Gone to America

Yes, it’s been a long time. I’ve been busy. What do you want from me? Blood?

I haven’t just been busy with work, although that has been quite intense recently. Since the last entry a number of highly bloggable things have happened, as well as some non-bloggable things. I will see how much of the bloggable I can remember.

Firstly, I went to Tucson, Arizona for Jeremy and Melanie’s wedding. That was fantastic – a real holiday. Arizona was amazing. Many cacti. I always thought of cacti as being about chest height, but no, they’re as tall as trees! And pleasantly anthropomorphic. Little arms! We stayed at the Westward Look resort. I’ve never really stayed in a fancy hotel before, and now I finally see what I’ve been missing all those years. Whenever I travel I always book the cheapest room I can find, but no more! Well, I probably still will, but now it will be ruefully.

Eli amongst the cacti

The sun was shining (dry heat – nice), the desert was beautiful, my room was bigger than my apartment, I got a very painful deep tissue massage that left me all tingly, I danced like a fool, met a load of great people, hung out by the pool and got to attend a really fantastic wedding. I was the only man there not wearing a tie due to an unfortunate shirt-staining-last-minute-substitution incident, but nobody noticed. I think. It was three days and I could go into more detail, but what’s the point? The trip back to New York was a little stressful – there was a big storm over the entire Eastern seaboard. Several of my friends’ flights were cancelled or delayed. Mine wasn’t, but the landing in LaGuardia was, shall we say, interesting.

Not long after that my old college chum Ivan came to stay with me for a few days. That was a blast. It was great to see him. After the activity of Arizona it was nice to stay up late at night drinking, watching movies and talking shit. Of course, it probably would have been better if I hadn’t been having to work the next day, but you can’t have everything. I’ll let him fill in some of the details with his guest entry which I’m sure will be forthcoming any time now, right, Ivan?

I’ve started going back to the gym – my suit didn’t fit me so well, I’m going to another wedding in three weeks and I don’t want to buy a new one. It’s terribly painful – it hurts me even as I sit here. My trainer is a Latvian woman called Inese. I think she hates me, but I’m not sure why. Oh sure, she smiles and laughs, but the things she puts me through…

Last Sunday Julian had an exhibition of his photography open in Riverdale in the Bronx, which I attended. It was a very pleasant experience. I’ve only been in the Bronx once before, also with Julian. The exhibition is on in the Riverdale YMHA. Of course, it’s also on in Second Life.

Julian has been quite invlolved in Second Life for a while now. Some of my longtime readers (if there are any left) may recall that I dallied with Second Life quite a bit while I was living in Queens, but I decided it was sucking up too much of my life so I stopped. Julian seems to have a better handle on it – he seems toi be doing quite well in there!

I actually hosted the virtual opening which took place several hours before the meatspace one. When I say “hosted” I mean that Julian came to my apartment and used my laptop – I live much closer to the Bronx than he does. He blogs about the three dimensional opening here and teh two dimensional one here.

My apartment purchase moves along. Honestly, I currently have no idea how long the process is going to take from here, when I can close, when I’ll move… It all seems to be going well, so I guess I’ll cling to that.

Millennium Crisis, the movie that I co-wrote back in 2004, is going to be distributed in Japan, which is pretty cool. It will be called Biohazard 3077 which is even cooler.

Let’s see, what else, what else… Well, there’s always more, but that’s all I’m going to write about. I always forget something these days. When I was only working intermittently back in 2004 just the wedding in Tucson would probably have inspired at least one “post(And the second one)”: of a couple of thousand words. I would have spent the entire weekend writing it. But no more. Let’s face it people – the golden days of this blog are over. And who is even left to mourn?

A suit always makes me feel like a liar. I don’t recognise myself when I’m wearing one. But it seems that it is my destiny to wear one on at least two occasions in the coming months. I am hopeful that these occasions will each be pleasurable in other ways.

In less than two weeks I’m heading off Tucson, Arizona to the wedding of Jeremy and Melanie, which I’m looking forward to. That was Jeremy’s bachelor party I was at a couple of weekends ago. I’m a little concerned about not having a car – I’m given to understand that this is generally a problem in the States outside New York. But I think it’ll be fine. It’ll be good to see another part of country. The desert! The South!

And then in June I’ll be back in Dublin, but for three days only. I’ll arrive on a Thursday morning, attend Maeve and Jordan’s wedding on the Friday, hang out on the Saturday and leave on Sunday. Back in work on Monday! It’ll be good to see my parent’s new house all done up – last time I was there it was still pretty much a building site.

I was actually reluctant to go to this wedding. Not because I don’t want to see Jordan and Maeve tie the knot – a chuppah in Booterstown! And not because of the inconvenience of international travel – in fact the Arizona trip will take longer and cost more. There’s just a lot of baggage in returning to Dublin. It seems strange to head back there for a non-me centered reason.

I won’t be doing the things that I normally would do. Just in and out – I doubt I’ll see anybody other than family. Instead I’ll be spending time with Maeve and Jordan’s friends. Some of them I know – I even dated one of them briefly – but Maeve’s Irish friends will be complete strangers to me. It’ll be the normal wedding-of-friends thing; you know some people well, and are otherwise surrounded by strangers and other people’s families. That’s all fine, but I’ll be in Dublin! There will be good friends of mine that I never get to hang out with in the same city! And they probably won’t even know I’m there!

But I’ll get over it.

I had to get up at 6am yesterday morning to be in Brooklyn for 8am. 8am! On a Saturday! I was having the apartment I intend to buy inspected to make sure the ceiling isn’t going to cave in or anything (it isn’t). It’s actually just around the corner from Maeve and Jordan so Maeve came around to have a look as well – it’s always good to get a second opinion. Jordan couldn’t get out of bed. I envied him.

Maeve seemed to like it. It’s really the view that’s the killer. Looking at the two apartments that I’ve bid on the common element seems to be just that – light and views. I wouldn’t have thought that these things would be that important to me, but apparently they are. I’ve seen bigger, cheaper apartments in locations as good or better, but without big windows looking at something I just don’t seem to get enthusiastic. The things we learn about ourselves!

Unlike a lot of the apartments I’ve looked at this one hasn’t had any work done to it for a while (most people seem to renovate to sell), so I’ll probably need to spend a bit before I move in. It isn’t decrepit or anything, but there are some things I’d like done and if I don’t get them done before I move in inertia will set in and I never will.

Tomorrow I’ll probably sign the contract. Then it gets difficult!

I’ve made the first change to this site for a while – broadening the sidebar to fit in my Xbox Live Gamertag. I just haven’t played Battlefield 2 for a while, so I thought I’d better update it. Of course, there are other things I could update – I took a video walkthrough of the apartment which would make a perfect Little Vid, but I don’t want to jinx it.

Oh, and there was an ad that ran for a few days for GTA IV on british TV – just the logo announcing the release of the trailer with a ticking clock sound. Did anybody see it? I did the sound design on it, which is to say I picked the tick! It’s off the air now – the first bit of new sound work I’ve had on TV since RTE got new music for the news. Ah, the memories.

I’ve got a number of weekends to catch up on before getting to St. Patrick’s Day, but I’ve had a post with this title every year since I started and I don’t see any need to monkey with tradition now. I’ve been getting a lot of complaints recently about my infrequent posting – or rather, the normal complaints have intensified. To which I say – suck it! I know my readership has gone down along with my posting frequency and I’ve made my peace with that. If you really get irritated checking back here to see that nothing has changed then you can sign up for email notifications. I’m a slow writer and I can only do this on weekends. Deal!

My last few weekends have been fairly busy, in a good way. Two weekends ago I went with Eli, Ian, Jackie and Elizabeth up to Jackie’s parent’s house in Rhinebeck in upstate New York. It was nice to get out of the city, although generally the countryside doesn’t do much for me. The house was beautiful. We went into the town, had some great meals, bought some books, drank, watched movies, walked up a mountain. All in all a very pleasant, relaxing time was had.

The following weekend Zaini and Sagel were in town so I hung out with them. This year it will be ten years since myself and Zaini left college. Ivan is coming over next month – maybe I can have my own very slow reunion in NYC. That was a good way to spend a weekend too – just some uncomplicated eating and drinking.

I also saw a great apartment that Sunday – an open house. I put a bid in on Monday, we agreed on a price on Wednesday and now here I go again. Their minimum was my maximum. Even when I was looking at much cheaper apartments I always somehow knew that I would end up spending the absolute most I had decided I could afford. Not to jump the gun. After my previous experience I won’t be convinced the whole thing is going smoothly until I’ve been living there for six months.

Yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day, but I more or less ignored that I was at a bachelor party. Good times, good times. No details. Well, ok – we started off bowling. The bachelor party was for Jeremy, Ian’s cousin. The wedding will be in Tucson, Arizona. A whole new part of the States to spend a weekend in!

Right down to the wire! I’m leaving this later every year. I’m truly startled by how few of the nominated films I’ve seen this year. If I don’t do better next year it won’t even be worth doing this! Well, no matter. Here’s my traditional preamble:

These aren’t predictions – I have no idea how the Academy works. I freely admit to not having seen many of the films.

I will base my picks on the following criteria, which I believe closely mirror those of actual Academy voters:

1. Do I know any of the nominees?
   Nobody this year, although I have met Paul Massey.


2. Was I involved in any of the movies?
   None this year. And probably never again, given that I work in videogames now.


3. My actual opinion
   Yes, this only comes third. And obviously it doesn’t apply if I haven’t seen the movies or know anything about the category. (People wear makeup in movies? Even the guys?)


4. Other peoples opinions
   Depends on the other people, obviously.


5. The Righting of Injustice
   Martin Scorsese. Peter O’Toole. Enough said
   
6. Best title
   I’ll be bringing this into play in the Documentary and Shorts categories.


7. Blind prejudice
   I’m not yet sure how blind prejudice will come into it this year. But it will.

And the list:

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Leonardo DiCaprio – BLOOD DIAMOND
Ryan Gosling – HALF NELSON
Peter O’Toole – VENUS
Will Smith – THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
Forest Whitaker – THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

Peter O’Toole. Clearly. He’s been nominated seven times and never won, despite being one of the greatest actors of his generation. I can’t understand why he isn’t the favourite. What happened to the good old days when everyone new Paul Newman was going to win for Color of Money? If the Oscars aren’t at least partly influenced by sentimentality any more, well… I don’t know, that’s all. He’s 85!

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Alan Arkin – LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jackie Earle Haley – LITTLE CHILDREN
Djimon Hounsou – BLOOD DIAMOND
Eddie Murphy – DREAMGIRLS
Mark Wahlberg – THE DEPARTED

Mark Wahlberg! Because he’s the guy who does his job. You must be the other guy. PLus I haven’t seen any of the other movies. What happened to me?

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Penélope Cruz – VOLVER
Judi Dench – NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Helen Mirren – THE QUEEN
Meryl Streep – THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
Kate Winslet – LITTLE CHILDREN

Helen Mirren. She was great, she’s the favourite, why not? And again, I haven’t seen any of the others.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Adriana Barraza – BABEL
Cate Blanchett – NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Abigail Breslin – LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jennifer Hudson – DREAMGIRLS
Rinko Kikuchi – BABEL

Wow, I’ve seen none of these at all. Again with the favourite – Jennifer Hudson.

Best animated feature film of the year
CARS
HAPPY FEET
MONSTER HOUSE

Flushed Away, the movie my friend Shea worked, isn’t here. So I don’t care. Monster House, because I’ve seen it. Although I didn’t think it was so great. But I don’t like cars (Blind Prejudice) and I’m not into movies about dancing, even when it’s penguins.

Achievement in art direction
DREAMGIRLS
THE GOOD SHEPHERD
PAN’S LABYRINTH
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST
THE PRESTIGE

I’m gonna go with Pan’s Labyrinth here because of the Faun, but I could easily go with PotC:DMC as well. That probably is a larger achievement, come to think. But more people should see Pan’s Labyrinth, so there.

Achievement in cinematography
THE BLACK DAHLIA
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE ILLUSIONIST
PAN’S LABYRINTH
THE PRESTIGE

Children of Men. Because it should be nominated for best picture and isn’t. Also it looked amazing.

Achievement in costume design
CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
DREAMGIRLS
MARIE ANTOINETTE
THE QUEEN

Probably… Dreamgirls. I wish I’d gone to see Marie Antoinette, but I’m an idiot.

Achievement in directing
BABEL
THE DEPARTED
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
THE QUEEN
UNITED 93

Scorsese! Scorsese! If Clint Eastwood wins I’ll be going underground for a while. You will know me by my works.

Best documentary feature
DELIVER US FROM EVIL
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS
JESUS CAMP
MY COUNTRY, MY COUNTRY

Oh, An Inconvenient Truth, why not. EVen though I hear it’s really depressing. Why can’t people make happy documentaries about kittens?

Best documentary short subject
THE BLOOD OF YINGZHOU DISTRICT
RECYCLED LIFE
REHEARSING A DREAM
TWO HANDS

Recycled Life. Best title rule applies.

Achievement in film editing
BABEL
BLOOD DIAMOND
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE DEPARTED
UNITED 93

Ooh, tough call. The Departed? Children of Men? The Departed? Children of Men?

Children of Men.

Best foreign language film of the year
AFTER THE WEDDING
DAYS OF GLORY (INDIGÈNES)
THE LIVES OF OTHERS
PAN’S LABYRINTH
WATER

Pan’s Labyrinth is really incredible, so I’ll pick that. I hear The Lives of Others is great, but I haven’t seen it. I tried this week but it was sold out!

Achievement in makeup
APOCALYPTO
CLICK
PAN’S LABYRINTH

Pan’s Labyrinth. Although now I think I should go back and give Art Direction to PotC:DMC. But I don’t feel like scrolling up.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
BABEL
THE GOOD GERMAN
NOTES ON A SCANDAL
PAN’S LABYRINTH
THE QUEEN

I cannot remember any of these scores. Pan’s Labyrinth by default.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“I Need to Wake Up” – AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
“Listen” – DREAMGIRLS
“Love You I Do” – DREAMGIRLS
“Our Town” – CARS
“Patience” – DREAMGIRLS

I haven’t heard any of these songs. I’ll go for whichever one Beyonce sings, because she’s hot.

Best motion picture of the year
BABEL
THE DEPARTED
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
THE QUEEN

The Departed! Easily.

Best animated short film
THE DANISH POET
LIFTED
THE LITTLE MATCHGIRL
MAESTRO
NO TIME FOR NUTS

No Time for Nuts. Best title rule.

Best live action short film
BINTA AND THE GREAT IDEA (BINTA Y LA GRAN IDEA)
ÉRAMOS POCOS (ONE TOO MANY)
HELMER & SON
THE SAVIOUR
WEST BANK STORY

Helmer & Son. Title again.

Achievement in sound editing
APOCALYPTO
BLOOD DIAMOND
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST

PotC:DMC – only one I’ve seen, and it did sound great.

Achievement in sound mixing
APOCALYPTO
BLOOD DIAMOND
DREAMGIRLS
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST

PotC:DMC again. Because I’ve met Paul Massey and he’s a gentleman.

Achievement in visual effects
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST
POSEIDON
SUPERMAN RETURNS

PotC:DMC. Fish faces.

Adapted screenplay
BORAT CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE DEPARTED
LITTLE CHILDREN
NOTES ON A SCANDAL

The Departed! Yeah! Woo! I mean, Children of Men. Yeah, Children of Men.

Original screenplay
BABEL
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
PAN’S LABYRINTH
THE QUEEN

Pan’s Labyrinth. Because it really is an original screenplay.

I know there isn’t much time for you to comment on my choices before tomorrow, but you may as well try.

My parents (who were in New York this last week for my birthday) sold their house last year for an insane amount of money and decided to give both myself and my sister a generous chunk of pre-death inheritance. I decided that I would use this windfall (at least partly) as a downpayment on an apartment. I started looking.

Yes, this is a recap.

On my first day of looking I found a beautiful apartment. I describe it in more detail along with the beginning of my woes here. A detail I left out in that earlier telling: when I reported to my friend/boss/primary real estate advisor Eli that I had seen a place I liked and that I was going to put a bid in he said something interesting. The conversation went like this:

ELI: “Oh, that’s great. But, you know…”
ME: “What?’
ELI: “Oh, nothing. It doesn’t matter.”
ME: “No, what?”
ELI: “Well, it doesn’t mean anything, but in my experience nobody ever gets the first place they bid on.”
ME: “Pshaw!”

At the time I dismissed this as superstition, or at least merely anecdotal and not actually statistically signifigant. I should have recognised it for what it really was.

Foreshadowing.

In that earlier post I recounted the way they suddenly jacked the price up and I capitulated. That in itself was extraordinary – raising the asking price after a full price bid has been accepted – but it was only the beginning. A slight understanding of the difference between a co-op and a condo and what a sponsor sale is will be helpful here. Here’s a description from the website of my broker, Paul Zumoff.

Basically, a Condo is an apartment that you own. A Co-op is a corporation that you buy shares in that entitle you to a lease. A Co-op is generally cheaper but it has a board that must approve all sales. Unless it’s a sponsor sale. This means that the apartment is being sold by the financial entity that sponsored the conversion of the building from a privately owned concern into a Co-op. They put up the money to buy the apartments occupied by people who don’t wish to buy into the Co-op and will continue to rent. When these apartments are vacated the sponsor can rent them to somebody else or sell them. This is called a sponsor sale. No board approval is required, but the purchaser is responsible for the payment of the Transfer Tax, 1.4% of the purchase price and usually the responsibility of the seller.

So, I agreed to the increased price and they sent a contract to my lawyer. I gathered together all the financial information and other documents for the bank and the property manager, filling out all the forms. I went to see my attorney and we talked through the contract.

It was a little odd. There were a few clauses in it that gave cause for alarm. My attorney crossed them out. One section dealt entirely with board approval. Some mistake, right? This was a sponsor sale. So he crossed that out and added a rider explicitly stating that the board had no power to veto the sale. I made out a cheque for 10% to be put into escrow and signed both it and the contract. He sent it back.

It was expected that they would quibble about certain of his amendments. There would be a brief negotiation and we’d move on to the appraisal and the closing. But no. They got in touch, insisting that the board approval language had to stay in the contract. But why? Isn’t this a sponsor sale. Yes, but I still had to meet the board. It would be informal, just a “meet and greet”. That’s all very well, but there’s a legal document saying that they have the power to undo the sale. Was I to trust them that this was to be an informal welcome meeting?

I was happy to meet them. I had no problem going in and being nice. In fact, I welcomed it. It sounded like a good idea. But how can this be informal if I’m aware that if I make a bad impression they can stop the sale? Not that I would, of course, but still. I said that I would be happy to meet the board, but if I need their approval then it’s not a sponsor sale so why should I pay the transfer tax? Again, this was unheard of. Board approval and transfer tax? The worst of all possible worlds!

So there was much back and forth. All I really wanted was an explanation. Why did they require this? They must know it’s unusual. What’s their rationale? It became clear that no explanation would be forthcoming. Relations became strained. Eventually I realised that they were willing to allow this issue to scupper the sale, and that I wasn’t. I capitulated again. I wanted to buy it more than they wanted to sell it to me.

This had taken so long that all my other ducks were perfectly aligned. I had a mortgage approval letter ready to send to the managing company to trigger the board “meet and greet”, just contingent on a couple of extra details and the appraisal. I had another few forms to fill out and we could move ahead.

Except not. The appraisal – usually a formality – came back. The bank’s appraiser had decided that the property was worth less than the contract price and they wouldn’t give me a mortgage on it. $45,000 less. Disaster. My options at this point were:

1. Try and get it reappraised at a higher level. The listing broker got to work on this, looking for comparable apartments at a higher price to convince the bank that the appraisal was low. She didn’t manage.
2. Bridge the gap with cash. I did make some attempt at this, but the lottery tickets kept coming up bad.
3. Move on with my life and look for another apartment. If it’s really this overvalued then it’s a bad deal and I could consider it a lucky escape.
4. Hope that the seller will lower the price. This may seem unlikely on the face of it, but consider that if I couldn’t get a mortgage then neither can anybody else. The problem was not that I was an unsuitable candidate, far from it. The bank just wouldn’t accept that the property was worth lending that much against. The only person they could sell to would be somebody with a lot of cash who believed that the property was severely undervalued by the bank. Not a good position to be in.

Some people did try and convince me that I should just walk away. But even if the property was (is) overvalued I could still afford it, and the fact is that I haven’t seen anything else in my price range that came close to it in all the ways that are important to me. So it came down to option 4. Would they budge on price? We asked, and waited, and waited…

It seemed at one point that they would. Not much, certainly not by $45,000, but a little. I spoke to my mortgage advisor and she crunched some numbers. We came up with a figure whereby I could get a 100% mortgage based on the appraisal value and use the cash I had to bridge the gap. It would cost me any more in terms of payments or cash or interest, and just required that they meet me in the middle.

They refused. The early indications were wrong, and they weren’t willing to come down in price at all. They ended the contract and sent me back my deposit (well, they haven’t yet, but I’m sure it’s coming). It’s all over. I start looking again.

I don’t mind the money so much – although what with legal fees, the appraisal and the mortgage processing that’s a chunk of change – but the time. Over two months have passed when I could have been out looking but wasn’t because, despite Eli, I thought I had found my apartment and even if it was turning out to be a bumpy road I’d get it eventually. But no. Back to the drawing board.

It’s extremely irritating. I even hit a wall at one point, although not hard enough to do any damage to either of us. But it’s ok. I guess I can accept this kind of thing as the other side of the karma of working for a video game company. I mean, part of my job is to play video games. I have to expect some rain in the other areas of my life.

As I said at the beginning of the post my parents were in town. We hung out in the evenings – I ate a lot this week. On Sunday I actually took them out to my putative new neigbourhood in Brooklyn to have a look around. It’s really great out there. I still want to move there. They’re in Philadelphia at the moment attending a wedding. This time I took them into work which I hadn’t done before – security is tight. It was a flying visit, but everyone agreed that they were “sweet”. I’m not sure my Dad is pleased with this. I’m just sorry that it was so cold they couldn’t enjoy New York the best way – walking around. Next time.

So, here finally is Thomas’ guest entry. Three months later! To be fair he did send it to me last week and I’m just getting around to putting it up now. And I’m really in no position to give out about irregular posting.

My attempt to buy an apartment in Brooklyn is lurching from disaster to disaster. Hopefully it’ll all be over soon, one way or the other. When it’s finally done I’ll post the whole sorry tale. It’s lengthy and tedious.

And now, without further ado – Thomas!

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My first trip to New York and my first trip outside of Europe for that matter took place at the start of October, from the 1st to the 10th. I remember the excitement and anticipation that I felt on the way over. Then it happened – I arrived in JFK. Luckily I did a little research on the taxi situation in JFK and was fully aware that I was been ripped of when the first person that approached me regarding a taxi quoted $70 to take me to Manhattan. After about 15mins we I finally came to a more reasonable fee $40 between me and Cathal my partner who joined me on the trip. Then we where on our way off to Anthony to catch up with all the news over the last year and to get advice and the low-down on the most hip spots in the city that never sleeps.

Immediately like many people I felt at home in New York. Like I had arrived in a city with energy and life ( it reminded me of my other favourite city Berlin). I liked the people to. Although sometimes abrupt I never found them rude and for the most part I found them interesting and charming. The trip for me was all about broadening my horizons and the opportunity to catch the world famous Metropolitan opera was great for me even thought the opera “La Giaconda” wasn’t my favourite piece. However I loved a trip to the New York city opera as well as two concerts in the Lincoln centre as well (maybe you have gathered I am a music buff at this stage).

As well as meeting up with Anthony I also got the opportunity to meet up with my partners brother (also called Anthony so rather confusing) so I had lots of good advice on places to go and visit. The trip as well as involving concert going involved the usual touristy things like visiting Staten Island and the empire state building not to mention shopping.

Perhaps the most eerie experience was visiting ground zero. As someone who never saw the twin towers I felt that perhaps I couldn’t fully appreciate the full devastation of what had happened but nevertheless the huge bunker that was in such a built up area was strange. Also the fact that so many people lost there lives and were resting there even now was strange. Over all I found the trip to be an amazing experience and defiantly one that I will have to repeat. The opportunity to enjoy and amazing steak dinner with amazing creamed spinach in Smith & Wollensky’s is worth the trip alone.

I need to get something off my chest. I haven’t been going to many movies lately, so I decided that I should make more of an effort. This morning I got up with the intention of going to see one of the movies out at the moment that looked interesting: Children of Men and Pan’s Labyrinth. I saw that Children of Men was playing early at the AMC near Lincoln Center -11:20am for $6 – so I went for that. It’s awesome. As I was leaving the theatre and heading for the exit I happened to glance at the screen opposite – Pan’s Labyrinth, 1:35pm. I checked my watch – 1:25pm. There were no ushers about. I could just walk straight in. So I did. It is also awesome.

And now I feel bad. I’ve never done this kind of double dip thing before, although I know some people who make a habit of it. I did buy a ticket to another film and then sneak into Goodfellas, but that was strictly out of necessity – I was too young to see it. It’s the cinema’s fault, right? By only checking tickets at the front aren’t they tacitly just sellng you a day pass to the whole screening area? It’s not my fault that this weekend’s receipts for Pan’s Labyrinth will give an inaccurate picture of how many people actually saw the film. Hey, maybe somebody else bought two tickets by mistake, right?

I think I’m just going to have to buy the DVD when it comes out. And shoplift Children of Men.

As usual I stayed with my parents when I headed back to Dublin for Christmas. As unusual they didn’t actually have a place of their own to put me up in. Work on their new house has been going – how shall I put it – backwards, so they’ve been living in a rented apartment for the past couple of months. The apartment next door was vacant so the landlady let them have it for me, my sister, her husband and her baby, which was very generous of her. So I got to meet my niece. She seemed kind of indifferent, but I’m pretty sure she preferred the teddy bear I got her to all her other teddy bears. I could just tell.

Eleanor, Jim and Aoife were only over for a couple of days for my Dad’s 60th birthday on the 28th. There was a big buffet lunch in a room in the Radisson Hotel in Stillorgan which was very pleasant. There was a lot of family there, as my Dad is a twin and so it was also my aunt Stephanie’s birthday, although I hasten to point out that she’s nowhere near 60 yet. When they went back to Newcastle they took my parents with them, and my grandmother. Bereft of immediate family I took myself off down to Galway for New Years. Daragh drove me down and we stayed with James, both coincidentally prime commenters here (you may know James as JIMI, M.A Hons – yes, that troublemaker).

I managed to catch up with a fair number of friends this time around, including a couple I hadn’t seem for a number of years, but I felt constantly behind the curve. There were a lot of people I would have liked to have touched base with but didn’t – I guess I could have stayed in Dublin for those extra days rather than head down to Galway, but I would have missed out on people that way too. I made the mistake of going to bed as soon as I arrived at 6am the first morning for too long and the jetlag stayed with me for an unreasonably long time. I had to keep myself to a schedule to fit in as many people as I could and it really started to grate on me – always looking at my watch, limiting the amount I drank so I could be reasonably sober for the next person or get up the next morning. By the end I was grumpy and drained.

All I really want for my next vacation is to go somewhere I haven’t been before and do very little. But I only get ten days holiday a year… Maybe I just won’t go to Dublin for Christmas next year and use them somewhere else.

Things that happened that I didn’t blog about: Christmas Day, presents, getting thrown out of a restaurant, small DLCAD reunion, New Year’s Eve in Galway, the frightening night life in Moycullen, the surprising quality of the Chris Tarrant Who Wants to be a Millionaire DVD game, almost blowing a surprise party, meeting an old schoolmate on the plane back, my new PS3.

Things on the new apartment front are moving slowly. We have a problem with the contract, which I hope can be resolved in the next week. I really don’t want to start looking again. While I was away the building two doors down from me partially collapsed killing somebody inside. I walk past that building every time I leave my apartment.

Happy New Year, everybody!

I’ve been seeing doctors a fair bit recently. My feet have always been strange. Shoes never fit me right and if I walk for more than about fifteen minutes I lose feeling in my middle toes. This was pretty much undiagnosed for most of my life. It, rather than asthma, could well be the reason that I always hated sporting activity of any kind. When you grow up with something like that it doesn’t occur to you that it isn’t normal. I never thought “I don’t like running – my feet hurt”. I always just thought “I don’t like running”.

I’ve worn orthotics for a few years, but they wear out. I needed new ones so I went to a podiatrist. He looked at my feet and told me that I have pes cavus. I’ve known for a while that my feet aren’t optimal but this was the first time I’d actually had it diagnosed. I remember one doctor in Dublin actually did mention pes cavus but she wasn’t sure. I have new orthotics. Orthotics definitely help, but they don’t fix it. Apparently I can get surgery, but it would be incredibly painful with a long recovery and probably involve multiple procedures. Basically it involves breaking the feet and putting them back together again. Something about a wedge and a hammer. I think I’ll just stick with numb toes.

But apparently pes cavus can be a symptom of peripheral neuropathy, so I had to go and see a neurologist. It’s never a good day when somebody tells you you have to go see a neurologist because you might have an incurable wasting disease. So I went and I’m fine.

The point of all this is not that I think you have any particular interest in the state of my health or the weirdness of my feet. I’m just really enjoying the US healthcare system. Of course, I’m appalled by the terrible inequities and the potential for sheer Dickensian nastiness that exists if you don’t have insurance, as I didn’t for most of my first year here (my health plan was “get on a plane”). But if you do have health insurance it’s pretty sweet, to the point where I nearly feel guilty about it. The neurologist I saw had a really nice office in Cornell University, and if I had shown any symptoms they had an EMG test booked for me that afternoon. Thankfully I didn’t need it, but it was great service. Cost to me? $15! My simplistic condemnation of the system has been tempered by my first hand knowledge of how great it can be if you’re fortunate enough to be on the right side of it. I’d rather be sick here (with insurance) than anywhere else.

I had reason to be thankful for my job again last Friday. I went out for a pint or two on Thursday night, and ate some food in the bar. It was nice, but the gravy was scaldingly hot. I didn’t think much about it at the time, but at 4am I woke up gagging on my Uvula. It had swollen up and was dangling down banging against the back of my tongue – all very unpleasant. I didn’t know what was happening – I thought I might be choking. I got out of bed and had a look down my throat in the mirror. I saw that it was my uvula and relaxed a bit – it’s swollen up before, just never this badly. I decided to go back to bed and wait until the morning.

At 9am I called the doctor and – oh joy of insurance! – I got a 10:30 appointment at the ENT department of St. Luke’s hospital. I had a camera shoved up my nose and was informed that my uvula wasn’t in danger of interfering with my vocal chords, which was good. Apparently when that happens your vocal chords can clamp shut and you choke. He gave me a bunch of steroids to reduce the swelling before it got any worse and sent me on my way.

It was an uncomfortable day. I could talk but it was unpleasant and my voice sounded strange to me. I gagged a little everytime my uvula bounced off the back of my tongue, and when I coughed it would shoot forwards into my mouth. Worst of all, I had to spend the day eating baby food. That stuff is nasty! Or at least the variety I bought was. And it comes in such small containers – I had to buy myself an armload just for breakfast! By evening I had improved enough that I could order some meatloaf, mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese from Spoonbread. I let it cool down for a little while before chowing down. The course of steroids left me feeling jumpy and anxious all week, but that’s dying down now.

As to the apartment, all seems to be moving smoothly forward. I was out there yesterday morning making sure it was in decent condition: all the outlets working, light fittings, hot water, toilet flushing etc. The only problem was with the intercom, which will have to be fixed before I take possession. Hopefully I’ll be signing on Tuesday or Wednesday, closing at the end of January and then moving right in. A new life awaits! Or at least a new apartment. Same thing, right?

I can’t remember if I mentioned this, but I’ll be in Dublin from the 23rd to the 2nd, or thereabouts. Drink!

A lot has happened since my last blog. For a start there was Hallowe’en. It probably deserves a blog entry all to itself, but it was a long time ago now and I’ve forgotten most of what happened. I spent it in Brooklyn dressed up as Indiana Jones, basically wearing the exact same non-costume I wore back in 2003. A fun time was had by all. I was accompanied by Jaws, A jellyfish, A South American Soccer fan, Annie Hall, a lion, a witch and, most entertainingly of all, a wardrobe. There are pictures, but I don’t think I’d be thanked for sharing them, so I won’t.

I’m typing this on my new laptop, a Fujitsu P1610. It’s freaking awesome. It’s tiny and light, and I can use a fingernail on the screen as a mouse. It converts to a full tablet and does handwriting recognition and everything. It’s so cool! It’s a replacement for the one I lost a year ago. See? I waited a year! How fiscally responsible is that?

But the main thing that’s been occupying me recently has been my attempts to buy an apartment. I found one I really liked in Ditmas Park. It’s huge – one bedroom, 900 square feet. It’s on the fourth floor so the view out the window is roofs and treetops. Unobstructed! Light! The neighbourhood is gorgeous. No nightlife to speak of (too many churches, just like Harlem. Damn you, religion!) but plenty of other shops and amenities. It’s just two blockd from the B and Q trains, which means I can be in work in twenty five minutes. Just like Harlem!

So I bid the asking price. It had just come on the market when I saw it so there was no chance they’d be willing to come down yet, and I didn’t want anybody else getting it. The bid was accepted and all was moving ahead, until…

There was a mistake. The apartment listing price was too low. The wanted an extra $21,000. Nooooo! I was sick. My initial impusle was to swear loudly and walk away. But I had seen a bunch of places and there was nowhere as nice as this in my price range.

Was it still in my price range? I spoke to my mortage broker. She ran the numbers and yes, I can still afford it. So I sucked it up and bid the new asking price. Hopefully we’ll go into contract next week.

Maybe I shouldn’t have bent over and just accepted the increase, but I genuinely believe it was an error of communication and not an attempt to screw me. The price is high, but I don’t believe it’s unreasonable. The neighbourhood is one of the few in Brooklyn that’s still gaining in value, so I believe I’ll make a profit if I need to sell in a couple of years. The only thing that really would have stopped me from going ahead would have been my rage. But that’s not a sound basis for business decisions. Which I suppose this is.

Of course if they raise the price again on Monday I will hunt them down and kill them in the street like dogs. Wish me luck!

I’ve booked my flight home for Christmas. I’ll be flying in on the 23rd and leaving again on the 2nd. That’s actually a fairly long chunk. Hopefully my parents will have moved into their new house. I’ll get to see a bunch of folks, and of course my niece. Should be good. And hopefully I will be ableto move into my own new apartment early in the new year. It will have room for all my books! Hmm, I’d better buy shelves…

The hardest thing about apartment shopping is not getting ahead of yourself, I’ve found. It’s bloody stressful.