Sunday, November 29, 2009

Stuff this in your turkey and eat it.

Wow. So it's the end of November. Today I have officially been living in NYC for 4 months and one day. Key word here is LIVING. So much to tell...

I've been at my new job for a little over a month now. To be honest, I was a little nervous about it the first few weeks. My boss had been out of town quite a bit the first three weeks. To put it in perspective, I think I saw/spoke with her three times in my first three weeks. It's not that I didn't like being there... it's just that I was at a new job with no direction. When my boss finally got back in the office, she took me out for coffee (I drank hot chocolate since I'm still a child and do not drink coffee...). She was very apologetic about my first few weeks and realized it wasn't the best start to a new job. I completely understood the circumstances and we had an opportunity to discuss my "roll" in my office. I'm excited about the projects that are in store for me and I'm looking forward to learning more about the college.

I still work a Serendipity from time to time. I'll probably try to work a lot in the next few weeks on the weekends. Christmas is only 26 days away and the extra money that gives me will come in handy.

I can say that my transition here has been great, but about 2 weeks ago... I started to feel the strain of not having a group of friends to hang out with. I had gone out a few times with people from work and that was fun... but I've always had/needed a "base" group of friends. Most of my days were becoming mundane. Wake up, go to work, go home, repeat. I was craving fellowship in all sense of the word. I remember one night about 2 and a haf weeks ago I was lying in bed saying my nightly prayers and tossed in a selfish plug to find some friends. A few short days after that... I was chatting with some friends from back home in Alabama. A friend of mine, Torry, let me know that he knows a girl here in the city and told me that I should contact her. I was iffy at first just because I didn't know how to go about introducing myself. So I took the new age approach.. I e-mailed her. I immediately got a response from Mo, that's her name, and we immediately hit it off. We met for lunch a few short days later and became instant friends! In only an hour of meeting her, she invited me to her and her friends' Thanksgiving celebration. With this new found friendship only came more. Mo introduced me to her crew and it's hard to believe that I've only known these people for two weeks. They have welcomed me into the group with open arms and they all are amazing people!!! They are all unique, talented, hilarious people. We've all agreed that it feels like we've been friends for years. It's such a strange phenomenon... but I am not complaining in the least. I am honored, grateful, and blessed to have these people in my life here. I'm positive that more stories and blogs will be born with these friendships...

Psalm 37:4-5 (New International Version)

4 Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:


Like I said before... this group has so many talented people. One guy in the group, Nathan, has actually studied improv. So, the group decided we should all go to an Improv Jam where an improv group performs and then there is an "open" time when people from the crowd can perform. So... Nathan, Joe (another good friend in the group), and I formed a quick group and called ourselves "The Eye in Team". Mind you... this would be my first ever attempt with anything improv. As luck would have it... they drew which team would go first and it was us. So we did our thing and got some laughs. I personally feel that I locked up a little bit... but I experienced it none-the-less. After we performed, there were about 4 or 5 other groups that went. After all groups had performed, they passed out ballots for the audience to vote on a winner. I wanted to be fair so I voted for the group that I thought was the funniest. The people I was with did the same. So they tallied up the votes and announced the winner. And believe it or not... my team won! I don't know how it happened... but I'll take it. Nathan has really opened my eyes to the world of improv and has been giving me advice on what I should be doing. I'll forever remember that night and am thankful to have friends that are interested in and helping me work toward my dreams!!! I have A LOT of work to do and A LOT to learn, but am excited more than ever of what's ahead.

Thanksgiving here in NYC was AMAZING. I spent it at at the apartment of some of the guys that are in the crew. Their apartment is collectively known as the "Gun Club". There were about 20 or so of us in the apartment. Everyone brought a dish and the guys even cooked a 27 pound turkey. The food was great! After eating, with the help of Joe and another friend Nate, we performed a song that I wrote to the tune of "Since U Been Gone" entitled "Thanksgiving Song". It was a hit... and will also soon be available on iTunes. Just kidding... but it was documented. After the performance we all made hand turkeys... kind of like... actually... just like you do as a child. With our hand turkeys complete, we made our way to the roof of the apartment. There's nothing like someone playing guitar while everyone screams the words to songs all in the midst of New York City's skyline. After our rooftop jam session we all went back to the apartment and proceeded to have a dance party, a clean-up party, another dance party, and then rounded out the night by watching "Elf" and "Home Alone". I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my first Thanksgiving away from home. We streamed our Thanksgiving celebration live on the internet so that our families could watch. So good!

Things are still going great! I was talking with another friend in the group, Shuffle, on the roof during Thanksgiving and she asked me what I thought about "it". I asked what she meant and she went on to ask if I thought that this is what NYC was going to be like. My experience in NYC is nothing like what I thought it was going to be. We went on to discuss that the New York I'm experiencing isn't a "normal" thing. I have a great job, a great living situation, I'm slowly making progress toward what I came here to do, and I have found friends that are supportive, amazing, funny, and genuine. A lot of people get lost when they get here trying to accomplish those things and I've been blessed to not have been overcome by them.

It keeps getting better and I know that there is only more to come!!!

2 comments:

  1. I'm so proud of you, Matty...I'm so glad things are coming along swimmingly! I've never expected anything less than greatness from you :)

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  2. Grey Squirrel,

    I had no doubt that you would do well in New York, but it makes me so happy and proud to hear about all the wonderful things you're doing. You'll never forget this experience. You better set-up something fun for when I come. I want to meet all these people! I love you!!

    Red Fox

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