Day Dates

Living in a room with no windows makes you really tired. All. The. Time. The room looks no different if it's noon or three in the morning. I'm honestly not sure how long I'll last here. As much as I appreciate the price and size of the room, the bass player below me and constant lack of sunlight put me in a less than joyous mood. I spend more time reading in Barnes & Noble these days than in my own room...thank goodness for a month to month lease.

In an attempt to avoid insanity brought upon by the thumping bass, I said "yes" to anyone who asked to hang out with me this weekend. The two who won the first come, first serve weekend fillers (not that people were lining up) happened to be a guy named Jude, who I met way back in September, and one of Lauren's friends, Dave. Jude was the victim of my desperate search around a ridiculously fratty bar for flip cup teammates during my first month in the City. I haven't talked to him since then, but when he texted me a few days ago, I figured what could be the harm in getting together? So what if it's been three months and I had no memory of what he looked like/if he had chainsaw murderer-type qualities. Lucky for me, he doesn't seem to be out of his mind.

We started off the afternoon with coffee from a cool little cafe in the East Village and continued on to a hole-in-the-wall chocolate store that has, quite possibly, the most delicious bite-size chocolates in the world. We drank our coffee (well, chai tea for me, of course) and shared the chocolates on a bench next to some basketball courts in an artsy part of the neighborhood...such a New York moment. From there, he took me to The New Museum in Soho..or maybe the Lower East Side. I can never keep track of where I am. The museum is really modern and switches exhibits every few months, so you never know what will be on display. Currently, the place has a super trippy theme of sense-alteration. With a room full of 10 foot tall mushrooms, something called The Giant Psycho Tank, and a glass tube slide that runs through three or four stories, we were more than sufficiently entertained. As evening approached, we walked to a neat cocktail bar and had a couple of original concoctions, my personal favorite being some pumpkin-cranberry flavored rum drink, and cheese (yes!). Having discussed our mutual love for tiny dive bars, he then led me to a great one in his neighborhood. They even served Busch heavy in a can...such a classy establishment. We were eventually a bit cramped when an ugly Christmas attire bar crawl crowd poured in, so we retreated to the rooftop of his building that overlooks all of midtown. Breathtaking. The night rounded out with me convincing him to play guitar for me- acoustic guitar music has to be one of my favorite things in the world.

Listen up, boys: that is how to do a first date. None of this "let's go grab dinner and a drink" business. Day dates are the best. Major points for Jude's planning skills.

Castle of Homelessness

Today, Lauren's friend Dave, who helped me move to my new apartment last week, and I explored our new neighborhoods. He just got back from an around the world trip for his company, so he's only been in his apartment since last Sunday. My neighborhood didn't have much to offer in terms of excitement other than a castle that we discovered is now a homeless shelter. Homeless people living in a castle...oh, the irony. His neighborhood in Williamsburg, Brooklyn held much more promise, but I was exhausted after my big day yesterday and called it an early evening.

That leaves me sitting here going absolutely mad from the terribly obnoxious bass music blasting downstairs. I actually almost feel nauseous from the pounding. I can't very well go down and tell him to SHUT UP, so I'm stuck just thinking about all of the things I want to do to his stupid instrument. It's 9:45 at night, for goodness sake! I just pray he quiets down by 11 so that I can go to bed. It seems that I can't just catch a break in New York. Is a decent place to live and a job that pays enough to survive too much to ask? Every other day I feel like throwing in the towel, but my pride and determination keep me from doing so. This neighbor is making it really tempting, though.