I think they knew I was coming…

How nice of New York City!!! Truly an honor, to have such a warm welcome, moving across coasts from Berkeley, CA to the Empire State, back in January ’07. Wait, did I say “warm”? Actually no, it was quite the opposite. I don’t think I have ever felt the snot in my nose freeze before. It was ridonkulous. Folks, I was born and raised in Southern Cali. Don’t be fooled by my pale skin. I’m actually quite accustomed to sunny weather. So moving to NYC in the dead of winter was NOT fun. I remember, one of the first shows we had on the East Coast was in Boston, and as soon as I got off the Bolt Bus and out of South Station, I slipped on black ice while walking down the steps on the sidewalk. Luckily, I was able to drop and shatter my Snapple bottle that was in my left hand before hitting the pavement. Also luckily, only a good few dozen people saw me take the spill since one of my friends, who happened to be a professional opera singer, let out a shriek SO LOUD with her well-trained lungs that your unborn children could hear. It was epically dramatic. Our friend, Theresa (a different Theresa), had to rush me to the nearest pharmacy to pick up some bandage wrap because my arms and hands were bleeding profusely. Soon after, we got to M.I.T. for our performance and I went on stage looking like Ryu from Street Fighter. Now THAT’s street cred.

And aside from the obvious changes in weather, moving to NYC was a big culture shock. I moved without lining up a day job first, so money was a bit of an issue. I had to crash in the living room of an apt up in Harlem, on a roller bed (wait for it…), on a slanted floor. What this means… is at night I was next to the wall. In the morning… I was next to the other wall. Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration but still… it was crazy. It did lend itself to giving me some fascinating dreams (I recall some Mario Kart scenarios). Perhaps, I will save that for another blog post. ^_^

After living in Harlem for a few months, I moved to Brooklyn, in an area called Bushwick. I lived right next to a street called Myrtle Avenue. I hear back in the day it used to be called Murder Avenue. I was in a good spot though, don’t worry. I lived right across the street from a hospital, and had a ton of friendly rats crawling in my walls to keep me company. Those were the days I tell ya.

And man, I could really write for pages and pages about my New York City experience, but just so y’all don’t get it twisted, I’m not hating on NYC at all. Bottom line, I LOVE IT HERE. And for certain, there is NO OTHER PLACE like it. After getting used to all the new faces, new food, new work, new everything… I’ve really come to love this city. California, you can be sure you’ll see me in your hood again one day. But for right now, I couldn’t be happier living in none other… than NEW YORK CITY.