standing naked on 5th ave

So a gazillion people have asked me, "What's up with 'standing naked on 5th ave'"? After nearly two years of active blogging, here's the answer you've all been waiting for.

Two years ago, after I graduated college and right before I became a full time corporate troll, I took a long trip to New York City. I found an awesome studio apartment on E 82nd & 3rd (or thereabouts) which I had a short term rental with a consultant who was out of town on business (go Craigslist!). While in NYC, I did a lot of wandering. At one point, I found myself at the corner of 5th and E 59th, a pretty busy New York City intersection as city intersections go. The hustle and bustle of New Yorkers and their dogs, tourists, taxis. Across the street stood the grand Plaza Hotel. In front of me was the closing of FAO Schwartz's flagship store, the fading memory of Tom Hanks hopping on a giant floor piano in "Big", the end of an era.

As I stood there, watching the world around me rushing through the night, headlights ablaze, angry horns resounding into the night's crisp air, I wondered if I really was standing there. With or without you, time inevitably goes by. Was I the one seizing every second, standing still, listening, watching, contemplating? Or was I the one, missing the moment, captivated by the sights and sounds, unable to move, unwilling to move, nowhere to go, no one to see, no plans to fulfill, no family to feed? Like a large rock in a stream, too heavy to be carried, diving the flow, there I stood, a roadblock on a New York City sidewalk. Would it matter if I were naked? Would the stream cease to flow? Would the cars slow, would the horns silence, would the time stop?

So, here lives my blog, just another rock in the stream.