Everything In Between

Yes, I know I haven’t blogged in a while. Yes, I know I’m like a hundred emails behind in getting back to everyone who’s been contacting me. Yes, I know I have a dozen things to do before the week is up. You see, I’ve been having a rather busy time of things.

I’ll start from Thursday, since that’s when I last blogged.

Thursday Night Sin

Earlier in the week I had wanted to make plans to see friends. On Thursday, after I met the leaders of MetroMac, I jetted uptown to see Sin City with Sara. (Sara is a new friend I met several weeks ago but didn’t really start to get to know until a private party we were both invited to on the 9^th.) We had planned to meet at 8:30 PM, but I showed up at 8:37 due to annoying subway service changes.

Before the movie, we briefly walked down 41^st Street from 7^th Avenue to 8^th as we talked. Then we hopped into Europa Café where I grabbed a panini and a cup of coffee and she picked up a cup of chamomile tea. Conversation continued and didn’t stop until we realized we had better get to the theatre before we were late.

That was conversation numero uno of the many long conversations Sara and I have had over the course of this past half-week. It’s fair to say that we’ve quickly become friends—I dare say close friends—in the extremely short time we’ve known each other. There just always seems like there’s fun to be had and things to talk about or do, which is incredible and awesome and exciting and, for me, totally unexpected.

Sin City (the movie) provided much fodder for conversation Thursday night. Earlier, at the cafe, we had already begun hashing through subjects such as mutual friends, personal history, experiences with polyamory (and its concepts), and a range of other things. The movie, a spectacular rollercoaster of brutal visual entertainment, got us onto the topics of the arts, both visual and literary.

The movie was exhilerating, and neither of us felt like the night should be over despite the fact that it was already past midnight when we stepped back out onto 42^nd Street. We decided to head on up to the Columbia University area so she could grab some dinner. She didn’t eat anything at the café, and since I did I wasn’t hungry.

We ended up at Pinnacle (a pizzaria/delicatessen of sorts) on Broadway, across the campus’ entry gates. There we continued the conversation that had already endured a movie and a subway ride. While technically conversation numero dos, the subjects flowed so naturally and freely that it felt like the same conversation.

By the time she had finished her calzone it was sometime after three o’clock in the morning, though our conversation was showing no signs of slowing down. Graciously, Sara invited me to crash at her place for the night, saving me a late night subway ride on the ridiculously slow 1-train. (I hate lonely, late night subway rides.)

Once there, we talked a bit more (God knows how we keep interesting conversations going, but we do) and then set up her laptop to play the Extended Edition of Return of the King, which I had not seen ’til that night. It was almost dawn by the time we stopped watching the movie (it didn’t end, we just didn’t finish watching it), and it was well past dawn by the time we were actually asleep in her bed.

Friday: Five-Hour Walk and Endless Conversation

We woke up sometime in the early afternoon the next day. Having no plans at all meant that we spent a good hour or two trying to wake up but ending up cuddling, which is officially the best way to wake up ever. It was probably around three o’clock or so in the afternoon by the time we made it out to Deluxe (a nearby restaurant) for breakfast.

Friday was an absolutely gorgeous day, as was Thursday night and as the rest of my wonderful days would prove to be. I often wonder if my moods follow the weather or if the weather follows my moods. Since it was so nice, Sara suggested a walk through Central Park and so after breakfast (I had a chicken quesadilla and she ordered a turkey burger, I think) we started heading East on 113^th Street.

We entered Central Park near its North-West corner. We leisurely walked the entire length of it until we were at Columbus Circle. Then we turned West, hopped onto Broadway, and walked all the way back up to Deluxe where we started five hours earlier.

Yes, we spoke the whole way. I would cite this walk (and breakfast) as conversation numero trés, although there was a brief part of the walk during which we stopped to lay on the grass (and each other) and rest for a while. When we completed the circle it was just past eight o’clock.

I had made plans to visit the Columbia University Games Club that night, and Sara had planned to attend a student play. Both events were held in the same building, on the same floor, and both started at approximately eight o’clock. We took the elevator up together and hugged as we said goodbye.

Dinner and Discussion

The games club folk were just beginning to play Power Grid, a board game I’d not ever seen before when I arrived. I said hello and was greeted warmly, but by now I was getting hungry, and it was still somewhat early. I hopped out of the games club’s room and told them I’d be getting a snack.

Back outside, I made a phone call to Melinda to see if she wanted to catch dinner with me. She was taking a nap when I called (I woke her up) and was a little out of it, but invited me over anyway so I walked up to her place. Then the two of us went out to eat at Toast, another nearby restaurant where further conversation ensued.

In fact, so much conversation ensued that it was past eleven before I knew it and I was getting sleepy. At this point, my conversation count increases to quatro. We spoke about a lot of things too, and (like the conversations with Sara) I wish I had a tape recorder for them. Some subjects were choices versus decisions, the three waves of pleasure when eating, and social background and change.

I left for home before it got too late, and arrived at my apartment sometime after one o’clock in the morning. I can’t remember doing anything except falling asleep, though I think I did speak yet again with Sara via AIM.

Saturday: Total Blank

I have absolutely no clue what happened on Saturday. In fact, I don’t even remember Saturday taking place. I must have been abducted by aliens or something.

No, wait. Going over my personal calendar and email records has unearthed the fact that I had a squash game and wrote several emails, including one long one to Sara. Turns out I did do something that day, though the conversations won’t be counted because they were email threads.

Sunday’s Sequence of Events

I probably spent most of Saturday at home, because on Sunday I woke up at around one o’clock in the afternoon and started catching up on some of my email. I made myself some muffins and coffee for breakfast at around three o’clock, when emails were satiated, and signed on to the various IM networks while firing up my news reader.

When I signed on, Jon, the long-time Linux user I met at various Meetups, messaged me and proposed that we meet to discuss some ideas for a project he’s been working on regarding our various Meetup groups. We planned to meet at the Starbucks on 181^st Street, exchanged cell phone numbers, and set the time for 4:15-ish.

Afterwards, Sara signed on and I spoke with her for the remaining forty minutes or so before I had to hop into the shower. This would be conversation numero cinco, and it covered a bunch of subjects too. Most notably (but not immediately important) was the possible roommate situation I’ve been pursuing.

Somewhat less notably (but more immediately relevent) was that I was trying organize a group outing to see Sin City yet again on Monday (yes, it really was that good) and wanted to invite her in case she was interested. She was, so I mentioned that Melinda had already said she’d like to see it and I wanted her to invite Mark and Hannah (and I realize I don’t know how to spell her name yet) as well. Unfortunately, neither Mark nor Hannah were able to make it the next day.

After I spoke with Sara, I jumped into the shower and rushed out the door to meet with Jon. We spoke for two hours at Jesse’s Place (a small, nearby bar and grill type of establishment), and tried to hash out the issues surrounding the potential database, programming, and architecture requirements of the project we’re thinking of pursuing. Chalk up another conversation, which brings my count up to seis.

Juggling in the Park and Dinner at Home

Since it was such a nice day and I had so much energy, I really wanted to make it to the park before sundown to juggle. Thankfully, I was able to rush back home, grab my juggling clubs, briskly walk to Fort Tryon park, and spent a good hour and a half juggling. Juggling spontaneously was something I’d not done in a really long time, and it felt wonderful. Wanting to get out of the house before sundown is practically blasphemy for me, but it also felt wonderful.

When I was juggling, I got a call from Melinda. She had apparently gotten locked out of her apartment, so I convinced her to come up to Washington Heights and meet me for dinner again. She arrived at around eight o’clock on the 1-train, and I met her at the subway entrance. Since we were both hungry, we grabbed dinner (beans and rice and some excellent beef) at a local hole-in-the-wall treasure of a Spanish take-out restaurant and brought it home with us.

It occured to me that I had never before invited anyone to come back to this apartment with me. (I still have trouble calling it “home.”) I enjoyed her company during dinner immensely, since I absolutely hate eating alone. It’s just so boring when all I do is eat (but I do it because, well, I have to), so having someone to speak with was incredibly rewarding. (That’s conversation numero siete.)

Then it was back to email while Melinda toyed with one of my Rubik’s Cubes which I had popped open for her to inspect. One of these emails was a response from Sara and included an invitation to spend some time with her in her studio (she paints, and rather well as far as I can deduce). At that point, Melinda got a call from Mark (her roomie) that he was home and she could return any time since he could let her in. So the two of us headed downtown shortly thereafter, Melinda heading home and me heading to Sara’s studio.

Return of the Movie Night

Sara met me outside her studio that night and brought me upstairs. She had been working on a large oil painting on a canvas. While there, we spoke yet again and I got the chance to ask a lot of questions about drawing, painting, and stuff I didn’t even know to ask since I don’t know the first thing about art.

Somewhere in there, she also pointed out several funny excerpts from Cryptonomicon. I didn’t notice at the time, but it was already quite late and even later by the time we left. Leaving her studio at two o’clock or so in the morning, the weekend’s conversation count inreased to ocho.

Back at her dorm room, we watched the rest of Return of the King after enjoying the ice cream her suitemates brought home. Once again, the movie was over long before we actually slept. The next day, we awoke near noon and had to quickly make it downtown to meet with Melinda and see Sin City (yes, again).

Monday’s Movie and Meetings

We met Melinda on the train and headed down to see the early Sin City matinée showing on 34^th Street. Even though we arrived a few minutes late, the movie proved just as much fun for me this second time around. Afterwards it was off to Skylight Diner for breakfast (well, lunch).

Sara had to head back to classes then, so Melinda and I stayed a while longer and chatted over milkshakes and fries. We left the diner to catch the sun and took a walk down 9^th Avenue towards Chelsea Market, where I grabbed a bottle of carrot juice. Then we turned towards the piers are sat on the grass in the Hudson River Park for a while. Conversation numero nueve.

At six o’clock we started back towards the subways. I planned on jumping over to my father’s place to take a quick shower and get ready for the Meetup Meetup at seven o’clock to discuss the new Meetup fees. The Meetup went rather well and I got to say my piece as well as discuss the issues with several members of the Meetup staff.

Scott Heiferman, CEO and co-founder of Meetup introduced himself to me before the meeting started. Everyone on the Meetup staff struck me as incredibly intelligent and dedicated people, not to mention very pleasant. (My groups are still heading over to Yahoo! Groups, though, and this whole subject is another blog entry entirely.)

I didn’t expect to stay at the Meetup Meetup for long, but I ended up staying ’til the end. I had an important prior engagement to make it over to CV where I was planning on seeing Sara again, as well as some other folks. I arrived very late but, thankfully, not too late and so got to see and talk with everyone. A group of us later went out to dinner, which was great because it meant I got to continue the conversations.

(A noteworthy occurance at dinner is that I ordered a salad in which I discovered a cockroach. Yup, a twitching roach on a piece of spinach. Now, I wasn’t actually that grossed out by it at all, which surprised me a bit, but I decided to make a mini-scene out of it anyway and demanded that I get the meal for free. It was no problem at all, and the manager even came to apologize and explain what could have caused that twice. I didn’t end up ordering anything else, but I did end up finishing Sara’s soup. Poor girl lost her appetite completely, as did Sevina. Meh, better for me.)

I spent the evening over at Sara’s again that night. No movies this time, but I did get introduced to her knife collection (which was fantastic). And, well, I guess there wasn’t much talking that night.

Tuesday and Wednesday: Home At Last

I slept in rather late Tuesday. I didn’t wake up until about 4:30 in the afternoon. Or, more accurately, Sara had class at two o’clock or so, so she left for it, but I was still sort of tired so she let me sleep in later. When she came back, we went for breakfast at Deluxe again after more cuddling-wake-up-time.

I had intended to make the local Usability Professionals Association meeting that night, but by the time breakfast was over it was clear that there was no chance in hell for me to make it and look “professional” in any way. So I decided to skip it this month and head home. Sara asked me to talk to my potential roommate and see what was up with that asap, we said goodbye, and I jumped on the train.

I spent all of Tuesday night and all of Wednesday either catching up on emails, message board postings, news feeds, or other online discussions, or sleeping. I started writing this blog entry way back at around noon on Wednesday, but collapsed and didn’t wake up until 9:38 PM that day. (Now it’s already early Thursday morning.)

On Tuesday night I spoke with Angelique, potential roommate for next year, about the summer situation and it was easily decided that it’d be best for us both not to room ’til then since she’s not planning on being able to move easily anyway. This leaves the apartment open for Sara, who was planning on apartment hunting.

Tonight (Thursday the 21^st) she’s planning on visiting the place here to see if it’s going to be a possibility for her to room with me for a while. That would mean, among other things, that I will actually be able to afford living here again and, for the most part, stop eating away at my savings. That was conversation numero diez of the weekend.

And now, back to work. :)