Guitars, dogs, bikes, skirts, and smiles in the sun

I wore a skirt yesterday.  I shaved my legs, moisturized them, put on some cute shoes, and wore a skirt.  Because it was lovely out.  And the lovely weather draws people outside and it revitalizes this city in the most amazing way.  Although the streets get more crowded and walking is more difficult and my pace is broken more often, I can't help but love what sunshine does to this city.

I saw three times as many dogs outside yesterday, lying on the street outside cafes while owners casually sipped iced coffees.  I saw a man sitting on his front steps just jamming on a guitar and singing his heart out with whatever lyrics he conjured on the spot.  I saw a boy reading a book, sitting on the side of the street under the shade of a tree.  I saw artists sketching I saw children with facepaint and people with bunches of balloons, tons of joggers and loads of bikers whizzing down the streets.  With some good music on, I wanted my walk to last for hours.

I didn't wear a jacket.  I could feel the sunshine.  I walked along the Hudson.  I went for a drive with the windows down, and it felt wonderful.  I turned off my air conditioning and left my room windows open, sleeping under the breeze.

I don't have much to say about the weather, just that it was lovely and I smiled all day.

I. Love. Sunshine.  (taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/virgomerry/11227682/) 

Get outside,
The A.S.S.

Just One of the Guys

St. Patrick's Day!  A decently appropriate time to bring up this post.  It's something I've thought about with great frequency and something that I still can't determine my feelings towards.  I am a bro.

But not like, polo shirt wearing, popped collar, hat turned to the side kind of bro.  I'm a "let's just have some beers, guys" kind of bro.  The "I wear boxers and a sports bra to sleep" type of bro.  The "yeah, of course you can joke around with me, but expect it right back at you" bro.  The, "clean-smelling t-shirt?  Done." bro.  And I love that; I love being relaxed and comfortable and just chilling out with some close friends over a few beers.

But is that enough?

"Born this Way" ...ugh.

Gaga lovers, be warned.

Heyyyy... sorry about that.

I'm back!  From hiatus!  I had a lot of shit going on and even though writing has been my outlet and a way for me to cope with everything, for some reason, I just couldn't blog.  It wasn't working, it wasn't helping, and it was stressing me out more.  A lot went down during finals and over break and in the past few weeks.  Like:

-the deaths of several people close to me
-holidays with the family and close friends and ensuing drama/events
-Drifter breaking off whatever it was we had
-attempting to finalize plans for the next three years of my life
-learning that someone close to me is expecting a child soon
-a friend of mine getting engaged
-running into old friends and doing a LOT of catching up
-...including a very close friend from home telling me he was gay and had known for over a year, but was too afraid to tell me sooner
-immersing myself in a new world and diving head first into the culture
-being told by several close friends that I should seek medical and psychological help, as they speculate I might be suffering depression
-a good friend finally starting to wean himself off of the medications he's been taking his entire life

and probably a bunch more other things that I can't remember right now.  And of course, there's the typical swings of emotions and thoughts from a day-to-day basis, work, classes, and everything else.  I don't really have anything in particular to talk about right now or the time to necessarily do so, but every day I remember this blog and remember how long it's been and feel incredibly guilty.  So hello, I'm still here and haven't forgotten about this little project, don't anyone worry.

Also, happy first birthday!  It was technically 8 days ago, but like I said, I've been all over the place.

And more importantly, a shout-out to all the international viewers!  Blogger is telling me that I have people from all over the world reading, which is AMAZING.  From India to Russia to Slovenia to Australia to Canada to Germany to several other countries, that's so so cool to find out.  So thanks, everyone!  Hope I'm vaguely interesting and can get you all to keep coming back :)

Over and out,
I hope things are well for everyone out there!
The A.S.S.