Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Come Back and Dance Again Mr Mojangles

pesto pizza  slice 
on the subway
Not many members of my immediate family dig New York.  Which makes it even crazier that I dreamed of living here almost all my life. But there are several versions of this city depending on your view of the prism.  For me it was always about the people, the real New Yorkers, the accents, the variety, the melting pot and what that creates.  But it is also the setting itself, the architecture, the age and history of the city, the subways, the East Coastline. It's the backdrop for many of my favorite movies of the 60s and 70s.  But mainly it's how I knew it would make me feel.  Many folks move here and the city becomes something different for them but in my experience the ones that truly understand her are themselves changed.  If you really appreciate her, you ask nothing.  Not everyone gets that.  Mo might.  He made the pilgrimage to see his favorite band, Every Time I Die, a hardcore punk outfit out of Buffalo that has been around for years unbeknownst to me.  Not just for one night but for all the nights.  They played first on a boat and then in a club.  Malachi or Mo as he's called announced his intentions on Instagram messenger.  I waited for this day actually, when a young relative who just wanted to use us for a crash pad would come and live it up for a few days.  Someone who would see it as a great opportunity to come and explore. I was thrilled and P was too.  We foolishly made all these little plans on what we would do, where we'd go, types of food to eat. 
house made sausage and kraut from Black Forest Brooklyn

Breakfast with P
It turned out that he was so self sufficient and content doing his own thing all over the city that we barely saw him.  Initially I tried to give him a tutorial on riding the subway that resulted in getting lost and having to transfer twice.  I'm not good under pressure and am the last person who should explain anything about travel and directions. 
Burger lunch with P
Every night we'd see cool posts of his exploits all around Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.  He was more an Uber man, which was cool.   He's from Arizona and when I visited it felt like everything in his town was brand new and pristine.  I imagine it felt quite different here.  There is beauty to be found in both. But I love the ability to wear a jacket, to put on boots and a hat or scarf and just wander. Sometimes in an old gritty city and in different clothes you can be more of a character of yourself.  That's how I feel anyway and I got a sense that he also understood this transformation contingency.
proper moshing confirmation
In the end, it was perfect the way it played out.  We were happy to have him, a cool, young person to study, a calm presence in the apartment and we got used to him very quickly, another old soul.  We fought over who got closer to him and P gloated that he was able to sit and chat over coffee for over an hour. That's okay, his mom came out of my sister..... so I win.

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