Friday 10/31/08 Day 6- I’m sure statistically it’s quite improbable that I would run into a Syracusan I know by accident in NYC. There are so many people packed into Manhattan, into the Upper West Side, into the tiny market that is Fairway, that the idea I would run into someone there is just preposterous, but in my experience, likely. This is the way the world works… God, Fate, the Irony of Life… However it happens, it definitely has a sense of humor and a supreme scheme. I just ran into Alan Wright, the Executive Producer of the Syracuse International Film Festival, in Fairway, the local grocery store. He’s in town meeting people on behalf of the film festival.
We each bought something to munch on (I had my first bottle of Kombucha… not bad, but it fizzed everywhere… I wasn’t prepared for that). The last few days have been rainy, grey and cold, but today is beautifully sunny and warm, so we found a bench outside near the subway entrance on 72nd and sat to chat for awhile. Alan has lived in several places in the UK, in NY, LA, etc. This is only the third time I’ve met him. The first was at NYSCA’s Cultural Blueprints Conference only two and a half weeks ago, where he led the International breakout session. Therefore, since my first introduction to him was having the pleasure of listening to his experiences of the places he has lived in comparison to Syracuse, and now after running into him in NYC, I will always think of him as an international.
What stays with me about our conversation was the story of his youngest son, who turned down a job offer at the BBC prior to his Senior year of college because he said he needed to go around the world one more time. After spending two months on an island in a great deal of solitude, he eventually decided to pursue real estate instead of film production. After returning from his travels, he went at it full steam with such maturity and focus that Alan said he made up for any time he may have lost and is now doing quite well. Stories like this are reassuring to me in this time of fiscal crisis.
According to Niles, a random lawyer I met and a few other folks I’ve been talking to, New York runs on Wall Street and on advertising dollars. There have been cuts in both places. People are advising me to keep my job wherever I go (which of course, it’s too late for that). Anyone in sales or investments is checking out their options for employment in other sectors. Finally, everyone unanimously thinks that without a doubt it will get much worse before it gets better. The good news is they all do think it will get better, perhaps in a few years. In a way Syracuse is a very smart place to be right now because it will wear the weather much better (pun intended). The housing market is already at bottom and it certainly doesn’t run on advertising dollars. All types of people have investments, so that will effect the country and the economy nationwide, but Syracuse is great spot to have a nest in right now.
Today I am moving from Katie’s apartment in the Upper West Side to David’s apartment in the Upper East Side. I may stay at Roslyn’s a few nights, but I’m using David’s as a home base.
