Tuesday, August 17, 2010

the only living girl in new york

i had a very surreal experience in new york last saturday night.

i was there for ben's 32nd birthday party, which started at approximately 1:30pm on the staten island ferry. it then moved to Ulysses on Stone street in the financial district, and then bar 119 near Irving place. it ended when i finally couldn't stay awake anymore- and caught a cab back to arielle and ben's apartment around 11pm.

in this cab is where it happened.

the cab driver had this piano instrumental music playing, and the song lasted for the entire ride. and as i rode from the union square area up towards the upper west side, i stared in my half sober state out the windows. i watched the lights and the buildings. i especially looked at the buildings. the empire state building, one of my favorite buildings on the planet, was colored in white and green (i don't know why). the big new yorker sign shown brightly and starkly against the blackish sky (it was 11pm after all). and from the windows i saw people all around. interacting in different ways. walking, talking. laughing. kissing.

so there i was. in this cab. by myself. tired, yet happy. looking around, feeling at once so connected and yet so removed from the city. like i was watching it all happen without being a part of it. with this bizarrely serene piano music in the background, ushering me home to bed.

it was unlike anything i've ever experienced before. and it stuck with me, although i don't know what it means, or whether or not i enjoyed it. there it was.

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