Monday, April 23, 2007

New York State of Mind

I know, I know...a whole week. You hate me, right? Well, consider this: Upfronts are fast approaching. And you know how I am about upfronts. That's right, make predictions, follow the announcements, praise and snark. So, stop whining, you know there's lots of content to come in the next month. In fact, if you are new here and have an interest in TV shows that get picked up/cancelled (and I know you are out there -- you googling people you) bookmark my site (shameless promotion) and come back at least once a week leading up to the big shew in NYC -- THE UPFRONTS. I'll do a primer on the upfronts next week to prepare you.

But today, I thought I'd recount my trip to New York City this weekend. Now, a lot of you have been to New York or lived in New York. You might be thinking, 'why do I care about YOUR trip to New York?' Answer: I don't know, but you're at my friggin blog, so you might as well read it. (Yeah, I'll update the watch list later...sheesh, no pleasing you people).



This was a milestone event for me. While a trip to New York on its own is exciting, and a first trip to New York is even more anticipated, there was something very special about this trip.

September 11, 2001. I was standing in the boarding line of a Delta flight, waiting to board a plane at the Orlando airport, headed to LaGuardia. I noted after a few minutes that our line wasn't moving. It was 8:30 AM.

Then an attendant announces that our flight is delayed. There had been the remains of a hurricane on the northeast coast in previous days, and I mused that perhaps the weather was still bad in New York.

If it weren't for the TVs in the terminal, we might never have known what was happening.

I was supposed to attend the wedding of a friend at Block Island. Going to New York was a treat I was giving myself. I had asked a friend to accompany me, a friend who had been to New York a couple of times and could serve as my guide. The events of the day made that trip impossible.

April 19, 2007 - Redeye: I finally breathe a sigh of relief as my life comes full circle. The trip, so long ago postponed would now come to pass. 9/11 marked a turning point in my life. In the wake of the tragedy, my sister got laid off and broke up with her long time boyfriend, our family dog died, and four months later my grandmother died. It was a dark time. From the darkness came new hope, however. My sister and I vowed to jumpstart our lives -- pick up and move to Los Angeles. I didn't know how I was going to get here 5 years ago, I just knew I had to do it. By the one year anniversary of that fateful day, I had a ticket in hand to visit Los Angeles. In January 2003, I was transferred by my job to L.A. And the rest you can deduce from my journey the last few years.


I was haunted by the aborted trip over the years. Yearning to close the book on that chapter of my life. I know that 'getting closure' is a cliche' worthy of an eyeroll, but I'll tolerate your looks of disdain to tell you that I really needed closure on this.



I was only there for two days. I met up with new friends who had never been there either. We wandered around like lost lambs for most of one day. But I didn't care. I was in New York...finally.

7 comments:

Shawn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Shawn said...

To add another eye-rolling cliche, I love New York. Lots of great memories there for me - my first ever baseball game at Yankee Stadium (saw Sweet Lou Pinella hit a HR and Goose Gossage close it out), skipping school to take day trips into Manhattan, hopping the train to see the Grateful Dead at Madison Square Garden whenever they were in town and working with really fun, cool people on low-budget indies that will never see the light of day, but we will remember always.

I'm glad you had a good time in what may very well be the best city in the world. And it's good to hear you got the closure you were looking for. That picture of the 9-11 timeline reminds me of my first look at that massive whole in the ground - it stunned me beyond words.

By the way, we missed you at the last group meeting - let us know you're out of town next time!

Shawna said...

I promise to be at the next meeting. It was a crazy week. Hey -- what happened to your blog?

IQCrash said...

I love New York. Absolutely love it.

The bars are open until 4:00 am, everything is usually within walking distance, and most the people are so much less hoyte toyte than they are in Los Angeles.

Also, I've had some crazy sex in New York - which gives any town a boost in my rating.

Glad to have you back, squirt. Now you can ignore me locally.

Fun Joel said...

Awesome! It s no secret how much I love NYC. Glad you loved it too. :-) Welcome back!

Shawn said...

Alas, the blog is dead. I had a farewell post up for a few days, but no one really seemed to care, least of all me. I never really enjoyed blogging that much - takes too much energy! Maybe I'll launch AAE 2.0 when I've got more time.

Unknown said...

I can't wait to hear all about it! New York is great. I will never forget walking the streets of NY for the first time on July 4, 2002 with helicoptors buzzing around and security everywhere. It was a sobering experience. Enjoy your blog very much Shawna!