Observations after a Sunday and Monday in New York City

The same:
People here are still better looking.

Different:
You can pay for a taxi with a credit card. I have several memories of having a taxi drop me off at the ATM close to my apartment. This is a convenience I would have liked.

Also different:
Me.

Trips back to New York are always thought provoking. It was my home. But every visit is different in terms of the connectedness that I feel to this place. Probably has an inverse relationship to the connectedness I feel for where I am now. I'm not sure I'm ready to call North Carolina "my home" but it did make me aware that I have an attachment to Durham. For that, I am glad.

I used to wear much black, like everyone else. This trip had me sporting a powder blue coat. With flowers on it. I felt liked I screamed "not from here." It's also a spring coat and wasn't really enough coat for the weather which also might have had something to do with why I felt it stood out.

When I graduated, moving to New York was non-negotiable. Despite parental protestations I moved to New York, stayed through 9/11, moved away, came back and thought everyone else not in NYC was hopelessly unsophisticated and missing out. I don't live there anymore and I get asked all the time about moving back. I would, but it's a qualified "I would."

Also the same:
Me.
I still am energized and then exhausted by this place.
I still delight in the bizarreness of the inhabitants.
I still hate the F train.