25 May 2011

a new place and dreams of large cats

I've moved. And the sun has returned. The heat of the city is now starting to thicken. The noises of the refurbishment in the floor above are dampened hammers, and boots - but not so loud that they are disturbing, more like the large explorations of a some strange hungry animal. Last night I dreamed of sharing a small 1 bedroom flat with my father, and one of my sisters who was sleep, and a small but scarily strong leopard. The leopard was waking up slowly as I cared for it, and then becoming curious, and exploring for food.

I the night before, I also dreamed of a large restless cat who I'd accidentally forgotten about, it had been living on a far, in my fathers house, and that farm, with the long neglect, has sunk and become an underground basement. As I descended the stairs, showing a friend my new place, I suddenly remembered the cat, who'd grown lonely and impatient with time... it would be pleased to see me, I thought, but I was also slightly scared and guilty feeling for the years that had passed.

20 May 2011

Moving and raining

A long week of late working late nights, and tonight I'm scraping the little dregs of soul that eeked out there life, pulling them out of this flat. Packing boxes. Boxes boxes, moving offices and moving home. And contemplating where and why people get angry - why do I get angry sometimes? Where does the sense of struggle come from?

Then remembering the delight of the tumbling drumming rain last night... pictures from the corner by my new flat, where I watched the rain pondered buying an umbrella.

14 May 2011

Running, Central park, Harlem,

Today I went running in central park, this is the third time I've been running (in my life); I'm still thoroughly confused about what one is supposed to do. I watch other runners, but they all do different things. We run around the lake, I feel the heat of my body building up, the gradual lazy internal barriers slowly arrive, and then pass as if they never existed. I notice a small stone in my shoe, playing poke-the-heel at random places.

Back to my confusion, it really is much more complicated that I thought. I'm constantly barraged by questions from my body: do I land on my heels, rolling my knee and ankles out? or my toes absorbing weight through my ankles? or try to land with my foot flat-ish; and do I land on the outside of my foot or the inside? in the middle? And that's just a few possibilities for the feet - what about where my feet are placed relative to each other; and what about the hands? the tilt of my body? and my head? and my shoulder? It's like all my body wonders where it should be in the crazy new act to angular propulsion. On my VISA I'm a resident alien - that's certainly how I feel running.

Yesterday, I walked a bit - I visited Harlem - bought croissants from L'Ambassadeur. This looks like it might be rocketing to my favorite bakery/restaurant in New York: I loved the simple human manner of the people that worked there, the west African music, the relaxed atmosphere, the delicious simple french-style fresh bread... and around the corner, a block or two away, we ate dinner in a delicious Jamaican Rastafarian place: "nothing that walk, crawls, swims or flies" was written on the wall. Vegan curries and fried plantain, slightly bitter greens, and brown tofu-like stuff. Wholesome, real. A chess set permanently on one of the tables. Relaxed people at the end of the their day, life is taken more easily, more naturally here. Perhaps I'll move up here in a bit, it's cheaper too, just a commute to pay. 

Oh, and work became exciting this week; a good brain storming session. World domination by argument maps was drafted; founding eyes laid some minutes over it, I snapped a short for the record. My excited rant also caught a fellow to two. I'll cast the net a little wider soon, it's nice to feel that the idea might actually catch fire; I guess I hadn't dared to hope... perhaps a little early still, but exciting nonetheless. Oh, and I've managed to extract a good mathematical problem recently too. Some very fascinating projects and questions. 

Ah, time is upon me - I go to get the keys to my new flat in Soho...

11 May 2011

a new apartment soon; walking some green hills

I'm tired, body aching subtly from Aikido of a couple of days ago, mind warn flat, having spent days pouring through piles of code, striving for understanding where there is little to be understood.

Now I listen to some Portuguese Fado, Madredeus, a transition from melancholy to playful. Reflecting on work, it feels like people work really hard to do easy things, where I feel they should be working to make hard things easy. I feel I've said this before, but I don't know where or when... a deja vu... am I repeating myself?

Last weekend I made it out of the city, went walking with Taina at an idyllic villages that was also somehow consequentially hideous. Still walks outside of earshot of taxi-horns were welcome...

We did hear what sounded like a nuclear warning siren from a 60s film echoing over the hills - maybe from the nearby military base?

Oh! I've got a new apartment, but I'm regretting it before I've even got the keys... the more I think about it the more I think I got a crappy deal... I'll stop thinking about it... I can change in a year's time.

The new place is small, expensive, but in a nice part of town. Yesterday I ate some of the most delicious Greek food I've ever had -  in a tiny place opposite my new flat. It has 4 tables each for 2 people, and one table for three. The tables are all very close. Cosy. Tiny. But soooo tasty... reminds me, at the weekend, a visit is planned to taste the delights of a French-style bakery run by Senegalese formerly from Paris... diversity. New York enjoys serious food diversity.

4 May 2011

bycles and a flat search

At the weekend, I saw cyclists from my window, thousands of them, for hours and hours...


The day before yesterday, I managed to feed myself something I should have thrown away. A new experience of strange stiff pains all through my body, much like having flew. Only lasted one brain-stifling day.

And today I looked at flats, with help from patient Taina and Eftikis, more flats than I was expecting to ever see the inside of in one day. "Exposed brick", a feature of New York apartments, plays a surprisingly prominent role, often as the view:


Tonight, I've been trying to prepare the paperwork... missing details led me on a long chase, eventually arriving at HSBC representative telling me that I should put all my passwords in a single excel spreadsheet, and use MS office to password protect it... I'm pretty sure that is a terrible bit of advice.

Now I've fought my way through the paperwork, maybe I'll have a new place to live tomorrow!