Back to NY (for the nth time?) / Recap

It’s been almost a month since my last post. This is the longest I’ve gone without posting and it feels weird.

I feel like I’ve been living a dream these past few weeks. Untethered and floating off into the distance.

Anyways it’s good to be back. Right now I’m sitting at Burly Coffee having just finished a flat white and a vanilla cream donut. The cafe is a bookstore / coffee shop hybrid. Three seats at the counter and a two seater sofa. Pretty cozy as you can imagine.

The coffee was delicious. The donut didn’t have as much cream as expected. I’ve been sitting at the counter zoning out while staring out the window—one of my favorite activities in this world. It’s ~30 degrees F (the coldest weather I’ve experienced this winter). The speakers inside are playing really calm trance (?) music. My body (especially my shoulders) feels great.

It’s been roughly 2 weeks since I got back to New York.

This time around feels different. Maybe it’s the winter or living alone after three months at home or being back in the city after months in the suburbs. Whatever it is I don’t feel as gung ho this time. The zeal for life is a little missing.

But I think it’s natural to feel like this. I talked to Harry recently and he’s been feeling similarly too. He said something yesterday that I wholeheartedly agree with. All you can do is dig deeper. There are no other options.

I’m pretty hopeful overall though.

So what have I been up to since I got back? Here’s a quick recap.

  • Crashed at Kelvin’s apt the first few days I was back. Coincidentally it was his birthday and I spent the next few days joining his birthday week

    • Went to a german beer hall and had some beers + currywurst

    • Went to Gyu Kaku with some of his AFX Berkeley friends

    • Chilled at his apartment with some church people we met at an open mic months ago

  • Hung out with Simon & Brian. This was the day I got my perf review + bonus so we decided to splurge a little

    • Got a great meal at Crown Shy. Short rib was super tender. Cauliflower was amazing. Pork chop almost tasted just like tonkatsu.

    • Karaoke at Gunbae

    • Late night meal at Anytime

    • Our walk to Gunbae was a true journey. Some dude came up to us out of nowhere and said “Watch your mouth pussy.” We weren’t even talking when this happened. Later we were spooked by some dude hanging out in the shadows. A couple minutes later we stumbled on a huge dead rat (small chihuahua size). Brian and I went howling down the street and Simon judged us for being scared.

  • Did a music session with Frank. First time in a while working on music with someone else. Took some time getting used to and tbh we didn’t get that far but it was fun / worthwhile.

  • Met up with Jason and Nicole at Emily. I got the burger which is supposedly “the best burger in NYC” but it was just ok—31 dollars too >:(

  • Went to an electronic music producer meetup. It was ok. Electronic is not really my style. Met some interesting people. Met a lighting designer who’s been working on an interesting play. The premise is there’s a lonely gay guy who buys a male sex robot for companionship. Later on the robot gains sentience and realizes he’s not gay so he buys another female sex robot while the original guy is away at work.

  • Met up with Harry and Dove and Dawhee. We started off at Grace Street for dessert. Then we went to a comedy club in EV to watch a show. This was Dawhee’s first comedy show and I think he liked it.

  • Besides all of this I’ve been going into the office MWF. They have delicious/healthy food and a gym with a great view. Makes it so convenient to eat right and work out.

    • I am consistently impressed by the power of convenience. Normally it’s such an ordeal to work out but since the gym is right there I feel more than motivated to go. It’s not even a decision to deliberate on. Almost an automatic part of my day.

    • Might go to the office more often. Incorporate some music stuff before and after work. Environment is super important and I think I’d be more productive writing music there vs in my dark, old Airbnb. Sorry Airbnb, I appreciate the shelter and you’re very comfortable but it’s kind of hard to concentrate on anything in there.

On what’s next:

I’ll start doing more stuff outside of work. 2 weeks is a good period to adjust back into a different mode of living but it’s about time that I start living seriously again.

I’ve also been super side tracked with trying to find a new apartment. Hours spent on streeteasy. Where will I end up? Who knows. I hope I read back in a few weeks having found an amazing cheap modern well located apartment.

Does such a place exist in NYC? Only time will tell.