More Moves

Thinking a lot about my friends, Kevin and Kirsten Lageman, and their impending move to Pittsburgh. How much I'm going to miss them.

But more, about how excited I am for them. They've wanted this practically since the moment they arrived in New York. Neither one has been terribly happy here, and it's only my own selfish need to keep them around that's kept me from insisting they get the hell out when their first lease was up.

So this coming weekend is the end. I'm going on Sunday morning to help them load up their U-Haul and to wave them off into the sunset (they're heading west, after all). And then I shall have a full day to think about my loss before being distracted by work again.

Did I mention that Kenny Bolden has also declared his intention to leave New York? Sad but true. He's had enough, and it's not like I can blame him, really. He's been here 17 years, and still finds it every bit as hard to find work as people who're just arriving. It's a place that wears you down, for sure.

Hell, I've only been here four years, and sometimes I wonder how much longer I can take it. The problem is that for every moment I have of thinking the city is going to crush the life and joy out of me, I have one in which I think it's the most fantastic place on earth.

Reconcile that dichotomy, I dare you.