she continues

in the 9 days since i moved to manhattan:

i met a girl who has nothing in her apartment but a bottle of wine and an empty carton of cigarettes. we laughed about it mostly, and spent the rest of the afternoon finishing the bottle and reading about the top 75 brunch places in nyc. none of which we could afford.

went to a whiskey shop and asked for rum. he could have very well curled his lip and scoffed and walked away to fiddle with his turntable. instead he made me taste shots of whiskey out of dixie cups until i conceded that there are whiskeys that go down as easy as sweet rum and land a girl with the same degree of headache in the morning.

went to a party in brooklyn and met a couple who may never know this, but in the 15 minutes we walked together down jefferson, realized we passed our train stop, walked five minutes back, and rode the subway to williamsburg, put me at peace in such a way that i couldn't even bring myself to read faulkner the rest of the ride back to manhattan. that's the beauty of strangers.

walked down madison ave to the M15 and came to the conclusion that it christmas' fault that i've fallen in love with new york. it's the christmas lights. (or 'twinkly lights' if you hale from chicago. or bloomington illinois.) they make everything attractive. on your next first date, cocoon your dining room with christmas lights and i promise you he'll think your uma thurman. if you have a dining room, that is. which, if you're also in new york, you probably don't. which is ok, because right now you can't walk anywhere in this city and escape the soft glow of white lights. manhattan gets done up right. and we all benefit.

i haven't had any pizza. i'm afraid. what if someone asks me how it was? that's like going to a wine tasting in napa and being asked to describe the tannins and finish on the back of your tongue. the back of your tongue, mind you. that's where it counts. and all that comes out of my mouth is, 'it's quite violaceous.' and i get kicked out. what if i get it wrong? i refuse to try any pizza until accompanied by edward burns to guide me. mostly because i would accompany edward burns anywhere.

i gave someone directions. that's right. someone asked me directions, and i knew the answer. welcome to new york!