the birds and the bees

I spent last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday hanging out with the bees at the farmer's market. Andrew, the beekeeper and honey dude, was in Lithuania (talking to Lithuanian bees) all week and asked me if I'd open the City Hall market on Friday. While it sounds like not a hard thing to do, this is what it entailed:
*took the train from Grand Central to Norwalk, Connecticut late Thursday night to stay at his house there
*woke up at 4am to load the van and then drive into NYC to open the market
*worked from 6am-6pm Friday, closed everything down, and then drove back to CT
*ate pizza Friday night at a restaurant near his house, one of four pizza places on the same block-- was the closest thing to Mr. Jim's pizza I've had in a long time (big shout out to Fort Worth!), which was nice
*came back to NYC Saturday morning on the train

though it was a lot of backing-and-forthing, as Justin would say, it was a good time. I felt all responsible. And I got to drive in NYC, which I have to say was super frustrating. people here are nuts if they drive regularly.

being in CT was very relaxing. though i have yet to have one of those moments where i've just felt totally overwhelmed by the city, i immediately noticed the sense of peace and quiet that i felt once i was out of town. i plan on asking andrew if i can be a couch surfer this fall when i need to get away-- its a 40 minute train ride to peace and quiet.

he told me before i went that there was food in the fridge and i was welcome to help myself to whatever was there. it became evident once i was there, however, that to a bachelor, food in the fridge = lots of condiments. i made a meal out of some leftover black beans and some honey yogurt. awesome.

the second part of this update has to do with my romantic interests, so uninterested parties can stop reading here, if they choose. don't say i didn't warn you, there might be gross gushing and cooing involved.

last wednesday i went out to a place in brooklyn called hank's saloon, where they have live band karaoke every week. you heard it right, live band. as in you get to lead a rock band for your 3.5 minutes of fame, onstage in front of everyone. total dream.i sang a few songs, including "just what i needed" by the cars, and "celebrity skin" by hole, at which point the guitar player asked if i'd ever actually been in a band before. i told him yes, but really only as a drummer, at which point the drummer offered me his sticks and took a beer break. heaven! i rocked out to nirvana and green day (hello, 1994) and had one heck of a time. a classmate of mine, jac, came out with her two roommates (also fellows) and we all had a blast. things ended with a rather unexpected bathroom meeting in which i learned that she is a) not straight and b) has a crush on me.

:)

we've been out a couple of times since then and it is fantastic. not only do we have lots of similar pursuits (we're both earth science), we also have a really fun time together. i took her to hang out last night at monday night bocce ball at union hall, where she got to meet shelley, my future roommate in town for a few days, aneal, and a few others. it was great. she's great. everything is just great.

last week was my one-monthiversary of coming here to NYC and i have to say that i am in a much, much better place than i'd expected. every day i have some moment where i am proud of myself for making a space to live in this city of millions.

wherever you are, i hope that you feel like you have a place, too.