My official last week in New York has officially begun. Shortly after waking up my first day back (yesterday) I went to my cousin's 40th birthday brunch at Cebu in Bay Ridge. Great restaurant if you're just willing to drag your candy ass all the way out to the next-to-last stop on the R train.
The party went on at the same time as the 3rd Avenue Festival out there during which my 7 year-old nephews saw their first drag queens. Then Nicholas, the blond one, looked up at me and said, "Aunt Lula, will I ever see you again?" All together now... awwwwwwwwwwwwww! He told me he's coming to visit me tomorrow to see the pool in my apartment complex and the Grand Canyon, in that order. (Kids and their priorities -- swimming pools trump natural geological wonders every single time.) I explained I wouldn't be living there yet tomorrow but he was not to be dissuaded. Maybe at 7 years old tomorrow means any day in the future. I certainly hope so otherwise he ran away from home today to go sit in Kennedy airport.
As we were driving to and from the party through LIC I had another,"What the fuck am I thinking?" moment. Why am I leaving here? New York annoys me sometimes but its the greatest city in the world? Every culture is represented and, even in Long Island City, there are places to get Turkish coffee, vintage clothes and pizza on like EVERY street. It's New York -- make it here and you can make it anywhere and there's a reason that traffic is so bad and apartments are hard to come by. It's the crossroads of the world and I love it.
But then I was watching a commercial for the Comedy Festival that's coming to Vegas in November and I remembered that I'm going to a city with a palpable sense of excitement in the air where events are always happening and people are loathe to go to sleep for fear of missing something. Vegas is like that. You can meet people from all over the world just by strolling down the Strip. Once you leave the Strip, a sense of normalcy pervades the city -- well, if you consider it normal to be able to play slots while you are waiting for your prescription to be filled at CVS. And, yes, we all do live in cookie-cutter condo complexes out there but the people are anything but cookie-cutter. It's the West, where there is lots of space and warm weather and people who look you in the eye. It's not New York but I think I'm gonna like it. If I could just teach them all to signal before they change lanes, life will be good. (Anyone wanna hear the story of me hitting the tire of a cement truck on Flamingo Boulevard?)
My friend Diane is making me dinner tonight which should be nice. Before that, I have to go buy a suitcase for the rest of my clothes. I brought two huge suitcases with me when I was there last week but I still have more clothes. Katherine used to say she shuddered to think of the amount of clothes that were stuffed into my closet here in New York. She will be happy to know I have a walk-in closet now. If it doesn't all fit in there I officially have a problem. I have so much to do this week but top of the list is seeing anyone who isn't sick of my ugly mug so let me know if you want to grab a coffee or lunch or a cocktail this week and I will do my best to make it happen.
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