My return ticket expired yesterday.

I've been here for 1 month now and I think I will stay longer.

I'm still interviewing, still sleeping in Mr. DF's couch, still having anxiety attacks.

But yesterday I had an afternoon that refreshed my memory on why I chose to come back. It was Glenn's birthday and he had a pot-luck picnic at the 'gay' pier.

I have love and admired Glenn (El Más Buenón) from the first time I saw him drop his pants in a club and expose his joe boxer's. I have mentioned him here before, mostly as Mr. GZ. He was there for me througout my hospital stay, stringing christmas lights around my bed and he was there to drive me home when I left. He is wise, he is caring, he is fun.

The weather was perfect. The group of guys was great. The energy was positive.

I was home.

42nd & 6th.

Quote of the week.

"It's New York City, it's rush hour - it's not the time to be jumping off buildings".

Timothy Donahue
Empire State Building official

NEW YORK KILLERS, and Those Killed, by Numbers: The deadliest hour is 1 to 2 a.m.

LETTER FROM BRAZIL: "'Brazil is a country of contradictions, as much in relation to sexuality as anything else. There is a certain spirit of transgression in daily life, but there is also a lot of moralism."

AFRICA: Circumcision Studied as AIDS Preventive.

BACKSLASH BACKSLASH: United 93: “Brilliant”

TIME FLIES: 'Law & Order' to return for 17th season.

Black Sweat.

This groove will make U sweet
U be screamin like a white lady
When I count 2 3

I am loving 3121, specially this song (it makes me want to dance everytime I hear it):

I don't want 2 take my clothes off,
But I do.
I don't want 2 turn nobody on,
Unless it's U.
I don't want 2 dance 2 hard, baby
But this is a groove (yes it is! Fonky)
I'm hot, and I don't care who knows it,
I got a job 2 do (think I ain't, come on)

I'm workin', workin' up a black sweat
I'm workin', workin' up a black sweat
I'm workin', oooh!
workin' up a black sweat
workin', workin' up a black sweat

Question:

"Are New Yorkers giving up?"

There’s an altogether appropriate (yet still depressing) piece in the Observer today that documents the decline of New Yorkers’ desire to go out, marked by a current enthusiasm over grocery stores and a palpable disdain for the hip nightlife and culture that now strikes so many as too expensive, too obnoxious, and just too damn painful. Gawker

I'm really into religious iconography (even if not religious myself), specially Saint George's, which I have tatooed on my chest. He is the only Catholic saint who is a fighter instead of a martyr and also probably never really existed which makes him much more interesting to me. Anyway, politics aside ("Can Rudy Pass As Republican? Hillary Helps") I got a kick from the above cartoon from today's The New York Observer.

The Look.

"Why do you leave the size sticker on your hat?

Some people do that to show how new it is, but then they wear the hat every day. When we do it, it’s just to show that I don’t wear it every day. It’s like I’m saying I have so many hats I don’t even pay attention to whether the sticker’s still on there."

Trend watching.

Some interesting, hot new concepts:

POP-UP RETAIL: "If new products can come and go, why can't the stores that display them do the same?"

MASSCLUSIVITY: "exclusivity for the masses".

PLANNED SPONTANEITY: "making spontaneous decisions to go somewhere or do something is becoming the norm; often the only thing consumers are willing to plan is to be... spontaneous! "

A new (very important) question to keep my mind busy:

"Why do the letters of the alphabet occur in the particular order that they do?" Via k.

54th & 3rd.

The Sunday Times.

"Only in New York do people say, 'Only in New York'".

The Empire State Building turns 75 and I get the answer to that question that has haunted me for years: Will a penny dropped from the top of the Empire State Building kill anyone?



Symptomatic: "Mr. Bush could not even manage to give Mr. Hu the state dinner he wanted, so the Chinese leader made his first stop in the other Washington and met with the head of Microsoft before the leader of the free world." Great Wall of Fluff

Some answers.

Yes, I'm still in New York. No, I have not stop blogging. I'm just too anxious, looking for a job, to do it: I sorta feel guilt not focusing all my energy on that. Yes, I'm glad to be back.

The Hulks by Jeff Koons at the Lever House.

New York Spring.

I arrived Thursday night and yesterday the weather could not be more perfect. Perfect Spring. It's amazing that NY is an always evolving city but at the same time there are a lot of things that do not change. You will most certainly meet people at the smae places you left them a year ago. Most don't even notice I was away for so long: "Hey, haven't seen you in a while..."

As I drove from the airport I was trying to gauge my emotions but all I felt was calm. I am certain that here is where I should be. Mr. DF is amazing - while the novelty does not wear out he wants to spend all the time togeher and it's fine because we have a great time together. We had lunch at this new hip place Sacha's at Gaseenvort St in the meatpaking district (where Hell used to be) and we had our share of celebrities dinng next to us. At night we went to Snaxx and I like to believe this time the party was specifically thrown for me. In the last year, while I was in Brazil, I would read other bloggers' posts with lists of who was at snaxx in a given night and I would be so jeaulous... But now I have my chance:

Gustavo
Richie
Marcelo
Eric and his DP
Cory
Jeff
Mr. DF
Paul
Saul
Steve
Chris
and a LOT more people...

While fun is not the main reason why I came back - my priorities are getting a job and a place to live - I have to admit that it's very important that the possibility of enjoying myself exists - unlike in my beloved BH.