Another year in New York

I'm a little stunned that I'm about to start my fifth year in graduate school – when I started my fifth year of undergraduate study, I knew it was going to be my last. Now, at this current fifth year point, I have no idea how much longer I'll be in school (perhaps another five more?!?) or whether or not I'll ever finish. It's a little bit stressful.

I had a birthday recently and am another year closer to the third decade of my life. My philosophy has aways been that odd-years, are much better for me than even-years. We'll see if this year can help buck the trend.

In other news, I only lasted a little while as a lemming on the bike... I am the world's laziest person at the gym. I've been travelling extensively around the country this summer... so no gym for me.

Now that I'm back in NYC however, I'll run for five minutes and be ready to quit. The funny thing is, sometimes, when I pace myself and am in the right mood, I'll last for whole 30 minutes on the treadmill.

I'm thinking I crave discipline in many aspects of my life, but have been coasting on banked good stuff (genes, brains, etc.), so that I haven't really felt the consequences of a lack of discipline. What to do.

I've heard that my metabolism is going to change big-time once I hit thirty. I'd like to save up some more of the good stuff to soften that blow of an even-numbered birthday. I think I might go back to lemming class - it's much more shameful to stop 30 minutes into an hour-long class when one is in the second row. I just can't be trusted with a bike in the back row.

Lemmings on stationary bikes

I had to laugh when I noticed that I had nearly my entire year of posts on the main page of this blog. Ten posts. I'm not surprised that my hits are way way way down. I don't think anyone keeps track of this blog any more, certainly not me. But I always have that impulse... today... this week.... this month... this year... will be the year that I bother to try writing writing my "musings" down more when I'm procrastinating. In all honesty, things have been busy!

Everyone knows that the weather has been crazy in New York. It's gotten to the point where I don't even want to go to my gym two doors down and am starting to wonder if I should just join the gym that's in my building... I recently got into spin classes. It's the way my exercise should be - mindless, structured, and repetitive. I've always discovered that my disinclination toward groupthink also advances some major laziness at the gym.... do I really have to do another 10 minutes of cardio? I'll just wrap up early to do something else! So I've just commited to being a lemming on a stationary bike.

Hell's Kitchen...

Cockoholic points to Fagat post where they write: But we must object to the inclusion of Hell's Kitchen. Sure, some bargain-hunting gays live there, and yes, Therapy is nearby. But if HK is the future of gay life in the city, we may just move to South Second, WI. We're no experts, but this is a neighborhood best known for its cramped sublets with fake walls, framed posters, second-hand futons, fake plants, and mismatching Ikea furniture. From what we can tell, the gays that live there are a bunch of double-denim-wearing, TKTS-stub-clutching, DEP-gel-using, Instinct-subscribing, chin-pube-sporting, RENT-soundtrack-(still)-singing, triple-finger-snapping members of Dolphin Fitness. Who couldn´t even get their shit together to live in the East Village. snap! snap! snap!

I read this finger-snapping tirade with amusement - "bargain-hunting" gays, spoken with a disdain of someone who imagines that Therapy is a redeeming institution.

meh.

As I start to explore the world of gay sociability in New York - I'm struck by how the general cliquishness of the city also permeates the gay scene. It's easy enough to see why someone would bother starting up a gay variants meetup group... paradoxically an outsiders clique...

Also the social permeability of gay dancefloors and bars I've encountered in other cities just don't seem to exist here! All interactions in most clubs here seem to be structured by race and looks in pretty egregious ways. Man - all the gays who were ostracized in their po-dunk towns really internalize all that crap - which then manifests itself in general bitchiness once they migrate to the big city.

Which brings me back to the topic of the ipod listening, American Apparel wearing, faux-hawk sporting, wide bracelet wearing, equinox gym-going, cooler than thou hipster types that populate the oh so ridiculously expensive area formerly known as alphabet city - get over your arrogant bitchy self!

posting more frequently

Well - let's see what's happened since the busted-lip threesome.... not much. Been veg'in out a lot - binged on the entire run, thus far, of the third season of Veronica Mars this past weekend in one prosecco fueled evening. I fell in love with the show during the first season - it was the perfect mix of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Twin Peaks - noir done in pink and green.

One of my friends describes the show in relation to Buffy as thus: "Buffy always did the right thing no matter how much it hurt. In the world of Veronica Mars, there is no "right" thing to do. Truely the Buffy for our times." I'd have to agree with him. However, the second season never quite gripped my the way the first season did (except for one memorable jury duty episode), and initially the third season didn't inspire fervor either.

That said, I have to confess that there's something about telly binging that's infinitely more satisfying than having to wait weeks and weeks for the resolution of an arc. I say this as I wait for my episodes of Heroes (1-11) to come through....

whoo hoo!

I'm non-influential! If I had scored any higher, the results would have been highly suspect....

Insomnia

What a fall it has been - after traveling this summer and spending some time in Southern California - I returned to a ridiculously busy September, October, & November. I can hardly believe that it is already December!

But you didn't what a generic posting... my cover was blown on this blog, so i'm a bit reluctant to discuss the things that I had initially set up this blog to write about... my misadventures in new york city...

But, I'll throw caution to the wind and write a bit about my latest acquisition this evening. First a quiz.

How did I acquire busted lip and a black eye earlier this evening?

A) From the fists of a mugger on the streets of Hell's Kitchen
B) By walking into a door that someone opened from the other side(no, really! I'm not in an abusive relationship).
C) From a bottle of champagne to celebrate my film being picked up for distribution.
D) By being way uncoordinated in a threesome setting.
E) None of the above.

tick-tock.

The answer is D! Due to some seriously uncoordinated threesome sex, I am now up at an ungodly hour with a headache unable to fall asleep... well, maybe some details about the event would be useful. Basically I leaned in just as the guy was sat up. WHAM! Forehead to face. Ouch! Apparently with me, it's not a real hookup unless minor injuries occur (c.f. this summer's tooth chipping incident on a boat in Vancouver). Seriously, I felt concussed and kinda ended up not having as good as a time as I might have (was a trooper though and kept on going, even though the busted lip meant no more kissing). meh.

So I'm revisioning this blog, debating whether or not I can make the commitment, to (at least) weekly updates on stuff happening around with me and NYC... or if I should just give up... and cease BLAH BLAH BLAH-ing on the internet under this pseudonym.

summer hiatus

Its been a while since this post was updated - i think that's cuz all told I've been curbing my procrastinatory habits... did some travelling this summer in Asia and Canada - met fun locals and expats. There'll be an update about my Vancouver trip where I managed to chip a tooth when a wake from a passing cruise ship slammed me into the guy that I was making out with - I guess if I were going down on him and the same thing happened, he might be the guy missing a bit of himself....

apropos...

I was going through my bookmarks and noticing a link for a party that I had always wanted to go to, but never had the time to go to on Wednesday night.. Runtnite... for short gays (runts) and the men who like them (runters)... anyhow.. the link was dead, so I hop over to archive.org to see when the site went down... on the main page of the archives however was a link to a public service announcement made in 1969 about venereal disease... entitled: VD is for Everybody that seems to be selling VD as a product that will make you happy and successful.

craigslist fun

no.. not that kind of fun!

more the selling stuff that now no longer fits into your newer and much smaller, new york apartment.. i've been selling stuff (including the camera I shot most of my documentary with) on craigslist... purging my life of the stuff that I've managed to accumulate over time.. it's amazing that when I first moved to college it took me a minivan to load my stuff... now it takes three professional movers nearly 8 hours to lug my stuff across manhattan...

a friend of mine got a job.. in kentucky... she found a place where the walk in closet was larger than her first NYC apartment... the broker didn't believe her.. I wouldn't have either, that is until I moved to New York.

what's fun about my new apartment is that when I stand in the very corner of my corner windows, I can look down at all the sunbathers on the sun deck 16 floors below...

lol

this ad is hilarious - borders on dada.