I Failed and I Loved It

Learning to fail or accept rejection and failure is part of “adulting”, and I’ll be the first to say it’s not easy. When you’re younger, rejection can be one of the most terrifying notions. It’s why so many of us end up as awkward teenagers unable to get prom dates. It’s also why so many of us as young adults are at home watching Netflix and plowing through a bag of Skinny Pop on a Friday night. Because everyone has essentially become a “swipe left or swipe right”, we’ve become ok with rejecting but not ok with being rejected. “Ghosting” is the new black.

The same really goes for the job market. When you’re young and fresh from school, you have a sense of ambition and hunger that is evident to employers. In my experience as a 20 something, I never struggled to land a good job or evolve in my career thanks largely in part to my ambition.

Fast forward to 30 and it’s a different story. All of a sudden, you find yourself afraid of everything. You find yourself slipping into complacency. You’re no longer that young, hungry, ambitious 25 year old that was willing to move to the big city and work your way up the ladder while surviving off leftover ramen. You value comfort over sacrifice. You begin to doubt yourself and analyze every decision, because all of a sudden time is of more essence. Is this date worth going on? What if I don’t go and he was “the one” but I missed out? Is this new job the right move? Oddly, it’s the same questions you’ve always asked yourself but somehow they now seem to weigh more.

I was asking myself all of these questions recently as I sailed past my 4.5 year mark at my current job. All of a sudden, recruiters and companies were seeking me out to “discuss new opportunities”. I grew confident and knew I was in the driver’s seat, so the list of demands and requirements in my head took over. High pay, high title, perfect fit. I was a hot commodity on the job market. Before I knew it, I was sitting on a flight to San Francisco being flown out for a final interview with a prominent company. It all happened so quickly that I felt overwhelmed and the resounding questions kept getting louder and louder in my head...Is this the right move? The next morning, I went through the 3 hour interview and gave a 30 minute presentation. I left feeling great and thought I’d for sure get an offer. After all, I never struggled with that in my 20’s. That's why I was surprised when I spoke to the hiring manager a few days later and heard his feedback. “They loved your presentation and thought you were a really strong candidate, but you seemed to lack the level of excitement they were looking for during your one-on-ones.” I was angry. I had spent weeks preparing and felt I delivered an Oscar-winning performance. I felt like I failed and I just couldn’t take it.

From then on, I went through several interview processes with different companies and received similar feedback. But for some reason, I wasn’t getting any offers. It was a hard tumble back to planet earth. I realized that what I felt on the inside (confident yet lacking direction, evolving complacency, fear of change) was evident and translating to a lack of excitement and ambition. What happened to the confident, hungry 25 year old I once knew?

As you get older, you begin to realize that your passions and interests are what really drive you. In your 20’s, it’s often easier to overlook and go through the motions because you’re taught to work your way up and feel you have all the time in the world. At 31, I’ve realized that what I do best at work is also what I do best outside of work. I was failing at the job hunt because I was being driven by the idea that I was a guaranteed “swipe right” for all those companies. I was that asshole on the football team that still wore his varsity jacket at the bars 20 years later.  I realized I needed to hit the “reset” button and align my passions and interests to my career goals. If you can make your current job work with your vision, great. If not, it’s OK to look elsewhere. But just like dating, you can’t get anywhere without knowing what you want. And while time may feel of the essence, there’s no real rush.

Expectations

A couple of weeks ago I was home sick with the flu.  Naturally I spent two days laying on my couch feeling sorry for myself and watching Property Brothers on HGTV.  I love watching that show because you get a really great sense of the human psyche.

The show starts off with two brothers in real estate helping a couple find their "dream home".  They ask the couple for their list of "must-have's".

"Well ideally I'd like a really big, modern gourmet kitchen with an open floor plan", the wife might say.  "The kitchen needs custom cabinets and granite counter tops.  I also want high ceilings, a large master bedroom with walk-in closets, a finished basement, and spa-like bathrooms throughout with plenty of living space for the kids to play.  Oh, and a big, private yard".  90% of the time, the husband will also require a "man cave" and a private working space, presumably to hide from his over-demanding wife.

My favorite part is when the couple is asked what their budget is.   "$300,000",  they might say. Undoubtedly, their expectations are completely misaligned with reality.  To prove this, the Property Brothers show them a "move-in ready" home that meets all of their requirements.  The couple oohs and aahs at every aspect of the house.  They're later shocked and devastated to find the listing price is 2 or 3 times their budget.  "Why would you do this to us?" the couple asks the brothers in despair.  The woman always looks as though she's just been felt up in a crowded subway.

Now the reason this show hooks me is because of what occurs next.  The couple is taken to various run-down houses that smell of cat piss and hooker spit.  House after house, they grow more and more horrified and depressed.   The point of this is to show them just how far off their expectations are.  The Property Brothers explain that they can take one of these run down houses and turn it into their dream home while sticking to their budget.  The couple reluctantly chooses a house and commence a 5 week renovation project.  Throughout the renovation, they encounter unexpected issues and costs that force them to compromise on their "needs".   By the end, they're shocked and thrilled with the results of the transformation.  Suddenly, they realize they were able to achieve the same levels of happiness and satisfaction with a much smaller list of wants and needs.

It's human nature to always yearn for more.  Fundamentally, I've always set extremely high expectations with most anything in my life, which has often resulted in my being disappointed.  This has held true for jobs, relationships, apartments, etc. This is different than goals, where you can aim for something but are not horribly disappointed if you fall a bit short.  I guess it's because a goal is an ideal you strive for, but not a necessity.   Expectations, on the other hand, seem more concrete.  They create a sort of perceived reality in your own mind and when they're totally out-of-whack, it ends in major disappointment.  Strangely enough, that show made me see this.  And while it's not something that can happen over night, I'm slowly but surely starting to see how it works.  Re-evaluating my "must have's" and expectations has helped me take more risks and enjoy the successes I've already achieved.  Nothing can ever be perfect and everything comes with a compromise.

In college, it was unrealistic to expect that my career path would be set and I'd be living happily ever after by the time I hit 30.  I'm betting I wasn't the only one who thought this way.  It's probably something that comes with age and realizing that life isn't as easy as you once thought.  And I suppose if that's one of the few perks of adulthood, then maybe getting older won't be as bad as I expected.

11 Lessons I Learned as an Adult

1. Trust your gut feelings.  If something doesn't feel right, trust yourself.  It most likely isn't.

2. Live alone. If you can afford it, it's worth the extra money. My biggest fear is that I'll be 45 and still living with roommates in a walk up on 10th ave.  Some roommates can be great, but others can move out while you're at work and leave you to pay $2,600 worth of backrent while they're halfway to Pennsyltuckyshitfuck.  Not worth the gamble.

3.  Save money.  Even if it's 20 bucks a month.  I know it's easier said than done, but you never know when you'll need it (see #2).  You'll spend it on tacos and vodka made in Baltimore anyway. 

4. Learn your lessons.  Personally, I'm way too trusting of a person.  You don't want to go through life being a cynical asshole, but you also don't want to make the same mistakes and be taken advantage of.  Be open to new experiences and people, but tread carefully when your emotions become involved.  Don't let people mistake your kindness for anything more than that.  As awesome as people can be, they can also be real shitheads.

5. When someone shows you who they are the first time, believe them. This has been a huge and important lesson for me to learn.  I give people too much benefit of the doubt. Learn to spot the red flags from the start and, more importantly, learn to listen to them.  Don't fool yourself into making excuses for others.  Life is far too short to waste your time on excuses.

6.  Don't play games.  That's for children on a playground. When you like someone, show them. If you have to wonder whether or not someone likes you, they most likely don't.  Be honest and direct. I know when I like someone, they could invite me to watch a pile of cow shit ferment by a highway and I'd be all "Sure what time?  I'll bring some snacks and vodka!"  So when someone you like has lame excuses or becomes flaky, cut your losses and MOVE.ON.QUICK. 

7.  Be honest and direct. This seems intuitive but so many people have issues with this...including myself.  It seems easier to just not deal with certain situations, but in the long run it's just shit.  If your roommate is hanging his leggings in the bathroom, tell him it ain't no damn laundromat.  If you're hooking up with someone and you're not feeling it, just say so.  No one wants to be led on and dragged through the mud wondering whether they're the asshole or your just on your fucking period.  Speak your truth.  If someone tells you, "I'm just not really looking for a relationship", it's bullshit.  It means they're not looking for one with you.  It's fine.  Not everyone has to be into you, and accepting that is part of being an adult. 

8.  Be a hustler.  Everyone is clawing their way to the top, so claw harder.  Be tough and go after what you want.  I've doubted myself in tons of situations, but I've always worked hard and put myself in situations I thought were bigger than me and its usually paid off.  You learn as you go.  And if you're scared shitless, then learn to fake it 'til you make it. 

9. Be patient.  Great things don't happen overnight, and neither does becoming successful. Be patient and focused and remind yourself that you're just getting started.  Coming out of college, I seriously thought I'd be CEO of a Fortune 500 company by 24.  It took me 6 years and a lot of hardwork to finally start seeing real success with my career.  I wish someone slapped the shit out of me and told me to calm the fuck down when I was 22.  Although I probably wouldn't have listened anyway.  Ambition is a good thing, just be realistic. 

10. Make time for yourself.  It's so easy to get caught up in happy hours and post-work barhopping and some asshole's birthday dinner.  STOP WITH THE BIRTHDAY DINNERS!  If you don't learn to say no you'll be constantly stressed about not having time for yourself.  Plus you'll get fat from eating pork sliders and drinking 2-for-1 beers.  Calm the hell down and do some yoga and tell people to leave you the fuck alone.  Shet.

11.  Wear a Condom.  Always.  We're too old for that shit.

If I had one year to live...

For one day.....

I would eat. I would gather my friends and family and make all the meals that have been close to my heart for years.  We would eat Mac and Cheese, Umami Burgers, bacon, gravy, mashed potatoes, french fries, Ledo pizza, chicken wings, flaming hot cheetos, chinese food, Meatballs, MORE CHINESE FOOD, Taco Bell, and maybe some obnoxiously priced fine dining that may or may not satisfy me.  We would feast and laugh and feel sick afterwards. 

And along the way, I'm sure we'd get fat.  But that no longer matters since I'm dying, remember?  All the laughter echoes through me.

For the next year......

I would not quit my job.  If I remained healthy enough I would continue working, at least part-time, because somehow I value being a part of society.  Being independent and establishing your sense of meaning and contribution in life is what makes us feel alive.  I value myself and my accomplishments, however long and hard and stressful the road was.  I value my coworkers and the relationships I've established with them. We're like an obnoxious family, and I wouldn't give that up so easily.

Within the year, I would take some time off , charter a yacht, and take two groups of people on vacation.  I would spend all my money on the people that make me happy.

On one vacation.....

I would take my family.  I would choose an exotic location like the Greek Islands because they're the most beautiful place I've ever seen with my own two eyes, and I want my family that I have loved forever to experience the same beauty I was lucky enough to once see.  I want to laugh with them, binge eat Gyros while watching the sunset, share stories, drink wine with my mom and dad, reminisce about our childhoods with my brother and sister and how we expected so much out of life when we were little.

To be a super hero...
To be a famous actor....
To be a doctor....
To be a singer....
To be an author...
To be a professional soccer player...(my brother's dream, not mine. Trust me.)

We would discuss all of our dreams and realize that just because they may not have come true, doesn't mean our lives were less meaningful.  We would realize that having meaning in life comes from the relationships you've built and the knowledge and love and compassion you've shared.  We'd re-tell the story of  Dad winning the 3-legged race at my sister's 3rd grade field day by discretely carrying her across the finish line. Because he wanted her to win so badly.  Then we'd laugh at the thought of my dad dragging his 3rd grade daughter that was tied to his leg across the finish line, like Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan.  We'd laugh so hard that wine flew out our noses.

We'd look at each other in sadness knowing that all good things must eventually come to an end, but smile from knowing that this very moment was still ours and no one could take it from us.

On the other vacation....

I would take my closest friends.  Since money is no object when you find out your dying, I would charter a Yacht through the Caribbean around all the Virgin Islands. It would be quite the irony for a charter full of "queens" to set foot on a virgin island, but since I'm the one that is dying I arranged that on purpose. Because it's funny.  A lot of my friends have become my family.  Sometimes going through the most awful aspects of life and being there for one another without blinking an eye is what true relationships and bonds are made of.

We'd lay on the beach, drinking beyond what's considered "healthy" and swapping stories about who we think is most likely to accidentally take home a transvestite or contract syphillis from a smuggled pigmy midget.  And then we'd belly-laugh.  

Towards the end we may get sad that things were ending but, still, that very moment was ours. I would take the laughter and love because they live on through one another.  The fancy yacht is just a minor detail.  I promise.  Because it can't come with you when you die.

And then....

I'd find true love.  I never really have before, so now I have one year to find it.  My friends Emily and Megan have found true love with 15 different men since 8th grade, and I'm extremely jealous.

I would open myself up to experiences I'm not used to, allow myself to become more vulnerable, take risks and tell some stranger whom I found attractive, "Hey.  You're cute.  Let's do this".  I would live as though the consequences and outcomes are irrelevant.  After all, if I'm dying, aren't they?  But those consequences and outcomes should have always been irrelevant.   How come I never realized this before?

Here's how I would fall in love:

I see him reading a newspaper on a bench next to the Hudson and I ask him why he's smirking.  He looks up and says, "Just reading this story of two lesbian penguins at the zoo who got pregnant from scissoring".  He had me at lesbian penguins.

We would spend the afternoon together, exploring the city and having drinks at some candle-lit bars in LES.  Then we'd make it across the Williamsburg bridge to Miss Favela because I like dancing at a bar underneath a filthy bridge.  I'm no better than a troll.  We order caipirinhas, one after another.  We leave at 1am and make-out outside the bar.  His name is Alex, which I like because I can easily pronounce it when I'm drunk.  We catch a cab uptown to his apartment.

The cab is racing up 8th avenue. The windows are down and our hands are intertwined and there's a perfect summer breeze running through our hair as the buildings fly by.  I look over and see him staring out the window and then staring back at me.  He smiles and I wonder how this happened, how we found one another.

And the breeze is rushing by.

And this time, this moment, with this one person, is all I need.  I don't want it to end because the thought of it ending is too tragic to bare.  I close my eyes and hope and pray that somehow this cab ride will last forever.  And then I realize, in that moment, maybe I found true love.


And I smile because it wasn't too late.

Middle Eastern Flair

Last month I decided to buy a Groupon for a "Relaxing Shave and Haircut" at some Barber Shop in Rockefeller Plaza.  I'm not sure about you, but every time I buy a Groupon I feel a sense of accomplishment akin to how I feel when I'm ordering off the McDonald's dollar menu.  Something about 4-piece nuggets for $1 seems to good to be true. Sometimes if I'm lucky I'll get a 5th nugget for free.  I'm making out like a bandit! I'll think to myself.  That's the same feeling I get when buying a good Groupon.  It's as though I've spotted some crazy deal that no one else has found and I'm taking the suckers down for everything they're worth.  $20 for an $80 haircut and shave? How do these people make any money?! For some reason I feel as though I'm the pioneer of online discounts and deals.  In reality, I think I'm just an idiot and often times get EXACTLY what I paid for.

Anyway, Pride weekend was coming up and naturally I had to look my best so that the gays wouldn't snicker and jeer and throw apple martinis at my face.  So I booked my appointment with the Barber Shop in Rockefeller and skipped out of my apartment on a fine Saturday afternoon.  It was actually 95 degrees and I took a cab and arrived late, lost, and annoyed so it wasn't all that "Relaxing" thus far.  I checked in and was directed towards a single chair next to a man named Mohammed.   The chair sat alone in a store that looked to sell mainly hair products, facial exfoliates, and some heavy duty electric razors.  Crowds of people walk the concourse area of Rockefeller Plaza quite freely, so the position of the chair made it seem like the perfect setting for Mohammed to conduct a public execution.  I looked over at the table next to Mohammed's chair and saw an assortment of electric razors and sharp knives.  For a second I thought I had booked the wrong Groupon and got nervous that I was going to have my undercarriage shaved and groomed in front of all these people.

"You sit. OK?  My name Mohammed".

Well this should be interesting, I thought.  So I sat.

He covered me in the typical smock, except this one latched around my neck so tight that I felt like a duck being prepared for a Foie Gras feeding.  Mohammed was on the phone speaking in Arabic the whole time, which I didn't mind because sometimes I'm that asshole that speaks on the phone while ordering at Starbucks.
He reaches for a pair of clippers and says, "How you like?"
"Well I don't want it too short so just keep the same form and make it a trim.  Not too crazy, ok?"
"NO. Not Craaazy...is good.  You like! I Promise!" replies Mohammed.  My hair is now in the hands of Allah.

Bzzzzzzzzzzz I can hear the sound of the clippers striking the side of my head and sheering off every piece of hair that stood in its way.  It happened so quickly that I'm fairly positive I blacked out at some point.  When I looked in the mirror the two sides of my head were completely shaved. Gone.  For some stupid unbeknownst reason to me, I'm never good at speaking up in these situations.   A blind woman with hedge clippers and missing thumbs could be cutting my hair and, the instant it reaches the point of no return where things have gone terribly wrong, I just close my eyes and hope it's over soon.  I imagine this is what married sex must be like.  And when she's done, she'll ask if I like my new haircut and I'd say "Yes this looks great thanks so much it's the best ever!" while slipping her a $20 tip on my way out the door.  This particular situation proved no different.

The buzzing continued and I looked on in horror. I was in such a state of shock that I literally lost all speech and motor senses.  I thought about getting up to run, but my legs weren't working.  I was frozen stiff like a Kardashian in the presence of a black penis.  Do with me what you want, Mohammed.  Take everything and just finish me off.  

As the buzzing continued, I looked on in horror when I realized we had reached the "Relaxing Close Shave" portion of the Groupon.  I only realized this because the same electric razor that was used to chop my hair off was now being run profusely over the entirety of my face and all the way up to my nostrils.  Then all of a sudden, the chair tilts back violently and Mohammed returns with a scalding hot towel.  1, 2, 3!!  he counted and threw a scolding hot black towel on my face.  I laid there at a 120 degree tilt in a blacked-out state of confusion. My face was covered and the only visible feature of mine were my eyes, so for all intents and purposes Mohammed had dressed me in a Burka.  A little boy walked by pointing in horror and asking his mom if I was being tortured.  YES, LITTLE BOY.  GET. HELP! I thought.

When Mohammed returned he took the hot towel off.

"Berry Good, yes?"
"Mmmhmmm" I replied softly.

He then picks up the close shave knives and begins hacking away at my face.  With the speed of a butcher dismembering a live chicken, Mohammed navigates my face and gets uncomfortably close to my jugular vein area.

The whole thing takes only 20 minutes.  Once he finished, he repeats, "Berry Good, yes?"
"Mmmmhmmmm" I reply again.  This time with tears welling in my eyes as I see the mounds of my hair that's fallen victim on the ground.

The final touch was the freezing cold towel he wrapped my face with and pressed down against my nose to the point that I literally could not breath.  I took Mohammed's hairy arm with my hand and eased it off my face and sat myself up right. I looked in the mirror and laughed in hysterics at what had just occurred.  I laughed even harder when I saw the results of my haircut.   It was the only reaction my body could think of.  I resembled, almost exactly, a tiny red tomato with the green leaves that stick out on top.  Mohammed had not only given me the worst haircut I've ever seen, he actually stood proudly next to it.  Presenting it to the passersby as if to say, "Yes my peoples you, too, can look this awful if you come to see me!".

With this particular Groupon, tip was not included. And obviously being the dumbass that I am, I removed $10 from my wallet and gave it to Mohammed.  And as the $10 left my hand and went into his, I smiled and said "Berry Good", knowing that it was he who go the better end of the bargain this time.

Lessons in the City that Never Sleeps

Things lately have been hectic.  I work a ton, party a ton, and try to stay healthy by exercising a ton as well.  It seems like I blink and my days are gone.  It's weird because I spend most of my days thinking about what I want:  A nicer apartment, an apartment with windows in the living room, a higher salary to afford said apartment, a cleaning lady, a trip to the Caribbean, a nice suit, blah blah.  A Bike, room to store a bike, a bigger apartment with bike storage, a six pack, a puppy, a room that can fit a queen bed.  All these things I want.  And none of these things I have.

I spend far too much time at work stressed and pressured and just utterly drained.  And I find myself being jealous of the lives of others.  The photographers that get to be out at photo shoots every day.  The actors and musicians who get to perform and sing and *gasp* do what they love and even make a living from it.  I even at times get jealous about the Starbucks workers, because they seem so stress free.  Sometimes, I dream of quitting my job and becoming a receptionist so I can read magazines about Kim Kardashian's obese pregnancy all day and watch youtube videos of dogs dancing to hard core raunchy rap music.  Because at my core, I'm quite shallow and very easily entertained by reality television and mostly anything uploaded to Youtube.  Particularly if it involves a black woman "twerkin'" by the dairy aisle at WalMart.

But my job consumes me. I travel frequently, I interact with clients, and for the first time in my life and career I am in a position where what I do actually matters and my thoughts and ideas are now seemingly important and valued.  Um, what?  CEO's and CIO's look to me for answers and solutions for various problems, and I need to know exactly how to help.  And yet, I'm (barely) 28 and scared shitless.  I drink and smoke and maybe even pop an extra pill or two on my prescription, so the thought of my day-to-night-to-weekend transition from "Work Andres" to "Not work Andres" is a Paradox which I find comedic.  And yet, people trust me with big responsibilities and look to me for answers.  So, I can't let anyone know I'm scared shitless because in this industry and in this city, you have to have balls made of brass and never back down.  If you're not on your A game, you're not in the game at all.  So I put on my hustle and flow and make it work.  Somehow.  And it does.

And then I sit and daydream about laying on a beach while sipping a pina colada that's gently rested on the firm bum of a very sculpted cabana boy. Because I feel captive in an office.  I feel captive to the anxiety and stress that comes along with being an adult.  And maybe I'm realizing for the first time that I am somewhat successful.  And, at times, I don't like it. Not one bit.

But this is exactly what I came to New York to do.  I wanted a change.  I wanted adventure.  I wanted a job that travels.  I wanted to be important.  I wanted to be somebody.  And now that I am, it scares me.  I'm scared that I'm not good enough or smart enough or that I may burn out too quickly or, worst of all, that I'll start to hate New York because I'll associate it with stress and fear and anxiety.

I think a city like New York is actually exactly where everyone should live at least once in their life. The fear, the stress, and the desire to perform and come out on top, even if it leaves you broke and lonely with a piece of stale cheese in your fridge and a nickel in your savings account, mold you into a person you never knew existed.  I would argue that the fear and pressure that I feel as I'm walking into a client meeting or a boardroom full of executives to give a presentation is nothing short of crippling and at times terrifying.  But, it's something I wanted for myself.  It's why I came.  And the fear and pressure has taught me that no matter what, I can get through it.  This city, beyond anything else in my life, has taught me the value of perseverance.  I can't think of many other cities that can do that.   Success and adventure and challenges never come if you don't leave your comfort zone.

And on nights when I find myself thinking "Shit, Andres.  You're going to be 50 and living with a roommate because rent is too expensive.  And you'll be working until you're 100 because HAH! What's a savings account? And you'll certainly be alone because no one in this city really wants to date.  But maybe it's you.  Maybe you're too caught up in yourself to let anyone else in."  Maybe.  All of that could be true, but I know one thing.  I know that I can come home after a long day, pop an ambien, take a stroll a few blocks up to Columbus Circle and sit next to a couple on vacation from Spain and a homeless man reeking of urine and  all three of us, simultaneously, can enjoy the beauty of those fountains that shine at night.  And I know that I can walk over to the Duane Reade on 58th, give a dollar to the old homeless woman who somehow broke a small piece of my heart, and talk to her.  About her life.  Her dreams.  And even Ed Koch.

"Tell me," she said, with tired eyes and a toothless smile that hid so well beneath her weathered face. "Tell me, do you know what happened to Ed Koch?"
"No," I said, nervous to disappoint her. "Let's look it up."

So there I sat, with an old homeless woman and my iPhone, reading to her the Wikipedia page for Ed Koch.  Her eyes filled with tears knowing he had passed away in February.  I asked her if she had known him, to which she replied, "Yes, but ohhh so many years ago".  She told me stories of how she lived in France and England with her husband who worked as a wealthy bondsman back in the day.  Stories of cocktail events and social gatherings and a life that most anyone would want.  And, yet, here she was.  All these years later her world turned upside down.  And whether or not any of it was true, which it could very well be, it didn't matter.  I was intrigued by the fact that a city which can give you so much can at the same time take so much away.  And for that hour, the woman and I spoke and shared stories and even laughed.  It's ironic because often times you think of homeless people as being "needy" or "relying on the kindness of strangers".  In this case, she helped me realize what it is to be human and the importance of the relationships you have with others.  It's not always about the money or the big apartments or the nice suits. I'm the first to admit that those are great.  But they don't bring happiness - at least not long term.  The only thing that truly brings happiness is the relationships you have with the people that matter the most to you.  It's a lesson I need to constantly remind myself of.

In a city as busy and crazy as New York, it's funny to see how small things that slip by in the day to day grind have a funny way of reappearing when you just stop, look around, and admire the energy and life that surrounds you.

And just as things may have taken a turn for the worse for the homeless woman, it's entirely possible (even if unlikely) that things could turn around for her once more.  And that's the whole point, isn't it? Possibility.  There's always a possibility for something, or someone,  great to come along.  But we need to be available and open to those opportunities without letting fear or self-doubt get in the way.

I tend to lose sight of that notion, particularly when I get too caught up in the daily grind.  I used to think "What do I want to do with my life?" or "How do I do what I love and still be able to make money?" And now, strangely enough, I more often times think, "What do I want to get out of my life right now?" Because this moment is all that exists and matters.  The right now.  So what do I want out of my life right now?  I'm still figuring some of that out, but I can confidently say that I want a direction that points forward.  And I think I'm finally getting it because at least I now know that I'm asking the right questions.  And in time, the answers and solutions will come.  They always do.  Even if it's at 2am in Columbus Circle on ambien, chatting with an old, homeless billionaire.

A Midwest Mindset

While I spent the majority of the week leading up to my first solo business trip essentially panicking about having to present to major clients, I was pleasantly surprised to find that traveling for free has its own set of rewards – most of which came in the form of my taxi drivers and unlimited Cajun mix from airport news stands.

In NYC, most cab drivers are completely uninterested in acknowledging your existence. You climb in, shout a cross street through the glass partition, and hold on for dear life as Bin Laden’s cousin drives you feverishly through the streets of Manhattan. Living in NYC, I’m completely used to this and think absolutely nothing of it. Which is why I was caught by surprise when every single one of my cab drivers in St Louis and Madison, Wisconsin struck up a conversation with me. In fact, I’ve grown so accustomed to enjoying a quiet cab ride by myself, that I had no idea how to react when confronted with the foreign notion of friendliness. Really, what struck me the most was how personal each one of them got with me. I’m not sure if it’s my appearance that lends itself to talking and opening up, but I highly doubt it seeing as how I haven’t been on a date in months and most people tend to run far, far away from me. In fact, each cab ride felt like a mini date to me. No better or no worse than actual dates I’ve been on with complete strangers.

Driver #1 – St Louis: His name was Frank. He was 65 years old, divorced 3 times, remarried now complete with a mistress and 6 children from 2 marriages. He spoke with a twang and reminded me of an elderly man that would have multiple sets of grandchildren, sending each one a thoughtful Birthday card with a check for $10 and a pack of cigarettes. His demeanor seemed soft-spoken, yet that quickly changed as soon as I climbed into his cab and got an earful about his life. “That third wife of mine was a real cunt – she cheated on me 3 times with my neighbor. That son of a bitch was a cripple too, so that tells you how much of a whore she was.“ Being that it was 9am and I was on my way to meet with clients, I had no idea how to properly process what was occurring. In all of 10 minutes, I had learned the lineage of Frank’s family as well as the fact that his first love (aka first wife) was a sex addict who could smoke a cigarette from her vagina. Yum.

Driver #2 – Madison, Wisconsin: This fiery red-head was named Sandy. As I emerged from the hotel lobby, I spotted her with a cigarette hanging from her mouth and the passenger door of the minivan open and waiting for me. “How ya doin today?” she asked, in a thick Midwest accent. “Fine.” I replied, half asleep at 8am. Just as I climbed in the car, Sandy made a wide U-Turn as I began closing the door and I nearly fell out. “Well Gash Fuck it, I thought you were in the van already! Sorry ‘bout dat!” The last way I would have expected to die was falling out of a minivan at 8am in Madison, Wisconsin. “Oh no problem, I don’t really need my legs anyway” I replied sarcastically. Just as I finished the sentence, I heard the horn blaring and glanced out the window to see a middle-aged woman in a motorized wheelchair darting for her life and out of Sandy’s way. “Dat bitch should use the sidewalk! The road is for cars and I don’t give a hoot who you are!” As we barreled down the main street Sandy continued telling me stories about her years as a cab driver. “One time dis fat gross motherfucker offered me 50 bucks to touch my shoulder. And you know, I ain’t someone to turn down free money so I let him. But then he tried to grab my tit, so I stabbed him with a pen.” As abruptly as she recounted stories of “cocksuckers” and “scumbags”, she switched to talking about her son, who was entering the 6th grade. “He’s just soooo great, and a real ladies man. Gash did you know kids are startin’ to get naked with one another younger and younger these days!? Seems like all of Jake’s friends are knocked up!” And with that, I thanked her, gave her a hefty tip for entertaining me, and made my way into a client meeting wearing a suit that now smelled of Sandy’s Newport Cigarettes.

Driver #3 – Madison, Wisconsin: When Carl pulled up in the pouring rain to take me to the airport, I thought he had just woken up from a nap. We pulled onto the highway and I caught a glimpse of him sniffing his shirt. “Oh ya, my cat definitely slept on top of this shirt last night. Maybe did a little more than slept” he said, as he looked in the rearview mirror at me and casually winked. I’m not exactly sure how the topic of Sandy came about, but it seems in a small town like Madison, most cab drivers know one another. “Oh yeah, dat dere is Sandy. She’s a real pistol”. No kidding. “You know, I gotta give it to her, she’s done real good since her days as a meth head and crack dealer. “ As we continued towards the airport, Carl told me that Sandy used to be heavily into crack and meth, but then sobered up for her kids and has been a cab driver ever since. In a thick Midwest accent, Carl continued , “And you know, she has 2 kids and one of them is a reeeeal fuickin genius. I mean he’s the smartest person I ever met. Like some type of trilogy.” I knew Carl meant to say ‘Prodigy’, but I gave him a free pass. It was when he started talking about the long-lived and often times loud sex life of his two cats that I began to tune out. The last thing I really remember before grabbing my bag and heading into the airport was Carl telling me, “You know, sometimes it’s hard to compete with those two cats. If my girlfriend and I are doin’ it at the same time as them, it sounds like we’re runnin' a Gad Damn brothel in Tijuana. Anywhoo, have a safe trip!”

When I got back to New York, I climbed into a cab half-expecting another wholesome conversation all the way back to my apartment. Instead I climbed in, locked eyes with Sanjay the cab driver, and gave him my address. With nothing more than four words, he replied “$65. Not including Tip.” And as we pulled away, he continued screaming into his Bluetooth in Hindi. I sank further into my seat, laid my head back, and thought It’s good to be back.

Where did my life go?

As I sat outside my fire escape on a brisk Manhattan night, smoking my 1 luxurious 5 dollar Parliament in my shorts and a tee-shirt, I took a glance around to take it all in. I hear the sounds of dress shoes making that "clack, clack, clack" sound they make when a person wearing them walks briskly down a concrete sidewalk. A man walks down the street below me in a suit, and I can't help but wonder what he's doing. You know, like what's his deal? Where does he work? Did he just come from happy hour with friends, or is he just on his way home, dead and destroyed, after working a 12 hour day? Is it possible that he, this total stranger, can be feeling exactly what I'm feeling at that exact moment? Does he know his own life?

I see so much of myself in this city. The struggles of surviving, the stress of work and life and money, and yet I'm still here. Making it. Or at least trying to, like everyone else. But it's not just the city that's a struggle. It's not unique to just New York.

Life as a whole is a struggle, and at times an ugly bitch of one. Like Renee Zellweger without make-up in HD. But as I sit on my flimsy fire escape, nervous that it could give way and I could plunge 3 stories to my death, I look out and see so many opportunities for myself. I smile because my world has changed. One year ago, I was working in DC at a job I was bored to death with and desperately trying to find a way out. And when I packed my things for NYC and arrived. I got out of the car, took a deep breath, and told myself, "I'm here. I made it". That was far the from truth. I could have stopped at "I'm here." Because what lay ahead of me was something I would never come to expect.

The last 6 months have been the hardest of my life, to say the least. Between apartment nightmares, financial hardships, an excruciatingly stressful and demanding job, I felt I was reaching a point where I would just collapse and spontaneously combust, like a fireball that leaves behind an insignificant pile of ashes for the trashman to shovel into a bag and forget about. And then a stray dog meandering the city sniffs it, lifts his leg and slowly urinates. In this city, you can feel significant and insignificant all at the same time. But I look to see how far I've come, and I realize how much stronger I am then I ever gave myself credit for.

I've come to realize that change, in any form, is one of the most difficult and exciting and terrifying things all at once. I made a change because I felt it was the right thing for me at the time. I took a huge risk with my career and my life that at times seemed hard to justify. At my first job in New York, I was sprinting to keep up with the pace and the amount of work I needed to learn and perform just to stay afloat. Long hours, stressful and demanding clients, and a plethora of other factors that came together to form one big ball of "What the fuck happened to my life? Where is it?" I had quite literally been blindsided.

During this time, I was miserable. It took months of hard work and determination just to get out of DC and get to this one point, and this one point sure felt like a big sack of warm shit. I went through some of the darkest moments trying to evaluate my life and everything that was going on. Did I make the right choice coming here? Did my job fulfill me? A huge part of it was a dire unhappiness with the stressful environment at work. But was this really the only thing causing me anguish? Well let's examine the evidence:

1.)I'm quite literally the only person that can come to NYC, piss away my savings, attempt to walk everywhere as a substitute for a gym, and gain 15 lbs. I feel like Christina Aguilera stuffed into a burlesque costume and waddling around in my now too-tight-for-comfort jeans. Well it must be my demanding job that doesn't give me the time or energy to go to the gym. That's what I tell myself.

2.) I'm single. What the fuck? What ever happened to movies like Serendipity and every other movie ever shot in NYC that tells some fairy tale of two strangers meeting in a coffee shop or underground rave, falling in love over a $15 Latte, and walking hand-in-hand down 5th ave into the sunset? Shouldn't I have found the love of my life whilst almost getting run over by a cab and being saved at the last second? I'm furious. But I tell myself it's because I just work too much and don't have time to date.

So I was getting fat, not going on dates, basically putting everything on hold and using my long work hours and stressful life as an excuse. But then it dawned on me 1 day, as I sat in a bar at the shitty Port Authority Bus Terminal drinking beer and reviewing pics of my old trips with my coworker Colleen. She was horrified at the transformation from who I was in those pictures to the person that was sitting directly across from her, binge drinking a lukewarm Miller Lite. A picture of me half naked swimming in the crystal clear blue waters of the Aegean Sea in Greece. Was I happy here? Maybe for the moment. But I sure as hell was thin. And that made me happy. But was I truly happy as a whole? I was on a two week vacation from the IMF, where I was unhappy, so probably not. What happened to my life? Slowly through the "professional years" of my life, I lost control of it, and I needed to get it back. Where did it go? Who stole it?

To get my life back, I had to re-evaluate some things. First, I had to take a look at the things that are causing me immediate unhappiness - Work. Second, take a look at how I got into that situation to begin with - I settled for a job that was not the right fit only because I so desperately wanted to escape DC and come to NYC. Third, what do I do now? How do I fix this?

It just so happens that in order to get your life back, or at least regain some sense of control and a sense of self, you have to take action. That's what I've concluded. I'm a firm believer that if you don't like something, try to change it. And if you can't change it, find ways to direct yourself away from it. You can take measures to change the shitty situation you're in, or you can choose to remove yourself from it. Those are your two options. If work is unbearable, find out why. If the reasons behind it can be fixed, then fix them. If not, then it's best to remove yourself from the situation completely and wave a titty to your boss on your way out the door. It's JUST.NOT.WORTH.IT. Expand your horizons and open your eyes to what lies beyond your office walls. The moment I saw clearly how I could do this was the moment I started getting closer to finding my life again.

I worked hard to get here, worked even harder when I arrived, and worked hardest in order to leave. Not to leave NYC, but to leave my less-than-desirable state of grim that I've fallen into. I've sulked. I've complained. I've cried. I grew numb. I lost faith in myself. I grew afraid of my future and what it would look like. If I kept going like this, you would have found me in the corner of my apartment rocking back and forth and staring at the wall while repeating the words "This is not my life" to myself.

Admittedly so, it can sometimes be fun to feel like shit. Sometimes you just want to play the victim and wrap yourself in this cozy blanket of misery because it gives you an excuse to point all those fingers away from you. Because looking at yourself and your decisions would be too unbearable if you had to find out the truth. And as long as that blanket is wrapped around you, you feel a false sense of comfort and familiarity. A comfort that you think you'll miss if you had to let it go. This is how I lost my true happiness and my life to begin with.

I had always thought that hard work pays off, eventually carving a path towards some uncertain future and, within that uncertain future, a feeling of happiness lays amidst the fog in the distance. Well it's not only hard work that carves this path, but it's also your own ambition to want more for yourself. I know that I will always want the best for me, which means I will strive to go to the next level, and maybe even skip a few along the way. I'm no longer an entry-level 22 year-old college grad, so I won't take jobs that pay me entry level with the promise of some great opportunity for growth that may or may not exist. That was mistake #1 I made in NYC. I'm not a robot at a desk all day, because I'm a person that becomes stifled by the lack of creativity while I'm forced into processes and spreadsheets and repetitive motions day after day. And that, that right there, is how I started to lose sight of my life in the first place.

At the IMF, I felt suffocated by the environment and the city and the auto-pilot route my life had taken. I was unchallenged, coasting through life like a little flower girl at a wedding, walking down the aisle all la la la and throwing rose petals on the floor while people complimented me for doing such an outstanding job. And yet what was so outstanding about it? A drunk midget could do the same, which was exactly how I felt about my job. I was going through my life and my career not knowing that soon enough I could blink and ten years would have gone by. And then, all of a sudden, I realized I had gotten too comfortable. So comfortable that the thought of leaving scared me. And because it scared me, I left. I felt myself losing my life, becoming one of those people that works for the same company and after 25 years turns around with a blank stare, offers you a tired smile and says, "I have 432 days left until I retire. Want to grab a cup of coffee before this meeting?"

And when I left, I took the first opportunity I could find just so that I could reunite with my beloved New York. What is it about this place? It's disgusting and smells of sewage but my masochistic side loves it.

My hopes and dreams of a new life were literally pulled from under me within my first six months. I was blindsided by the work, the environment, and the demands of my job. For 6 months a fog overtook me and I was blinded. I had no idea what was happening. I couldn't see. Not one bit. But I knew I was still in New York. I could smell it and hear it, but I couldn't see what was there. Everyday for 6 months, I walked home like a zombie. And then one day after numerous nervous breakdowns, I sat in that bus terminal with Colleen and looked at pictures of myself from only 2 years ago. I was happy there in that moment. I want that happiness back. But I don't want it for only 2 weeks while I'm on vacation drinking margaritas naked in a pool somewhere. I want it always. And it's fair to ask to have it always, because we are human beings and we are living one life of ours that collides with millions of lives of others. And in there, amidst the chaos, lies happiness. Maybe the ambition I feel to want more for myself is what makes me happy. And maybe what they say is right, that enjoying the journey is mostly what it's about.

And now, through all of this, that blinding fog has lifted. As I sat outside on my fire escape, I had a greater sense of clarity for where I wanted to be in my life and what I wanted for myself. I'm no longer settling for a job where I'm unchallenged or constantly stressed or overwhelmed or taken advantage of. I want to give myself the choice of not settling. I have standards for the places I'm willing to live, the people I'm willing to date, and even the toilet I'm willing to shit in. So I had to set some standards for where I work.

Don't settle for being in a place that is slowly taking your life, because once you realize it and a long time has gone by, it's hard to find it again. Some of the greatest successes that ever come are as a result of removing yourself from your comfort zone. Without risk and excitement and some nerves along the way, then the journey isn't worth it. Take risks, be uncomfortable, know yourself, know your value, know the right questions to ask, know that somewhere within you lies ambition and worth. And no job, or even relationship, is ever worth the fog that blinds you to what's been there all along.

If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'

7 Luxury Items That Will Make You Want To Marry Rich

When living in a city as expensive as New York, you begin to realize a few things: 1.)Wages CERTAINLY do not equal cost of living 2.) You're constantly and, more so frantically, looking for alternative ways to make money (i.e. A food/prostitution cart. You get a 'handy' and a hot dog for one low price!). 3.)You think babysitting on the weekends is a good idea. Therefore, you create a profile on Care.com. Except you forgot one thing - you're a man in your mid-20's whose profile on a childcare site now reads, "I love children, and I'm so eager to meet and bond with yours!" Top it off with a picture of you bouncing your cousin on your knee during her 4th birthday to go that extra Care.com mile 4.) Realize you're now probably a registered sex offender.

None of these things ever really pan out and I end up just leaving the office completely exhausted yet still worried about how I will pay my rent and afford a new puppy. But while most people consider luxury items to be swanky things like a Mercedes, extravagant cruises or fake teeth made of gold, I've found that in my life the luxury items are much more "in your face" and more difficult to avoid, which leaves me constantly yearning for a list of my luxury items that I feel I deserve but cannot afford. What can I say? I just reek of pure class and high society. The following are 7 things I now consider luxury goods:

1.) Cheese. This is worth mentioning twice. Cheese is delicious and I enjoy consuming it quite often. However, the other day I was walking through the grocery store's refrigerated aisle and came across a delicatessen of fresh cheeses. As I grabbed to reach a pack of Munster, I realized that 8 slices would cost me $7.99. That, I find, is absurd. But it's New York, and apparently cheese is flown in from some magical land and tunneled through the underground passageways of the city by magical gnomes that deliver these packets of cheese fresh everyday. This, in turn, hikes up the price. Moral of the story: I can no longer afford cheese. Solution: Befriend a woman with supple breasts so I can churn my own. YUM.

2.) Doritos. I have always loved Doritos with an intense passion that one would love Oprah or a a crush that consistently ignores you. However,the stingy Chinese man at the Deli on 54th and 9th thinks it's OK to sell a bag of Doritos for 4.99 - and that's not even the family size! I try to scoff and passive-aggressively hint that his prices are outrageously high, but he just whistles and says, "ISA MANAAAAAHATTAN!" He also has a $10 minimum for credit cards, which means my Doritos actually end up costing me $10. Mr. Dim Sum tricks me into buying packets of gum and scratch-offs to meet the minimum. Gum + Scratch-off + Doritos = $10. Rude.

3. Jeans. Back in my youth, I used to spend at least 100 bucks on jeans. The other day I realized that every single pair of my jeans started getting those pesky holes in the crotch from when you wear them too often and your legs rub together (my legs have never NOT rubbed together, which I find unfair but whatever). Needless to say, I desperately needed a new pair. So I journeyed to The Gap, shopped alongside a family from Arkansas, and bought a fresh new pair for $23. How refreshingly middle class!

4. Alcohol. I'm not one to really compromise on alcohol, but when I'm paying $12 for a vodka soda poured from a plastic bottle it tends to annoy me. Especially if I'm at a bar in the Lower East Side with a name like "The Drunken Slut", "The Skinny Fat Man", "My Little Pony", or any other so-called "grunge bar" with an obnoxious name. Last weekend I went to a bar called "Fat Baby" where a man that looked exactly like Jesus poured me some vodka into a tiny glass and charged me $13. What the fuck? So my solution is to simply black out before I leave my apartment. If I can't achieve that in time, I pack a fashionable flask full of my favorite liquors. Suck a dick Fat Baby.

5. A Puppy. I'm always walking around the city seeing people with well-groomed dogs. Not only that, but most of these dogs are wearing coats and sweaters that are more expensive than anything I own. The worst are the gays. They can't have 1 dog, they just HAVE to have 2 dogs because they're just that much trendier and cooler than everyone else. Why have 1 Pomeranian when you can have 2 or 3? Fuck it, give me the entire litter so I can walk up and down 5th Ave with my family of perfectly groomed dogs that say, "Fuck off homeless lady. My 2 oz turd is worth more than your 2 shopping carts full of used hairbrushes and half-eaten hot dogs." Luckily my roommate Dan curls up on the couch and eats off the floor, so I can hold off on the puppy for now.

6. Cable. It costs me $144 a month, but sometimes I just need to Keep up with the Kardashians.

7. Organic Dry Cleaning. A few months ago I decided I would get my sheets dry cleaned because I just felt extra bashful that weekend and decided to splurge. Well, I mistakenly took them to an "Organic Dry Cleaners" and ended up paying $77 for a Korean man to throw them in the washer, spray some Febreeze on them, hump them twice, and fold the fitted sheet into a triangle. When I asked what exactly made this dry cleaning "organic", he just nodded yes and gave me a coupon to a Kim-Chi restaurant that I believe is owned by his nephew. Honestly, I should just pee into a glass and sell it as organic lemonade. But seeing as how it probably consists of 10% alcohol, I'll sell it as home-brewed organic Pale Ale.

Not a Sermon, Just a Thought

Have you ever found yourself at those crossroads in life where you second guess every decision you've made that has gotten you to where you are? Those moments where you kind of snap into a sudden burst of realization and you think to yourself, Holy shit, what have I done?! Where you wonder if everything you did that lead up to this very moment was the right thing, and if the results were worth it. I've been having quite a few of these lately.

A year ago, I was sitting at my desk in DC, doing a job I had no passion for and feeling like I was just going through the motions, like a robot with its batteries going on red. I remember thinking to myself When is this going to change? and feeling like if it didn't soon, I would just implode. My life was not where I had wanted it to be, and my soul yearned for something more. Something Better. I knew that it was up to me to change things and that I had two choices: I could sit and complain and accept the fact that I was unhappy and frustrated, living a life of quiet desperation that would never truly be my own. OR, I could do something about it. After all, this is my life and I'm in control of it.

For some reason, I had always had this false sense of hope that something amazing would present itself, as though a gift wrapped from the heavens would fall into my lap and I would open it, look inside, and find the perfect job, the perfect relationship, the perfect bank account, the perfect body, the perfect house, the perfect life, the perfect everything that could so nicely and adequately fit in this box. And then I would take my perfect smile, look up to the sky, whisper "Thank you", and live my life happily ever after. How moronic. I don't know why it took me so long to realize it, but that moment is not coming. Maybe it was the way I grew up, going to the best schools where you and your peers are constantly told, "You're special. You guys are going to be someone, and be the best of the best." And then in college, where it seemed like life, if only for a split moment, could actually be as easy as the notion that You take this many credits, you do well in them, you pass and you move to the next stage. And then after all this, you reach the last stage, where you graduate and then find a great job and live happily ever after. When was anyone going to stop and tell me, "Um hey, excuse me sir, guess what! All those things you were taught to believe and think to be true? Yeah, they were mostly lies. Sorry."

It took me until I turned 22 and had my first pretty much terrible office job experience for me to realize that it was all a lie. Or at least that it wasn't what I was taught to expect. And then various mid-life crises later, I continued to realize it - the lies that people told me. If things were that easy, we would all be living the perfect lives. Nothing is perfect, and that's ok. But I've come to realize that much of life is about compromise. There's moments where you'll find yourself more frustrated and unhappy than others and you'll think only about all the imperfections that are consuming you, which allows you to quickly lose sight of the amazing things that surround you. Not everything is always bad all at once - you just think they are.

Since I was a little boy, I would come to New York with my parents and be in complete awe from the magic that I felt existed here. I would see it on TV, come visit friends, and tell myself over and over One day my life will be here. So I took charge of my unsatisfying life and did everything I could to get here. I saved money, I worked at a job I disliked and stuck with it to keep me ahead of the curve. I networked and fought and clawed my way through the barrier of that NYC skyline and I made it. I remember while going through the process thinking to myself It's hard now, but the ending will be so perfectly worth it. Perfect, right?

Well, since I've arrived here I think it's safe to say things have been a little less than perfect. Transitions are always difficult and no matter how you prepare for them, you WILL receive your fare share of surprises, and some of them may seem insurmountable. I dealt with a less than desirable apartment hunting experience (that you can read about below)but I fought through it and all fared well in the end. Everyday in NYC is a financial struggle in the beginning, and don't be fooled by anyone who tells you that it's not. It most definitely is, but it's something you prepare for and make changes to accomodate for it. You compromise between the things you want and the things you need and make decisions based on what you can afford. For instance, I've come to realize I can't afford cheese in Manhattan super markets, as it costs about $8.00 for a pack of 6 slices. I love cheese, but this is my compromise. Until I get a raise or become rich and famous, I won't be able to afford cheese. That's life. That's compromise. And actually because I happen to love cheese so much, it's actually a sacrifice as well. And to get what you really want in life, you have to make those compromises and sacrifices to get to the glory that lies ahead. Somewhere up ahead, it's better. It just has to be.

My first few months at work in New York City have been very hard as well. Adjustments are a challenge, and so is learning an industry from the bottom up, working 10-12 hour days, and doing a job that in most other places would require 2-3 people to do but here, it's only you. None of this is easy. I can't begin to describe how hard this transition has been and how close to defeat I've gotten - and it's only been 4 months! But everyday I tell myself This is what I wanted; it was my "dream" to live here and make a spectacular life for myself. Not yet DAMNIT!. Deep inside I know this is where I belong, and I'm certaintly not going down without a fight.

And as I've been having these really awful, long, frustrating days at work where all I want to do is just run outside the building with my hair in my arms, screaming at the top of my lungs, and just give a big "fuck you" to all the roadblocks that keep getting in my way, I've found myself again in a situation where something needs to change. No one is coming to rescue me. It's up to me to survive and become the person I envisioned for myself here. I'm in the city I want to be, and that alone required me to pull strength and perseverence from out of my ass and make it happen. And that was me, I did all of that. I fought to change what I was unhappy with and did it, which means I can certaintly do it again. I can't allow my unhappiness and frustrations to take over my life like they used to. I have found myself thinking Holy shit what have I done? Did I make a mistake coming here and losing all of my savings, giving up a high paying job in DC just to be more unhappy at work than I was before? I know one thing: I do not and will never regret what I did. I just need to learn how to make things work for me and at some level believe that they eventually will.

So just because things have been hard and it's easy to feel defeated and sad, I have to realize that there's things within my control that I can change. And this is something that so many people won't often realize, but happiness is a choice just as much as misery is a choice. We choose to be miserable if we continue to stay in a situation that makes us miserable without doing something about it. If you're miserable at work, find out why. If there's a reason behind it that can be fixed and addressed, then take control and fix it. If not, then take control and find something else. But never lose control of your own life, even when it feels like you're constantly slipping on ice and grasping for something to hold on to. Take control of these things because I can assure you that there is no magical fairy flying around on the cusp of delivering you a perfect solution or a beautiful escape. And if you're happy, enjoy the fuck out of each and every second of it because THAT is what life really is about.

By focusing on all the things that were stressing me out and going wrong, I lost sight of all the amazing things I have in my new life here. My friends, my coworkers, my apartment, my awesome roommate (who also doubles as a pet cat because he does nothing but sleep and poop), my karaoke skills that are a new hit in the West Village bars, all of these things are what make my life here pretty fucking great. So I have to make positive changes in terms of career and work because I'll be damned if they will take me away from everything I have here and everything I did to get here. Finding what you love to do and loving where you live are two exceptional foundations to happiness and self acclamation.

The other day, after an incredibly long and stressful day at work, I was walking home with my co-worker, Iris (who moved here from CA ), having one of those moments where we think What the fuck? Is this our life? Is this really what we wanted? And then, at that very moment, we both look up and spot a pair of 65-foot tall tits on an H&M billboard and smile at one another. "Of course we want to be here," she says. "Where else can we be walking home from work and look up to see a pair of 65 foot tits staring right down at us, as though taunting and laughing at the silly moment in time where we doubted ourselves." And that's how I knew that, often times, magic can come in the set of two very gigantic 65 foot breasts under an H&M ad. And I want to be where the magic still exists.


"No it won't all go the way it should, but I know the heart of life is good."

The Great Apartment Hunt - Part 1

Part 1

Few things in life are as absolutely terrible as trying to find an apartment in New York City. When I first moved here, I found a place to sublet through a friend and figured I could find an apartment easily and quickly when the time called for it. I couldn't have been further from the truth.

Luckily my old college roommate, Dan, was working in the city and living at home like a cool kid with his parents in New Jersey, so I shot him an email asking if he'd like to find a place in Manhattan. "I'm in" he responded, so the search began.

2 weeks later, I found myself scouring the blocks of the East Village with Dan, trying to meet up with Fuki - the broker who would be showing us some apartments. It's funny because you go on craigslist to find "no fee" apartments (aka you don't have to pay a broker) and yet somehow, like a magical unicorn on acid, the broker appears from behind a curtain as if to say, "SURPRISE! You thought you could get this apartment but guess what...you have to go through ME!" And so try as I might to find a place on my own, I just couldn't do it with the short time frame I had. This is how we met Fuki - our Japanese broker who looked like she was no older than 12 and had self admittedly been living in NYC for only 10 months. And this was the girl that would be showing me places to live?

"Herro Andre nice to meeta you! My name is FUKI!!" she said excitedly, as she hurried out from behind a pilar of the Duane Reade in the East Village. She was wearing a sparkly white baret, hello kitty gloves, a white fluffy coat and black boots with furry pom-poms dangling off the back. "Perfect!" I said to her as she approached. "Dan LOVES Hello Kitty so I think we'll get along just marvelously" - all the while staring at her Hello Kitty pink mittens. "Oh rearry!?" she giggled shyly, "Isa da best!" she said as she clapped her mittens together frantically. Dan shot me a glance and just nodded in confused agreement.

As we walked around the East Village in search of some magical place that both of us could afford without having to live with rats or roaches, it became pretty clear that Fuki had no idea where she was going. In fact, it became my job to essentially lead us from one place to another for the span of almost 2.5 hours.

The first place she showed us resembled some sort of crackhouse section 8 housing with dilapidated walls and creaky stairs. In fact I could have sworn I saw rats larger than a chihuahua staring at me as I made my way up the stairs, as if to say "What the fuck do you want?" Before opening the door to the first apartment, Fuki struggled with the keys and before long, was throwing her tiny Asian body voilently against the door in an effort to get it open. I took the keys from her and opened the door, as I noticed she was attempting to use the mailbox key. She entered and frantically searched for a light. Turns out the apartment had no lights, so I had to use my flashlight app on my iPhone to examine the place. "Dis very pretty place - FABUROUS location Andre and Dan" Fuki said, in a strangely genuine tone. "Yeah, it's great...." I responded sarcastically, as Dan clutched his pearls in the corner mouthing the words "Let's get the fuck out of here" to me. The next apartment luckily had lights, but as we walked in I noticed that the kitchen was completely slanted. Had I tried to pick Fuki up and place her on the counter, she would have slid right off and giggled on her way down. "It give apartment CHAWECHTER!" she replied when I brought it up. Charecter? For $3,000/month? The pantree had been made into the smallest bathroom I had ever seen with only room for a toilet and tiny shower. No sink. "Where do we brush our teeth?" I asked Fuki. "Ina da kitchen sink sillyyyyy!" she said, completely serious and enthusiastic.

The saddest part was that Dan and I had seen so many other apartments by this point, that we had actually considered taking this dump. "Well I guess I could live with having to brush my teeth on top of dirty dishes if I had to" Dan said to me. "I'll just learn to maneuver my way around"
It's sad how New York City can so quickly change your perception on what is an acceptable living situation. For $3,000/month I could buy a luxury mansion in Texas but in New York, all it would get me was a slanted kitchen and perhaps a homeless man squatting in the corner of my apartment, holding a flashlight and wearing a lampshade on his head as replacement for real light. And that would bump up the price of the apartment by at least $200. You know, because it gives the place more "charecter". Exposed wires and asbestos? That'll be an extra $500 amenity fee, please.

This couldn't be, I thought to myself. There has to be better places for cheaper somewhere. 2.5 hours and 7 apartments later, Dan and I found ourselves walking towards Alphabet City with Fuki. After about 20 minutes of walking and talking, I turned to Fuki and asked, "Where are you taking us?! Why is this next apartment so much further from the others?!" Without a blink of an eye, Fuki replied "What you mean?! I thought we goin out summawhere!" WHAT? I was so confused. Apparently Fuki thought that after our apartment search, Dan and I would be wining and dining her and, with any luck, writing her a nice check for one of the apartments she showed. That way she could go back to Tokyo for the holidays and buy more custom-made mittens. I felt like screaming "Listen you crazy little Pikachu, I've just seen some of the worst and most expensive shithole apartments in New York, I think it's a wrap here." But instead, I decided to be a gentleman and walk Fuki to the nearest train station to send her on her way.

And feeling more defeated than ever before, I said bye to Dan and walked myself home as it began to rain. All the while hoping and praying that the right place would somehow magically turn up.

And eventually, it did.

Looking Back

It's been a stressful few months adjusting in New York, finding an apartment, making friends, starting a new job and, essentially, starting a new life. No doubt I've been frustrated and have felt defeated at times, but I stumbled across this entry I made on the "Notes" section of my iPad right before leaving DC and thought I'd share it and keep it someplace public. A place where I can constantly remind myself and anyone else that sometimes amidst the chaos, you lose sight of the clarity that once existed - and how important it is to get it back...

Today I opened my closet, staring in awe at the daunting task of choosing what I'd be taking with me when I move to New York. At some level, the feeling of packing is familiar to me from all my travels. Except this time, I know it's more permanent. I've spent the last few days wondering what lies ahead, if I've made the right decision, if I'll be happy living on my own in a new city and making new friends. While my days have been riddled with surges of overwhelming anxiety, I can't help but be excited for what lies ahead. I know the transition will be far from smooth, but I'm confident in the fact that I've made it this far. My dreams of starting over in a new city doing something I love seem to be coming true, and yet I can't help but be reluctant to embrace it. It's as though I've lived my life, and most of my 20's, settling for unhappiness and mediocrity. And now, now that I'm finally at a place where I'm satisfied and happy, it feels difficult to embrace it. These past few years I had managed to completely forget what happiness felt like. And now that its back and stronger than ever, my logical side seems apprehensive of existing with this happiness - as though there's no room for it. So I've made a conscious decision to make room and enjoy my moment, because it's something I've worked long and hard for. And while my nerves and fears may try to get in the way, I know my anticipation for the greatness that lies ahead trumps it all.

But it's hard to believe my last day in DC is here. It's bittersweet because I'm leaving behind my friends and family and everything that is familiar, yet I know this is something that is good for me. It's time I grow up, move on, and turn to the next chapter of my life. And the best part is that aside from the ups and downs, I can leave my home, my job, and my friends knowing I have absolutely no regrets. And the most satisfying feeling on earth is knowing I'm pursuing what I knew was deep down inside me all along. I'll never look back now and think, "Why didn't I go? Why was I so scared?". I'm terrified, but I'm embracing the fear in hopes of the beauty and excitement that lies just beyond it. But through all of this, I've learned that relationships are important. Not just the ones you have with your friends and family, but especially the one you have with yourself. I never knew how to listen to my own voice, my own desires. Too often the sound of my own dreams was muffled by the opinions and persuasions of others. And while the search was long and difficult, I found my own voice once again. And this time, I listened.

10 Rules for Dating

Due to most recent events in the "dating" scene, I've been forced to compile a list of what I think 10 rules for dating me (or anyone really) should be. But seeing as how I'm single and have no real valid track record of functioning relationships, you can take these with a grain of salt.

1.) Do not ask me to call you if we have not met. Because most of us live busy lives and can't be bothered with meeting and courting people the old-fashioned way, we've turned to the era of online matchmaking. There's a few downsides to this: 1. People lie through their photos 2. You can't get a good read on the crazies via your computer screen. 3.) See number 1

2.) Brush ya fuckin teeth. Seriously, it's a very simple concept if you think about it. At least use some fucking mouthwash. A few weeks ago I was bored and decided to meet this French kid for drinks in Hell's Kitchen. He seemed attractive enough via pictures, but then when we met up his teeth looked like broken shards of glass that were run through a garbage disposal, dipped in cow shit, and re-attached to his gums. It's one thing to have genetically horrible teeth and poor parents that can't afford braces, but a tube of toothpaste and some Scope costs about 5 bucks. I mean shit get it together.

3.) Don't pretend you're a baller when you're not. Allow me to use the same French kid as an example. He enjoyed discussing his various responsibilities at work, along with his great 1 bedroom apartment in Midtown West with his 3 cats. That's all fine and dandy, but when we go to buy a bottle of wine at the Chinese market for $8.99 and your credit card gets declined, perhaps it's time to ditch the cats and consider a roommate. Or a second job. At least I admit I'm poor.

4.) Don't criticize my drinking. If I find it weird that we are only splitting 1 tiny bottle of wine for an entire night and you give me a judgmental eyebrow raise
(Yes you, you French bastard), chances are this is not going to work out. Half a bottle of wine doesn't even relax my left tit. Call me an alcoholic, but I call it "prioritizing my caloric intake".

5.) Say SOMETHING. It doesn't take some superflous set of social skills to have a normal conversation. A while back I met this guy at a bar beneath my building (good trick is to have them come to you, particularly if you have little vested interest to begin with). Things seemed perfectly normal via text, which could disprove my first rule of not calling before meeting but whatever. When we sat down at the bar, I could hear crickets chirping. Every time I finished some sort of sentence, even as basic as "This beer is incredible. I've never tasted such a delicious Miller Lite", the guy would stare at me like some sort of Autistic 3 year old. By the end of the first hour I was so exhausted from having to maintain any sort of decent conversation that I gave up, took a shot, and went back up to my apartment to catch the last 15 minutes of Hocus Pocus on ABC Family.

6.) It's not a job, so let's not interview. It's inevitable that at some point during a date you might straddle the fine line of interview questions. The trick is to catch yourself before you do it and divert to something else. For example, "Kim Kardashian is a whore. Discuss." He will have no choice but to agree. And just like that, you've found 1 thing in common!

7.) NEVER ask someone "Where do you want to be in ten years?" or "What kind of animal would you want to be?" WHAT? These two questions were actually asked of me on two separate occasions. You know what kind of animal I'd want to be? A hybrid between a Cheetah and a Preying Mantis. A "Cheyantis". That way, I can rip off your head after we've had sex and then run away as fast as possible.

8.) Don't say you're from Ohio. Seriously is EVERYONE from Ohio? I'm beginning to think there's some sort of underground tunnel that transports oppressed gays and very bored heterosexual white guys from Dayton, Ohio to every major city in the Northeast. If you're from Ohio, just say something else. Anything else. Try Boise, Idaho. No one will ever argue or say "Oh really? What part of Boise are you from? I grew up right outside the gunshop on Main Street". No one is from Boise, so it's a safe bet.

9.) Don't suggest that we meet at your place. If I don't know you, I'm not coming to your apartment to meet you. Apparently this isn't common sense to some people. The last thing I want is to end up chopped into small pieces and put inside a hefty bag. Or even worse, being caught in an extremely awkward situation with no real way to leave. As curious as I am to see what other people's apartments look like, I'd much rather have a clear and easy escape route.

10.) Don't offer to buy me a canoe. 2 weeks ago I met a guy named "Ronald" for a drink in Chelsea. I should have known how this would turn out when I saw he was wearing Birkenstocks with khaki pants. 20 minutes into the date, he suggested we go camping near some obscure river in Pennsylvania. When I said I'm not much of an "Outdoorsy camper type" and much prefer the comfort of a flat screen TV and chicken wings on an Ikea sofa, he responded with, "Well how about I buy us a canoe? I bet you'll change your mind". There is no "us" so he would essentially be buying "me" a canoe. I barely allow myself to have more than 2 pillows due to lack of space in my apartment, much less a fucking canoe.

Verdict: I'm either dying alone or in some apartment surrounded by ten cats and some canoes. Awesome.

Top-Ten NYC Moments

Having spent my first beautifully diastrous week in NYC, I figured I would copulate (yes, engage in sexual intercourse with) a quick recap of some of the things/moments that have amused me. Aka, I want to have sex with this list:

10.) Homeless People on bikes. Not quite sure if they're actually homeless or just excessively hipster artists from Brooklyn, but either way they're obnoxious and I've managed to cuss out a number of these bike bastards. And they smell.

9.) Asians. They are literally everywhere and I couldn't be more thrilled. Watching them take pictures of one another whilst giggling and holding up an enormous Papaya's hotdog is most certainly enthralling. Plus Korea town is a mere 3 blocks from my apartment, which means I can witness young Korean girls go crazy when they spot a "famous" Korean singer and enjoy a bulgogi at 3am whenever I please.

8.) The Irish. I've had the pleasure of meeting quite a few Irish people. Not only have they made fantastic drinking partners, but they're also extremely foul-mouthed, which is a beautiful thing. Somehow the phrase "Fuck off you wanker cunt" sounds so much more polite and borderline romantic when it comes out of their mouths as opposed to mine. Note to self: Take a weekend trip to Dublin and practice drinking whiskey out of a pint glass.

7.) The Jews. For some inexplicable reason, I have a relentless case of Jewish envy. When drunk, I will often times go as far as telling people I'm Jewish and rant about all the pretend presents and money I received at my Barmitzvah. Whatever. And it so happens that on Sunday I went to see a movie at the AMC in the Upper West Side (which my friend pointed out was "very Jewy"). It definitely resembled the early bird special crowd at a Chinese restaurant on Christmas. I've never seen so many old Jews, both men and women, in my life. And this is why I love the Jews, because when they are old and have saved enough money from their days as a lawyer and/or doctor, they can afford to live in the Upper West Side. Therefore, my dating criteria has since changed - find and deceive into marriage/civil union a young Jewish banker/lawyer/doctor/CEO. By the looks of Manhattan, I should be married and swimming naked in my private pool in the Hamptons by May.

6.) Models. These, too, are everywhere. In fact, my roommate had one of her various boy interests over last night. This, I have discovered, is completely normal and acceptable in NYC. If one is not dating at least 3 people at any given time, then you should consider yourself a hideous sewer creature with no future and a possible birth defect. This boy was not only attractive enough to be on an Abercrombie and Fitch bag, but he was also super nice and thoughtful enough to sleep/walk around naked in the wee hours of the morning. In fact, when I awoke for work still drunk from the previous night, he was nice enough to brush his teeth while I peed right next to him. In the toilet, of course. I'm not an animal. This is NYC people, and there's only one bathroom per every 400 New Yorkers - at least I can share it with a model. Too bad I got stage fright and he eventually had to leave, but it was the thought that counts.

5.) The Gays. They're so prominent that the whole city sounds like a series of lisps, creating a noise that sounds like someone is slowly draining the air out of Manhattan via a pin-sized hole. Last night I was out for a walk circa 12am (because I have yet to join a gym and have serious and legitimate fears of being the fattest person in NYC) and an older gentleman stopped me in my tracks with just one hand out in front of him, palms facing towards me, and said, "Those shorts are just FABULOUS!" I was confused not because this man stopped me, but moreso because I was wearing a pair of older cargo plaid shorts from Express. Last season. Clearly this gay was not up-to-date.

4.) Bagels. They are the best. Enough said.

3.) Walking quickly. Although I've always been a fast walker, I've had to really focus on perfecting this skill as it seems everyone is consistently walking faster and faster as the day goes on. And there is no mercy for slow-moving old ladies and cripples, for they are merely shoved to the side of the sidewalks and wished death upon by hurried executives and long-legged women in pumps.

2.) The Chinese Lady. Technically this should be under the "Asian" category. However, I feel Chinese Lady is worthy of her own slot on my top 10. I believe she works and lives in a cubby hole next to my building, and emerges from it to run her Chinese restaurant, laundry service, and sushi dispensary 24/7. I'm fairly certain she never sleeps and runs on some special Chinese-imported gasoline diet. Nevertheless, I'm grateful that I can drop-off my underwear and grab some Sushi to-go with a side of Beef and Broccoli at any given moment. It wouldn't surprise me if Chinese Lady is secretly a multi-billionaire and owns several underground casinos in Manhattan. As well as the entire island itself.

1.) Delivery. You can literally have anything you can imagine delivered. From drugs to tampons to a late-night mail order Jamaican hooker from Queens, it's all merely a phonecall away. I've found that with minimal effort on my part, I would never have to leave the square block radius of my apartment. Which is why I've also come to find that it's nearly impossible to maintain any sort of friendship with anyone who lives on the opposite end of Manhattan. If you live on the East side, you might as well bid adieu to your friends on the West side. Anything above 70th street might as well be considered Connecticut. And if you're dating someone in Brooklyn, which might as well be New Jersey, which might as well be Soviet Russia, you'll be forced into a long-distance relationship that will be limited to sexual encounters via Skype and Gchat.

A bonus magic 11*

11.) Trader Joe's. DO NOT, BY ANY MEANS, visit the Trader Joe's in Flatiron or midtown or anywhere in Manhattan, really, after the hours of 5pm. You will be mauled. And you will be bitten. And you will get rabies. Best advice is to take a "hunter-gatherer" partner with you, so that he/she can hunt-and-gather food while you wait in the 75 minute checkout line. Concrete jungle is an understatement, as it seems New Yorkers at a Trader Joe's during rush hour have reverted back to the caveman era of hunting for our own food. Darwinism at its finest. FUN!

-Andres (aka Fat Asian Girl from Madison Ave)

2 Weeks Notice

Today I submitted my 2 weeks notice for resignation at work. It's a day I have been looking forward to for the past year or so. And it's strange because while there were days that I hated my job, there were also days that I loved it. I loved my co-workers, the environment, the glamor, and the paycheck. So in the end, I can't be surprised by how unexpectedly sad today has been.

I always thought I'd be leaving this place with my ass cheeks fully exposed as I walked down the hallway and made my grand departure, leaving the countless jaws dropped to the floor - but that was before I really knew how valuable I am to many people in this place and, in return, how valuable they have been to me. I can't deny that I've learned immensely from the experience of working at the IMF for almost 3 years, but throughout the whole process I've realized I learned more about myself than I ever imagined I would. 3 years ago, I came in as a confident college graduate thinking that my degree was worth something and that corporate America owed me something in return. What a rough reality check it has been. The value of hard work, dedication, and experience cannot be overlooked. And as a cocky college grad that was molded by the inspiring minds of America, private schools, and my ivy league friends, I realized that nothing in life comes easy.

I can honestly say the hardest part of this whole experience has been putting my ego aside and being O.K. with asking others for help. I'm no better than anyone else, and that's something that formal education never taught me. In fact, I was raised to believe that attending private schools and graduating college put me ahead of the pack and that I'd never have to struggle much to find a well paying job and be successful at a young age. This, believe it or not, is false. For the past 10 months or so, I have felt like a cheap K street hooker- selling myself to anyone that would give me the chance. Being in DC and wanting to move to NYC made it all that much worse, but determination goes a long way in cases such as this.

So after I submitted my 2 weeks notice, my boss called me into his office to "talk". Initially, he seemed very uneasy and nervous and felt it was his fault. I felt bad but also humbled by our conversation and my explanation as to why this was my time to go. My "fuck you" moment never really came, and I'm glad it didn't. I'm thankful for the lessons I learned and the rough patches I endured because, from all of it, I gained an amazing group of coworkers that become close friends that I can have for life. It's an experience that resulted in the positives far outweighing the negatives, and I'm glad I can move on to the next chapter of my life having no regrets and burning no bridges. You go through shit, you learn from it, and you move forward. There's really no other way to go about it.

But as luck would have it, I went to lunch at a sleazy Chinese restaurant with 2 of my coworkers where we just happened to sit next to a table of college-aged kids. From what I gathered, these kids were seniors getting ready to graduate the bubbly college life and move forward from their $200,000 education at GWU. As it's innate in my personality to eaves drop on the conversations of others, I overheard them speaking about job opportunities. And in NYC of all places. One of the overweight and unattractive girls in her Colonials sweatshirt with her frazzled hair stated that she would not accept any salary below 60k because, as she put it, "I want to live in midtown and I refuse to have a roommate so that's the only salary I can take so I can live on my own". Then her Jewish male counterpart responded with, "I totally agree, we didn't have our parents pay all this money for our education to take a crappy job and live in filth." And collectively the table of four nodded in agreement and "Mmmhhhhmm'd" each other. I kind of laughed to myself because that's exactly how I felt and sounded just a short time ago. And now, I've taken a pay cut to move to a city I've always wanted to live in and start over in an industry I'm interested in, with a group of talented people in a company I truly believe will foster my growth. And as I left the restaurant, I glanced over at the table of 4 and saw myself sitting there with them. And then one of them said, "Ugh, I just hate the way NYC smells. I'll probably have to live on Park Ave to avoid all the grossness". $200,000 later and the best word she could come up with was, "grossness". I almost turned and said, "Well I hate the way you smell, you fat ugly skank". And this, I felt, was my cue to leave because I refused to have these hideous college creatures bad mouthing my new city.

But just as I learned through experiencing the real world, so will they. But for now, STAY OUT OF NEW YORK CITY. IT'S MINE!

- Andres

Dedicated to my Muslim girls and my blond bombshell on the 7th floor