That’s Stella

I went on a date on Friday night. We met at this bar around the corner from my place. I only wanted to commit to drinks since I didn’t know this guy that well and in case he didn’t like me, or vice versa, I didn’t want that awkwardness of pretending to be interested for an entire meal. But when we met at the front of the bar, he suggested dinner and I figured I would take the risk!

To cut a long story short… we got along great. Dinner went swimmingly. He nearly choked on some spices but other than that, conversation and drinks flowed.

We continued getting to know each other and bar hopped around the West Village. We scored a couch at this bar and things got cosy. But I was pretty conscious of not wanting to really go there and kept my distance. A few beers later, we bar hopped to this brewery.

By this time I was sloshed. We were drinking at this bar and he kept inching forward towards me, his face getting closer to mine, but I kept moving back. We started drinking at the bar, and an hour later I was practically out the door trying to keep my distance. It’s not like I didn’t think he was cute, and we got along great, but in my head I kept thinking what a great guy friend he would be. I have plenty of girl friends here, but am seriously lacking in male friends which is strange because the majority of my friends in Perth are male and I miss them terribly. So the closer he got, the more I kept trying to convince myself if we kissed, there was no way we could just be friends. It would’ve been so easy to just pash him at the bar (haha I love the word ‘pash’) but in the long term, I thought a friendship would definitely be more rewarding.

Anyway he left me to go to the bathroom and whilst he was away I spot this HOT guy at the bar! I could not stop checking this guy out. He was gorgeous. So imagine my surprise when this hot guy at the bar starts walking towards me!!!!

I tried to regain some composure and made an effort to stand up straight and let go of the bar stool I had been clutching to for some balance. This guy strolls over and says to me

“Sorry I took so long. Where were we?”

So there IS such a thing as Beer Goggles!!!!

This officially goes on my list of Memorable Life Experiences…

My girl friends managed to get out of work early and caught a ferry from downtown Manhattan’s financial district to Liberty State Park, New Jersey. It started raining as soon as we boarded the ferry and stopped as soon as we put our feet on Jersey ground.

The views were spectacular by day. Manhattan skyline behind us. Ellis island and the powering Statue of Liberty to our right. It was only more magnificent by night.

We caught a bit of Grizzly Bear action, then rushed over to see CSS. It was another mad dash to check out Underworld then we settled at Girl Talk. I was bummed I missed out on The Go Team earlier in the day and also majorly bummed our VIP pass wasn’t that impressive. But the main reason we went was Radiohead.

It was a crowd of 20,000 people at the festival. My girl friends and I braved the crowd and ventured deep into the Radiohead crowd to try and get a decent view. We managed to get right in the middle, so close yet so far. I could barely see Thom Yorke even on tippy toes. The crowd was generally nice and more calm and mature than the Big Day Out mosh pit. Being the 5′3 shorty that I am, men (and women) offered to pick me up so I could get a glance at the stage but declined as it would have been bad ettiquite for me to block someone elses view. The thought of being in the middle of a big 20,000 crowd of people and the overwhelming smell of weed and lack of fresh air was making me anxious. I wondered if I threw up whether I would suddenly have so much space around me, but scanning the crowd, there was no room to budge.

I have been listening to Radiohead since I was 14 years old so, 10 years later, it felt amazing to finally be seeing them live.

The skies were getting dark. There were hints of pink clouds across the Manhattan skyline behind us.

Radiohead started the show and it was overwhelming. Everyone around me kept freaking out. The 30ish year old man behind me kept turning around in circles. “THE STATUE OF LIBERTY IS BEHIND US. THERE IS MANHATTAN JUST OVER THERE. AND JERSEY CITY. I AM LISTENING TO RADIOHEAD. FUCK!”.

I was as high as a kite. I reached my hands to the sky and wriggled my fingers to feel the cool air above me. I started to get teary listening to Lucky - thinking about where I was in the world. How far away I was from home. Thinking about the beauty and opportunities and experiences to be had in my new home. And just like the guy said, the stunning Manhattan skyline, the lights from Jersey city, the Liberty Lady standing over us.

All it takes is a vibration under my feet. The sound of an alarm I’m not usually familiar with. A prolonged alarm going off. Stillness in the neighborhood. Any one of these things makes my heart skip a beat and my mind goes into semi-panic mode. I wonder if a giant lizard is munching on tourists in Times Square. Or if there is a big tidal wave approaching Manhattan. The thought of strange little creatures invading the streets pops into mind. Or maybe people are turning into zombies in the Financial District after working insane hours. Or maybe that unfamiliar alarm is the sound of the Ghostbusters being called in for duty at the Mayor’s office.

I mean honestly, with all the movies depicting New York City as the center of devastation, can you really blame me? Whether it’s Godzilla, King Kong, Cloverfield, The Day After Tomorrow, I Am Legend or The Happening, they’ve all given me a complex! Haha… call me paranoid.

Then there was of course the real devastation of September 11. The anniversary is coming up next month and I wonder what the city is going to be like on the day…