Sullivan and Bleecker

I moved to NYC in September 2002 with just one suitcase. I didn't have a job, I didn't have any friends or family, and I didn't have an apartment. I didn't even have a cell phone!!! Foolish or fearless? A little bit of both, I suppose.

The other night, I walked past the very first apartment I stayed in when I got here on Sullivan and Bleecker. Erin's cousin Vanessa and her now husband Joe. It was a tiny apartment, but they let me stay on their couch, despite the fact that I had never met them. Now that's true kindness.

I remember eating cup o' noodles for dinner every night, scouring Craigslist and Village Voice for an apartment, and aimlessly wandering the city, going to strange neighborhoods like the "Lower East Side" (scary!) and "Williamsburg" (the suburbs!). By 8pm I would be exhausted from all the walking- what a concept, walking!

It's funny- I had never questioned my decision to move to NY even though it was a bit nutty. I just did it. And now, as I am getting ready to move back to California, I'm filled with that same sort of boundless curiosity of the unknown.

Let's see how long this lasts. Solmaz bets I'll last 2 weeks at the Akabori household. I'm gonna really try to stretch it for as long as humanly possible. FREE RENT!!!