Did I mention that I am moving again?  Yes, yes.  By this time next month, I will have moved into my new palace, my kingdom, my domain.  Granted, I have to share the bathroom with two girls, but I don't care so long as I am reunited with all my stuff and can get out of my current living situation. 

I don't know if any of you have lived long-term in someone else's house, in someone else's room, with someone else's stuff in the closet and on the walls, but for someone as OCD as I am, it's beginning to drive me crazy.  Add to that mix a roommate who has no boundaries when it comes to eating my food (I'm poor - I can't afford any more!), to using my razor (yes, she SO did!), or to walking into my room unannounced when I am half-naked, and, if you know me at all, you know my poor little brain is ready to explode!  I am looking forward to having a space I can call my own, even if I have to share the bathroom...

So, about this place: our new apartment is on the second and third floor of a Brownstone house.  On the second floor, there are two large bedrooms and a bathroom (with a jacuzzi and a washer/dryer combo).  Then, on the third floor is the third large bedroom (hopefully mine), with the kitchen and living room area.  The third floor has cathedral ceilings that are slanted and has a skylight so there is plenty of sun.  Finally, there is another set of stairs that lead to our rooftop deck!  It's really an amazing place, in a great location for us (close to where Corinne and I work, and close to Ada's mom's house so she can get the car and go to school), and inexpensive enough so that we three can afford to eat dinner on occasion (Corinne and I were coming up with extracurricular "activities" we could do so we could afford a really nice place earlier this month - like naked housekeeping and the like - so we're quite contented to have found someplace where we don't need to sell our ovaries to afford to live there).

Anywho, we are signing the lease this Thursday and expect to move in during the second or third week of August.  So, I guess you should expect an email from me with updated contact information in the next few weeks.  And maybe I'll even be writing from my own DSL-linked computer!!!  Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!

Oh, and did I mention that I am painting my bedroom "mandarin"???  I am quite the happy puppy right now....

I know it has been a while, and not everyone reads my Blog, but there are a lot of questions I've been getting from people who have known Vince and I throughout the past several years. Some of you, might I say, seem quite stunned that we are no longer together. To be frank, sometimes I am too.

But we are both doing rather well these days, working on surviving the breakup, working through our emotions, working towards an everlasting friendship with each other, and working towards new relationships. Vince will tell you some of his stories if you tune into his new website, which can be linked from the old: http://neodem.blogspot.com. As for me, while I still miss my Vincent very much - the conversations, the trust, the intimacy - I am doing well and have begun anew with a lovely man named Anthony.

Things seem to be working out for me these days, even though I am struggling to start all over again. My new job, with the Committee of Seventy (http://www.seventy.org), begins the first week of August where I will be the Business Administrator and I am still working on getting a parttime job at the Lucky store downtown so I have some extra play money and a discount to one of the best stores ever! Corinne and I have also found a really fantastic apartment that is closer to both of our jobs and is rather affordable - it even has a jacuzzi in the bathroom! Of course, there is only one bathroom for three girls (Ada, a family friend of Corinne's, is also moving in with us), but I figure that if there are ever any issues regarding that, I've been trained to kill . And things, of course, have been moving along quite swimmingly with Anthony.

Granted, Anthony is leaving for Europe for a month and a half so I'll be left to my own devices, but things are going well enough that I think we might survive the time spent apart. I am sure that Corinne and Jimmy and Tom and the whole gang will keep me occupied during those several weeks....

Well, whatever. I am actually quite exhausted and have very little on my mind to discuss right now. I hope all you good little kiddies have the sweetest dreams this evening...

On leaving New York…

You know, Vincent really thinks I hate this city, and I suppose I do complain an awful lot about things. I think that may be a really bad quality in a person, to be constantly thinking the glass is half empty (shut up, Anthony), so I will do my best to reconcile that by telling you all (whoever you are) why it is that I love New York.

First and foremost, my apartment was amazing. For those of you who missed it, it was a three bedroom, two bath marvel with a gaggle of closet space that most New Yorkers would consider a luxury, if not a complete unknown. Vince and I decorated the place together, coming to what I consider an excellent compromise in function and beauty. You could say it was my first real apartment, replete with furniture I’d picked out, a refrigerator Vince lovingly moved in from Philadelphia, and all the urine stains my kitties could manage (would it kill you, Daisy, to work on your aim???). And Andrew even said it was the nicest apartment of all his friends’ apartments – not that Andrew’s opinion means much to all of you, but after all he is my Masshole and I was flattered.

Anyway, it was my first home away from home. Yeah, I lived in Philadelphia for six years, but that was all dorms and, to put it as mildly as I can, Vince’s “bachelor pad.” This was the first time I took part in the process of procuring, paying for, and creating a home to live in. For someone raised like I was, it is a truly liberating thing to be living on your own and taking care of your own responsibilities.

Another aspect of New York that I truly loved was being able to reacquaint myself with old friends. Mel and I were able to start up our friendship again, once we realized that Brooklyn and Inwood aren’t ALL that far away from each other. I saw my favorite narcoleptic, Dave K., once in a while too. I got to see Starr, Dara, Mark, Toni, and Mark more often than I did when we lived in different cities – in fact, even though we had lived in the same city for years, only blocks away from each other, I even managed to see Corinne more than I had when in Philly (strange, but true.) It may have taken me over a year of adjusting, but I finally have my finger on the pulse of New York, and more importantly, I have friends here.

Then there is New York itself. I’ve seen so many things – the Bronx Zoo, the cherry blossoms in the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, several Broadway shows, a comedy show, the Museum of Sex, the Cloisters, Central Park, the inside of a room at the Waldorf Astoria… There is no comparison if you’re looking for a city with something to offer in the way of entertainment. I’ve been to gay strip clubs, a lesbian bar, a transvestite bar (don’t ask), a lingerie party and so much more. I’ve pushed the boundaries and discovered a lot more truths about the world and myself through my experiences. New York gave me so much; I wish I could afford to give it more…

I’ll miss the Subway sandwich shop only a block away where the owner knows me and the Spanish girls really know how to make an Italian B.M.T.; the CVS pharmacy where the pharmacist actually knows my name; the tiny Asian postal employee that delivers my mail and always chats with me when I see her carting around her ten tons of packages; the Inwood Post Office where, no matter the time of day, the line is always out the door; Victor’s Gym, where all the Spanish guys behind the dumbbells know my name; the A Express train (for obvious reasons); all 2 million Starbuck’s I’ve frequented; the freaky, hairy man in Central Park who we mistook for wearing a shirt instead of only being one or two steps away from his ape ancestors in terms of body hair evolution; the escaped parakeet I found in Fort Tryon park; the guys at EMS in Soho that actually know the products they sell; the guys in front of the Union Square Barnes & Noble who sold me that Columbian child (I’m a sponsor for Children International, folks – his name is Eduardo); that gay boy named Vincent who works at Mexx, Vince’s favorite men’s clothing store; the AMC 25 and Loews Kips Bay where I spent many a Thursday night – not to mention the Baskin Robbins right across the street from the Loews where I spent many a Thursday late night (after the movie of course!); that Petco on 31st and 2nd where they have kitties in cages at the front of the store for adoption, with their life stories on index cards right outside their cages (what ever happened to my favorite one-eyed cat??!); the lovely Team in Training office on S. Park Avenue that helped me have focus these past few months, knowing exactly when and how to drive on the Henry Hudson Highway; the crazy, drunk homeless men who sit around the community garden all day and chat with one another, their shopping carts full of trash and memories not far off; our first floor neighbors whose kitchen I can see clearly from my office and our kitchen, who smoke a lot of weed and then do a TON of cooking; the Park Side Restaurant where I get my Sunday brunch and the Dyckman Deli where I get everything else, including Vince’s turkey sandwiches and Pirate’s Booty; not to mention the professional trumpet player in my building who practices every afternoon…. There are so many little things that I’ve grown to love over the past year that it would almost be a shame if I never came back to live here again.

But we will see. There is so much more of the world to explore and I intend to do a lot more of it! Once I’m financially capable, that is. Who knows where I will be next?! Life is such an exciting adventure, is it not?

Well, I did promise Michelle that if she comes to work on the East Coast for a few years, I will move out to the West Coast for a few years afterward. So maybe that will really happen.

In any case, right now I’m heading to Philadelphia. I sent out an email with my contact information so if you didn’t get it and think you should, go ahead and get in touch with me and I will determine if you are cool enough to be privy to that kind of information.

Anywho, all my love to New York and everyone in it…

I love my friend, Brian. His website is always full of useless, trivial things that I can use to fill up my day with...



"You must remember this, a kiss is still a
kiss". Your romance is Casablanca. A
classic story of love in trying times, chock
full of both cynicism and hope. You obviously
believe in true love, but you're also
constantly aware of practicality and societal
expectations. That's not always fun, but at
least it's realistic. Try not to let the Nazis
get you down too much.


What Romance Movie Best Represents Your Love Life?
brought to you by Quizilla

Change of plans. I am no longer moving to the Jersey Shore for the summer. Instead, I am staying in New York until mid-June and then I am moving to Philadelphia (good news for you Philly folk).

The reason? Vincent and I decided to break up. We think it’s for the best (or at least, we hope). Vincent will be moving down to the Ventnor apartment, and I am moving in with my friend, Corinne. In case you are, don’t worry – Vince and I are dealing with this the best we can, and we’re working together to make both moves run smoothly.

Of course, calls, dates, and random surprise visits are SO welcome…!

I don’t have much to say about this right now, but I thought you should know.

I would have pictures of Corinne’s birthday extravaganza if I didn’t forget to bring my digital camera to Philadelphia last weekend. Now it’s just too much work to post anything up on my Blog – first I would have to go to CVS and actually pick up the pictures, then I would have to scan them, and then play with Photoshop, and we all know that lately Ryan doesn’t have the motivation to get that far in life, so you’re just going to have to imagine Jimmy playing with Vincent’s nipples on Vandra’s couch. And don’t listen to Vincent when he claims that he was surrounded by women on that couch… There was still some unbuttoning of the pants, the untucking of the shirt, definite areola action, and Jimmy!!!! So phbbbt!

You could actually say that I had a good time this past weekend – yay for Corinne! We sat in Rittenhouse Park on Friday afternoon (Corinne being late for her own party, might I add) feeling like a bunch of high schoolers devising all kinds of ways for us to drink illegally. We had our “Vandra” water, which was an Aqua Fina bottle with Vandra’s name on it, filled with Vodka of course. And then we had the non-Vandra water, which was an Aqua Fina bottle with no name, filled with Rum. And then we actually had water water, which was a bottle of Poland Springs, filled with water. Then there were various mixers and whatnot.

As the Corinne-appointed photographer for the event, I drank water during throughout most of our picnic, trying my damnedest to get “sober” pictures as people arrived to wish Corinne well (i.e. proof that they came, just in case Corinne failed to remember). Eventually I broke that habit, to help Corinne with her vodka tonic and ease the transition between sober Corinne, buzzed Corinne, tipsy Corinne, and “I’m-not-going-to-remember-this-in-the-morning, am-I?” Corinne. It didn’t quite work, as she eventually caught on and took off with the bottle we were sharing, but at least it got me started on a little bit of alcohol consumption.

Eventually, about 15 of us found ourselves at Audrey Claire’s (no one seems to recall how we “found” ourselves there, but so it goes…). Then we broke out the wine – which seems to be more legal in a restaurant than in a public park. Corinne and I played musical chairs, constantly switching tables so that she could bestow her bedazzling presence on all her guests. I kept moving just to keep away from Vincent’s arguments against daylight savings time and for his metric calendar, two of the most ridiculously tired streams of word vomit to come out of his mouth. Granted, I walked right into Erik and Jimmy hissing over George W. Bush, but I staid out of that one (miraculously) by talking over Jimmy’s head to Katherine…

Somehow the bill got paid and we all appeared together again at Vandra’s apartment. That is the location of Vincent’s own version of “couching” and all the other drunken behavior for the evening. I spent much of the remainder of the party waiting for Corinne and Vincent to stop having a good time, and talking to Brian about what an old lady I’ve become. Seriously, my bedtime is about 10PM and I try to wake up and be at the gym by 6AM. So when 1AM rolls around and I am still nursing the same vodka tonic I’ve had since about 9PM, I am no longer the spritely young girl that was snapping photos down in Rittenhouse Park. It is time to go to SLEEP!

Granted, it was extremely pleasurable to see the whole crew together again – Jimmy, Tom, Vandra, Lisa, Courtney, Jason, Erik, Brian, etc. – but I have serious limits these days. I’ve become quite accustomed to my early-to-bed, early-to-rise routine. I haven’t quite decided if that’s a good thing or not though. Most people my age are still out in the bars and clubs until 4AM on the weekends, and I find that I would much rather be hangover-free and off on a long hike by 7AM on Saturday morning. Go figure.

So that was Corinne’s birthday – beautiful dress, illegal drinking, wine and politics, a wasted attempt at playing “Asshole” (Bullshit!), Vandra dancing by herself to 80’s music, Vince getting nippled by Jimmy, and “other assorted activities” (which basically covers all the things I cannot say to such a large spectrum of people). It was a wonderful time, even if I am OLD.

The other highlight of the weekend was sitting down to lunch with Rebecca (for those classical music aficionados out there, she is the partner of the legendary Peter Nero, whom I originally met at Vince’s father’s Harry S. Truman Ball in 2003) and Corinne in Chinatown, about a block away from an anti-abortion rally (yeah, there’s nothing like sitting down to eat while a large truck keeps driving around the block with a picture of a mutilated baby pasted on the side of it). In any case, Corinne and I were nursing hangovers (it seems like it doesn’t matter anymore – one drink or ten, I’m still getting one) and having the most fabulous time! Becca told us all these fantastic stories about her life – she is one amazing woman! She even talked me into trying French Veitnamese coffee (or was it Thai?), which is a real treat – even if it wasn’t made right! The caffeine was just what I needed to get through the day.

So that was most of my weekend.

In other news, Vince and I are beginning to plan out our move. It looks like we will be completely out of New York by July 1st. I will most likely be moving down to the Shore sometime this month, so we’re starting to think of our stuff in terms of “do I need it?” “Do we store it in Philly?” “Or do we pay the movers to store it?” It’s going to be a tight squeeze fitting the two of us in that two-room apartment in Ventnor – never mind all our stuff!!! So we really need to pare things down to the most essential. Whereas I don’t have a lot of stuff, I use everything I own… then there’s Vincent who owns a lot of stuff, who really uses very little. So I’m thinking that, although I’m the master of being able to travel with a backpack (when I want to), I will be the one having the most difficult time deciding what is necessary and what is not. We don’t even know how long we will be living at the Shore. Ergh.

It looks like a job may be on the horizon for me, too. Well, down at the Shore, anyway. I am meeting with a VP over at Caesar’s Entertainment next week and with any luck, she will like me enough to make me her new personal assistant. If that goes through, then I will be heading down to New Jersey within the next couple of weeks. Wish me luck!!!

If all goes as planned, then I will start working on getting an internship in editing or publishing. They have a lot of local newspapers and magazines down there, so I’m hoping someone will want some free labor. We will see.

Then I’m going to start working on my tan. Oh, how I miss the sun!!!

The only other thing of note this week is Mean Girls. The movie, by Tina Fey (go Philly!). Vincent and I went last night in support of our girl, and it turns out that Vince was the only straight male in the audience. It’s your basic teenage chick-flick, with a lot of less-than-subtle mockery of the whole teenage world of cliques. I was amused on several levels, especially when I started thinking of my own high school career, when my friends and I decided to make fun of the system and dub ourselves “The Clique.” We thought we were pretty hysterical. (Although, at the same time, I was completely clueless as to who belonged in what group of people. I think I was one of the few people who actually had a really enjoyable high school experience. My guess is that is because I was completely oblivious.)

Well, go see it if you’re into that whole Clueless /Never Been Kissed/etc. movie ideal. I thought it was fun…

I’m moving. Unless something incredibly outrageous occurs – such as Random House hiring me to be its new President and CEO – Vince and I have decided to move ourselves to the beach for the summer. Apparently I am so unhire-able as to be undesirable here in New York City, and I need to try my luck in Jersey. Watch out Donald Trump, I’m coming to a casino near you!

Well, perhaps not a casino, but we’ll see where fun in the sun lands me. Yours truly may just end up being the most tanned and smiling cocktail waitress or ferris wheel operator you’ve ever met south of New York and north of Philly.

Vince and I haven’t figured out all the details yet, but I don’t see any reason why this won’t work out. I’m not entirely devoid of personality or talent yet so I think I can swing something in the service sector, don’t you? (Don’t answer that, Masshole…)

No matter what, this means early morning bike rides by the ocean – some early morning jogs as well – weekends on the beach, lobsters at Robert’s, New England clam chowder at Smith's Dock, mini golf with the old lady who kicks people off the green for loud and obnoxious behavior, shopping (see, that’s where the whole employment thing comes in), dock-side barbeques, boat rides, jet-skiing, and living in a 2-room apartment with Vincent (hey, you can’t have everything…).

For everyone within a two-hour radius, this is good news for you too! When you want to see me, a beach is involved! We’re thinking of leaving the last week of June and returning before our trip to the Grand Canyon in the first week of September (so I’m guessing late August). Of course, Corinne, you have the keys to the castle so you’re in charge of bringing Jimmy, Tom and the rest of the Philly crowd, whereas Estee, Mel, Starr and the New York gang will have to bus it on out! We still have a queen-sized couch-bed so there’s always room for guests…! (And you DC-MA-CA-etc. people are still more than welcome! It’s just more of a transportation issue for you guys to come visit – but if you find yourself in the area…)

So, with the big bang first, I might as well talk about last weekend now to bring you slowly back to normalcy (or as close as you can get, Michelle). Vincent and I spent the past few days in Philadelphia, our home away from home. Saturday night was Senator Fumo’s annual Harry S. Truman Ball,





and we were there to see Bobby Rydell drop to the floor in what we heard was a diabetic seizure in the middle of a number. Don’t worry, Rydell fans, he is fine and he left the party sitting up on a gurney, laughing and waving – but talk about buzzkill. Good thing it was nearly midnight and the ball was winding down (all those carriages turning into pumpkins at the stroke of twelve, you know!).

We also saw a Cher impersonator who was the focus of a lot of discussions. People were wondering if “Cher” was female or akin to the lead of The Crying Game, especially after there were many a photo taken of the Senator with his hand on “her” tattooed bottom. (To alleviate any confusion, I will let you know right away that our lovely impersonator is just a wonderful woman toward whom time has been fairly kind…



Corinne and I also were entertained by some party crashers who walked in from a “Family Board Meeting,” which to the uninformed (like ourselves) means that these crazy southerners were distant relatives of our former President, James Madison, and were in town for a meeting. Think Daughters of the Revolution, with a southern twist of lime and the Midwestern fondness for cousins… Well, the southerners found out I was dating Vince so they invited Corinne out to the bar at Le Bec Fin for drinks. Oddly enough, she declined – the southern gentleman was probably 65 years old!



Later in the evening, Corinne and I also enjoyed the delicacies of the Presidential Suite of the Sheraton Society Hill. Senator Fumo wasn’t staying the night so we gobbled up his Godiva and drank his champagne while we discussed life and politics, and shooed unwelcome drunk boys from our door. All in all, it was an interesting year for the HST.



Thankfully, Vincent and I had those hotel rooms that night because Corinne was dog-sitting all weekend, and although Rufus is absolutely adorable, he just doesn’t know when to shut up. The dog needs Prozac or something…



In any case, those are the tales from Inwood…what’s shakin’ in your neighborhood?