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Tag: Brooklyn

August in Brooklyn

A perfect three-week August house sit in Brooklyn

Lower East Side View

This view is not actually from Brooklyn, but IS from my friends’ apartment on the Lower East Side

Originally, my plan was to leave August mostly free. I figured I might like the time to bop around and see friends and family and just bask in my freedom. As my France house sit drew to a close, however, I began to realize that not having a home base would actually feel like the opposite of freedom.

It turns out when I’m not in a place I can call my own (even temporarily), I feel unseated. Wherever I am staying, regardless of how welcoming and accommodating the hosts are, I feel a little out of place, like I’m stepping on toes and have to make myself smaller than I am. I also tend to spend way more money, which is likely a combination of not having free reign of a kitchen in which to cook my own food, and being in proximity to people who I want to catch up and socialize with, which often involves going out and spending money on drinks, food, or transport.

Cat on desk

Getting help with my work…

So, come the end of July, I started looking for an August house sit and I found this wonderful opportunity in Brooklyn. Brooklyn was perfect because it had me close to home, which was my intent anyway for that period, but I would still maintain my own space. It also so happened to be for the perfect amount of time, leaving me a few days buffer at my mom’s in Connecticut on either side.

The Neighborhood

Having grown up in what is technically a New York City suburb, I’m familiar with the city, I have friends in the city, I’m fairly comfortable there. Having never lived there myself, however, means I don’t really KNOW the city. I don’t know the ins and outs of the neighborhoods or all the little spots to go. For the past decade plus, usually when in the city, I would be with a pal who lived there so they would take the reins and I would just follow along.

Clinton Hill Brooklyn

Beautiful church in the neighborhood

This meant that I when I read, “Clinton Hill, Brooklyn” I didn’t really know what the neighborhood was about. The ladies wanted me to stop by before they left so they could give me the keys, show me around, and ultimately meet the stranger who was about to stay in their home. The Saturday before the sit, I was in the Bronx for a very long, crazy day that revolved around a Yankees game. As we waited for the night game to start, I hopped on the subway and headed down to Brooklyn to rendezvous with one of the homeowners.

When I got off the stop in Clinton Hill, my eyes went wide. This neighborhood was BEAUTIFUL. Impeccable brownstones, tree-lined streets, it was seriously gorgeous. Let’s be clear that as it stands I couldn’t afford an apartment anywhere in the five boroughs at this juncture, but this neighborhood would likely be beyond my reach even if I had a full-time job in my field with an NYC salary.

Impressions

Bodega Breakfast Sandwich

A bodega breakfast sandwich will cure any overhangs…

The first few days of my sit, I was really digging city life. I just love being able to walk out my door and access the things I need. From the beginning, I was struggling with how expensive everything was, however. I know New York has a reputation for being expensive, but it’s always been my experience that the inexpensive food and drink establishments are discoverable. This time was different. Every beer I encountered cost $5 and over (usually more like $8-10), and every meal was between $12 and $20 (bodega breakfast sandwiches notwithstanding).

One of my favorite things about being in a large city, however, is that there are endless routes for walking. I love the diversity of the people. I love that there’s always something going on. These things all energized me on the daily.

Prospect Park Bandshell

Concerts at the Prospect Park Bandshell include sweet light art

I have noticed in recent years that I’ve become very neighborhood loyal. This was true in Denver, and it continues to be true in the new cities I sample. I may thrive on travel on a large scale, but I hate leaving my neighborhood. Despite the ease of getting around in New York, I found myself more likely to stick in my hood than to travel far distances.

At the end of the day, it was great to be in this beautiful apartment in this wonderful neighborhood with these super cuddly kitties. I also really appreciated the opportunity to catch up with some local pals. By the end, however, I was definitely fatigued by all the money I was spending. My productivity suffered a little as I finally started earning money but let my passion projects fall to the wayside in the struggle to balance my priorities (this continues to be true as I post a blog post about my August house sit in November…). I’m sure the gorgeous TV setup with the access to Netflix and Hulu didn’t help on that front either…  

Missing Photos

Brooklyn Masonic Temple

Brooklyn Masonic Temple

Most of the photos I ended up taking while in Brooklyn were of the cats. I did get a few nice photos while walking around, but I always tried to do this on the sly. Since I grew up near New York, I have this weird, internalized fear of appearing like a tourist. This makes me hesitant to stop in the streets and take photos, even though there are a lot of really beautiful streets and brownstones and lovely, lovely sights. Because of this handicap, I’m missing out on some good shots (and by extension, so are you). It’s so funny the weird things that are ingrained in us.

Friend-Crushes

Most of the time, the days that I overlap with the hosts can be a little awkward. It’s always slightly uncomfortable to be taking up space in someone else’s home, and this feeling is amplified when you don’t know the people. This time, we didn’t have any overlap, but I did find myself wishing I had the opportunity to get to know these ladies a little better. I was immediately drawn to the books and DVDs they had around the apartment (hello, they had “Troll 2” on DVD!), plus I can definitely relate to grown women with multiple video game systems. I definitely left this house sit with two substantial friend-crushes.

All in all, this was a lovely sit in a lovely neighborhood, even if my wallet wasn’t quite as happy about it as I was.

Cat Tummy

One Year Job Single and My First Time Doing Comedy

Bookending a Year with a Failure and a Triumph

One year ago last week, I was let go from my last full-time job, sending me on a wild whirlwind of anxiety, self-doubt, and under-employment. Exactly a year later, I did stand-up for the first time. 

Cat desk

Maybe the office cat pushing everything off my desk daily was symbolic of things to come…

Since I lost my job, a few things have happened:

  • I hit bottom enough to entirely change my approach and take some real risks (how successful this will be is still TBD)
  • I met and connected with a wonderful fella, and perhaps we wouldn’t have really seen each other had I not been on my way out the door
  • I met numerous amazing humans: at part-time jobs, in fleeting locations, humans everywhere!
  • I sold all my belongings, for better or worse!
  • I’ve been able to travel all over, experiencing different environments, cultures, and cuisines
  • A woman who used to work at that company found me on LinkedIn and told me about the emotionally-abusive revolving door that has been operating there since well before me. This is essential in letting me know I’m not alone.
    • Hot Tip: if you have left a bad work environment, please leave a review on Glassdoor. It could save people so much heartache.
    • Hot Tip: If you are applying to a job, do your homework. Find people on LinkedIn who have worked there and ask them about it. Worth the effort in spades.
  • I did stand-up comedy for the first time, after months and months of saying I would
Breakfast Sandwich

The day before I got laid off, I celebrated Sunday with a breakfast sandwich and a milkshake. Little did I know, every day was about to be Sunday.

Being let go from that job has allowed me to have many experiences that I other wise would not have had. That being said, I’m still too deep in it to say if actually working there was worth it or not. I still think back to the red flags I ignored and wonder if I might have been better off staying at the library and continuing my job hunt. However, I do know one thing, I am glad to have been away from that environment for a year. If three office cats can’t make a work environment pleasant, you know you’ve got a real problem.

The significance of being underemployed for a YEAR was not lost on me. And as I recalled the feeling of packing up my office (I guess decorating your office too soon IS a jinx), and driving away from that place— the mix of relief and fear, disappointment and elation— I was inspired to do something. Something I have been talking about for months, but hadn’t yet dug up the cojones to do.

I did stand-up comedy.

I had already looked up all the open mics in the area that were reasonable for me to attend. I had talked to a few people about it. I kept putting it off, however, because my tight 5 “wasn’t ready.” As I was sitting and reflecting on the year I’ve had, I realized:

Doing comedy is like having a baby. You’re never going to be ready.

So, I sat down with my jokes and scrambled to put them in some kind of sensical order. I knew if I didn’t at least GO to this open mic, that I never would. I wasn’t sure if I would actually go up, but I wanted to have something in my pocket just in case. At least that’s what I told myself in order to get out the door. 

I fiddled with my bits until 5:50. Yes, I fiddled with my bits. Sign-up started at 5:45, the show started at 6:00. I was pushing it, probably hoping that I’d get there and the list would be full. Or, maybe there was no hidden meaning and I’m a terrible procrastinator. Maybe a little bit of both.

When I walked in at 5:55, I greeted the hostess and put my name on the list. Didn’t even think about it. I immediately wanted to puke. I went to the bar to get a beer, which helps.

Once the comics started, I felt a lot better. This is only the second open mic I have intentionally attended, but so far, they seem very supportive. Everyone is here for the same reason. No one is expecting perfection. The thing is, I’ve been a teacher before. If you can stand up in front of a room full of 14 year olds all day, you can stand up in front of a few adults for 5 minutes.open mic

As expected, some people were really funny… and some were not. A curveball was thrown during the third comic’s act, however. A large dinner party was shown into the room. They were not there for an open mic, they were there for a post-work dinner party. Immediately, the mood of the room changed. These people were legit not even smiling. Comics were trying to do crowd work with them and they were not having it. What an excellent scenario for someone’s first foray into stand-up.

The other thing was, since I arrived just before 6, I was the last person on the list. Generally, when people were done with their sets, they would leave. By process of elimination, this meant by the time I went up I would be facing the two hosts, maybe one or two comic stragglers, and this stone-faced party of 12 who didn’t come for amateur comedy. What could go wrong?

Finally, I was the last one in the room that hadn’t gone up. The second hostess, who was not in the room when I signed up, got up and accidentally introduced me as the headliner. Oh good lord. She corrected herself, but I was thinking, “Man, I really hope these people aren’t expecting a headliner.” If anyone should have been the headliner it was the guy before me as he was probably the best guy of the night. 

So I got up, I thanked her, and I fucking did it.

And, guess what? GUESS WHAT?

I did. not. bomb. I didn’t bomb! People laughed! I got pretty consistent chuckles. Some more pronounced than others (feedback!), but it was not some deadly black hole of silence. I know this crowd was capable of that, because I saw it with TWO comics who went on before me. This green, inexperienced little wank was able to get up and elicit laughs from complete strangers.

It felt amazing, and was such an important thing for me to do on that particular day. When I told them it was my anniversary of getting laid off and not having a full-time job, they cheered. CHEERED. For ME! I left there feeling like a million bucks, like I had my own little cloud to whizz around on (like my buddy Lakitu). I now know why addicts are so often drawn to this line of work. I could definitely see chasing that high indefinitely… and I hope I do.

Cat Burrito

I didn’t really like sharing my morning burritos anyway

After I got home and called my mom and my cousin and bragged to all the people, I sat down to write some notes about the experience. At the top I wrote:

“As someone who normally doesn’t follow through on anything. Tonight felt really good.”

Last August, I was thrown into the too familiar abyss of not knowing what was next. Once again, I was left wondering, “Is there something wrong with me? In what ways am I so deficient that I keep ending up in these professionally questionable situations?” This year, as I reflected on that, I somehow mustered the cojones to do one of the bravest things I have done to date. It felt spectacular, and was much needed. Sometimes it’s incredibly important to remind yourself that you CAN. Because you totally can. I promise. 

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