stranger at the hotel

we went to the gramercy park hotel yesterday in search of a rooftop bar. the weather was kind of dreary, and because of the rain earlier in the day, the hotel decided to cover up the bar which defeated the point of our mission.

instead, we went to downstairs, to the lobby level, to check out the art work. the hotel had the good taste of hiring someone to purchase art by keith haring, andy warhol, basquiat, and the likes. i was especially taken by one piece, a mosiac consisting of painted butterflies. the effect was quite astonishing. i was looking at it to observe the pattern and imagining the work, the planning and the discipline that this piece must've required, and was searching for the artist's signature. all of a sudden, a man in his fifties walked up and asked me what i was looking at. i was completely taken by surprise; the room had been empty except for r, j, and me.

r immediately walked up next to me. the man kept talking, a little tipsy having ben drinking in the other room where the bar extended. i grabbed r's hand, out of a bit of fear, unsure what the man was up to. i thought it's not a bad idea to let him know that i have a boyfriend, especially one who's bigger than him.

the man then asked if we would like for him to recite an oscar wilde poem. out of fear of his reaction if i had rejected his offer, i said yes. i just figured it was probaby safer to go along with whatever he said. by now, we had caught j's attention. so the three of us listened and watched this man recite the poem. his performance was actually excellent.

a couple had strolled in during this recital. after he had finished, he shook our hands and went over to the other couple. then, he offered to recite another poem, which i can't recall. my guess is that he's an actor, but i was a little creeped out by how much he was looking, almost staring, at me, looking over at the others every once in a while as if remembering there were others watching him. finally, he went back to the other room where he claimed his girlfriend had been waiting.

it's not something atypical to happen in new york, but i was not expecting the unsolicited attention in a place as nice as the gramercy park hotel. i guess i shouldn't be surprised, but i don't think i will ever get used to being approached by strangers, whatever the reason.

modern mobility

now that i've recently moved, i'm in the process of updating different government agencies and business with my new address. it's strange that we've gotten to an age where our physical mailing address is less permanent than our email address, our land-line telephone number is less permanent than our mobile telephone number.

also, for the past couple of years, i would encounter fits of sneezes, about 10 in a row. i wonder if it's my body having been overworked to adjust to new environments. i've moved from north carolina to los angeles to new york within the past 6 years. all three places are vastly different from each other. i noticed no particular sneezing fits until i moved to new york. is it because the smog here is different than the smog in los angeles? are you less exposed to smog by sitting in a car where your air is filtered on a certain level than being out on the street, especially where you're nose-level with the exhaust pipes of buses and trucks? or is it my body no longer being able to adjust to new environments after having adapted to los angeles after north carolina, from breathing clean air to heavy smog?

i get the impression that people move more often and farther than they used to. at least, i know i've moved more often and farther than my parents have who have probably moved more often and farther than my grandparents had (except my maternal grandmother who immigrated to the states and moved around among my uncles). i'm sure i'll be moving again shortly, possibly as soon as in 4 months. i'm not even unpacking most of my stuff, like books and extra linens that i know i wouldn't need...for now.

i am tired of moving though and hope i can settle somewhere for at least 2 years before moving again. by the way, i hired movers for the first time instead of begging friends. they are definitely worth the money although i felt sort of bad that one of the men looked as old as my father. it is their job though, their means to a living, so i just gave them a generous tip.

indoor rain

i'm terribly behind on blogging, but here are the reasons: r's apartment flooded 2 weekends ago, and i'm moving there this sunday. yeah, i'm actually moving to a fema-like apartment. it's actually not that bad. at least the dry walls are not molding...yet.

r lives on the 1st floor of his apartment building. the unit on the 3rd floor, directly above his, encountered a water pipe busting. it was the sprinkler pipe, to be exact. it's a really old building, a converted knitting factory, and my guess is that the sprinkler system is the same one that was put in place when buildings were finally required to install certain safety features.

water just poured, POURED, from the pipe, raining through the floors, through r's and eventually to the basement unit where it all collected. we were sleeping in and woke up to what we thought was a rain storm. but then, we were puzzled that the rain sounded like it was coming from the wall behind us, where the bathroom was. so r, being the man, got out of bed and climbed down the loft to investigate. i followed him. when he swung open the bathroom door, we saw rain. it literally was raining IN the bathroom. and then the rain moved to the kitchen, then to the hallway just outside his unit. it was rain beyond pots, pans, or buckets.

the fire department showed up and somehow found a way to stop the water. when r went up stairs to check out the 3rd floor, the girl who lives there was in tears. you are totally helpless when water is just pouring from a pipe or the ceiling. the guy on the 2nd floor was out of town. being the holiday weekend, the super was away, and no one could even go into his apartment to try to help him save his belongings.

luckily, we were able to move things out of the way, mostly furniture, to avoid any damages. the management company has started the process of getting the insurance company doing their thing so construction to repair the building can start soon.

i'm still moving all my stuff there on sunday. lightning doesn't hit the same spot twice, right?