You get a movie role..everyone gets a movie role.

So, I survived back surgery, and I successfully shared a 720 square foot apartment with my Mother for 30 days.  She was a saint, taking care of me the way only a mother can take care of you when you are sick.

Recovery from surgery has involved taking up pilates. I am not the most flexible guy in the world, and I have historically walked with my right foot turned out slightly.  OK, maybe a bit more than slightly.  My instructor has been working hard with me on both issues.  It is like having to re-learn how to move and carry my body, and I am enjoying it.

But this blog is supposed to be about New York, and the experience of living here.  I am going to try to recommit myself to just that.

Living in New York undoubtedly exposes you to to opportunities that you wouldn't otherwise get in Minneapolis or, mostly, even a Dallas or Salt Lake.  One of those is the constant stream of media production.  On any one day, Gossip Girl, CSI, White Collar and innumerable art films are being filmed here. 

Someone has to star in all of these productions, and lately it seems that means everyone around me is getting an acting gig.  My co-worker and office mate, Alene, just announced yesterday she is going to be in a movie after a casting agent saw her amateur comedy routine.  Another co worker was writing a children's book when her quasi-agent announced that the agency was recasting the project as a TV series.  Another good friend got asked to audition for a role in an art film.  None of them are actors by trade.

After a childhood filled with local community theater productions, I guess my big break is surely just around the next block...right? 

Take Your Momma Out

So my Mom is in town for several weeks, staying with me, in preparation for some surgery I have to have.  Having her here is like getting a chance to see New York with fresh eyes. My favorite moment so far has been when I was giving her directions, and I told her to "turn and go down 10th Avenue".  She looked at me totally bewildered and said "how do you go down a street".   Never thought about it that way before.

Stay tuned.

New York Redux

I know, I know the posts are getting frighteningly more sporadic now.  I guess after living here for over two and half years, your observations just become...well, less so.

I am getting to re-live some of the energy of a new New Yorker through a good friend who just moved to town.  He is already going through the confusion of learning the subway, and the adjustments that come with your body being your primary mode of transportation.  Of course, to really learn the subway, you have to ride it, which he says he has not done yet.  I believe that will change once he sees the budgetary impact of taking taxis everywhere.

So spring is coming to the City again (not soon enough), and you can feel it on the streets as people flock to cafe tables and wander aimlessly on sidewalks just to get outside. I have always been a lover of winter, but one thing New York will do to you is change that.  I do still love a good snow, but now, I am also a lover of warm weather vacations in February.  In fact, warm weather vacations are now on my list of New York must-haves.  As are good, old fashioned rain boots, which I recently invested $36 in a pair.  Walking to work on this crazy,  crazy rainy day without having to circumnavigate around every corner's puddle makes this purchase long over due. If you are moving here, I suggest you get a pair as soon as you can.

So I promise to become more observant again and post more frequently.  Thanks for sticking with me.