Well, my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

[seanan_mcguire]

It's once again time to prepare to fly. My bags are packed (mostly); I'm ready to go (mostly); I don't have a taxi waiting down below, but since my ride to the airport is asleep in the room basically directly beneath me, I'm going to call it close enough for government work. (I like cars-of-friends better than I like taxis, anyway. They don't charge me as much when I suddenly demand we stop for soda.)

It's been a good trip. I didn't get to see nearly as many people as I hoped, on a social basis, but I got a lot of work done, and had a lot of business meetings, and it was good. A distressing number of these business meetings involved feeding me. I will now return to California and live on salad, peas, and carrot sticks for two weeks, while I wait for my body to issue a writ of forgiveness. But! I'm not sorry, because I have eaten cake-and-shake, frozen hot chocolate, some of the weirdest salads ever seen, pepper-encrusted Maine scallops, garlic fries (seriously, these were some high-class garlic fries), baked heirloom apples with homemade apple ice cream, and some of the best chicken and pea curry I've ever had. I have walked and I have wandered, I have pillaged and I've pondered, and I'm happy with the results.

New York is a fascinating place. I really do understand why some people view the concept of leaving as a sort of sacrilege, even as I understand that I'd go crazy and become a bridge troll in Central Park if I ever tried to live here. I like my yearly visits, and I enjoy the chance to see my publishers in their natural habitat, but I also like my world to be a bit greener. (Now, the Jersey Pine Barrens are another matter. I could totally live there. And then the Jersey Devil would eat me.)

It's been a good trip.

I am ready to be home.

Comments

[scholarinexile.livejournal.com]

My view of New York is similar to yours- awesome place to visit, not sure living there is advisable for those who need a bit of nature. Next time you're there, check out a little Japanese restaurant in Tribeca called Ninja New York. It's a ninja-themed Japanese place, very pricey but worth it for the ambiance; they lead you to your booth (which is enclosed behind a bamboo screen) through a secret passage, and stealthy ninjas ghost up to your table and take your order, and the food is incredible.

RE the Jersey Devil: I've got a cousin who works in the Pine Barrens as a park ranger. He's never seen the Devil, but he's heard something cry out in the night there that he says is certainly not any native wildlife conventionally recognized by zoology, and has dealt with enough firsthand accounts from terrified campers that he has no doubts as to its existence.

And damn, now I want scallops. My Seafood Beast hasn't been fed for awhile.

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

You have no idea how happy the information about your cousin made me. Seriously. I squealed and clapped my hands. Thank you so much.

[scholarinexile.livejournal.com]

All too happy to oblige. He's offered to take me out there one of these summers, and I fully intend to take him up on it one day.