Oh New York... how thou hast changed....

So I have had a blast being here again. The first day I arrived (finally) I spotted not one, but two Melbourne doppelgangers:

- a 60 year old Nick Cadday
- a shaggy Geoff Ring (yes I know Geoff is shaggy anyway, but even shaggier)

The even stranger thing was that these doppelgangers looked twice at me too, as if I was also a doppelganger for them. We circled each other with dark looks of suspicion, and then moved on. I decided that I should try to get photos of myself with any other doppelgangers I see from now on. I was at the airport with my hands full and camera shoved deep into my bag though, so couldn't complete the task, plus, it would have been awkward after the weird dark circling business.

I DID manage to catch Matt (whose apartment I am staying in while he is in Germany) at the airport though. It was so crazy cos JFK is a massive airport and my mobile doesn't work here, yet I managed to spot him just as he was about to head into security! It was mental! The odds were just so slim - I touched down at 5pm and he took off at 7pm - and it was a pain in the arse (or should I say "ass" now that I am speaking american again) cos it was a different terminal, but we managed it. I took that as a sign that luck was gonna be with me for the entire of my trip. And it has, so far, been great.

So I grabbed the A train back into the city that I called my home 6 years ago and lugged my crazy suitcases up 5 flights of stairs to the apartment. I almost cried when I got here. I mean, 5 flights!!! With 2 pieces of luggage! But mainly I cried because I forgot how much I had missed New York. I was SO jetlagged when I arrived, but I went down to Bowery Poetry Club anyway to see which of the old crew were still hanging out there. To be precise, one person recognised me, and that was my ex-boyfriend, Victor, so it would have been weird if he hadn't. But, to be fair, I hadn't been there for 6 years, I had lopped the dreadlocks, and they weren't expecting me at all. I still ended up having a great catch up once they DID remember, and 4 pints later fell into a heap at 5am.

So much has changed here.. the east village where I am now and where I used to live is incredibly up market. Loads of new buildings and posh people with posh dogs. I swear to god these dogs have their own trust funds, although I probably shouldn't talk - I left Tyson a bit of mad money to spend while I was away.
Plus, believe it or not, New Yorkers have replaced the prices on the menus with .... CALORIES!!!???? I only noticed when I was choosing a bread roll, and thought that $230 was a bit much for a bit of baked wheat flour and yeast. Not joking people, it's true. Bread roll = 230 calories = priceless. At this point I am more worried about my hip pocket than my hips, so I am finding it difficult to choose my meals, although today I had two wonderful ones with friends. Magic Brian and Amy took me to Ethiopian where we gladly ate with our hands and discussed the merits of service staff actually being paid a wage instead of relying on tips (20% it is!). And I had a lovely Japanese lunch with gorgeous Ceili who I have so missed and who showed me around Basil Twist's puppet studio where she is working. She has made these fabulous tentacles which will look incredible once they're done. I have also offered to help her out a bit with her shadows which she needs to finish quickly.

Coming back here, I feel like I have so much to learn from my puppet friends. They are amazingly talented builders and puppeteers and I want so much to be here to learn from them, but then I think of my dog Tyson and how much I love him and I know that I can't be in two places at once. But I am staying at matt's and every day I am in a room full of intricate and perfectly finished puppets that he has made, and it makes me inspired to learn from him again.

So yesterday, I visited Victor and saw promo for his new film which will be out soon: The Awkward Kings of Comedy, and I am so proud. And jealous of course, but mainly, really damn proud. It's fantastic. And I believe they may be getting some Australian distribution, so look out for it cos it looks great. Plus I visited my old apartment and my old flatmate, Master Lee, and I almost died. You could see the floor, there was a door on the toilet and shock horror, actual toilet paper in there as opposed to a collection of napkins supplied with the steady string of take away. New York has changed and so has Master Lee! Yes, there was no door on the bathroom while I lived there. Well, there were doors, but they were kind of useless - they were saloon doors that swung open, and they only covered the middle of the door, so that if you were standing, the door just barely covered the important bits, but if you were SITTING you saw everything. It was a true joy living there and planning when my daily poo should occur ... generally before people woke up, or after they left, which sometimes could be ages. And when I arrived there 7 years earlier, I spent 3 days cleaning the kitchen and didn't even bother trying to clean the shower curtain. I just threw it away and invested in a new one. But he has cleaned himself up and the apartment and cooked me burritos. It was such a shock, but an great one. Oh, and he invested in sheets and a bed, and was so proud that he had done so, he made me try the bed. His fiance told him to stop doing that cos it as was creeping people out, so I assume I am not the first guest he has made lie down on the bed to try it. I think he stopped himself just short of making me crawl under the doona.

Oh! And I also did a comedy spot last night at Penny's Open Mic. Yup. Went down really well. I had to translate some of my set into America speak, but everything got great laughs, so I was happy. It's a lovely room. A lovely room. Small, intimate, welcoming and kind of truthful.

So it has indeed been a full few days, but I am really having so much fun. The people I loved before are the same people I love now. Which is a glorious thing.