cruise to nowhere

On a gloomy Thursday night, there's nothing better than riding the Staten Island Ferry.




No other mode of transportation in New York is free, so why is there no charge to ride the ferry?














Joseph and I were trying to figure out the difference between "freedom" and "liberty." Etymologists?










(photos by grw and jet)

Ageless

Yesterday while I was waiting for the train, I got a little paranoid. I began to wonder if maybe my parents have been lying about my age, and I’m not actually about to turn thirty. I have a lot of friends that are younger than me. I’m carded almost every time I go to a bar. Unlike my sister’s birth, which was documented on film, there’s no evidence of my birth. The question remains: why do my parents want me to think I'm older than I actually am?

Further, they’ve been lying about my mysterious scar for as long as I’ve noticed that there’s something different about me.


Something is going on here and I’m going to get to the bottom of it.

Can a person ever really know the truth?

Let's pretend we're in Hawaii, Vanessa.

Vanessa is the Queen of Food Adventures. Today, she treated me to an old favorite, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue.


We've had the opportunity to spend much more time together thanks to my lack of employment.


I never eat Mahi-Mahi outside of Florida, but I made an exception for the deep fried version.


Happy birthday to my wonderful friend, Sandra!


Vanessa and I met a nice young man in town from Hamburg, who was hanging out at South Street Seaport.


He helped out with the cartwheeling photo shoot.


I flashed many tourists in my attempt to synchronize with Vanessa.


With all this socializing, who has time to get a job?

Living rootless

Veronica and Paige came over for haircutting. Veronica had never tried root beer before, so we decided to make root beer floats. I bought A&W because it's kind of the gestalt American classic. Veronica is generally a picky eater, and I predicted that she wouldn't like the taste. She wasn't shy with her feelings. It's hard for me to get my mind around the fact that some people live their entire lives without experiencing root beer.

A moment of silence for the deprived.

Misplaced romance and getting laid (off)

Getting laid off has many perks, especially if you have friends like Vanessa.


Yesterday was one of the first perfect spring days New York has seen since last year.


To celebrate, Vanessa took me out, rowing in Central Park.


I did none of the work.


Vanessa developed her own technique for rowing the boat. While everyone else rowed backwards, Vanessa was determined to row forwards.


We got where we wanted to go, even if it did take us a bit longer.


I practiced photographing scenery.


We have an endless list of (misplaced?) romantic activities we do together.


That's a good looking day if I've ever seen one.


And a good looking woman!


No perfect day can be complete without a series of cartwheels.

Gili's Guide to Getting Laid Off

As a structuralist, it is necessary for me to have a schedule in order to lead a productive and enjoyable life while unemployed.

My schedule is flexible in so much as I may choose to fulfill each task in whatever order works best for me. Unless the circumstances change, each task is given my complete attention for the time alloted. No task should be allowed to take up more or less time than what's been scheduled. I have added flexibility in my allotments where necessary.

Here are a list of tasks and times that I have given myself:

1-2 hours job searching, cover letter/resume writing
1-2 hours writing (current projects)
1-2 hours Aikido
30 minutes-1 hour business planning/researching

Onward

On Friday, I was laid off. I'm not going to post the details here, but if you want to know more, feel free to send me an email and I can fill you in. This feels like an opportunity to be deliberate in my choices. It's unfortunate that this happened during a recession, but I am going to be okay and I'm excited about what the future. My creative energy is bursting forth. I wish New York wasn't so unreasonably expensive and difficult, but I'm going to try to stay positive and enjoy my freedom.

Saturday, Joe and I took ten different trains.


We met up with my parents at Sarabeth's in the Whitney for brunch.


My parents and Joe talked theater. After brunch, Joe and I stuck around to see the new Jenny Holzer show. Her new work is almost traumatizing in its honesty, forcing the viewer to engage.


From the Whitney, Joe and I walked along Central Park. Then we headed to Dumbo to research our new business idea (a secret).

Then we headed back into Manhattan to attend Joe's friend's birthday party. Finally, we ended up in Astoria, where we crashed until 11 am today.

I don't know if it's flu-related, denial, or Aikido-based, but my anxiety has been at a much lower intensity level than I've experienced in a long time.

Relevant movie: We watched one of my favorite Coen brothers' movies, Hudsucker Proxy, which parallels my latest work experience in frightening and hilarious ways.

Amish Friendship Bread update: Joe's Ziploc full of starter ingredients opened in his bag and so he tossed his portion out. I gave away the other two bags. Joe made delicious French toast out of one of my loaves. I think I am finally finished with AFB for good. Next time someone tries to pass it off on me, I will refuse this evil "gift."

Shalosh pinot

To celebrate Purim and to continue with Joseph's Jewish Immersion, tonight Joe made hamentaschen while I watched.


I'm still too sick from the flu to be much help.


Joe made two different kinds of filling: fig and orange, and halva.









While all of that hamantaschen baking was going on, I whipped up two loaves of Amish Friendship bread.


And guess who got suckered into being one of my Amish friends?


I think Joe's going to look dapper in his bonnet.


Jewish? Amish? Aren't we all just people?