These pictures are funniest to people who know these drunken guys and went to the wedding, but I’ll share them anyway. Tom took them - thanks, Tom. 
Posts under ‘Great Adventures’
White people dancing - enough said
Love and marriage
Nothing has tested the strength of so many relationships as Jim and Jenny’s wedding on Saturday. Naturally, the bride and the groom seemed to be chastely getting along. The ceremony was extremely stiff with at least five redundant prayers and jaw-grindingly bad organ music. And a whole lot of people cynical about the state of the union.
I dressed up, hoping for some heavy petting
Before I really started looking for my first neighborhood, my mom tried to sell me on Park Slope. On my last college Spring Break, my dad, sister, and I headed to NYC for some plays, shopping, and a lot of walking around. We ended up going to Park Slope, and couldn’t believe how different it was from Manhattan. By the time I actually moved here after getting a job in Harlem, I dismissed any idea of Brooklyn. It seemed so far away.
New hope
It was the perfect time for some new hope.
Sakura Matsuri, him, and me
Dogwood flowers shone in the sun, cherry blossoms loomed overhead, and Cade and I were ushered in the gates of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden ahead of the throngs of people not affiliated with a certain investment banking firm. It was the boy’s moment. Sure, the corporate climate is umm, partly-cloudy with a high chance of tedium, but Cade has free access to most museums in Manhattan and many cool events around the city. And I get to be his invited guest. Yippee!
Cheesesteak-ville
Getting out of New York for the weekend was just as refreshing as I thought it would be. Cade and I left Manhattan around eight Friday night, cut across New Jersey, and made it to Philadelphia in about two hours. We stayed in an Olde City house that Cade’s dad owns. One of the apartments - a three floor spread that would be preposterously expensive in New York - is currently inhabited by Noah, one of Cade’s college friends. The first night in Philadelphia, I tripped across the cobbled streets with Cade, carrying bags and water. As in any place worth going to, parking spaces around the city are hard to come by. Fortunately, Cade and I can handle long treks between parked transportation and ultimate destination.
Labor Day among grown-ups
I’m finally back from New Jersey and my, was it grand!
Chen and I got a ride with a surgeon and his girlfriend, Phillis Levin, who lives a few blocks away from us. Levin is a poet/professor, and was part of Poetry 180. You may google her now. That’s not a celebrity encounter, as I didn’t know she was ever in the New Yorker or anything until the car ride home. I had never heard of her before, but she calls Billy Collins “Billy” and has worked with Stephen Dunn and Sharon Olds. She is officially an interesting person to have met.
Last days in Austin
Time for an[other] entry that is heavy on pictures and lighter on text. My heart calls for more art, less matter. Kudos to Sam for taking all of these pictures AND enduring a lagging instant messenger to send them to me.
