There's still more to be said about my latest exploits in NYC, but I'm still not quite up to discussing the particulars -- so for the time being I'm simply going to paste from an e-mail I wrote that gets the message across (though it's fairly similar to what I wrote in the previous entry):

So right now I'm trying to hash out my options and my next move -- I want to be somewhere where I could be happy, or something resembling it. I'm not happy here, but also I don't think I could be in a place where everyone talks fast to try to confuse you so they can swindle you out of your money or your place in line or whatever. I want to be someplace where people don't scowl at you when you smile and say, "Hello," as you pass -- someplace where people are moving slowly enough that you can actually pause to do that without being bowled over by the person sprinting along the sidewalk at your back. Someplace where the politicians don't strike me as obviously being gangsters. (But maybe that's just their accents.) Someplace where the concept of "speed dating" seems as ludicrous to everyone else as it does to me. I held the door open at Port Authority for the person behind me and was stuck standing there while fourteen people pushed through without a second glance in my direction.

I did finally get my hands on a copy of the Cutie Honey live action film -- the 2-disc Collector's Edition, no less! -- so the trip wasn't a total drag. Eriko Sato is bloody hot, dontchaknow. (more...)

And kind of glad to be so, actually -- 'cause despite a few pleasant encounters, I can't say that this was a fun trip overall. Maybe I missed some things on my previous trips to NYC because they were more/less recreational visits, but this first "business" trip has prompted me to kinda stop and seriously reconsider my plan to move to the big city. Almost everything struck me as being fast, brutal, competitive, even cruel -- all things that I am not -- and I don't know if I could be happy in a place like that. Granted, I'm not happy here, but being here doesn't scare me -- whereas I think I was more terrified at points during these past two days than I've ever been in my entire life. Maybe it was just me psyching myself out? I don't know.

Anyway, I'll probably follow through with some of the things currently in motion, and if nothing pans out I think it would be good for me to step back and think really hard about where I want to be and what I want out of that place. Maybe take a couple of months to travel around to different cities and see what they have to offer. I definitely like metropolitan areas, but I think somewhere a little more laid-back might be more my speed... we'll see.

Right now, however, I think I need to sleep. I'll write more about the specifics of the trip later. TTFN.

So in less than nine hours I leave for my first "serious" voyage to NYC -- I've got a couple of apartment viewings scheduled, some others I plan to walk in and view, a job interview on Friday, and a few other places I plan to swing by and leave a resume (possibly more, depending upon what I see in the local papers). I'm not sure what I'm more worried about -- the employment thing or the job thing! I mean, theoretically speaking, it's no big deal if I can't find an apartment, since I can always come back here (I'm planning to travel to and from NYC until then; frex, I'm coming back Friday night), and even if I do find an apartment I'll probably be making frequent trips back here to transport certain essentials, etc. But then, on the off chance that I do get hired at one of these places, I'll need somewhere to live so I can start work! So it seems like the apartment should take top priority, but the shadow of unemployment really bothers me. Anyway, hopefully something will pan out!

In other news: As I think I already mentioned, Friday was my last day at my old job. The topmost photo is a picture of me on my last day there -- I colored myself blue for no reason in particular. Actually, I was kinda sad to leave, despite appearances to the contrary. I was pretty good at maintaining those accounting books despite having had no previous training in that area and I did like the folks in the office and the environment, but I guess it's time to move on. I'm really scared and nervous about it, but yeah, I imagine things will be a little better once I find a place to live or a job (or, preferably, both). And the above image is the note I placed on the copying machine when it broke the previous week. Forget my bookkeeping skills -- it's my humor that the department is really going to miss! Or not... 😉

And oh yeah, my cell phone came today and I'll be setting that up tonight before I leave, so if you'd like to be added to my contact list -- especially if you live in the NYC area and want to catch up with me tomorrow or Friday! -- e-mail me your number if you haven't already done so (or if you want to do so again). That e-mail will also let me know that you're interested in having my number, so I'll send it to you.

And one more pic before we go -- for some reason I think Tara is really hot. I can't explain it! Maybe it's because she more/less occupies the Miss Yvonne role on CN's Cartoon Fridays sketches in that she's the female lead. Dixie was way more attractive than Miss Yvonne, though. Hell, she even played the trumpet!

Okay, I've really gotta go now. Ja ne, minna-san -- hopefully I'll survive the trip and have good or at least interesting news to share on Saturday.

Oh yeah, and speaking of good news, I won $100 playing Sudoku in the Washington Post Express! So that's two mentions I've gotten in that paper within the span of a week. The $100 is already gone and then some -- I had to buy ink for the printer to print out these bloody resumes and book bus tickets and hotel rooms and whatnot -- but still, every little bit helps.

Bye!

Quick update. I've been browsing apartment listings and making calls all day -- very exhausting. And FRUSTRATING! This one lady told me that I wasn't qualified, financially speaking, to live in her building. WHAT? Something about it being 48% of the yearly income I gave, as if it would be impossible for me to pay rent. Dude, I could get by on an average of $30 a week -- MAX -- so I could totally have afforded that place. But after she started talking about it I didn't want it anyway, so whatever.

Suffice it to say that my apartment hunting has not been going very well and I'm wondering what the hell I was thinking in the first place to resign from my position and decide to move out of here. I could've just stayed in the same job and lived here with my mother through my forties until finally deciding to shoot myself through the brain and nobody would've said anything like, "Oh, such a shame; he had so much potential blah blah blah," because they wouldn't even have been able to say it with a straight face anymore. Hahahaha.

Also, saw The 40 Year Old Virgin this weekend. Thought it was funny, but one thing that I found kind of odd was the representation of the male body in the film. I mean, I'm well aware that not every guy out there is cut/buff/etc., but really the only shirtless male torsos that I'm familiar with are my own and those of fictional characters and sculptures -- or similarly buff guys in magazines or jogging through the streets -- so it was kind of weird to see these guys whose bodies were quite noticeably less than "perfect." I mean, I know I've seen other men without shirts who weren't "sculpted" in my lifetime, but apparently I just looked through them, because they failed to leave an impression on my mind -- whereas watching the movie I couldn't help but see these kinda flabby (and hairy) guys and it just struck me as really weird. I dunno.

I'm tired so I'll sleep now. Ja!

Today a letter about PANDAS from your pal Wes appears in the Washington Post Express! Be sure to snag one if you're in the local area, but if not, a pdf copy is available online (you want the 8/26/05 issue). But here's the relevant part:

Alas, I can't take credit for the titular reference to Gwyneth Paltrow's brood, but the rest of the letter appears in more/less unedited form -- I had a parenthetical "Eeeeyy!!" that followed the mention of FONZ (Friends of the National Zoo), but that's about the only change. Sweet!

Yeah, I know it's just a short (and hopefully funny) letter, but this is my first published clip that wasn't in a student-run newspaper or magazine or online, so I'm pretty pleased. More to come, perhaps...?

I'll say more about other stuff later, including the previous entry. But off to work for now -- ja!