...My Own (well, my side of the) Bed, NY, NY.

Ah... joyous night!

Back in my lovely city at last! It has been far too long.

I forgot how much I love the shade of red paint on my bedroom ceiling... it's amazing what we lose in such a short time. I forgot the funny wonderful stale warm smell of this place when you walk through the door, and how clean it is when I'm not around for a while (Kat is to blame for the tidiness). It's good to be home.

Let's backtrack to the exciting story of leaving Wauconda, though... for those of you following along.

By about Noon central time, Vicki, in a feat of superhuman resiliency on her part (if she had anywhere near the severity of symptoms as I myself had just a day before) was ready to leave the house and head out with us towards New York. During the drive, I read my book for a little while (a delightful novel called "How to Buy A Love of Reading" by Tanya Egan Gibson... give it a read!) and then ventured into a favorite pastime called "Sleeping in a Crowded Van" which mainly consists of crunching yourself into an inhuman, beyond yoga even position where your only hope is that your uncomfortable parts fall asleep or at least numb quickly so as to allow a measure of comfort in sleep.

After a couple hours of napping, and a stop at a rest-stop/eatery-palooza that was more overpriced than most New York establishments (a Whopper for 5 bucks? bitch please), I decided to watch a couple movies I had packed with me for the three weeks away but had yet to view. I started with the Robert DeNiro movie, Everybody's Fine. The movie was really quite endearing, but after an hour and a couple minutes, the disc started skipping uncontrollably, so I had to stop. Sad day. I decided I would finish it when I get home. Um... which is now. So... it'll be done soon enough I suppose. Anyway, the part I saw was really quite satisfying... to a person who is satisfied by morose characters.

After that, I watched It's Complicated. I liked it a lot. Alec Baldwin delivers a great performance, as does Meryl Streep (which practically goes without saying at this point in her career--I'm pretty sure her bowel movements get nominated for something or other). Steve Martin was good, if a slight bit underused for how the film had been promoted. I thought it was going to be this big conflict between the boyfriend and the ex-husband, when it's really more of a conflict between two ex-lovers with the boyfriend thrown in last minute to offer Streep's character a chance for some kind of external redemption. Fine enough, works for me. Of course, John Krasinski is great in this too. Oh you didn't know he was in it? Yeah. He is. And he's outstanding. I don't even care that most of his characters are the same... he as an individual is outrageously likable and dammit I'll buy it every time.

Anyway, the movie had me laughing and then I realized that I was feeling good. Not just better, but good. My body was producing endorphins again! It was like an immense sugar rush that lasted for hours, but without the awkward jitters or the crash... just natural high. Good stuff.

Anyway, soon after this, we were approaching the 7 hour mark on our journey and Kris tells us we have to exit the highway and find a hotel. Why, you ask? Because she is Nauseous! The nefarious virus strikes AGAAAAIN!

So, we begrudgingly check in to this Econo Lodge in Youngstown, OH for the night and make camp there. Mike and I left to get food and we got some pretty decent Chinese food in town (IMPORTANT DETAIL!!!) and brought it back to the motel to eat and then go to sleep. I ate the large Wonton Soup (which was really good) and a little bit of my Chow Mein and then I went to bed an hour or so later.)

I woke up feeling like a dumpster filled with vomit and tears... and my head felt like there was another head inside it trying to tunnel its way out to see the new world. Neither of these were appreciated, obviously, as I had hoped the euphoric feeling of the night before was a sign of my return to good health and the banishment of this horrible disease from my system.

We got in the car and headed out on the road dreadfully early. Well, 8 a.m. But... yeah, dreadfully early. Vicki graciously took first shift at driving, because of my aforementioned state of being, and I just went to sleep in the back. Some four hours later (hoping that if I didn't move, people would just keep driving until we made it to New York) I was nudged to take the wheel. Dammit. So, I got out of the car, took a few steps and my stomach felt okay... but... woah... my head felt a hot air balloon fastened to my neck by a rickety tin hinge. I wasn't going to say I couldn't drive... it was time to, as the side of the truck from Texas sitting beside us read, "Cowboy Up". So, I went inside to find the appropriate medicinal relief for this ailment. Finally Kris found something in her purse that was supposed to help whatever it was that was affecting me. So, I popped the pills and headed out on the road.

The first hour or so of driving was kind of terrifying... for me. Everyone else was conked out asleep. I was driving around eighty miles an hour in this damn van and my head was about as foggy as a worn out magic eight ball so I had to work to keep the car in between the lines. So that was fun. And potentially life threatening. After an hour or so, though, the fog lifted and my head cleared. I felt pretty much the way I felt the night before, energetic, even slightly euphoric. About half an hour outside of the city though... another emergency stop was requested...!

Now, for those of you playing at home... which castmember has yet to lose their lunch?

If you guessed Mike... you were right! However, technically didn't lose his lunch... it was... you guessed it, the Chinese Dinner from last night! (told that was important) That's right folks, in an epic display of both manliness and awfulness, I pulled over on the side of the highway and Mike let forth a geyser of disgusting proportions. It was pretty epic. Afterward, he got back in the van with the nonchalance of someone who'd just peed in an alley, seemingly back in good spirits, and we returned to the road and to New York without further impediment.

I spent the afternoon getting into my New York spring time groove. I got home and showered, oh so necessary, and headed down to West 72nd street to be among the people. I hit up Urban Outfitters for an essential pair of welcome to Spring sunglasses... they're awesome... just wait and see... and a further essential pair of frankfurters from the Gray's Papaya across the street. I sat on the benches and relished (no pun intended) the gaze of the handsome gay guys checking me out (why does this always happen? I mean not that I want women checking me out all the time... I'm in a relationship... hello? but, just, you know... it'd be nice... every once in a while. I'd be such a hot gay, it's crazy. or maybe my appeal is my straightness... hmmm... any gays reading this... please explain?) Anyway, I met up with Kat up by our apartment after we realized that we had just ridden the same train uptown for the past 20 minutes (a common New York occurrence for you outsiders) and had the perfunctory Armistice Day kiss in Times Square moment, except instead of a sailor and a nurse it was us and instead of Times Square, it was 162nd and Amsterdam, but other than that... the same. Well, I could go on with what happened after that, but I'll just let your minds wander...

I suppose that's all for now.