8 days from today I'll be getting on to a big beautiful iron bird and flying non-stop (thank you Jesus!) to New York City to start the next chapter of the Elle Lectrick experience. Which I'm realizing now would have been a way better blog title, oh well. In the meantime I'm taking down the boxes one card board sentinel at a time, to shuffle and sort through all the earthly belongings of this West Coast life I've been piecing together. I think the fact that things like my beloved Hello Kitty toaster (burns her face right into the bread!) have been in storage for 6 months is reason enough to try to find a place that isn't The Bay that might have some counter space on which to put that fanciful kitty toaster. That may seem like a small, insignificant reason to ditch the Golden State, home of my entire friend and family base, but alas you have never had toast with a Japanese cat face on it.
Just kidding!
The facts are I've always wanted to live in New York. In high school I tried to get into Sarah Lawrence college, an endeavor that ended in a teary screaming match with my parents who absolutely refused to pay to have their daughter live 3,000 miles away from them. My reaction was fairly dramatic, but I was goth in high school so literally everything was dramatic. I opted instead to attend Mills College a mere 30 miles from my hometown. While I was in college I found my way onto a roller derby league and began traveling the country with about 45 other women. There's nothing quite like going to a women's college and being on a roller derby league at the same time, the closest comparison is belonging to a secret organization and being a celebrity with a massive entourage. I was told I could do anything and saw women everyday who said "I'm gonna do this" and just did it. And we're talking about The Bay Area in the mid-2000 the things that these women were going out and doing were so exciting; I saw the insides of art studios from people who made stuff for Burning Man, ate for free with food truck entrepreneurs, visited sex workers living rooms, carried red wine from a book launch reading to the back stage of a music venue, roller skated in historic landmarks, and jumped rooftops into a party with both a bonfire and a burlesque show.
After college, and a stint at a coffee shop where I met my bestie, I found myself working in 2 Bay Area museums and writing a the best zine in the universe The Blunt Letters. The second half of my twenties I had settled down considerably. Finally, I had work that I cared about, that allowed me to be my super nerdy self and talk to people who were interested in California. At that time I was still totally in love with California, the history, the weather, but slowly things were changing. The rents in my once beloved Oakland were sky rocketing as the tech industry boomed.From recession to housing crisis the working class artists were just getting slammed and Oakland was "totes into it". Every week there was a new macaroni and cheese restaurant, artisan meat eatery, over priced bar, and small business closure. What's worse is, my friends the artists and writers were moving out and away from the bay. I stayed and watched as venue after venue closed. There were no more house shows or even house parties because no one could afford a house. Eventually my own housing situation fell apart and I was back at my parent's house.
So cool, I have the best friend in the world, a sweet job, and the best zine in the universe. However, I live with my parents, I work 6 days a week, I can't afford an apartment, and I'm severely disillusioned. Enter the opportunity of a life time: a job in New York City, and a place to live for free until I get on my feet. It's time to dust off an old dream. After 2 anxiety attacks and many deep breaths, I'm here in my cardboard fort surrounded with the material pieces of my life thus far. Maybe having room for a toaster on my kitchen counter isn't the best reason to fly across the country to another incredibly expensive metropolis, but becoming a well-rounded interesting non-townie is a good reason.
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