It was just over five years ago that I moved to New York City from Sydney, Australia where I had lived for almost two years. That same week, I discovered Flickr and found a new home for my photography. After a few months of sleeping on an air mattress, our stuff finally arrived from Australia and we began to settle into our new home in the big city. The first few weeks felt like being on vacation, not permanent residence.

My son is landing on a plane by himself today at LaGuardia airport and he's going to spend more than a month here with me! :) I'm really, really excited to see him!

I was let go from my job today. My producer and I were let go after long talks of downsizing the company, after some disappointing months of trying to build a brand in a tough market. The economic collapse didn't exactly do us any favors either. I can't say I didn't completely see this coming, but I thought I had more time for us to turn it around.

I have become used to my new morning routines that have come with the new job. I walk to Wall Street every morning, grab a coffee, jump on a crowded subway that zips me under Manhattan past Fulton, past Union Square, past Grand Central, exiting finally at 59th street. Three stories up the stairs and I finally get to see the daylight on a short five block walk that takes me to my building. After the fourty-five minutes of standing on the subway I have noticed a pattern in the passengers including myself in behaviour, Many people stare at the floor or look at the ads above the seats, most look like they are not happy with where they are going. iPods have saved all of us from acknowledging the crazies or one another for that matter. I like the crazies. They make the ride interesting and they make me feel oh so very normal. I keep making myself smile, to not become one of them. I probably look like one of the crazies.

So, here's something new: I started a new job today with a startup called Our365. A photo sharing website for families of New Borns. This feels like a new direction and a new opportunity and I am excited to see what we can to do with it. It'a practically building now from the ground up. I will no longer enjoy a short walking commute in the mornings as I will be catching the express 4 train every morning to my office on Park Avenue.

There was a list sent to me recently from a fellow New Yorker of things that let you know you are from New York City if.. I thought a few of them especially related to my NYC experience more than the others so here are the ones I found to be most true:

Music by George Frideric Handel, Libretto by William Congreve, Performed by Elizabeth Futral. I went to go see Semele tonight at the NYC Opera. It was interesting to say the least. This being my first English written opera to go see, it became clear to me for the remaining need of the sur-title board just before it lost all meaning to me again. That is, I still couldn't hardly follow along with the words since  they were sung with such inflection but then the lyrics were a bit overly simplistic. Every arrangement had about the same two lines repeated over and over to it. Still, the music was lovely and the singing was amazing, plenty of humor, the story was interesting and there were so many old people there waiting for God to come by in the second act to take them to opera heaven.

I think the people to my right and in front were family of someone on stage because when the arrangements were over, you couldn't time the reaction to the clapping obsessively. It was just that fanatic.

Anyway, the story of Semele was modernized to a story between Jackie Kennedy-Onassis and Marilyn Monroe with a greek tragedy twist. Hard to get into it at first but became more interesting after it got going. Not a bad performance overall.

Nathan is making his first trip with me to New York today. I'm looking forward to all that I get to show him around the city. We have many good ideas so if you have any that you think a 9 year old would like to see, please give some input.

update: We've made it to NYC and found ourselves very whooped after getting unpacked and cramming some fragments of food into our mouth after not eating all day. Nate is loving NYC so far and can't wait to see what it looks like in the daylight.

I got a clay mug with no clear finish on it in the mail today with every color of the rainbow painted on it. on the front of it was hand painted "World's Greatest Dad" At the bottom of the box was a card that said on the back "The cup doesn't lie".

Nathan's ticket is booked and my kiddo is coming to NYC next month! I can't wait to show him around the city.

Went out tonight and enjoyed a bit of tech talk with some people who know their stuff over some wine and light dinner. A conversation about the evolution of the industry that felt more like a brain storming session rather than the usual polite conversation. It's nice to get to do that with people who know all the ubber web geek terms that I do know and not look back at you with a "what the hell are you talking about?" kind of look.

It was a year ago to the day that Australia was said goodbye to in a tearful farewell and New York City was the new permanent address. It seems like it's only been months really, time moves at a much faster pace here. Winter came a short time after arriving and seemed like it just left, now it's just around the corner again in another month and a half.

I miss Australia. I like New York just fine in many ways but it's not the same fit that Australia was.

Last night was spent out at the usual place to drink with friends and then to a party in Chelsea on a residential building rooftop. It was a friend of a friend's going away party to Singapore as well as someone else's birthday party whom I'd never met before last night. It was one of those very New York'ish moments that you see happening on a television program but don't think normal people do.

Last night I met up with Jim, my old design professor from my University in Oklahoma, who was in town with a few of his students and we took in a show at the Gershwin theatre called Wicked, the untold story of the witches of Oz.

I have to say without really any expectations, I was amazed by the stage settings, the scenery, the intricate story, but most of all the very powerful performance by the two lead actresses playing the good and bad witch. My favorite song has to be Defying Gravity (via iTunes)

A very beautiful day was had back in New York City. The weather was warm and Central Park was packed full of everyone getting a break from the cold weather and taking advantage of the plentyfull ammount of sunshine.

After throwing the frisbee around and getting some sun, it was decided by several of us that a beer was a good idea at a nearby pub, to where I finally saw my fist NYC semi-celebrity.

I finally got to see the Gates on the last day they were to be displayed in Central Park. It was an interesting site to say the least. Many people were out strolling under the gates for one last look. After my debate with it's value in a previous post, it occurred to me that there is value in the attraction it has brought to New York, for city image, for tourism, and just plain publicity. Most of all it's got people questioning art and that is never a bad thing. I still debate over it's value being equal to it's price tag but there is worth in the many orange monoliths covering the park.

This year I traveled a lot and saw some beautiful things. It was a good year overall. I grew beyond some of my limitations and adapted to new surroundings with fewer complications than I expected. I met interesting people all over the world and found a bit more of myself in the adventures.

Nathan is growing older, he will be 8 in February and he isn't a little kid anymore. He has opinions, he has moods, he can have a conversation like an adult. He can even scold me when I say a curse word around him. I get a little bit nostalgic about missing the little kid who needed so much help but then I am proud of his ability to reason, grow, and learn. I am also proud of his big giant heart. He's a great kid.

In the new apartment with no television yet, no land line phone yet, no internet connection except through my palm phone and one lamp to give light at night 'till things arrive from across the sea. Hopefully a few essentials will arrive in a few days time. Hopefully the sanity will make it till then.

No TV or internet makes Beau something, something......

Made it to New York. What a long flight but it was less painful with the business class seating.

The last day in Sydney, something weird happened. After taking on a walk around the city to see the sites one last time, it started to rain down hail all over the city. This rarely happens there and it came down so hard it covered the Royal Botanical Gardens in white. Several of us were caught waiting in a gazebo in the park for it to let up. I'm not sure if it was a sign but, whatever, I'll take it.

Staying in Battery Park for now, walked over and checked out the World Trade Center Site, the lights are shooting into the sky again.

New York is slowly regaining their power back. I wonder what this event will do to the population of New York City in about nine months?

Traditionally, when large metropolitan cities go dark with no electricity, no television, and no radio, over the course of an evening of having to talk to one another, the people begin to lose control. On top of which we have a near full moon, NYC should have become unglued in the evening hours with massive looting, violence, and burglaries.