End of a decade

These last 10 years I...

• Graduated from college.
• Moved to NYC.
• Had my heart broken.
• Broke some hearts.
• Worked on a farm. TWICE. I can inject medicine into animals and put a chainsaw together. I also got really good at keeping myself occupied.
  
• Groomed a pony in Kentucky. And ate awesome BBQ there.
  
• Lived with my best friends.
• Made some new best friends.
• Drove cross country in a van with no heat.
  
• Traveled to Japan, Germany, the Southwest. Toronto. Vermont. Aside from JPN, I'd never been to any of those places before.
  
• Went whale watching.
  
• Had a major injury.
• Got a real job with benefits & direct deposit.
• Lost 2 people near & dear to me.
• Went camping.
• Watched Grandpa deteriorate.
• Connected with long losts.
• Went to some great live shows: Asobi Seksu like 5 times. Feist 2 times. Bad Religion. Face to Face. Explosions in the Sky. Jungle Brothers/Black Sheep. Edan. Tilly & the Wall. Cibo Matto. Thievery Corporation. Kid Koala, P-Love & DJ Jester 3 times. Tommy Guerrero. Smoosh. Sebadoh. Ted Leo 3 or 4 times...
• Got duped by some real assholes. And learned.
  
• Met my Brand New Love. And then acquired a cat.
• Got my first tattoo. And then my second one.
• Taught myself to knit, then tried to start a side business. It's okay so far.
• Tried my hand at food styling - it didn't really work out.
• Was a fairy, a 1950s diner waitress, Trinity (from the Matrix), Ziggy Stardust, Wednesday Addams, a Dazed & Confused senior (Air raid, bitches!) for Halloween. I skipped dressing up those years I was on the farm.
• Celebrated my birthday alone twice (also on the farm). It builds character. Plus, the Jack Russells wore party hats.
  
• Learned to cook a lot of things - roast chicken, a real carbonara (there is no cream!), porchetta, risotto, bread in a Dutch oven... and developed a few signature dishes (namely those awesome chicken wings).
  
• Ate a lot of awesome meals. Too many to name but more recently (in the past few years) - cassoulet and profiteroles at La Sirene, a 3-course dinner at Ad Hoc, roasted bone marrow with ox tail marmalade at Blue Ribbon, every meal I've eaten at 'ino, sweet water oysters at Hog Island Oyster Co, Thanksgiving dinner 2009, BBQ at Louie Mueller, Mom's sinigang na bangus, Peking duck buns at Corner 28, cold sesame noodles from Xian Foods, Szechuan hot pot, sushi at Ushiwakamaru, any meal at Soba Totto, Akamaru Modern ramen at Ippudo, darjeeling pannacotta and peach sorbet at Chikalicious (it was Andrew's but I wanted to eat it all), Di Fara's Sicilian pizza, lobster roll and bouillabaise at Mary's Fish Camp, the first time I had soup buns (Joe's Shanghai w/ DS & co), lobster grits at BK Flea, blueberry pie with cream at Pies & Thighs......
  
• Was featured in a couple of magazines. If Giant Robot counts, that's one. And also Fader with Peelander-Z.
• Bought my first pieces of real furniture. No milk crates, no sidewalk hunting.
• Was sexually harrassed several times - peepee on the E train, ass grabbing on the 6 train and a pervert following me home on a bike telling me to suck it. Awesome!