remember

solo jogger

during my summer in new york i went jogging along the east river most evenings.

sleeping on the floor

when i interned in new york city for a summer, i lived at 88th and york  with my older sister stephanie. we shared a tiny studio apartment and i slept on a fold out chair on the floor. most times steph's then-boyfriend-now-husband david stayed there too. stephanie had two cats, and one, a kitten named shadow, went crazy every night and ran across my face as i tried to sleep.

christening

when i was an intern for travel & leisure magazine, i attended a christening for a cruise ship. liza minnelli was asked to break a bottle of champagne over the bow, in ceremonial fashion, but instead of breaking the bottle bounced off three times before it finally shattered into the sea.

lost and found

i left my purse on a bench in manhattan, and an amazing lesbian couple sought me out and returned it to me before i even realized it was missing.

ah, same o' same

i bought a bagel and coffee every day from a portable stand on the way to work. the man who ran the stand waved when i approached and knew my order. it was a comforting feeling to have a friend in the heart of the city. each day, i asked him how he was doing and he responded, "ah, same o' same."

stranger

one sunny saturday i was supposed to meet some friends from my internship program in central park for a concert, and was running late. when i got to the meeting place, my friends were gone. i went on to the concert and met a guy who i ended up being friends with the rest of the summer. i wonder what happened to him. i wonder what his name was.

21 in the big apple

i lived for a summer in new york city, where i was an intern at travel & leisure magazine. since Stephanie was living there, and i was earning very little money, i lived with her, and sometimes david, in her small studio apartment on the upper east side, at 88th and york. i ran a lot that summer, three miles along the east river, starting near gracie mansion and running south. i celebrated my 21st birthday in new york that summer. i told jan castro, a friend i had met in russia earlier that year, that there was nothing i would change about my life to that point.

i meant it.