Manhattan, Audubon Neighborhood (June 22 - 29, 2011) — The things that I miss most when in Asia are live music, good lighting, salad, family, and old friends who know me, not just as I am now but how I once was. Not necessarily in that order. My brother Raphael’s apartment is a plentiful place with all of the above, even live music if you count Julian’s drumming. They gave me his office and a blowup mattress with very soft sheets. I let my suitcases totally air out, emptied them of Bhutan and India and Vancouver things. It’s time for mini-skirts. The weather was perfect, low eighties. Warm enough to sleep under a sheet and a thin quilt with the window open.
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Drinks at the Jane. Walking the highline. An outdoor dance party at Gowanus Canal with Detroit’s DJ Moodymann. Riding the subway with crowds of ebullient gay rights supporters on the day of the passing of the new marriage law. A cozy tsok. A meeting at the New York Times. All my sisters and a round of margaritas. A final dinner with the family around the table.
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I walked 20 blocks up to my place on 175th to root through my closet. It was like shopping with no price tags. Old stuff suddenly new to me. I thank my earlier self (assisted by…was it Julia? Lynn) who organized these treasure chests so well, everything within reach. My desktop. Will I ever be able to unpack?
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Days later, driving through some cute town in the Pacific Northwest, I asked my friend, who also travels all the time: “What if you were told you had to move here to this town and unpack and find a job and become grounded?” We stared out the window at the little houses with the yards and cars. “I’d be so sad,” she said.
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