It's 2am and I am riding the M train toward herald square. There is a lone man sitting across from me. His head rests against the map of New York City, and he has a ten gallon hat tipped over one eye while the other is closed.
Brown boots laden with rusty spurs meet the floor below him. He is reminiscent of an old western cinema, only, removed from the shades of black and white and placed amidst the speeding color of the city.
He probably looks unusual walking down 7th avenue or Broadway. Passerby's might assume he has a lead role in Oklahoma, but, I can see from his dirty nap sack that fame and fortune have only eluded him.
There is something poetic about his presence in the car.
He's a New York City cowboy, holding onto a slower way of life in a place with the quickest draw.
The subway acts as his trusty steed as he wanders from Brooklyn to Queens.
December 16th 2010:
Its my Christmas gift exchange among friends. Danielle, Jewlie, Ashley and I are meeting at Olive Garden at 7pm. Sometimes in New York city you willingly dine at places like Olive Garden and Apple Bees instead of the posch french restaurant around the corner. None of us are from this city, so chain restaurants remind us of the simplicity of our former suburban lives.
That,...and olive garden's bread-sticks might be an edible gift from the gods.
I still haven't bought a single present and it is four o clock. Two unfinished paintings sit on the kitchen table, my procrastination allowing just a few brush strokes on what could have been something thoughtful. I know Michelangelo took four years to paint the ceiling of the sistine chapel, but I'm moving at a much slower rate on a 12x12 canvas. I opt for a gift card and high tail to max brenners to pick one up last minute.
At the restaurant our waiter offers us a free sample of wine.
"No thanks," says Danielle.
"You know what, Andrew, Fill me Up," I say like he's an old friend. His silver name tag caught my eye.
Before long we are all enjoying full glasses and discussing relationships, dieting, and lingerie, and how they all have one thing in common...they generally malfunction.
My roommates gifts are nice and make me laugh. Jewlie has given me a pretty matchbox to help enable my bad habit and a travel diary. Ashley gave me a novel entitled, "What french women know about love sex and life"
"It was just sitting there on the shelf screaming your name," She says while I lift it from the bag,
"Merci beaucoup, Ash."
We walk home through Madison square park, admiring the sparkling christmas tree and twinkle lights. We stop and ask someone to take our picture, then giggle because we feel like tourists.
I'm looking at the four of us, so different, yet seemingly meant for each other. Each of us with our own perspective that balances the others with compliment, like a personified color wheel.
I'm reminded of a scene from the movie, 'Barefoot in the Park', where Robert Redford is wandering around Madison Square drunk and without shoes because he has just gotten in a spat with his wife, Jane Fonda.
In the film, He's a stuffy, logical lawyer and she's an eccentric, carefree lover of life. Their differences are the root of a few quarrels, but in the end they discover they need each other for balance.
The following scene takes place just after Jane has found Robert incoherent in the park with a trash bin on his head, nearly catching pneumonia:
Jane: I want the old paul back
Robert: That Fuddy-Duddy
Jane: he's not a fuddy duddy. He's strong and dependable. He takes care of me, and protects me from people like you.
Janes husband has just climbed on the roof of their building. He is intoxicated and off his head, an act which is very out of character for him.
Jane: Paul? Paul! Aah. You're going to kill yourself. Come down!
Robert: No, Not until you've sai it again, loud and clear.
Jane: Anything, Paul, Anything.
Robert: My husband, paul bratter, rising young attorney, is a lousy, stinking, drunk.
Jane: My husband, paul bratter, is a lousy, stinking drunk, and I love him.
Thank you Jane Fonda, and Robert Redford for reminding me that good relationships, whether they be friendships or romantic, are not about changing the other person, nor are they about compromise. They are about acceptance and loving every part of someone as they are, making you a more whole individual.
December 17th 2010:
Today I:
- Caught up on sleep
- Bought the tastiest eggnog cookies from trader joes
- Hunted for a hideous sweater at the salvation army
- Finished a painting
- Felt at peace when good company arrived
- Sang karaoke in Korean... a language I don't know
- Made a few new friends
- Cheered on Ian in a second avenue dance off
- Feasted like a queen at Burger King
December 20th:
I am lying on the floor wrapped in my fuzziest blanket drinking champagne, eating skittles, and watching 'The Brothers Bloom" with jewlie.. Both of us have refused to get dressed today, and feel content with the decision.
Sometimes the big occasions leave a mark on our memory, other times, its the quiet moments like this one that stick with us.
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