Stress. After three months on the road and another three months working on my own time, the feeling of stress had become pretty rare. Less so the last few days.
I've been picking up more hours with am New York, heading for three day shifts and two night shifts this week. Monday and Wednesday, I'll be working in the newsroom from 10 a.m. until midnight. And while the working week brings with it that "Sunday" feeling of dread, I welcome it.
On top of it all, my school application is due on Wednesday. I'm nearly done with it. At this point, it's just editing and reediting my essay until it's where I want it to be. I'll pick away at it until the last minute. That's just how it works for me.
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As far as New York stories go, I have nothing too exciting to report. The weather here has been nice. there is a more pronounced season of change here than in Oregon. Back home, one day is hot and dry, the next gray and wet. Here, it's slower.
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You can see ellyn up there in my new header. that's a view of the Williamsburg Bridge from the roof of my first apartment here. Manhattan is in the background.
I see it's been almost two months since I've posted here. I hear, through grapevines, my readership is rather upset about this. I sit here to type a few updates. I will offer no promise of more for now. But, I do want to get back to blogging for myself. So, perhaps this will make me jump back into it.
Home:
My roommate, Ashley, a friend from Portland, is a design grad student at the School of Visual Arts. She is never around due to her busy schedule. Sometimes, not often, I see her finishing up a project at the kitchen table early in the morning. Also, these meetings happen when I'm only up for a pee. So, little is said. I do like having her around though. When we do see each other.
The apartment is doing just fine. We actually hosted a little get-together for our friend Kate's birthday. I was the only man in the room with about 10 women. This is rather common for me here. I have about two male friends, which I see about once a week. The rest of my time is spent with women — ellyn's friends. This would be a dream come true for a polygamist. For me? Not so much. (They are nice gals though. Don't get me wrong.) I digress, the apartment is fine. We made it though the summer and things are nice up here on the sixth floor — meaning I get a breeze because I'm taller than the other buildings around.
This week, they shot scenes for ABC's new show "Life on Mars" on my street. The show is a copy of a (much better) BBC show of the same name. It's set in the 1970s, meaning my street has not changed since the 1970s.
Work:
Things have picked up a little on the vocational front. I just got home from my first day with amNewYork, a free daily paper with the largest circulation in New York. I'm starting there part-time, designing sports pages and, as I'm needed, filling in for other designers' day shifts. I'm going in on Thursday to do layout all day. I'm pretty excited about this, as it's a design and layout job and I love working with that aspect of the newspaper business.
The other part of my time is spent split between two other companies. The first, an e-commerce company that has me do their business writing. This is boring, but pays fine. The second, a tech company that makes digital photo frames. I run their blog. I will not link there, as it is silly and I put in the amount of effort they pay me for. When that translates to writing, it translates to "not good." But, it's cash, so it works.
Cheese:
My mom sent me a brick of Tillamook Sharp cheese a few days ago. It was in the mail for about a week. I'm eating some now, and it seems to be fine. Anyway, slightly aged Tillamook is better than any cheddar they sell here.
Squirrels:
Many squirrels live in New York. That is all.
Football:
A few weeks back, my friend Gjurg, his (someday) brother-in-law, and good ol' Ben Hemson flew in to New York and we drove to Happy Valley to watch Penn State kill the Beavers. It was perhaps the second best road-trip of all time. Some of the details are fuzzy, unfortunately the sting of the loss is not.
But, we beat USC. Take that. USC.
Church:
Ellyn and I have been going to a Presbyterian church down the street from my house and we like the services very much. We went to a membership meeting on Saturday and we discovered the Presbyterians have some rather strange views when it comes to women in leadership positions. This bothers both of us, but we haven't really discussed the overall ramifications of this bother-ment.
Exercise:
I've lost about ten pounds since I've been here. It's all the walking. But, my friend Josh turned me on to this push up pyramid scheme (not really a pyramid scheme) and I've been turning some of the remaining padding into muscle. There is a wedding coming up, you know. Also, I've exercised my mind by learning some new German words. Perhaps, a bigger mind exercise leap will come soon. I've almost completed my application material for grad school. A media studies program here in New York. You know, with the economy and all, grad school she calls.
On Oregon:
I miss you, state. Please visit. (Looks like E and I will be home for two weeks in December.) Send your fog and rain. Also, the nephews. Tiny children just aren't that cute over here. (Lie. But they aren't family either.)
Okay, I'm spent. I hope to do a little redesign here on the site and have more posting soon. But, you know. Not with the promises.