NYC

I've been thinking a lot lately about how different new york is now from when i moved here 4 1/2 years ago. I realized it for the first time about a week ago. I was hanging out with Kate, and walking home from Washington Square Park I actually felt at home. Not just comfortable because I knew the street so well, where the different shops and restaurants were, even the vendors. But because it felt good to be walking down the street in NYC. It felt "normal."

When I first moved here I distinctly remember walking from my apartment to Broadway. That is a whopping 2 blocks from my house. It was a monumental moment in my life. I never walked in LA. I just drove everywhere, even to the store for a quick trip. So this was huge. Now I think nothing of walking 2 blocks, or 14. I've actually walked 60 some blocks before, and I thought it was a fun, nice night!

But it's more than that. I finally feel like i'm growing up, without trying to be grown-up. I realized this after a night out drinking (guess i'm not that grown up) when i got home and found that somehow all of my huge, plastic cups had disappeared, to be replaced by a matching set of 8 real glass glasses (thanks Jeff & Kathleen). How did this happen!? I loved my big cups that could be dropped, thrown, kicked or strewn about with no chance of being broken. Weird to think that cups would make me feel grown up, but they do. It's like I have real stuff now - furniture (mostly IKEA, but still nice), dishes, electronics, etc. I guess I've kind of become a grown up out here in NYC, without family nearby or college friends to guide me.

This is what happens when i actually let myself turn on the computer at 3:26 a.m. and type away. Oh well.

DC Madame

I have issues with the whole "abstinence or nothing" policy of the Bush government, so this story just makes me squeal with glee. Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias resigned on April 27 (last friday) because he's been having a little fun with Madame Jeane Palfrey and her girls. This is the guy who directs all of our foreign aid programs. The programs that say recipients have to sign on to an abstinence only program in order to get treatments for HIV/AIDS, among other diseases. But this guy gets "massages." Hm. Kind of like my old roommate was a masseuse?

Here's the story on Slate.com: http://www.slate.com/id/2165259/nav/tap2/