So It Begins With a Visitor

  A good friend came to New York yesterday and asked if I would come with her and her 19 month old son to the NY Children's Museum.  Instantly, I went from "newbie" to "tour guide."  Beginning with the arduous process of finding her in Penn Station, the only place in New York where I feel mildly comfortable getting around, to getting around the city by foot and stroller (over 6 miles), to entertaining a toddler in a chaotically run "museum," and ending with a beer back in Penn Station, sitting in exhausted awe of the beer man who seemed to be making approximately $10 a minute handing tall boys out to white, white-collared, business men.  I wasn't the best tour guide but I was a lot cheaper.  

  After talking with her over the refreshingly cold beer, she suggested I start a blog about being a new "New Yorker".  Truth be told, it is a good idea.  At the very least, it is a good way to describe the oddities of New York, of which there are many, to friends, family, and the ubiquitous "other" that may come across the blog that have never been here.  So here's the intro: the most common question I have gotten since I got here is, "Why are you here?" Surprisingly, at least to me, there have only been a few, rare instances where that question is followed by, "how do you like it?"

  Let me start with why I am here.  A friend joked that I had taken Senator Obama too seriously when he said it was time for a change.  All jokes aside, there are a lot of reasons, mostly romantic and lofty but, first off, I was about to turn 27.  Not necessarily old by any standard, except by the 22 year olds I have been out to the bars with, but an age where you look at your life and decide where to go with it.  I am going into my 3rd year of law school and am not just unhappy with that choice, I am disappointed and needed a fresh start.  So I decided what I really want out of life is to be a Political Science professor and will have to attend graduate school, which will be on the east coast, so why not come and see if I can handle it first?  By popular opinion, it was more logical to finish my law degree first so I took advantage of the opportunities to study away.  

  I am also single and was pretty much fed up with that life in Seattle.  Don't get me wrong, Seattle had many endearing qualities (which I will no doubt recount when talking about NY) but I needed to get out before I felt like I was locked in.  So I am a visiting student at City University of New York Law School, the first solely Public Interest law school in the country, and in most respects the model that Seattle University follows.  Despite the logical reasons, the biggest motivator was to begin an adventure, to take a journey into what I can do and to push myself.  I hope that while that is a serious endeavor, this blog shows that I don't actually take myself that seriously.  When I think about it, I probably wouldn't be here if I did.  

  So really I am in NY to see what happens.  Answering the second question is more difficult because it takes time.  But I hope both the first question and the second come out in these blog entries as an answer.  I predict now that it will not be coherent.  But such is life.  

 The layout will be quite simple and will of course include a gimmick.  For the gimmick, I will lure you here with a picture of the day.  It will have been taken by me and will correspond with whatever seems relevant from that day's entry.  On Saturday and Sunday, I will re-cap anything that I may have missed in the daily entries and this weekend I will try and catch you up on the last two months- my first impressions here.    

 I begin with the assumption that only my mother and the voice whom inspired me will read this.  That said, I intend to entertain you and encourage feedback.  I was told not to do this unless I was ready and willing to open up.  I shall do my best.  If anything this can simply be documentation that a guy from Seattle went to NY.  Maybe one day I will look back and remember what it was like.