New Surroundings

I have had something to look forward to for the last couple weeks, a trip to New York. After I lost my job, the idea came to me but I figured it was far reaching and unattainable. I'm not accustomed to having freedom with regards to time. I was employed steadily since 2004, and all of a sudden I had no idea what to do. I've been holed up for a month looking for jobs, but I am now going to take a week to be completely selfish. New York and I go way back. My mom used to let me fly alone as a kid to visit my dad. My grandma has lived in the same house in Levittown since the 1950s. She used to impart culture on me, albeit the touristy kind, but nonetheless. We'd see sights like the Intrepid, all the museums, musicals, and one time a jazz concert at the Lincoln Center featuring Wynton Marsalis. There's pictures of us at the Empire State Building and standing at the top of the World Trade Center. I was old enough to remember but too young to appreciate these days.

My dad hates tourists in New York but would brave places to take me to shows, something I've always loved. Over the years we've seen Chick Corea at the Blue Note club, the annual Christmas Carol show at Madison Square Garden, and the Radio City Rockettes. All the time and memories I have of New York stem from postive surroundings. It's been six years since I last visited, a time when I was still in college and not having to deal with the real world yet. I could just go for two weeks and not worry about what happened next. It's not the case now. I would love to leave the pressures of reality at the airport in San Francisco tomorrow, enjoy myself to the fullest in New York, and return rejuvenated at the prospect of possibility.

My best friend just moved to Brooklyn, which helped fuel my desire to visit. I hope he helps show me parts of New York I never knew existed. Touristy shit is fine and dandy, but this is a great time for me to see less homogenized parts of a cutting edge destination. Or maybe I don't need to see anything. Maybe I just want to sit and have a face to face conversation like old times. Actually, I don't know what I want out of all this. I haven't made a single identifiable plan for a weeklong trip to New York. It's pretty blasphemous when you think about it. People save money for years and plan every last detail for a chance to visit this incredible place. All I do is buy a plane ticket and hope the rest works out. I'll probably end up wearing my camera around my neck. My dad will tell me not to because that's what tourists do. He's right but I need some new memories.