There’s Only One

I’ve been going to New York city at least twice a year since I was a wee boy.  I didn’t appreciate much back then, especially not much of what it meant for me – a kid from the DC ‘burbs – to be in glorious New York.  However, I did get a feeling from the city – an intense buzz I would say is akin to watching the lions get fed at a zoo.  Truly.  I don’t know how old I was, but I distinctly recall sensing that I was in middle of something startlingly different from my own life, something important, something great.

Not too long ago, I was in New York city, and sure enough, after 18 months NY-free, the feeling came flooding back.  Not only had my body not forgotten it, but it hadn’t lost one ounce of its intensity.  Now, I’m not saying New York is my favorite city – it’s not.  Nor do I think I could ever live there.  But, what is abundantly clear to me, is that New York is the greatest city in the world.  I’m not trying to be a douche, but I’ve been to great cities all over the world.  Seoul, Tokyo, Barcelona, London, Paris, Hanoi, and I’m not even going to mention all of the big American guys… all of these grand metropolises, and none can come close to conjuring up the vivid electricity I feel in the Big Apple.

To all my friends now making their lives in ‘the city’: I admire you, I wish you the best of luck, and I humbly ask in advance that you retain a couch so that I may come and get my fix from time to time.