Weekend Update

Friday: After work I had to move all of my belongings from Flatbush, Brooklyn to Tudor City, Manhattan. I'm staying at my friend's studio while she's in Miami with the Super Bowl. She's the one who got me the job, and now she's letting me stay in her place. I can't believe it. I also can't believe how cute it is. Tudor City is just what its name implies. It is some old buildings built in the style of of English Tudor and comprising a block right by the Harbor on the very eastern side of the island. I can see Queens and the UN building in the hallway of the building. The studio is small, just a bathroom (with lovely porcelian fixtures) a kitchenette and a room. But it has a great view of the park right by the building and the Empire State building and until February 5 it's all mine. I've never lived alone before. Always with someone, mostly my family. I like it so much I might not be able to deal with a roommate.
Anyway, that is not the point of this entry. Let me get to that. I went out to Flatbush and got one of my bags to take to the apartment. I had two large bags and I knew I'd have to change trains and walk a couple of blocks to the building. I didn't want to create too much trouble for myself. I probably should have gotten a cab but that would cost about $30 and I don't have money to waste when I could just make more effort. Before I left I sat down to watch a few minutes of TV, to relax from the hour train ride from work to Brooklyn. As I flipped back and forth from The Daily Show to Vh1's The Fabulous Life of the Ridiculously Wealthy (maybe not the actual name.) during commercial breaks, it solidified a feeling I've been having since arriving here. I really like New York but sometimes I feel depressed because I don't have much money. I know a lot of people in this city don't but when I see things like the $32 million dollar penthouse Ivanka Trump is showing off, that her dad owns and which she hopes to own someday it makes me very jealous. (Not just for me, but I'm not Mother Theresa.) Then I watched the Daily Show and see Jon Stewart who is successful but down to earth and aware of these differences. I can't stand Ivanka Trump's heir apparent attitude.
That was what I was thinking about as I carried my heavy bag through the dreary streets of Flatbush and down onto the train.

Doing something like this, moving from place to place, job to job, worrying about money and what the next step will be is the reality of being a young person trying to make their dreams come true. It will give me something to ground myself someday when I'm looking back, thinking about where I've come from. Even though it's hard now I'd rather take this risks and come out on top than be given everything like Ivanka. I don't think I could get used to that sort of wealth or ever feel comfortable with it. When I came up from the subway to Grand Central and down 42nd St. towards the sweet studio that I could see myself living in someday, I felt as though this is a taste of what success will mean for me. Not huge, but enough to feel happy. And when the day is over and I don't have to carry my luggage around Manhattan I will view these hard days as some small memory.
Once I dropped off one bag I had to go back for the monster bag, the one with all of my clothes. I take an hour train ride and get about a block away from the house in Flatbush when I realize I've left the keys back in the apartment in Manhattan. Sandy, the man who's house I've been staying at had left for Boston that morning and everything was locked up. Dejected I walked back to the subway, went back to Manhattan and went to bed. It was 1 am by this point and the guy I was supposed to meet for a drink thought I had stood him up because along with my keys I left my cell phone. It was not the good kind of stress like the one above, but the kind that makes me feel stupid.

Saturday my mom and two of her friends came into the city and stayed in the W in Times Square. I got up and met them there. Times Square is such a busy tourist trap that winding my way through it I really felt like a New Yorker. It was good to see my mom again and her friends Darcy and Lil are good for her. Crazy women who like to laugh. They came with me to get my other bag in Flatbush and we ate Chinese on the train. They exclaimed over the house in Flatbush with all it nooks and crannies and the tiny adorable studio. We went to a stand up comedy club and loved it. I think I'm going to do more of that while I'm here. I met up with Sib, my new friend that I stood up on Friday and we went to a bar in Williamsburg. I had a good time dancing to old school hip hop and Prince. And then I got lost on the train in Queens. I got home around 5:30 am.

Sunday we went to the site of the World Trade Center memorial. Even though I sometimes think people get overly patriotic and nationalistic when they talk about 9/11 when I'm reminded of the actual horror of the events and see the pictures that documented the day and people's reactions it makes me cry. The nationalistic take on things slips away and I forget that it led to war and Iraq and President Bush and I remember that day.
After that we headed back to Times Square area to see an Off Broadway show called the Altar Boyz. At first I was hesitant. Musicals and anything spelled with a Z where it should be an S makes me want to gag. And stages that are dangerously close to the audience. But Altar Boyz was a pleasant surprise. It was a satire of Christian based pop boy bands and the silly hypocrisy of it. The five boys were great. They sang and danced better than any pop singer I've seen and subtly created their characters even while singing and dancing. We loved it. I think I'll do more of that while I'm here too. After that we got some Italian and then had the requisite Cosmos at a bar. They got a little drunker than I expected and after some embarassment I had to say goodnight. I love them but I can do without three drunk tourists in the city I'm still trying to break into. I'm glad they came though and had such a good time. I wish I knew the city better so I could show them more of it.
And that is the weekend update.