When I ended my year-end post from last year, it was with a quote from Frank Herbert’s novel Dune: "Without change, something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken." The changes I thought might happen at the beginning of 2014 didn't happen the way I expected, but instead led me in other, unexpected directions.
The year 2014 started out with Kacey and Becker's wedding, where I was asked to emcee the reception and gave a toast along with the rest of the wedding party. There were a lot of firsts for me - my first bachelorette party, my first time participating in a wedding as anything other than a guest, and my first meetings with Kacey's and Becker's parents and extended family, plus many of their friends (Jonathan, Emily Dawn, Kirsten, Deborah, Amanda) I hadn't met before.
The three of us embarked on an apartment hunt that was ultimately unsuccessful, but even though we chose not to co-habitate, we remain the best of friends and they are both among the most important people in my life. And the inner work that I did to prepare myself mentally and emotionally for a move was not completely for naught, as Piper and I are discussing now the possibility of becoming roommates in 2015.
Kacey and Becker's wedding was one of two weddings (and one funeral - Puck's grandmother passed away in September) I attended this year, the second one being a much more modest affair in September when Agnieszka and Mike got married at their home in Cranbury, NJ. Speaking of family things, it was also a pleasure to finally meet Chris' family in Harrisburg over Thanksgiving, the first time I've spent the holiday with anyone outside Puck's family.
This year also marked the start of events at Hancock Street, a new Papacookie of sorts hosted by Miriam, Rijard and Anna, which is a welcome artistic community in my life. This year also marked the launch of other artistic collectives by Emily Dawn (Whimsy) and Storm (The Conversation) and I was honored to be present at both. My own creative life reached some peaks this year with the success of the Unchained Love Playwright Competition showcase for Open Love NY and my annual Free Love Letters project.
My personal highlights included a trip to Coney Island with Puck, Chris and Bruce, and visits to the original Nathan's hot dog stand and Totonno's pizza parlor, plus concerts by Tori Amos (with Lori) and Lykki Li (with my coworker Jennifer), and I saw several Broadway shows and plays this year - Pippen, Matilda and The Real Thing with Liz, The Book of Mormon twice (with Piper and Katie B, and with Natalia), Kinky Boots with Puck, Hedwig and the Angry Inch with Kristina, and Cabaret with Beth, Andrea and Lori.
And of course I attended a great many other plays with my many theater-minded friends - The Watson Intelligence, Dutch Heart of Man, Love and Information, A Thousand Words, The Feminism of a Soft Merlot, Father Comes Home from the Wars, The Other Mozart, Bitten, NYC Icon Plays and numerous performances at the PIT and at Shotz, plus my first exposure to Murderfist and the New York Neofuturists.
Although I didn't see very many movies in the theaters this year (most of them with Kacey and Becker), I had a wonderful Oscar viewing party at Times Square Movie Club (my apartment) that Liz and Piper helped me to host. Piper and I - in addition to our annual Best Picture Marathon date (with Josh tagging along) - started the year watching horror movies for our regular one-on-one time and now we're in the midst of going through the Wes Anderson catalog. Natalia and I started a POC marathon that skewed toward the martial arts, and now we're going to try and redirect to more queer themed movies. Hopefully if I move with Piper next year, we'll have a good space for home movies the way TSMC has been.
As far as an overall theme for 2014, I think this year was probably more marked by changes in the lives of people close to me than changes in my own life. Two of my closest friends got married, and we said goodbye to a grandmother and a beloved rabbit. But I also continued down the path I started last year toward building a long-term intentional family around me, even though the path didn't wind the way I thought it might go.
For 2015, I wonder what the future brings for me and Puck, who is back in New York after being off in Stony Brook, St. Petersburg, Boston and Philly for much of the past several years. I'm also excited about the possibility of living in a new space with Piper and what changes that will mean. I look forward to another wedding in 2015, this time in Pennsylvania with Chris and Bruce, where I will be a bridesmaid for the first time ever.
But most of all, I want to recommit myself to the work of self reflection and examination that leads to personal growth and being open to change. I've been very content these last few years and it's been in many ways a wonderful break, but now it's time to get back to work. I hope that I am up to the challenge I've set myself.
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Wednesday, December 03, 2014
Thanksgiving 2014
It must be something about the holidays that brings a touch of melancholy, no matter how much I tell myself that I'm doing fine. And things are generally OK with me and I had a pleasant, although a bit exhausting (due to travel) Thanksgiving in Harrisburg.
Picking up from my last entry, Piper and I had a nice dinner at Print, the restaurant on the ground floor of the Ink 48 hotel, where I had my 10th birthday party in July. We had a lovely charcuterie plate and entrees, and after dinner took a quick ride up to the roof to view the night sky, although the chill wind was a bit much, even for me.
I took 11/21 off and hung out with Kacey at her place, working on my Free Love Letters project while she organized some files. I brought my redundant iHome music box to play my iPod and left it there, since she doesn't have a stereo. When Becker returned from work we went out for soup dumplings and headed over to Storm's event entitled "The Conversation," an interdisciplinary think tank meets artist's salon of performances and idea generation. I didn't really interact with anyone besides Kacey, Becker and Storm, but it was a pleasure to meet Milah, a young actress who played Storm's daughter in a film, and Storm gave me a surprise invitation to speak for a minute at the end of the night about polyamory and safe space.
On Saturday Kristina came over to pick up an air mattress I lent her for some houseguests and we went out to Gotham West Market to have dinner at Ivan Ramen. It's a really cool place, like a food court but fancier. There's even a photo booth where we took some silly photos together.
We came back to TSMC and kept the ramen theme going by watching Tampopo before it was time for me to leave for Lytle's birthday party at Dream Baby, a bar near Tompkins Square Park. The bar was super-crowded, hot, and loud when I got there, and more people kept pouring in. I gave Lytle a quick hug and a small present, and then stepped outside for a breath of air. Liz joined me for a bit until we got too cold and went back in. Liz's friend Nancy also came, as well as Victoria.
Eventually I couldn't stay inside and went to the bar next door, Boxcar, where it was completely empty except for the bartender, Josh. When I walked in, Josh got off the phone and started to turn the music up, but I told him since I was the only person in the bar, I preferred the music down. I sat at the bar and we talked about Scotch, a topic which he had some knowledge about. He served me my first Scotch, a 12-year Macallen single malt. Eventually Liz, Nancy and Victoria joined me and we had our own little side party for the remainder of the evening.
On Wednesday before Thanksgiving I took the day off and met up with Kacey and Becker at the Upper West Side Shake Shack for a quick bite and then to watch Interstellar at the Lincoln Center IMAX theater. It was very powerful and emotional, although not gratuitously so. It was more thought-provoking than emotion-provoking.
Early Thursday I started out for Harrisburg and returned 36 hours later, which involves a subway, train, cab and car ride, then the reverse coming back. Chris' mom warmly welcomed me to her home. She made a point to genuinely thank me for being a wonderful friend to Chris, to which I replied no more than she has been to me. Chris and Bruce's new home is lovely and spacious with a comfortable guest room and a massive home theater, where we played MarioKart 8 and watched Silver Linings Playbook until it was time for bed.
Friday I attended Katie M's Friendsgiving dinner, where everyone brought tons of leftovers and I got to see Katie and Amy's apartment on the Upper East Side. The rest of the holiday weekend was filled with laundry, cooking and basketball games. I made my first soup by boiling leftover turkey bones, plus a bourbon bread pudding. Sunday evening Natalia came over to watch the first half of Red Cliff, and we finished that up last night.
Picking up from my last entry, Piper and I had a nice dinner at Print, the restaurant on the ground floor of the Ink 48 hotel, where I had my 10th birthday party in July. We had a lovely charcuterie plate and entrees, and after dinner took a quick ride up to the roof to view the night sky, although the chill wind was a bit much, even for me.
I took 11/21 off and hung out with Kacey at her place, working on my Free Love Letters project while she organized some files. I brought my redundant iHome music box to play my iPod and left it there, since she doesn't have a stereo. When Becker returned from work we went out for soup dumplings and headed over to Storm's event entitled "The Conversation," an interdisciplinary think tank meets artist's salon of performances and idea generation. I didn't really interact with anyone besides Kacey, Becker and Storm, but it was a pleasure to meet Milah, a young actress who played Storm's daughter in a film, and Storm gave me a surprise invitation to speak for a minute at the end of the night about polyamory and safe space.
On Saturday Kristina came over to pick up an air mattress I lent her for some houseguests and we went out to Gotham West Market to have dinner at Ivan Ramen. It's a really cool place, like a food court but fancier. There's even a photo booth where we took some silly photos together.
We came back to TSMC and kept the ramen theme going by watching Tampopo before it was time for me to leave for Lytle's birthday party at Dream Baby, a bar near Tompkins Square Park. The bar was super-crowded, hot, and loud when I got there, and more people kept pouring in. I gave Lytle a quick hug and a small present, and then stepped outside for a breath of air. Liz joined me for a bit until we got too cold and went back in. Liz's friend Nancy also came, as well as Victoria.
Eventually I couldn't stay inside and went to the bar next door, Boxcar, where it was completely empty except for the bartender, Josh. When I walked in, Josh got off the phone and started to turn the music up, but I told him since I was the only person in the bar, I preferred the music down. I sat at the bar and we talked about Scotch, a topic which he had some knowledge about. He served me my first Scotch, a 12-year Macallen single malt. Eventually Liz, Nancy and Victoria joined me and we had our own little side party for the remainder of the evening.
On Wednesday before Thanksgiving I took the day off and met up with Kacey and Becker at the Upper West Side Shake Shack for a quick bite and then to watch Interstellar at the Lincoln Center IMAX theater. It was very powerful and emotional, although not gratuitously so. It was more thought-provoking than emotion-provoking.
Early Thursday I started out for Harrisburg and returned 36 hours later, which involves a subway, train, cab and car ride, then the reverse coming back. Chris' mom warmly welcomed me to her home. She made a point to genuinely thank me for being a wonderful friend to Chris, to which I replied no more than she has been to me. Chris and Bruce's new home is lovely and spacious with a comfortable guest room and a massive home theater, where we played MarioKart 8 and watched Silver Linings Playbook until it was time for bed.
Friday I attended Katie M's Friendsgiving dinner, where everyone brought tons of leftovers and I got to see Katie and Amy's apartment on the Upper East Side. The rest of the holiday weekend was filled with laundry, cooking and basketball games. I made my first soup by boiling leftover turkey bones, plus a bourbon bread pudding. Sunday evening Natalia came over to watch the first half of Red Cliff, and we finished that up last night.
