On leaving Astoria

I've been alternately both putting off this post and also mentally composing it for a couple of weeks now. It's sad to think that next weekend, after over six years in New York and most of it in this neighborhood, that I will no longer be an Astorian. Instead, Sam, Dinah, and I will be the newest in a flood of residents in Austin, Texas. I've had some wonderful times here. When people have asked me lately what I'll miss about New York and what I'd like to do in my last weeks here, I realized I don't have much of a New York bucket list to complete. This is, I suppose, because 1) I've done a lot here, and while there are still museums I've never gone to and New York icons I've avoided (here's looking at you, Times Square New Year's Eve), I don't feel like there's anything I've missed out on, 2) there isn't really time to do much other than pack, which I can safely say is on no one's list of must-do New York experiences, and 3) I will most definitely be back.

I figured I would pepper this post with photos of my first few months in New York. This was Thanksgiving, 2008. The same month Dinah joined me. 

I remember when I first moved to Astoria, with just a suitcase and a big box with tape handles. I moved into a basement sublet without a kitchen and worked temp jobs for a month in the World Financial Center (the last and only time I've ever worn a suit to work). I came here knowing only a handful of people, all friends of my sister. I tried a number of things to make friends from Meetups for glassblowing to adult casual league kickball, from which I mostly got a lopsided paperweight and a reminder of why I'm ill-suited for team sports. Over the years, I did eventually meet some amazing friends though. And thanks to the addition of one husband/business partner, I also have a pretty great family up here. I've additionally gained one slightly overweight cat and a fair amount of furniture. All of which is to say, it is both physically and emotionally a lot more difficult to leave this place than it was to arrive six years ago. Apparently, roots have been sneakily growing all this time, without my really noticing.

Luckily my athleticism didn't peak at 22. 

Another one from the fall of 2008, from the top of the Empire State Building. Luckily, this lady lives in Austin now, so we can hopefully find some tall things to take pictures on around there. 

Anyway, I'm not really sure what will become of this blog. I will definitely keep the same domain, even though it won't really make much sense. I might change the header at least to reflect our new Austin locale. I guess this is what I get for making a location specific blog, but I just can't imagine starting a new site at this point, since I've rather proud of this one's longevity. Plus, I like having all of my memories of my time here, nicely organized and chronologically catalogued. I'm not sure how much I'll be updating once I get to Austin because I'm aware that most of my readership is Texas-based, so my adventures there might be a bit less interesting. Nevertheless, for my own sake, I'd like to keep this thing going. So the point of this paragraph (in case you thought there wasn't one) is just to say, if you'd like to continue to see updates even though they will no longer be tinged with the glow of Astoria, let me know, and it will probably spur me to do it more. Otherwise, hope to see you in Austin!

Summer of 2008 on the Brooklyn Bridge. 

I can still blog sometimes

It's been an unconscionable amount of time since my last update. Luckily, the good thing about having a small pool of readers that all know me is that you also know why I've been a bit too busy for the blogosphere lately.

I'm actually a little concerned about what will become of this blog once I no longer live in Astoria. I would like to keep updating it, if nothing else, than for my own record of events. I do find myself referencing it occasionally to try to pinpoint certain items on the timeline of my life in Astoria, and it's terribly helpful for that. That said, I suspect my adventures might not be quite as interesting (strictly from a blogging point of view, of course), so fair warning to readers for the future. Anyway, I will cross that bridge when I come to it. For now, I just wanted to post some photos from my phone from the last month, since I haven't had the time to post about anything properly. Let the lazy blogging begin!

Pretty sunset from Socrates Sculpture Park. That sculpture you can sort of see with the reflective lines is really cool in person. 

Also at the sculpture park. Friends gather for Costco sized picnicking and a Senegalese movie. All of the the movies they show at this particular summer film festival are foreign, really good, and by-and-large depressing. This one was no exception. 

Some friends and I thought it would be a good idea to go on an East Village ice cream crawl. We went to three places and got ice cream (or gelato) at all of them. This was the last place, which is why we look sugar crazed and sort of wary of what should be an exciting summer treat. 

Maine wildflowers!

Obligatory Dinah shot. She was sitting on the edge of her chair because I'd thoughtlessly left a purse in the middle of it. 

The Shakespeare in the Park line for King Lear. You can't really tell how long it is, but it was pretty long. My friend and I were the last pair to get in. Excellent show! 

I took a shine to this little guy at the biennial for the Museum of Design. This was actually not my favorite thing there, but for some reason this is the only thing I took a picture of. 

I promise to update more substantively later as I do have some real news and whatnot.