next trip to the city will be. Now I can only dream of what my future holds for me. Until these dreams come to fruition, I will be on my parent’s sofa spilling my heart onto this page and thinking of what may someday become the reality that is, New York City.

Healed by Jazz

Well, here I am in New York for my ever hoped for and anticipated interview with Starbucks. I’ve been excited and anxious to get in there and see where my path would lead me. I’ve spent a few days here in the city with Andrew just hanging out and eating cheap pizza. Yesterday while chatting with Julie I was informed that my favorite jazz musician of this day and musically declined age, Jamie Cullum, was playing a free show in Central Park that night. I would have to swing by a theater downtown on my way to the interview and pick up tickets. The line was about 150 people when I got there; almost all of whom were “twentysomething.” Luckily the line moved super fast and I was handed my two free tickets within minutes. I hailed a cab and cruised into the shadow of the Empire State building for my interview with next door. The interview went well but I’m still unsure of my chances for employment. Therefore, I elect to stray from the subject of interviews and jobs. We got to the park at about 7:15 while the first guy was playing. He’s a guitarist who happens to be blind. My favorite skill of his was his ability to perfectly simulate the sound of a trumpet with his mouth and play solos during his songs. The next act was okay. A white girl who used her Beastie Boy-esque lyric pattern and her piano to perform a quasi-comedy act set to music. I was less than enthralled, to put it nicely. Finally, Jamie Cullum took to stage at about 9:00 with his drummer and bassist. You can’t put into words what jazz is and how it feels but I will say that the stress from my interviews was lifted and replaced with total elation by the music last night. Jamie was so energetic yet enormously talented. They played all the good songs off of their album but my favorite was a Billie Holiday cover called Comes Love. It was about a twelve minute rendition chock full of some incredible solos from each part of the trio. The audience was overcome with that numb feeling of calm and contentment that only Jazz music can bring. I can’t do anymore to describe the music because words and music are two separate ideas that I don’t think can accurately describe each other. How fortunate I was to see Jamie Cullum in Central Park for free on a night like that. Beautiful weather, beautiful venue, in a beautiful city filled with beautiful music. I love jazz and I love New York. Hopefully they will both continue to contribute to my life experience in the near future.

Tour de America

In the past few months I have been fortunate enought to travel from coast to coast visiting friends. There are still new legs of this trip pending but I shall summarize what has happened up until this current hiatus.

In April I flew to Chicago and met Dan and Co. for a couple of Cubs games. None of us had ever been to Wrigley field which has been home to the Cubs since 1916. The Friday game was one of the best games I have ever seen as Sosa hit a homer to tie the game in the ninth and the next batter, Alou, hit another dinger to win. The stadium exploded into celebration which continued as the fans emptied into the streets. The trip took a downer when I broke my ankle and jacked up my knee dancing with some girl I didn't know. I'll spare anymore details so I don't have to painfully recall the entire episode. I hobbled to the game the next day and then through two airports that night. All in all, it was still a fantastic time.

Due to my recent injury, my scheduled Father/Son trip to Vegas was postponed from May until a pending date. I was able to make my next engagement in mid June. My dad and I went to Las Cruces, NM to for my grandmother's 81st birthday. We dined and wined and came home.

Two weeks later I went west to visit Ryan and Laura in San Francisco. The city was beautiful with its steep hills and suspension bridges. The weather was my favorite part. We did some sight seeing and caught the obligitory baseball game. My Red Sox happened to be in town but did not prevail that day. I loved the city but wouldn't not want to live there because of bad transportation and...bad transportation.

The following week I traveled in the opposite direction to the Eastern Coast with Dad and Bro. Boston was our destination and a religious experience in Fenway Park was our goal. The oldest baseball stadium in the world is home to my favorite team, the Boston Red Sox. We caught to good games but the atmosphere at the stadium is the most memorable part. We and sausages on Yawkey way before the game and washed them down with some Harpoon IPA. The outfield bleechers were cramped and rowdy. Fenway was like a time machine taking us back to the glory days of the game. As I watched the game, I imagined what it would have been like to see guys like Williams, Pesky, Dimaggio, Yaz, and Fisk among others play there. After the games we headed over to the oldest tavern in the U.S., the Bell in Hand. Sitting on the corner, we took in the city life and did our bonding. We loved the park and the city as well. It was a successful trip that all three of us will always remember.

These were the major stops on my 2004 Tour de America. I'll be in Colorado in a couple of weeks for a wedding. I also have plans to be in New York sometime in August or September for interviews depending on how my upcoming phone interview goes. I think that will pretty much round out my cross-country tour for this year, and now you know.