June 03, 2012

Blooms

I'm out of photographs in my phone aside from construction ones (the other day the boy and I were comparing iPhone photo albums and it turns out he has tons of pizza and cat photos and I have tons of construction ones, ha) so I just threw a Gramercy Park pic up for good measure.

This past week was rather strange because it was abbreviated by the Holiday Monday and then Wednesday I headed on an epic adventure to attend a presentation/mentor appreciation luncheon for a Senior in High School who has been working for us one day a week for about 9 months. I wound up taking him under my little construction wing, and it was an experience for me to tutor someone unfamiliar with construction in construction. Anyway, the quest began with a brisk walk in some mist to the Port Authority at 42nd and 8th Ave from my apartment at 21st and 2nd Ave. Trains, cross and uptown, are typically shit, so what made most sense was aller a pied, so I did, and as I did so so many thoughts from my brain were brimming: money worries, travel worries, health worries, parent worries...but what I did is I refused them all, all of those thoughts. And I just trekked my way to the West Side of Manhattan and found a ticket to Hackensack, New Jersey via New Jersey Transit bus and killed a giant fountain Diet Coke (was running on limited time so could not find an iced coffee but desperately needed caffeine) and away I went.

Traveling by bus is this thing. It's hard to explain, but it feels like the most primal and correct mode of transportation (although I'd also identify the subway as that, so there's that) and while stopping every literally 2 minutes or so to expunge/accept passengers, observation reports on my end were running rampant: over-sprayed cologne, pretty tattoo on a girl's finger, bulging backpack on a guy, marquis board indicating something completely indiscernible to me at the front of the bus...and spray the skyline of Manhattan as a backdrop to all of this as the bus twisted into New Jersey. I mean...talk about moments and having them.

When I arrived in the Hackensack vicinity, Boy Wonder (as I call him, er, Rob as his actual name) picked me up and we headed to his school, Bergen County Academies. I had done some homework on his school because the program seemed swell and I wondered about its system. In a nutshell there are 7 academies affiliated with the school and the programs are essentially vocational and the school itself, public in nature, is ranked something like 21st in the country as Best High Schools go. Pretty stellar. Anyway, what happens is that all Seniors attend an Internship one day a week during their Senior Year and then present a power point wrap up of their experiences to the Juniors who are shopping for their Senior Year Internships. Cool.

It's good that I went. I mean, Rob did a really great service to the Project in terms of Document Control and what not, and he's actually a super cool kid. And I think he was pleased to have his "mentor" accompany him on his big day (I'd say only about half of the 250 Seniors had their mentors attend) and the luncheon was nice, although strange, because it really consisted of me sitting surrounded by a handful of Seniors discussing prom plans. Ha. Slightly out of my element, admittedly.

I'm going to switch gears because I'm boring myself with weekday details except that I'd like to insert that I had a ferocious shouting match with my glass guy Kenny on Friday and wow, the 4 or so people who were actually in the office (dead zone Friday...are we REALLY opening an arena in 3 months??) swung by to be entertained by the elevation of the discussion (I swear, if his IW06 lites don't show up and get installed by 06/18, heads will roll) and I want to launch into my weekend.

Friday I felt awful. Just miserable. One of my eye lids had been chewed on by a wild animal in my sleep or something and was swollen and I felt like I hadn't slept in over a week or over the course of an entire life and I just wanted to crawl under my desk and burrow into the carpet. But I had plans with the new group of friends that I'm so into: Alicia, Jess, Stephen, Jonathan, and so forth to grab a drink in Williamsburg then head to Bushwick for George's Spit Take Comedy Show at Fort Useless. I can't let these people down...they have lifted my spirits and reminded me what it's like to feel intelligent in good company! And so I forged through Friday, left the office close to 5 and headed on the train to Union Square where I picked up the L and made it to Bedford Ave to go find the crew at Spuyten Duyvil. I will never know how to spell the name of that damn bar, ha. Who cares.

I really hadn't heard much from the boy that day which also had me slightly...I don't know, whatever. I'm not sitting around waiting on hearing from him but I slightly am. Great, this is where letting this get to me got me. Whatever.

I wound up only meeting up with Alicia and Jess...Stephen was at work later than he thought, and Jonathan was going to help with the Gallery exhibit at FU and so the girls and I had a nice time together, then shared a cab to Bushwick to FU.

Meanwhile, some texts did finally take place with the boy.

(insert: I had texted him that I would be in Williamsburg, BK for the start of my night.)
Excerpt:

B: What's the current hipstometer reading of the 'hood?
KB: It's...wow. There's a bartender here with a Ghostbusters shirt. Does that say enough?
B: Yes. That is a meaningful signal.

Excerpt 2:

KB: Now I'm in Bushwick. I'm super cool due to this fact, right?
B: You're rocking the super cool. But you can't top where I'm at: the impossibly hip UES.
KB: Hey I used to live there. Making it overly cool.
B: Far less cool without the cat shoes. (I had on my cat shoes last night.)
B: The neighborhood still scares me.
B: Weird old people in suits crossing dark streets with their walkers.

When I got to Fort U, the first person to greet me was Jonathan. Now, Jonathan is incredible. He's this ray of light in a room...it feels nice being in his presence, and we spent a majority of the night watching the comedy together and drinking and laughing. Stephen is great, too...these are really such great people I've managed to find. So happy.

What happened is that when Jess and Alicia were gearing up to leave, I stepped out with them but the skies unleashed a torrential amount of rain and since they were being dropped off in Queens by our friend Chris in his car (which route goes nowhere near Manhattan) I stuck out the storms at FU with those who lingered behind. I didn't get home until close to 4, and remember, I was already really, really, really tired.

Johnny wasn't home so I stumbled right onto (and I mean onto) my bed and collapsed, not to be seen or heard from again until 10 the next morning.

My plans for Saturday were over stacked. I had a brunch possible with Dacel at 11 to be possibly followed by a Central Park party (wound up canceled) followed by a 5 PM thing at the Brooklyn Museum of Art (which museum, by the way, is SO seeing my face next week because I haven't seen Judy Chicago's Dinner Party installation since like 2002...)(and it is permanently installed upstairs at the BAM) yet what I did instead of everything was go meet Dacel, drink gallons of beer and have amazing conversation with her then come back home and sleep the entire thing off until about 9. Nice. Go ugly early. Enjoy life.

(Listen, I realize at this point my life should be made into a Mini Series that will flop/fail upon reception. But it is what it is. I'm just pushing through these moments.)

So I had received a text from the boy, something like, "Find time this weekend?"

(Thank god he doesn't read this blog, but yes, tell me when and where and that time of mine is yours.)

There was banter about him coming by, about how he was at dinner very near me at a "douchey" place (ha) (my neighborhood tends to harbor that) and something something about him coming by. And he did. And it took me to new heights...again.

I can't keep doing this thing where I let someone walk in and strong arm my heart and then walk away. I won't do it with this one. But these moments that find us talking endlessly (we went to the roof and stared at the moon for over an hour or so, talking, listening) are so intensely identifying. And when we came back inside, and when I asked him into my room and when other things that I won't mention here went on...it was like...I stood outside of myself and peered in at this girl. This is the girl I've felt I've maybe always needed to become, attaching myself (cautiously) to an extremely intelligent (and stupidly attractive) individual who is just as cautious as I.

This morning we were joined in my bed like a beautiful painting and I kept thinking that. His hands and his arm, his arm across me...and we just had such a sound beautiful morning and he left early because he's riding in a Brooklyn Bike thing and that's great, and fine, and nice.

I suppose I have been deserving this. I just wish I knew where it is going. Maybe nowhere. Maybe everywhere.




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