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.