The Beginning of the End

It's nearly the end of 2009, and here I am beginning another blog.

I go through blogs like candy. Seriously.

But let's not talk about the past. I'd rather start afresh, and see where this takes me. I'm attempting to start afresh with a lot of things in my life, so why not document the experience in a blog?

And I should probably preface by stating my unequivocal love for the ridiculously magical city in which I live. Almost one year ago, I arrived in arguably one of the greatest cities in the world, carrying little else but a suitcase and my hopes. Like most New York stories, my beginning was inauspicious and a bit rough 'round the edges. I'd never been to New York before (I'd passed it on my way from Boston to North Carolina, but that meager experience hardly qualifies). My two best friends in the entire world, Meredith and Delinda, picked me up somewhere in New Jersey, loaded me into their car, and together, we drove into Brooklyn, where I've made a home for myself not once...not twice...but three times since January 2009.

My first home was a literal closet in Midwood, where I lived with Mere and Dee until I found my feet. This took some time - one month, to be exact. I could write for days about the experiences contained within that single month, but instead, I'll only tease you with snippets: a queen-size blow-up mattress stuffed into a single bare room, frantic dashes to DiFara's for some of the best pizza I've ever had the good fortune to taste, late-night glasses of wine and random outbursts of dancing, nervous flutterings in my stomach as I navigated the subway at Avenue M, my first Nathan's hot dog at Coney Island, and above all, my first sight of Manhattan as I emerged from the tunnel on the Q train...soaring in front of me like some terribly beautiful, glittering giant, the light of a winter sunset gilding the steel buildings in a wash of gold and scarlet.

I cannot fully express the way my heart lifted when I saw this.

That one month opened a vast amount of doors for me; suddenly I was being paid to do something I love, my friends surrounded me...everything disappeared into a happy nimbus of parties, drinking, working, and laughing. Lots of laughing.

Just writing this makes me happy.

As it is, I plan on recounting many of these stories in my writings...and telling new stories as well. There's so much possibility here for a young person, so many things to do and people to meet, new food to taste, new sights to see. I want to explore it all.

I am 24...I came to the city at age 23, on January 9th. I hope to find this blog as a refuge from my other writings, a place to document the various happenings in my life. I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I will.