Worlds Collide!

That title is very dramatic, but my story is not that dramatic. Nevertheless, I thought it was worth posting on the blog. So.

I have been reading David Foster Wallace's massive novella, Infinite Jest, for a little over a month now. It was really hard to get into at first, but now that I've made it through a staggering 33% of the book (NOT including endnotes), I'm starting to actually enjoy it. And as books do, when you read them for a long period of time, it has started to kind of take over my life. I think a lot more about what it must be like to be seriously addicted to heroin or alcohol, and I read about the U.S. Open with a new interest (drug addiction and tennis academies are major themes in the book, in case you didn't know).

Anyway, tonight I was catching up on season 5 of Parks and Recreation, one of my favorite shows on TV right now (tied with Mad Men, basically), and it was the episode where Ben goes back to his hometown of Partridge, Minnesota. One of the minor characters in Infinite Jest is from Partridge, Kansas, and apparently this was all the creator of the show, Michael Schur (aka Mose from The Office), needed to throw in a TON of book references. I noticed it right off the bat, when they go to a law firm named:

All of those names are characters from the book. Then Anne and Chris take an online test called the "Incandenza Pemulis" test. More character references. 

And...I'm starting to realize that this whole post might not be interesting to anyone who hasn't read Infinite Jest. So I think I'll stop there. And just say that I was really excited and proud of myself for catching the references. And so well-timed in my life! 

P.S. Regarding the housing situation, Ari and I have not moved in yet. Hoping to do it this coming weekend, if the place is actually done being renovated. 

Yeesh.

Well, hello there!

I've been putting off posting mainly because I wanted to feel settled before announcing any more news. And I realized that feeling settled is really a long way off. Thankfully, within my first month of moving back to the city of New York City (and constantly asking myself, "Why do people live in this godforsaken city?" one minute and the next minute, "Why would I ever leave this wonderful city?"), I was able to find a good teaching job (English Language Institute at Pace University!) and an apartment.

Both things (work and housing) are progressing, but at different rates. I feel like I am starting to get the swing of things at my job, but I literally have a saved email of an ever-expanding list of questions to ask my boss the next time I can pin her down for longer than five minutes--we don't seem to cross paths as often as I'd like.

As for the housing--Gggahhhahhhh. Ari and I found a pretty sweet apartment the day before his birthday on August 30th. It was undergoing brand new renovations, but they said we could move in Sep. 15th, and probably even a few days before that. Then we had to re-sign the lease. We were supposed to get the keys today, but our broker didn't have them and told us to call another guy, who said he could give them to us at 5pm, but then his phone was mysteriously switched off at 5pm. Finally got ahold of him at 7pm, only to discover that the renovations were still in progress, and...our building has no front door yet. So the keys aren't really necessary yet. The guy seemed surprised to hear that we were planning to move in on Sunday.

So, long story not so short, we hope to move in on Sunday. If our building has a front door. Things in general are not quite as settled as I'd like them to be, but honestly, I am happy to be back in this city. Ari's here! A lot of my friends are here! I can actually Skype with my parents (which was mostly impossible in Indonesia), and I can eat Chipotle whenever I want!

All things considered, it's okay if things aren't totally settled.