Monday, June 25, 2012

After a Month in New York City.

I've been in New York for almost a month now. I've slept in four different beds and I feel a bit like I've been through hyper-space without having eaten enough peanuts first but I am otherwise doing quite well, thank you for wondering.

You would think that moving to a New City would mean that I have all kinds of things to write about but until now I've found myself at a loss for words. I don't mean that I'm so in awe of the city that I can't even talk about it. I mean that I don't know how to write about New York yet. There is such a tradition of writers in New York that I'm not sure where to start. I feel like I'm supposed to say things like I was half way between fancy street and trendy ave when I realized that I had left my Prada wallet in my OTHER Coach purse. I did leave my wallet in the wrong purse the other day, but pretty much everything I own was bought at Target or Old Navy and I have no idea where I was when I realized what I had done. There are expectations when you're writing about a certain place and I haven't figured out how-or if- what I am doing can fit into those expectations in an interesting way. Living in Vermont was moderately interesting because relatively so few people do it. In New York I'm just a person who is constantly getting lost in stupid ways and eating at too many chain restaurants.

I don't mean to give the impression that I don't find things in New York interesting. On the contrary I still find my surroundings ineffably impressive. The view from my office building in the financial district where I work is spectacular. We're on the 24th floor and from that height I have to remind myself that what I see out the window is actually there and not a giant poster. The buildings just look absurd to me. The old ones are so old and the new ones are so new and they are all so unavoidably THERE. I know that these other buildings are full of people-I can even see some of them through the windows of the closer stories- but I still think of them more as elements of a landscape than as functional, man-made structures filled with ugly carpet and janitorial staff. And don't even get me started on construction equipment.

So forgive me for not having posted sooner. I'm having a bit of trouble finding my writerly take on it all. Work has been great but I try not to write about work because I'd eventually like to befriend my co-workers and in the slim chance they might read my blog I don't want there to be any problems. I can tell you that I like my job a lot and my office is on the 24th floor. That ought to be sufficient for now.

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