i keep a diary

October, 2012

The October Roundup and SuperStorm Sandy

October was a doozy of a month. Meredith moved out and then Alphabet City got slammed by Hurricane Sandy. Here are all the pics I took.

Saturday, October 6th

After eight years of friendship, six years of living together and three years of marriage, Meredith and I decided to take our relationship to the next level and SPLIT UP! ;) Earlier in the week she'd found a temporary apartment for rent nearby and on Saturday afternoon, I helped her move her stuff out.
e9th apt ˆ moving

Thursday, October 25th

erika, scott
At some point during October, I lost my camera along with all of the photos from the beginning of the month. (I was just getting used to Meredith and I separating so it was a quiet few weeks). Fast-forward to the end of the month: I bought a new camera and Scott & Erika came into town to...
e9th apt ˆ stairs ˆ erika ˆ scott
erika, meredith, scott
....celebrate Scott's birthday with tickets to see Louis CK! (Meredith and I were in the weird phase of having to explain to everyone that we'd split up and no longer living together, but that we were still friends and you didn't have to pick a side).
erika ˆ meredith ˆ scott
Beautiful Beacon Theater.
louis ck
Nice to see him doing a larger venue! (Two years later and now he's doing shows at Madison Square Garden - insanity!).
louis ck
maddy
We had a nice night hanging out after the show...
maddy
...and even managed to talk Scott into trimming his super-long toenails! Haha.
gross ˆ toe

Friday, October 26th

erika, scott
The next morning we had a breakfast at 7A before they hit the road. Happy birthday, Scott!
birthday ˆ diner ˆ food ˆ erika ˆ scott
I love when the ivy on the fence across the street starts changing colors.
fence ˆ ivy ˆ la plaza cultural
Later that afternoon, I walked back over to...
car ˆ la plaza cultural
...the park to meet up with...
park ˆ tompkins
grant
...this guy for one of our many "What the fuck are we doing with our lives?" chats...
bench ˆ park ˆ tompkins ˆ grant
...amongst the changing leaves.
park ˆ tompkins ˆ tree
I'm still obsessed with the idea of buying an RV, subletting my apartment and tooling around the country for a few months with Maddy as my co-pilot. This beauty is still for sale right down the street from me. I daydream every time I pass it.

(If you own an RV and are interested in doing a 1-3 month swap for my 2BR East Village apartment, please get in touch!)
east village ˆ rv

Saturday, October 27th

Pumpkinhead Shadowman! Bought a pumpkin and hopped on the subway out to Queens to attend...
best ˆ halloween ˆ pumpkin ˆ scary ˆ shadow
eva, jenny penny
...Jenny & Eva's Pumpkin Carving Party!
halloween ˆ eva ˆ jenny penny
jenny penny, me
This was the first party I'd gone to since Mer and I had split up. I was feeling sad & and little tender. I didn't come with a costume so Jenny helped me spice it up a bit...
halloween ˆ jenny penny ˆ me
me
...with some glow-in-the-dark vampire teeth to help with the Halloween spirit.
halloween ˆ vampire ˆ me
eva
Their entire living room floor was covered with a drop cloth...
halloween ˆ house party ˆ pumpkin ˆ eva
...to catch all the pumpkin guts.
halloween ˆ jackolantern ˆ pumpkin
Carving in progress.
halloween ˆ house party ˆ jackolantern ˆ pumpkin
I like to do "skull face" on both my face and on my pumpkins for Halloween.
halloween ˆ jackolantern ˆ pumpkin ˆ skull
jenny penny, marisa
Dorthy Penny arranging the finished jackolanters on the table.
halloween ˆ jackolantern ˆ pumpkin ˆ jenny penny ˆ marisa
lauren w, marisa
Lauren putting the finishing touches on her...
house party ˆ jackolantern ˆ pumpkin ˆ lauren w ˆ marisa
...round-holes disco-pumpkin!
halloween ˆ jackolantern ˆ pumpkin
Lightnight bolt & a Lil devil.
halloween ˆ jackolantern ˆ pumpkin
Adventure Time?
halloween ˆ pumpkin
Thanks for having us all over, Jenny & Eva!
halloween ˆ jackolantern ˆ pumpkin
On the subway ride home I stood next to this guy's awesome Grant Wood costume on the platform. Haha.
best ˆ costumes ˆ halloween ˆ strangers ˆ subway platform

Sunday, October 28th

On Sunday morning I biked down to East Broadway...
bike
grant
...for a delicious Cafe Petisco breakfast with Grant. He'd recently discovered...
brunch ˆ excited ˆ food ˆ grant
...their insane malawah dish. Crispy layers of Yemenite fillo dough topped with 2 eggs served with spicy puree of tomatoes. Ridiculously tasty.
breakfast ˆ brunch ˆ egg ˆ food
On my walk home, I tried to cut through Tompkins Park, but the gates were locked...
hurricane sandy ˆ sign ˆ tompkins
...due to a storm called Hurricane Sandy that might be headed NYC's way. (This was the first indication that maybe I should start paying attention to all of the warnings about the upcoming storm.)
hurricane sandy ˆ sign
Seeing the park closed, made me rethink the storm warning and I decided to hit the grocery store to stock up on some food...
groceries ˆ hurricane sandy
...and pick up a bunch of candles in case the power went out for a while.
candles ˆ hurricane sandy
maddy
Took a little afternoon couch nap with this grimple...
dogs ˆ squinty ˆ maddy
...and then went to see Cloud Atlas with Grant. The movies were totally empty...
movie ˆ sign
grant, me
...and when we got out of the movie, the streets of New York were practically deserted as well and...
walking ˆ grant ˆ me
...everywhere we passed, there were signs of hurricane preparation.
hurricane sandy

Monday, October 29th

I had a quiet day at home on Monday waiting for the storm to arrive. According to the NYC Hurricane Evacuation map , my apartment was in an area label for mandatory evacuation. I figured I'd rather spend a few days roughing it in the apartment with Maddy over heading to one of the big NYC group-shelters. Besides, how bad could it get anyway? Around 7:30pm, the streets below my apartment started to flood. Ruh-oh!
east village ˆ hurricane sandy
I headed downstairs to snap a few photos.
hurricane sandy
Back upstairs, I noticed that the water was starting to flow a lot faster. Ave C was slowly starting to resemble a flowing river.
hurricane sandy
As the water slowly crept up, cars with low-clearance started flooding with water. This police van came by...
east village ˆ hurricane sandy ˆ nypd ˆ police
...to pick up all the cops who were stranded in their cruisers in the now-five-inch-deep water.
best ˆ hurricane sandy ˆ nypd ˆ police
The daring rescue was a success. All ankles were kept dry!
hurricane sandy ˆ nypd ˆ police
Thirty minutes later and the water showed no sign of slowing!
hurricane sandy
Ave C between 8th & 9th. See how that black car looks like it has its headlights on? The water rose high enough that it completed the circuit on the car battery turning the lights on. Weird!
hurricane sandy
All cars were officially flooded and the water continued to creep on on the trucks.
hurricane sandy
Crazy right?
hurricane sandy
Fifteen minutes later, the water had gotten high enough to start setting off car alarms! I was a really strange sight to see the street turned into a literal RIVER while all of the cars flashed their lights and made muffled honking sounds UNDER the water.
hurricane sandy
The water had almost covered the top of the police cruisers' wheel-wells!
hurricane sandy
Despite the rising water level...
hurricane sandy
...I decided to head back down to the lobby to get a better look and discovered...
hurricane sandy
...the water had risen to the top of our stairs and was just starting to lap into the building. NOT GOOD!
hurricane sandy
The water had almost reached the height of the cars' door handles!
best ˆ hurricane sandy
Not wanting to risk electrocution venturing out into cold, waist-deep water...
hurricane sandy
...I went back upstairs to watch the surreal show from my window.
east river ˆ hurricane sandy ˆ nypd ˆ police
While looking north, I spotted...
hurricane sandy
...this dude out wading around in the flood waters. Here he is taking a rest holding onto the metal box that houses all of the high-voltage circuits for the traffic lights. Smart!
hurricane sandy ˆ strangers
Not managing to find death on this particular corner, he bravely trudged on through the now-waist-deep water to search for his demise elsewhere.
hurricane sandy ˆ river ˆ strangers ˆ wtf
I remember looking up and down the street and thinking...
hurricane sandy
...I've never seen the East River this far west before. Haha.
car ˆ hurricane sandy ˆ nypd ˆ police
Wheels completely covered now. Three feet high and rising!
car ˆ hurricane sandy ˆ nypd ˆ police
At 9:30, the power finally went out. (I was amazed that it had stayed on as long as it did!). The street was still lit by the eerie glow of emergency lighting...
hurricane sandy
...and beautiful dreamy lights from all of the submerged headlights and taillights.
hurricane sandy
I lit all my recently purchased bodega candles...
candles ˆ e9th apt ˆ hurricane sandy ˆ living room
maddy
...and cuddled up on the couch with Maddy for a...
candles ˆ hurricane sandy ˆ maddy
...nice long read by candle-light.
hurricane sandy
Later that evening I ventured into the kitchen for some cooking-by-flashlight.
cooking ˆ hurricane sandy
By 10pm almost all of the car headlights had died out and the street was getting dark. Long camera exposure.
best ˆ east river ˆ hurricane sandy ˆ nyc ˆ nypd ˆ police
Door handles covered!
hurricane sandy ˆ nypd ˆ police
This is the last pic I snapped before bundling up with Maddy (no power = no heat!) and going to sleep.
car ˆ hurricane sandy ˆ nypd ˆ police ˆ sign

Tuesday, October 30th

When I awoke the next morning, all the water had receded, but the neighborhood was a mess. The apartment was without heat, electricity and cell-phone service! That afternoon, I biked over to to Chelsea on the west-side to find a cell signal. I managed to get in touch with Meredith...
car ˆ hurricane sandy
ellen, maddy, meredith
...and later that afternoon, she and Ellen drove down from her parent's place and rescued me and Maddy!
driving ˆ hurricane sandy ˆ ellen ˆ maddy ˆ meredith
maddy
Surveying the damage in the neighborhood.
driving ˆ hurricane sandy ˆ maddy
So many people out walking around in wonder.
hurricane sandy
meredith
We even managed to find a place to park again!
dogs ˆ hurricane sandy ˆ zombie ˆ meredith
The storm also stopped Mer's grandmother from flying back to Cleveland, so her parent's apartment was pretty filled-up! The three of us (plus 3 dogs!) converted Chuck's office into a makeshift crash-pad for the next few days. It was close-quarters, but it sure as heck beat sitting around in an apartment with no heat!
hurricane sandy ˆ zombie

Wednesday, October 31st

maddy, piper
Walking the beasts.
dogs ˆ walking ˆ zombie ˆ maddy ˆ piper
ellen, meredith
So thankful for these two for COMING TO OUR RESCUE!
cooking ˆ hurricane sandy ˆ kitchen ˆ ellen ˆ meredith
ellen, meredith
Saved us from being popsicles.
hurricane sandy ˆ kitchen ˆ ellen ˆ meredith
Spent the afternoon reading this sci-fi book Mer recommended, The Left Hand of Darkness...
book
maddy
...with this lil long-dog snoozing on my leg. Haha.
asleep ˆ dogs ˆ maddy
mike o
Later that night, Mer and I went out to meet Mandy & Mike for a quick Halloween drink in the neighborhood. Here's Mike bonding with another Captain America. October 2012, was a doozy!
costumes ˆ gun show ˆ halloween ˆ mike o

1 comment

  • kmeghanjuly 16, 2015

    I come and read your entries every few months. I was sad to read about you and Meridith, but I remember that it's been years, and you're probably both doing great. It's hard when a chapter in your life ends, but the story didn't end, it just changed.