Okay, I'm Over Myself

I awoke this morning with a renewed energy and zest for life in New York. I think yesterday was just a bout of normal homesickness for all that was familiar back in Austin. It wasn't a crisis; just a dull ache. Maybe that's to be expected--after all, I lived in Austin for more than half of my life. Things are good here, though.

This renewed enthusiasm today may or may not have something to do with the fact that it is SIXTY DEGREES here. In August. Sixty. Six-oh. In Austin, we'd see that in January. Maybe.

Also, I had to go buy bagels this morning and there is nothing like a New York Deli to convert you to nothing but love for your fellow New Yorkers. Dudes, the food here...! But it's not JUST the food. No, really. It's also that your average New Yorker, who has some sort of trigger (middle) finger in traffic? Is willing to wait, and wait PATIENTLY, to get his deli order exactly right. He wants one egg white and one egg with salt and no pepper and no cheese on an 'everything' bagel and he's not leaving unless the ratio of egg white to egg is exactly perfect. He might even make a little small talk while he's waiting. But he will NOT become impatient. Because getting your breakfast just exactly right is important.

I so respect that kind of commitment in a populace.

And then, too, at the bagel place, I discovered a new food. This does not bode well for the Booty Reduction Plan, which is sort of sucking wind anyway, due to some further foot setbacks. And now, this:

This, my friends, is a Cinnamon Stick. It's a cinnamon-raisin bagel that is coated in butter and cinnamon sugar. Did you already know about these? Because if you did and you didn't tell me, I am so crabby with you. Um, or grateful-- it's a toss-up.

Also this morning, I heard the counter clerk say "stayin' or goin'" to the guy next to me and she said it in such a strong New York accent that even HE didn't understand her.

After he asked her to repeat herself ("Whut?"), he gave the right answer. "Stayin'."

Me, too.