a jet lagged post

I am still not very coherent today, but did manage to see a show that I will write the review for tomorrow on nytheatre.com.  I figure sleeping before writing the review is a good idea, as I want to write as fairly as possible.

Went to a meeting to connect with folks here today that share my need to find a way through our various difficulties, then downtown to the show.  Met a friend there, with whom I saw and discussed the show, then to see another old friend with her new baby.  I visited her in Carroll Gardens, which used to be an immigrant Italian community, but now is about as trendy as you can get - you end up stumbling over competing gourmet groceries and designer pet shops, galleries and high-end vintage clothing stores, children wearing organic cotton with parents who clearly read parenting books.

I don't really know what to think about that, as it used to be a neighborhood of Madonnas in bathtubs and with a deli called Frank's.  It was somewhat dangerous but also OK because so many families who knew each other lived there, the Gowanus canal was made of toxic substances and everyone wore polyester clothes and had big hair.  But this is the NYC story (and the London story) of relentless gentrification.  And no matter what the trees along the sidewalks are gorgeous, the sun was shining and the day was lovely.

On the other hand, looking at folks on the train and at the meeting and on the street, I see a lot of people looking unwell next to people seeming almost over-fit and healthy.  It's a weird somewhat distressing mix.  I'm trying to see everything with as cool an eye as possible, not romanticizing, listening to my negative as well as positive views of this place.

The folks I speak with seem in general to also be going through somewhat trying times, but maybe that's what I'm picking up on as I am, too.  However, it does seem to be a somewhat ongoing theme.

On yet another hand (which means I suppose by now I must have 3 hands), I do feel safe here for the most part, and I do 'get' the place.  And there is comfort there.  I also feel comfortable in theaters and near theaters, even if what is going on inside them may not be my cup of fur.

I am no closer now to a few days ago about knowing where to live, but then again, I just got here.   I am finding that I dread questions about my future and what I will be doing for money, goals, etc.  But maybe getting in touch with the time zone would be a good place to start.  However, I think tonight may be an early one as I think I could sleep for about 12 hours, and might just do so.

So to a very early bed....