The Up Lining of the Silver Side

I've definitely found myself in frustrating situations,
but looking at things with the optimism of a Disney princess high on cherry scented permanent marker has helped.

BOOOO: There are "select bus" lines that require you to buy your ticket on the street before you board. They will only actually enforce this and drive away yelling "Get the next one!" when it's 1 am and snowing, and I'm too far away to walk home.

But hey, it's great cause then:  Forced to suck it up and walk home anyway, I realize that my grey scarf is actually really practical and warm. I stop to buy $5 fingerless burgundy gloves at a street-side stand and learn they were hand-made by Afghani women. I find momentum and enjoy the snow flurry, rediscover this amazing Johnny Flynn song, and get home feeling really strong.

BOOOO: Trying to maintain a strict schedule makes me feel like my spontaneous spirit has been tied hastily with a rubber band and shoved down my throat.

But hey, it's great cause then: I'm forced to seek and find "Yoga to the People," completely free, on St. Marks, so I can unwind whenever I have a free hour, and can always decide to go spontaneously.

BOOOO: I didn't have any friends here that were necessarily into watching football, which is rough when the Giants are in the NFC Championship. I met some fabulous friends to probably watch the game, but when I got there they were all watching Hook.. and- don't get me wrong- I'll be the first one to call Hook a fantastic movie, but not when you can hear people cheering and screaming downstairs every 4 minutes.

But hey, it's great cause: My jealousy and curiosity compelled me to run down to that downstairs apartment. I knocked on the door and explained my predicament. I got a beer, a spot on the couch, and to cheer on the Giants with possibly the most enthusiastic, definitely the LOUDEST fans in the city. Plus, after Hook was over, we had a bona fide combined party. 

AND OH YEAH. THEY WENT ON TO WIN THE SUPERBOWL.

[THE ONLY THING BETTER THAN A GIANTS BAR ON A SUNDAY IS A GIANTS BAR ON SUPERBOWL SUNDAY  2012.]

Also, it's the only time New Yorkers freely speak, touch, sing with and embrace each other on the street.

I saw a man in a suit, who must have been in his 50s, SKIPPING from one bar to another.

BOOOO: I had to drag my sick ass all the way to Union Square with bronchitis, to wait hours for a prescription at a Duane Reade walk-in clinic.

But hey, it's great cause:  I might never have seen this otherwise.

.

BOOOO: I feel so much pressure to save money and to eat better.

But hey, it's great cause then:  I'm learning to cook. And it makes me feel sophisticated, relaxed and prudent. Even at 3 am.

BOOOO: I have two huge painted African candles from Enchantments- one is coconut scented and carved for luck and the other is a burnt orange, with a santisima virgen carved on the front. They make me feel like I'm delving into some serious spirituality when I light them at night. In certain moments I feel like this:

[Like when mom asked, "Isn't that Santeria stuff?" and the candle jumped off the table and shattered one of my plates]


 But hey, it's great cause then:  
Most times, when I light my candles after a long day, I feel like this: 

Besides, maybe the luck candle is working.

In the past week, I've gotten a free hair cut, color and highlights at the salon in the Plaza Hotel. I've seen Wit, and attended two parties with the cast, attended the reopening night of Venus in Fur, the Broadway hit, and  am seeing Alan Rickman in Seminar next week. I've had Insomnia cookies, cinnabons, bagel crisps, a chocolate bar, a banana, a hot dog, a bread roll, a Hurricane, Mardi Gras Beads, oysters, garlic shrimp, pizza, half a Bubba Gump sampler, 3 beers, 2 massive bags of fresh fruit, garlic bread, a Black Market cocktail, Dunkin' Donut munchkins and a shot of rum find their way into my life.

Maybe it's ridiculous to measure cosmic success in free food, but it's just my nature.

I'm telling myself that my "luck" in having all these problems resolve themselves so nicely is a message from the Universe,telling me I'm in the right place and that God will provide.

It may actually just be a stupidly positive attitude. 
Sh. Don't tell.