3000 miles later, I've finally made it to New York! Well, I'm actually staying in hotel in Jersey, but that's close enough for now. Especially after getting LOST for 2 1/2 hours! Peep this....

 

I crossed the GW Bridge into New York about 900pm. The city was calling me so I drove thru the bronx, harlem and cut crosstown and went through the Lincoln tunnel to the Jersey turnpike. Not bad for a newbie huh? That's not were I got lost.

 

Being a "genius" I figured all I needed to know was the exit number to get off on I could find it from there. So I get off the turnpike @ 13A ( Jersey Gardens) and I ask the toll agent how to get to the extended stay hotel. He says "take 1-9 south. And I did......for 2 HOURS. Driving back and forth, North and South.. Send my name in for the dumba** of the year awards please. I worked hard for that title tonight.

 

I called my guardian angel Terra, and she was able to lookup the location on- line and help me navigate. Why didn't I just call the hotel on my cell phone? Cause I don't have one! I hate em! But, God I wish I had one tonight.

 

I arrive at the hotel @ 1200am, the hostess tells me that they only book rooms from 700am-1100pm. Soooo here I am at the Econo Lodge for tonight and Damn Happy to be somewhere!

 

I'd be exhausted if not for the excitement of being here! I'll layout my plan strategy for finding a place tomorrow and anyone in the New York area knows of a space in williamsburg or park slope area, scream at me and let me know.

 

I hope you enjoyed the first part of this journey and hope you like the next part even more. By the way the winning answer on the "How long will it take me to get here" was 5-6 days.

 

Chao

 

 

I got new "extended stay" digs now. Hopefully my time here won't be that extended, but it's a perfect spot if it does happen that way. If you wanna holla at me here, Email Me and I'll send you the phone number.

 

Without question, the biggest adjustment I'll have to make is changing my decision making speed. Everything just happens fast ALL the time. I find myself having to make driving decisions faster then I want to because someone is tailgating me, actually is more like "backseat gating" cause they get ridiculously close to the car. I need some smokescreen or oil slick coming out of the back of the car like in one of my all time favorite arcade games "Spy Hunter". Give me a month or so, I'll be doing the same thing probably.

 

Tonight I went to Williamsburg to meet up with my long lost friend Nerissa who recently moved to Brooklyn from New Orleans. It felt so good to see her! She gave me a mini tour of a couple bars/clubs in the area.

 

First we went to this chill spot called the Stinger Club where her fiance Earl was spinning. From there I was whisked off to this Brazilian Club up the street called Bembe. The mood was absolutely perfect! Lighting, art, drums being played, dj spinning, just about everyone dancing, except for me.

 

I was in complete culture shock. It's still hard for me to comprehend that I am in New York! I've been away from urban environments for a week. It was difficult to relax knowing that I don't have a crib yet.

 

Tomorrow I hit the streets and see what I can find. I will have a new page coming soon, with the apartments I've seen, their specs and my thoughts.

 

Onward        

 

Warning.....the following content may cause you some discomfort so please stop reading.

 

Wouldn't that be great if we had little warning labels to help us avoid moments of despair? No such luck today.

 

The plan for today was to be in Brooklyn all day hitting the pavement looking for places. My first stop landed me in cyberspace visiting various apartment websites. I quickly became discouraged with what I saw.

 

Many places were either out of my price range or not what I'm looking for. My ideal situation is to have a studio or 1 bedroom spot between $700-$900. I spent hours searching and came up with only 2 potential places. At that point I realized that my expectations of finding a place in 2-3 days were a bit unrealistic. But to me, I didn't accomplish what I set out to do in the time frame I would have liked. I'm really hard on myself, today that was counterproductive because I became paralyzed by this disappointment and didn't leave the hotel. Well, ok not exactly true, the maids made me leave for 10 mins to clean the room, which was enough time for me to get the jeep cleaned.

 

I hope tomorrow goes better and that I am in a better energy space.   

 

I started out today with the same funk feeling that I felt yesterday, but I think I've discovered the problem. It's really really hard for me to be dependant on people because I take pride in doing things on my own. The time frame that I have for finding a place and learning the area is not conducive for my normal approach. So today I had to humble myself, squash the ego and reach out for some help.

 

I drove to Williamsburg Brooklyn and showed up at my friends Nerissa & Earl's crib. Not only did they give me words of advice and encouragement but they also took me on a stroll down Bedford ave where a lot of apartments are posted on street polls and inside coffee shops. I felt a lot better having a handful of spots to call & follow up on. I really really appreciate them for taking the time out to help this poor lost soul from the bay area, whose trying to make it in New York =)

 

So with my new found energy, I just drove around Brooklyn for a couple hours getting familiar with the different areas like Fort Greene, Park Slope, Bed Stuy and Clinton Hill. It was very beneficial going to the areas adding a visual representation of neighborhoods that I've read or heard about.

 

I'm learning to go with flow and talk to others who may have the piece of the puzzle that I'm looking for i.e. a lead on an apartment. Well, I'm feeling a lot better and my new goal is to have a place by Friday.   

 

 

Quick Update on the apartment search: I had an appointment today to look at an apartment with roommates. Yeah, I know I said I want my own place and still do, but I thought at least seeing somewhere would help. Anywayz, remember all that "getting familiar" with the area driving I did yesterday? Guess what? It didn't help cause I got lost again! It was hilarious because I actually "knew" where I was going and still got lost! So much for the appointment. I'm in good spirits though so I just laughed it off. I didn't get lost on my way to JFK to pick up my friend Amy.

 

A chance encounter with someone from my past who I've lost touch with, usually ends with me saying "well nice seeing you again and take care". Especially when it involves most folks from my religious past. Yes, I was once a fundamentalist Christian out to save your poor lost bastards! In fact here's a funny story, I used to try to "exorcise the demons" out of some of my family members by going up to them, making a cross with my pointer fingers and pressing them against their foreheads saying "I command you Satan to come out of him/her". Funny huh? I'm sitting here grinning ear to ear. I know I'm jumping around a bit, but stay with me.

 

Well, anyway, I had a meeting 2 days before leaving with my friend/advisor/potential agent Gary and Amy's sister Rebecca walks in. I haven't seen her in like 9 years! I told her where I was headed and I just kinda said hi, bye and left it at that. Rebecca informs Amy that she saw me. Amy tells me she's flying into the area around the same time. On top of that, she staying with her brother's friend Jeff ,who's apartment in Williamsburg is available next month because he's moving to the bay area.....funny how life work's.

 

So to tie it all together, Amy and I both went to the same church growing up. We had so much catching up to do that I must have asked her about 100 questions. Sorry Amy about the drilling. I learn more about myself by asking others about their lives. We've both left most of our religious past behind, but I feel the essence of helping others and spreading love is a message that the church did have a positive influence in our lives. If you want to hear what Amy has to say please call 510....just kidding girl 

 

Amy introduced me to Jeff and he gave me a couple more tips on finding a place. By the way, if anyone in the bay knows of any studio's or 1 bedroom($600-$850) spots for rent in the Berkeley/Lake Merritt Area Email Jeff or send it to me and I'll pass it on.

 

Alright that's enough writing for tonight.    

 

Alright, I saw my first crib today! And I have great news! Did I find a place? No, but I did save a bunch of money on my car insurance.

 

So the place I saw was grimey and I kept on moving, but it did feel good to be taking steps closer to the goal. By the way, the new apartments page is up with a full description.

 

Feeling, a little less guilty about going out because I did at least look at an apartment, I got myself together and headed back to Bembe for Reggae night. The Holland Tunnel, which has only two lanes, was extremley crowded after the toll booth. Only 1 of the 2 lanes was open. Translation;15 lanes of cars, suv's, and semi's were all trying to squeeze into 1 Lane. I'm getting pinched on both sides of the jeep try to avoid getting hit and in the process I bump the car in front of me. I must have been going like 1mph on impact. The guy gets irate and leaves his vehicle. I thought to myself, ok this is the part in the movie where I get killed and that's how the website ends. He says, "Why'd you hit my fuc**** car? Give me a Fuc**** brake I'm just trying to merge!" I apologized he got back in his car and that was that. No damage to me, his car or the jeep.

 

I'm having major computer issues so there has been a delay in the update. My mouse is dead so just imagine updating with no mouse. Bear with me.