Day -22: Out of the Apartment and Into The Streets

Thursday: I caught an early ride back to NYC with a member of the crew who got sick (J.) ...and I can add him to the growing list of people who discouraged me from making this Transcontinental-trek in street clothes. Although his experience was in Mountain Biking... so i'm trying to write off his advice. J is a "Best Boy Electric" on the set, and when i mentioned to him that part of me was thinking about pursuing a career path as a Film Lighting Tech.... he wasn't too encouraging of that idea either. Nice guy though.

Friday: For the past month my friend Eric from BYU was crashing in my apartment, but quickly decided that he needed to leave NYC and raise some money doing manual labor in Minnesota. It was sad to see him go. I feel like we had just hit our stride and were finally done with the "catching up" process. Shine on you crazy diamond....


Saturday: Sold everything but the bed and the AC unit. Went to Chili's with Greg and Nick... Played Video Games at Ben's.

Sunday: Sold the AC Unit and threw out the bed. Discovered that my roof has maybe the best view of Brooklyn I have ever seen (Why did I never go up there?).

Ate brunch. Moved the remaining stuff to my office in Chelsea, and cleaned out the apartment. Watch A Czech film called Valerie and Her Week of Wonders. It was weird. Apparently the titular character was only 13 years old in real life... but there was a healthy amount of her being naked. I think I like the movie.... but i'm not sure.

I went home that night and sat on the fire escape of my completely empty apartment. This is the first time that I have felt scared about this trip. I would soon be homeless and living off of the charity of others (if just for a few weeks). It made me grateful for everything I had... which is not an emotion i feel very often, so I savored it for a few minutes. I never fully realized how much of a home I had made for myself in Brooklyn. Lately I've been talking a lot about moving to Queens, or the Bronx, or (gasp) Jersey.... but I have a hunch that fate will find me back in Central Brooklyn again next summer. I'm happy here.


It occurred to me that I had moved to Brooklyn (Prospect Heights) exactly 2.5 years earlier (to the day). It was December 31st, 2004 and I sat on my fire escape and listened to the neighbors partying upstairs. The two moments felt very similar (even the weather matches up strangely enough). I'm so quick to complain about my lack of momentum, and static lifestyle.... but a lot has happened in the last 2.5 years. I became self sufficient, I quit smoking, I "came out" to my family, I recorded two EP's worth of music, I learned to play the Banjo.... Yeah.... I'm pretty grateful for the life I have.

FOR THE RECORD: I'm pretty sure now that I've recorded that thought.... Something awful will soon befall me.

Monday: Woke up. No time for sentimentality. I am going to crash at the office for a few days and then stay with NFRG for a few weeks. I turned in 3 sets of keys to my landlord, and grabbed a cup of coffee with Greg (Caffeine dehydrates you.... need to quit that too...). Am feeling optimistic. Rode Bike to work. I haven't commuted on bicycle in weeks. I am out of shape.... need to start training again immediately!