Whip My Hair

Listening to: LCD Soundsystem, "New York I love you, but you're bringing me down."

It's true, I made it to the East Coast. Bust the windows out your car! After a night of hurried packing and attempts to purchase a winter coat, I made it to New York a few days ago. This may not sound like much of an accomplishment since all it takes to make it somewhere is hopping on a plane and then not getting struck by lightning, however I'm celebrating a mental "I made it" more than the physical movement. I've been speaking about moving to New York for years. And for years it's never happened.

Of course, it hasn't exactly happened permanently this time around either, but I do have a place of residence for a few months, and I did pack up just about everything I need, and I hope to be out here consecutively for longer than I've been anywhere the past two years. Over the last twenty four months I don't think I've been in the same city for longer than three months before jetting off again. I've convinced myself New York is it and if I can make it till summer then I'll be able to say I've really made it. The swarming heat could then drive me away but I'll worry about that later. I'm going to try to blog more often about semi-daily personal boring shit over at jonwow, so follow along if you like. I'm gonna try to keep this thing here more focused and professional. "It's all unfocused and boring," you say? Touché.

One thing I already miss about San Francisco is the efficiency of group communication we'd cobbled together. The people in the Bay I see on the regular are better defined and closer grouped. Between those people being online, on Twitter, shared Google Calendars, and just generally always in contact by at most two degrees, I can pretty much look at my laptop and find out what everyone is doing at any given point in time. That's not the case here.

As I'm wandering around Manhattan, I think in terms of what neighborhood I'm in and who I can text to see what they're up to. My text usage has tripled since arriving and I haven't even been doing that much. The majority of the texts end up being "where are you" queries and my spiritual fingers cramp at the inefficiency. Don't worry though, as you'll soon see, there's an app for that.

I'm beginnig to experience firsthand now how social geo-location could actually be useful and viable. In San Diego or San Francisco it felt like those services were more of a novelty, here it feels like a necessity. Sometimes I want to say "I'm sitting on this particular bench on this particular corner and come find me if you want because I need a compadre!" There's a definite need for this type of thing, you'd think industries would have sprung up around this niche already, sheesh. Most importantly, I think, I need to revamp my friends' social reporting habits. All of their internet habits actually. Today I found out my friend uses Kazaa and buys stuff off iTunes. Bless his heart.

Seeing as my time here is limited, I'm going straight into seek and join mode. Next week I'll be scouting out two writing groups, I just posted on Craigslist for fellow book club orphans, I'm mulling over starting up a Mixtape Mafia: East, and I'm creating separate folders and event trackers for things that happen I possibly need to attend. The less aimless bar and club hanging out the better off I'll be. For example, Saturday night I hope to drag some people with me to the Zero Film Festival. What is it? I don't really know but it's there and it sounds interesting.

Friends, friends, people who like what I like, or who will show me things I like, where are you? Don't move, I'll find you. Echo, echo.