New York New York!
It's hard to conceptualize that only six days ago, I was on the other side of the country, living it up in one of the most, if not the most important and exciting spot on the entire planet, New York City. For those of you who weren't aware of this by the way, that is why I haven't been able to talk to you much in the last two weeks. Internet service was impossible to find, but if you would have asked me, it was kind of nice to be away from its grip for once. Anyway, for those of you who have not had the privilege to go to the big apple, I cannot stress enough to you how much you really do owe it to yourself to go. It's an experience anyone who's anyone should have, whether or not you like big cities or traveling or what the hell ever. New York is more than a city, it's seriously another planet. The minute you're taxi cab reaches the light at the other end of the Holland tunnel, you feel like some kind of astronaut who has finally reached the point beyond the earth's atmosphere, and he is truly looking at space and the stars for the very first time in his life. And that's NOT an over dramatization as stupid I'm sure as that sounded. For the split second my eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight coming from the car window, the day went dark again when the shadow of the Manhattan skyline blanketed us. I really couldn't believe where I was. These were the buildings I've seen only in pictures all my life. This is the place where you would watch a movie or a show based in it, but you would never accept the fact that it's a world for real life living people. But in reality it most certainly is when sky scrapers that huge are hovering over you and you're dodging pedestrians of so many diverse races and religions and sexual preferences and who you know all understood and related to Seinfeld jokes better than anyone else on the planet. My first experience of driving into Manhattan was definitely a wake up call in two ways. One was of course, what I just mentioned. But it wasn't too long after that, when I was just starting to come down from my first initial shock of the size of the city, when the cab driver, oddly in some ways once you think about it, pointed out to us to look to our left. I looked quickly only to find nothing but what I thought was some big parking lot. Then it hit me what it was not to long before he said, "Hey, World Trade Center. World Trade Center!" I knew I would be seeing it, but not that sudden. I didn't want to believe that it was as big as this hole in the ground that I was staring at at that moment. The first thought I can honesty say I had was, "Bullshit". No way was the whole thing even, this huge. I wanted to believe that this was just some other construction site, and the real ground zero was behind these other buildings. But as we started walking along and passing by the American flags, and the pictures still hanging of those lost, I was sunk into the reality of it. I did not want to leave though. All this time since 9/11, I have been lucky enough to be in the position to say it happened in New York, it happened in Manhattan, it happened in the east coast, over there, but until then I was never able to say it happened 'here'. That was an uncomfortable feeling I couldn't shake off, all the while trying to breathe in air thick of the dead and asbestos. That walk was something I'll take with me for the rest of my life. I only wish everyone could take that walk. Maybe if everyone could, we would all have a somewhat better understanding of what violence and ignorance really is, and what damage it can do. I just can't imagine though how some New Yorkers make that walk every day... The trip wasn't all epiphanies though. In fact I can only count one other one... And that is once you've had New York pizza, there is no point in having it anywhere else. Well, maybe except Italy. But, well, holy shit. Alright, honestly I've always felt the real meaning of life, once it gets right down to it, was food. And now that I've eaten the best goddamn thing I'll ever eat, what is the point to life!?! Saying that New York is famous for their pizza is such an understatement... Picture having an orgasm in you mouth...Not like that... But imagine if you're mouth had orgasms. That's what it might feel like to bite into a big apple cheese pizza pie. Peetza pie, peetza pie... That's how they say it. I guess you can pretty much tell that I recommend it. (Btw, the same goes for Bagels. That's why I capitalized it) Let's see what else... Broadway! Who could dare miss Broadway when staying in New York!? After a lot of drama finding a play to see, and a lot of walking through the crowded Times Square trying to make the play to see, we we're very lucky enough to win cheap front row center tickets to the ever so fabulous John Water's production of "Hairspray". You might have seen the movie with Ricki Lake, but this was even better. The performance of Tracy by Michelle Dowdy was good enough to make Ricki Lake look like a baby puncher. Just the theater itself was so beautiful, and when the curtains went up and the show began, I felt tears begging to come out. I know Holly did. It was so beautiful. So much going on! So much drama! So much comedy! So much! So much! So much in fact I know I'm not going to be able to name everything we did in Manhattan... The hotel situation was interesting. At first we stayed in a decent little shithole in Queens. I couldn't have loved it more though. The gunshots and spontaneous laughing from the streets was like music to my ears. That's not sarcasm! I knew I was in the city at that moment. I definitely preferred it to the yuppie pseudo-shithole we had to stay in later during the trip in Jersey City. It was alright in some ways though, considering it had a pool. I'm starting to get tired of typing at the moment and I want to tell all about the trip to see my cousins in dear ol Maryland, so with all apologies, I'm just going to go rapid fire with the New York scene... New York was and is…Van Gogh, Central Park, heat, stuffed animals, seeing SNL's Rachel Dratch at the airport, crazy fucking taxi drivers, horses, John Lennon, street artists, mimes, Picasso, Pollock, leg cramps, street vendors, piss stink, honking, garlic, jewelry, lights, the Daily Show, CBS, touring the food network and seeing where the "Iron Chef" is filmed, drinking as much lemonade as possible, Rockaway Beach, Coney Island French fries, Chelsea gay district, Naked Cowboy, and 3$ I <3 NY shirts. That's pretty much the jist of it! After a very emotional goodbye to New York, we took a five hour drive into Maryland to meet my cousins Sam and Chris, and my aunt Laura and Steve. When we got out of the car we were hit with a nice aura of humidity thick enough to make you feel like you were in some sort of Amazonian suburb. I loved it, but I don't think anyone else did. We made way inside the house while leaving our bags inside the car and said our hellos and gave our hugs. I can't tell you how great it was to see everyone again. I probably can't mention much else though of what we did in the following days. I'll just say that once we made the trip to the beach, we smoked a lot of...cigarettes. One of the best times of my life though, and I really look forward to the opportunity to show Sam and her boyfriend Danny around the Portland streets if they come and visit. I'll most likely show them 21st with Anna Banana’s and Coffee Time, and definitely the Roxy with their cheese fries and great atmosphere, but if anyone else has any other suggestions, I would love to hear them... So that was pretty much Maryland though! After the pissing my pants flight back home we we're lucky enough to have Seth and Breanne pick us up, and it really was so great to see their faces again. When we stopped by their house on the way home, we were greeted with Vanilla cupcakes as a welcome home gift and, ohh! They were so good… Though I loved the east coast, there really is nothing that amounts to the bohemian vitality the great town of Portland has going for it. I was only in New York for a couple of weeks, but I can tell you guys that the rest of the country is looking at us in a very admirable light. I’m not kidding! New York will always be in my heart, but Portland is where I think things are happening now, and it is where I live and where I will call home for a very, very long time to come… Until maybe it starts to smell like piss too. I’m really digging the pine thing it has still going for it.