Beware of Doppelgangers

I met my doppelganger this weekend.

I was completely caught off guard since I was at a birthday party for two of my good friends. Turns out she graduated the same year from a school I got into, went to business school undergrad, we're separated by 2 degrees (maybe less if we had spoken more), and she lives across the street. I think I've even gotten some of her emails and she claims to have known about me since high school in the days of ICQ. Sorta strange that you could google yourself, find someone with the same name and a similar background and one day, meet them at a party and then share a cab home.

Weird.

A Hint of Spring

After over a year of not writing, I was inspired to post something today when my friend asked me for my blog address to add it to his RSS feed. I thought about all the topics I've thought about lately - time passing, the silliness of boys, financial worries, and the question that started this blog in the first place - should I move away from NYC? But I settled on something utterly current and also utterly innocuous. The weather. But as everyone knows, almost no one appreciates a nice day like a New Yorker. :)

So, I know it was officially spring last week (when it snowed) but today was one of those days that makes you love living in New York. Just above 60, slightly breezy, and sunny. I walked to work, coffee and best bran muffin in hand, and despite the grossness that is the area between 23rd-38th on sixth, still enjoyed it. It was a nice start to a slow Friday.

Yay for New York.

And now the weekend.

A rut or an opportunity?

So, I've decided to move to California. I took that job and I'm going to take the plunge at the end of the summer. In addition to the fact that I think the job is the right next step for me, I've been feeling like life's been in a rut. While I love New York, I've been feeling like it's too much of the same lately. The things that used to excite me now sort of bother me (i.e. walking through the streets of SoHo on a crisp winter night. Instead of being hopeful for the loft-style apartments, cute cafes and designer clothes, I focus on the annoying high school girls from Jersey wearing patent leather platform heels who just came from lunch at "Kip-riani." It's Italian girls....it's a soft c.") New York has treated me amazingly well the past six years - great roommates, great friends from work, a fantastic schooling experience...but I think it's time to move on. In the meantime, I've noticed a change in the way I'm trying to "take control" of my life. I've been doing things I don't normally do. The other week I asked someone out. He wasn't really my type but I finally realized that I had nothing to lose. It reminded me of the Seinfeld episode in which George decides to do the opposite of everything that his instincts tell him. He gets tuna instead of chicken salad, etc. Maybe I should learn some lessons from that - it might get me out of this rut even before I move across the country and show me that risk-taking isn't so bad after all.

Or maybe it's because the writers strike is killing me with the lack of new television. Aaah!

Ah, Sundance

I finally went to the Sundance Film Festival for the first time in my life. What a fantastic experience. Even though I had spent nearly 3 weeks in Argentina, my trip to Sundance equaled my jaunt to the Southern Hemisphere in terms of impact. Sundance was exactly what everyone had told me it would be - amazing. From the moment I stepped off the plane, the air in Utah was crisp. Excitement was around me. The air was buzzing. Even people waiting at the baggage claim were excited. After a full day spent at the airport where we met a cool AOL film critic, we were finally on our way to our condos. The view of the mountains was lovely.

Park City itself is beautiful. A quaint town become famous for Sundance and the Winter Olympics was the perfect setting, albeit cold and slushy, for Sundance. Although I spent each day doing a whole lot of waiting to buy tickets or to see films or get from theater to theater, it just didn't matter. After each film, I had an intense appreciation for what goes into the making of a film. One of the best things about Sundance is that the director, producer, and most of the cast stays for a Q&A at the end of the film. You watch the film and come to your own interpretation and get the added bonus of finding out why a director cast the movie in a particular way, the bigger statement he's trying to make about hope and life, and maybe even get to spot a celebrity or two. I'll never forget my first flick there - the premiere of The Yellow Handkerchief at the ginormous Eccles Theater.

Despite a few bumps along the road and the fact that my toes almost froze off due to a severe lack in judgement in packing my clothes, I left Sundance exhilarated. Fully appreciative of film, especially independent film, armed with a glimpse into the movie industry I had never gotten before, and an intense realization of how small the world truly is. (I met another AOL film critic on the bus who worked with the one we met in the SLC airport. And then bumped into him at the Netflix party. And then was approached by a producer who sat next to me on an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin over a year and a half ago and actually remembered me. Crazy.)

In honor of my time there, I still sport my little "focus on film" pin from Sundance on my winter coat.

Atonement

I just went to see Atonement. I have never been to a movie that is so quiet and intense with so many loud people. Cell phones, people talking, 5+ people walking in 20 minutes after the movie (not the trailers, the movie) started. The best was the lady behind me who couldn't let go of this crinkly plastic bag. She kept on touching it and it was so loud. She especially couldn't shut up during the last 5 minutes of the movie, which was arguably the most intense part of the move. It definitely required silence.

Too bad I didn't get it.

bleh!

Inspiration...from Kelly Clarkson?

I was listening to my iPod on the train the other day and Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson came on. It seemed particularly applicable to the move that I'm currently considering.

Some pertinent excerpts:

Buildings with a hundred floors
Swinging around revolving doors
Maybe I don't know where they'll take me but
Gotta keep moving on, moving on
Fly away, breakaway

I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye
I gotta take a risk, Take a chance, Make a change, And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget the place I come from
I gotta take a risk, Take a chance, Make a change
And breakaway, breakaway, breakaway

Can I break away from New York? Now I kinda understand why my friend started crying while singing this at her college graduation.

The Facebook Era Birthday

I had a birthday earlier this week and it was a strange experience. In the past year, more and more of my friends have joined facebook, including some good college friends that had previously been holdouts. Here is how the birthday wishes went. 100 facebook posts, 1 text message, 1 gchat, a couple e-mails, and a few calls.

I decided with a friend today (who coincidentally, managed to call the day after with a terrific excuse) that facebook birthday wishing is only ok if it's incremental. It's the perfect way for someone you kinda know or haven't spoken to since you were 12 to wish you a happy birthday. But, your besties -- they owe you a call if they're not seeing you.

I thought this was particularly interesting given that a good friend of mine had been raving about how she'll love facebook for forever because it made her birthday amazing. Everyone knew it was her special day and she heard from everyone she hadn't heard from. It's interesting that this so-called social networking tool led me to feel a bit more disconnected. It also led me to wonder, where's the right balance of real face-to-face vs. virtual connections in this techie world?

Maybe I should figure that out before I start working for one of these guys....