I hate puddles. The cold, dirty slush of snow that we have to go through like we did today.
But when struggling with someone, they’re also the settings for the most romantic situations.Because there was only one pair of footprints in the snow - and they were not mine.
At Dean and Deluca, Totie and I admitted that neither of us had opened a Star or In Touch magazine in about a year.
What’s the gossip in our lives?
We scanned scandals of Brad, Angelina, Jennifer and Vince. Do we still care?
You don’t have to read or talk about celebrities when regular life in New York is just as juicy.
It takes a lot to get a New Yorker’s attention.
Police capture a man on the street, you walk on by. Fellas thrust a flyer to your face, you walk on by. There are few situations that New Yorkers will find important enough to stop them on their tracks. There goes the good Samaritan.
Unlike in Manila, turning heads in Manhattan will have to take more than a hiss.
People our so engrossed in their own brains, that being just a looker doesn’t much help anymore.
Modern New Yorkers are marching to the beat of their own drums, or swaying to the ballads of their ipods. (They just have to keep from singing out loud, and their penchant for Britney Spears or Meatloaf will stay between their ears.)
But some men here are total lookers, girls just can’t help but look - around. They’re so pretty, men are becoming objects too. Perhaps they know of that, and learned to spend more hours in the loo. And in a looker city like New York, with professions that pay based on the way you look, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Whenever I meet a guy I could be quite interested in (and trust me, that doesn’t happen frequently enough! About once a year lang), I check for two things:
1. Is he gay? I bring up a gay topic and see how he reacts.
In New York, it’s easier to find a boyfriend if you’re a boy. My gay friends agree! (Gosh, didn’t they know how I’d love to be wrong this time?!)
2. Does he have a girlfriend?
"Puwede na ang yes sa question 2, said one of my friends. Mas madaling mahuli ang manok na nakatali."
As if. I lose interest right away.
Is he gay? God please, no! It’s better to discover an unavailable man, than to find a rival in the man. Or else, I’ll just match him up with my other gay friends.
Sometimes, our thoughts don’t merely cost a penny.
I finally, finally get paid for my writing.
–
Other times, our thoughts are free-of-charge.
I asked one of my lawyer friends if he could help another friend in a minor legal situation. The attorney emailed me back and said he’ll talk to him, but he’ll have to charge $150. Friend 2 showed him the money.
But as he always tells me, if it were me who had a problem, his advice wouldn’t only be free, it would come with a nice dinner and a glass of sangria.
Where does the business transaction end and the friendship begin? How do you decide for whom you’d do things for free and freely, and for whom your expertise would pay?
Looking back, many hours of talk have been spent between him and I, and the topics have spanned the ups and downs of our many years, fears and tears here in New York. And I would have found myself penniless, if his thoughts cost more than a penny each.
"Carriessa Bradshawcorta.. You write like Carrie but you don’t write about sex."
In Manila: Everybody does it but nobody talks about it. People just get darn pregnant.
In New York: Everybody thinks about it and talks about it, some even write about it but nobody ever gets pregnant.
In Manila, if you write about sex, you get so darn famous everybody knows your name: Dr. Margarita Holmes.
In New York, if you write about sex, nobody will (much care to) know your name. Unless it’s Carrie Bradshaw.
"Don’t wait for someone to walk into your life. Walk into theirs."
I open the door and walk in. He holds a welcome sign.
"I remember having met her then.
Yes, she is indeed an extremely gracious, graceful woman.
I’d be happy to meet with her again anytime."
My brother means the world to me. He’s my favorite person in the world. I just think he’s a wonderful person. And I wonder if that will ever change.
Maybe it will, when I find somebody who becomes my world, and who becomes my favorite person in New York - to start.
