What that title has to do with the sevenXseven is way beyond me. Just figured you’d want to know where I am in the universe. “But weren’t you just in Okiehoma, like, a week ago?” Close, faithful reader, close. I got to NYC about a week ago after a quick move-out and roadtrip. Needless to say, life is tumultuous as of late. Within the last month I….
-quit my job
-put my car up for sale
-sold 75% of my stuff
-moved everything out of my Rockford apartment
-said goodbye to several good friends
-sold my car
-found a vacancy and two fantastic roommates in NYC
-said (hopefully) “see you soon” to a fantastic woman, who is off to give a year and change many peoples’ world
-divided the remaining 25% of my possessions into a “stay” and “go” piles
-wished my closest friends goodbye and best of luck over the next few months
-packed most of the “go” pile into the car
-drove 1,300+ miles to NYC
-lived enough for two lifetimes
Though I was not and am still not always sure what’s around the bend, most things have swung in my favor.
-The bluebook value (and what I was paid for my car) is equal to one year’s rent.
-The leasing co. is giving me my deposit back, despite the treatment of Rockford 6
-There is ample space in Ma & Pa’s attic for the “stay” pile
-What I couldn’t fit into the car, I have to ship. Luckily, my best buddy specializes in shipping and can get serious deals
-I have another best buddy who has a finger on the pulse of cool things in this city. Though he’s rocking the graphic design world in Tulsa, he’s still sending me heads up about cool stuff in NYC.
-A few weeks before leaving, my friend Mark, from Tulsa, informed me he’d be in NYC and have a big car if I needed it to move anything. We promptly planned an Ikea trip and he helped me not be a complete hobo.
-Passed through the area where Pa’s family resides. Had a reunion with his side of the family and now have thanksgiving arranged.
-Found my apartment to be even bigger and cleaner than I could ever have imagined, plus its only 10 or so blocks from school.
-When I arrived I found a spacious room and three-pages of suggested restaurants, cookie places (!!!), pizza places, grocers, pubs, pharmacies, post offices, bookstores, and useful websites.
-Just today I met up with David, Cyntreva, and the rest of the Paige clan who are in town for the week. We had a good morning wandering through the Met. Dee (David’s Dad) asked me how long I’d be around. I said my program is for two years so at least until the end of the world. He handed me a receipt for all our tickets into the museum saying “We spent over a certain amount on admission. That gives us one free year-long membership. Here ya go.” And with that I can now get into the Metropolitan Museum of Art for A YEAR. FOR FREE.
And those are just the things I can recall right now. There are more but my grey matter has been frazzled by the abundance of blessings coming my way. Some call it karma, others call it luck. I call it providence. 
After being here for a few days I still cannot get over the sea of possibilities presented. Every street, every corner gives way to a chose your own adventure that you could never finish. Every day I set off to find something. It may be some art to hang on a wall, or something to put all my bills and reminders of terrible adulthood into, or it may be the midbeam to my bed I forgot to pickup out at the Ikea in Brooklyn and had to go all the way back, by foot, bus, and boat, to get. Whenever I venture out after my latest objective someplace always catches my eye or I hear someone talking about who’s playing at Terminal 5 on that magical date, October 11th (that’d be Broken Bells, by the way - speaking of, they have a video for The Ghost Inside, starring Christina Hendricks, who Mark C. and I happened to run into one night near Soho). There’s always something more to discover. That’s true of shops and events, but also of information and location.
Today, while jotting down what appear to be longitudes and latitudes but are in fact the prices of my required textbooks, I met Mike, a fellow MPA student. Mike is a big guy, born in India, who talks with rapid fire speed and strong authority. Im fully convinced he could get someone to squeal about where Hoffa is buried or get anything off a dollar menu for fifty cents. In the 15 minutes we talked he gave me no less than three leads on potential internships and the name of a woman in our department I should go talk to about work opportunities. I just smiled and nodded and acted every bit the slow Midwesterner. Mike doesn’t know it yet, but we’re gonna be chums.
Later, I made my way down St. Mark’s Place and about fell off my rocker. The streets are lined with tattoo parlors, head shops, frozen yogurt places, and a comic store. Shocking? Not to the average bear, but for me it was like stepping back 3 years as I discovered Berlin’s gem of a district called Kruezberg. Seeing that strip of debauchery made me grin devilishly, as I plot adventures for when friends come to town.
Yep, things are looking pretty good. I’ve got a great place to live, fantastic roommates, and am near most everything I could want: 2 movie theaters, the subway, Trader Joe’s, Artichoke Pizza, running paths, several bookstores, and a fantastic breakfast diner. My only regret was not having my bike. The seperation anxiety from my neon demon (bet you didn’t know that was the bikes name? Well how could you, I just made it up) was reaching fever pitch. That’s when a guy tried to make a light on 3rd Ave. and 23rd St and got really familiar with the front end of a black Crown Vic. He was okay, though his trusty steed would have to be put down (read: new derailleur and rear wheel). The driver was okay too, just pissed. After that, though, I wasn’t missing the bike as much.
So there it is. Not much in the way of sevenXseven updating as I would’ve liked but there’s plenty more days left before 2015 and further accomplishments to update you on. Until then look both ways before crossing the street, drink your ovaltine, and always add bacon.
