The Grass is Always Greener Somewhere in NYC

I grew up in NYC and pride myself on having been molded in its high metabolism environment, where organized chaos rules, you see thousands of people each day, and you have to dodge traffic at every turn. In such a big city, anything is possible and everything is happening all at once. Whereas in Austin, I was prone to knowing I was in the coolest spot, but wishing for more diversity and options, NYC provides a source of a different type of malaise.

This was an interesting weekend for me. On Saturday I had two amazing events to go to. The first was Santacon where 600 people dress up as Santa and do a pub crawl while causing mayhem at various landmarks. Imagine 600 santas storming bryant park and mounting its statues or climbing firetrucks, or just the bar scene at a local Irish pub. It's organized mayhem and one of my favorite days of the year.




At the same time, I had a Chanukah party at one of my closest friends, where we reveled in our holiday spirit, spun the dreidel, and I became the Gimel king. It was fantastic. In the end, I did both Santacon and Chanukah, but I certainly missed out on the latter half of Santacon, where Santa's inhibition is washed away by everything from egg nog to tequila. And so it is in NYC, where there is always something fantastic happening, and probably some place better to be.

The secret to living in NYC, at least for me, is to make the most of your time, but also to be comfortable knowing you can't be at the best party even any of the time. There is simply too much going on. Cherish the time you have with the friends you have. And hey, it's better than living in Austin.