June 30, 2002.
A year ago today, I moved to New York City. A year ago this exact minute, Jon and Angie picked me up from the airport. I crashed with Lynn and Jon for a bit before I actually moved into the apartment with Mandisa and Anne. I moved into that room downstairs. There were roaches, and other various rodent issues. We took care of that. Then we went to IKEA. I was handy and built furniture. I put my resume on-line, got a few calls. They were for temp. agencies. I interviewed and found out I could type 78 words per minute. I wore an uncomfortable suit in an attempt to seem professional. I kept asking the parents for money. Janet came and left. Friends from Michigan came and left. And came and left. And came and left again. I learned how to have a barbeque at my place, but never really be the one to barbeque. Mandisa became the best roommate ever somehow. Karina and I discovered pizza. Mikki and Lisa moved to NYC. Mikki here made life a little happier. I started applying to law schools. My friend Kevin came to visit, trying to find a job. I was hoping he wasn't thinking that any of my bad luck in the job market would rub off on him. September 11th happened. Friends moved away. I ran away. Ann Arbor saw my face, and I learned that my place wasn't there anymore, although millions of my memories still resided within its halls. I came back to interviews. And job offers. And a gift mug and a health plan from Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Saw my friends less. Made me sad. But I was financially independent. That was something, right? I worked. I worked. And at 3am on Saturday nights, I found myself making copies in sweatpants. I worked some more. I missed my friends some more. I went to Michigan because I needed them, and maybe they needed me. I saw 58 Greene and FunKtion perform. I was so proud. I had something to do with that? Ridiculous. Got my first law school reply. Georgetown likes me! I came back to NYC because even during the holidays, someone has to audit a 114-box production. Angie turned 24. 24 hours later, I turned 23. There was a surprise cake involved that made me so happy. Angie and I blew out the candles together. I wore a cowboy hat. We took pictures. There's talk of dancing again. I don't believe it at first. I work some more. Life is a blur, and I don't have a valentine. We're over it. I see my friends more, because now there's a perfect excuse... rehearsal! Leslie, Anna, Angie, Sam, & Steve taught me lots of stuff. I planned a vacation because I needed it. Everyone met in Miami for maybe the last time. I sweat. I was a drill sargeant. People kind of hated me for it, but I think they're over it now. It's my gimmick. We show up, we have a great time, we're a family. Stanford and Berkeley officially hate me, but Columbia and I are sure to become great friends. I go back to NYC, make more copies. I make some more friends. I wonder why I haven't spoken to other friends. Have things changed that much? No, I say. It's warming up in the city, I can go business casual on Fridays. The park is inviting. There was talk about running a half marathon, but it was so easy to sleep in that particular Sunday morning. I'm talking about my last day of work. It's 2 months from now. 1 month from now. 2 weeks from now.
My last day of work is this Tuesday. I'm staying in NYC until the 15th, when I fly to Ohio. I'm taking a road trip to California because I miss my Cali peeplz. And alone time is nice. I come back August 1st, I party that weekend with great friends, and on the 6th I move up to Columbia to start law school.
Things have this way of working themselves out, don't they?
posted by phat tony 1:40 PM
Question: When a good friend experiences a pseudo-heartbreaking dose of disappointment, what do you do?
I'm SO bad at dealing with the real issues my friends have... hell, put me in a situation where all I need to do is give vaguely unsubstantiated advice wantonly about a subject I have no business giving advice on, and I'm FINE... but when someone comes to me with a real problem, one that doesn't really have a solution (permanent OR temporary), and I become a blumbering mess. It's a problem.
posted by phat tony 7:31 PM
I tried to blog a few days ago... it didn't work.
We're over it.
My last day of work is coming up. July 2nd. It's a Tuesday. Tuesdays are the new Friday. (I don't know WHY I tell myself this.) Regardless, things are kind of winding up at Cravath. I mean, we're all still busy and everything, but I have to phase myself out of certain things. There's this new chick, Stephanie, who just started working. She's going to be sitting at my desk, taking my place on my case team when I leave. Sick. I mean, yay, I don't have to work at Cravath anymore, but sad, I don't want people to "take my place." My team was cool as hell, that's for sure (well, minus that one chick.). Oh, funny thing about Stephanie... by some random act of chance, Dave, through a friend of a friend of a friend, got hooked up with her on a blind date. It wasn't until they first spoke that they realized they both knew me. And it was weird because they were set up a while ago, but they didn't speak for the first time until after Stephanie's first day of work, which is the day she and I met. Dave called me that evening and told me about it all... hilarious. What a small world.
On another note: I'm not only leaving my job next week, but I'm really only staying in my apartment for about 3-4 more weeks... I'm leaving for Ohio on July 15th, going on a road trip to Cali, coming back to NYC on Aug. 1st, and then moving out of my good ol' midtown apt. and away from my fantastic roommates on Aug. 6th. Wild. That's sad, for sure.
Oh, speaking of moving... who wants to help me move? (Don't everyone get up at once...)
posted by phat tony 7:48 PM
Two weeks from today is my last day of work. Start the celebrating now.
Notes to self:
- Pay Anne cash for bills.
- book flight back to Columbus.
- run.
- chill with Karina and Leslie because it's been far too long since we've chilled.
- finish the 4 books I've started, but am not close to finishing.
Have you ever had one of those days where everything goes wrong? Welcome to Tuesday. I'm dealing, it's fine, the day is already getting better. But we've all had these sorts of days, when all you want to do is just go home and nap.
posted by phat tony 2:24 PM
As much as I love getting paid overtime, I hate being at work during the weekend. It's true. Especially when I have to be here all weekend. If you haven't gotten the message yet... I'm at work. Right now. It's Sunday. At 5:51pm. I'm not leaving anytime soon. Sadness.
posted by phat tony 5:50 PM
This weekend was great. Great. It really was. And now I'm exhausted.
Friday night: After work, my team did "Phase II" of the goodbye lunch, i.e. we met at the local after work bar, Thalia, and had drinks for the next 4 hours. Then I left them to meet up with the new roomie, Kim, and her brother and friends from work... I met up with them at this place called Kush, which is a sheesha/hookah place in the East Village... it's dope and I have no idea why I haven't found it before. Regardless, we chilled, and it was dope. I was going to go to my friend Vivian's birthday thing at Ohm that Leslie had planned, but by the time I got out of Kush, I was exhausted from the day and I knew that I would be absolutely no fun. Regardless, I promised Viv I'd take her out some other time soon.
Saturday night: I met up with my girl from work, Michelle, around 6... we ended up spending the rest of the night chillin' together, rockin' out in the city. We went to see Cherish, that new artsy flick with Laura Tinney (Tunney? Tinney? I don't know.) Then we had dinner at La Fanice's around Lincoln Center. After that, we did our thing at Serena's, then Tiki Room (played hip-hop all night), then Twirl (music ranged from salsa-merengue to hip hop, Michelle and I got invited to be on the Pepsi float in the Puerto Rican Day Parade), then Exit (don't know WHY we ended up there), then a diner for french toast at 6:30am. It was a great night, no doubt.
Sunday: woke up at noon, went back to sleep, woke up at 3:30pm, met up with Dave (Fessler, old Greenie) who is in NYC for the next two months doing an internship at Sloan Kettering. We chilled for a bit, and then ended up meeting up with Lynnchen for a movie... Sum of All Fears. That shit hit a little too close to home. It was a good film, for sure, but at times, I didn't know how to react. Regardless, after that, for the first time in a long time, Lynn, Angie, and I had some quality time and a great convo. I think that was the first time I've actually talked to them since mid-April. Weird. It was great to see them, though, despite how dumb they've been for not keeping in touch better for the past 3 months (yes Lynn and Angie, I'm talking to you). =)
Now I'm back at work, and like I said before, I'm exhausted. Pray that I get out of here by 7pm... I need a nap.
posted by phat tony 4:05 PM
The partner of the team I work on at Cravath puts the fear of God in me. It's true. I don't know why it is... I mean, I'm not really intimidated by anyone, professionally-speaking... I don't take myself seriously, why would I take anyone else seriously? But this partner... I can't help but either stutter, sweat, or not speak at all whenever I'm forced into conversation with him. It wasn't until last week (NB, I've been working with this partner since October) that I actually had a real conversation with discernable dialogue with him. It was a big step for me, so be proud. Thank you.
Also, this partner took my entire team (summer associates, regular associates, senior attorneys, legal assistants, you get the idea) to lunch as a goodbye shindig for one of our associate attorneys... it turned out to be a "wet" lunch (i.e. alcohol included), and by the end of the lunch, I was just chatting it up with everyone, including my partner. And actually held my own. The point is this... a lot of the attorneys who were there spoke with me about the entire law school/post-law school experience. Not only did my partner tell me about the high potential of me getting a position at Cravath as a summer associate and then as an actual attorney (which is fantastic, considering Cravath is the top firm in the nation), but the other attorneys were telling me about how I should never hesitate to call them during my years in law school if I have any questions about anything. One of them told me that a lot of the things you learn during your first year are a tiny bit complicated to understand at first, but then are things from which you build the rest of your legal knowledge... he also mentioned that I could save hours and hours of time just by calling and asking for an explanation, and that he and anyone else on the team would be more than happy to help me out. That made me feel good... both about my future in law school, and also about my rapport with the people with whom I work.
posted by phat tony 3:52 PM
weekend. was. good.
I don't think I'm really good at doing a minute-by-minute recap of my weekend... so I'll just give you the fun points of this weekend...
a) Kim moved in. Who is Kim? Kim is a fantastic new roommate who works at UBS-Paine Webber and has lots of charisma and energy and has cool friends. And she loves to have a good time. She's also doing this 400-mile charity bike race from Montreal to Maine, and we're definitely proud of her for it.
b) Mandisa and I ran 10 miles yesterday. Well, it was more like running for a little over 9 miles, and then walk/jogging the rest... 10 miles is a LOT. I don't know if I want to do this marathon anymore. =( Don't tell Disa.
c) Summer in the city is fantastic. On Saturday night, in honor of Kim's arrival (and the other one's departure), we had an impromptu bbq/party. It was dope... random fun people came, people mingled, and then everyone went out afterwards. I ended up going to Gustavino's for a friend-of-a-friend's birthday party, then back home, then to that one bar that used to be Street Bar but isn't anymore, then to Ray's Pizza, and then to Bar XVI. Here's what made the night cool...
- met lots of dope new people
- finally had the convo with Neeru. Neeru, being the ex, and also being one who I haven't spoken to (not for lack of trying) that often this year, was one with whom I needed to have some words. She's seeing someone else now, this dude who she was seeing for 4 years before she and I got together. This makes it a little easier to deal with (I mean, the fact that she's with the guy that she was with before me, not some random new dude). I don't know what it is, but even though it's not like I'm dying to be with her again, I'm definitely jealous. I mean, she's fantastic, we still have a whole lot in common, she makes me smile and laugh and think a lot... and I don't like the idea that she wants to be with someone else. Does anyone agree with me that it's always ALWAYS difficult to see an ex with someone else, no matter how OVER them you are? Ugh. Regardless, we had a really great talk, we worked a lot of little things out. I miss her, that's for sure, but for all the right reasons.
posted by phat tony 5:40 PM
This is not a game. It's Saturday at 8:29am... a little over 2 hours ago, I got a phone call from work telling me I needed to come in for a few hours at 8am. This wasn't really a huge problem... it's just that when you go home from work at 1am the night before (or, I guess, the morning of) and expect to have the weekend off, you don't really think that coming in would be an option. Yet, it is, and here I am. Ain't life grand.
posted by phat tony 8:28 AM
