9/30/22 | Montauk, NY > woke up in Mystic, Connecticut ... th last time we wint 2 Mystic was on 9/10/01, th day b4 9/11 > we returned to NYC via ferry/Long i-Land + the next mourning U/i went 2 work @ Napster + from our office on the 11th floor we cd see th towers on fire > s0 kind of weird 2 B in Mystic by comparison, back then 21 yrs ag0 we = naive desert rat fresh off th boat from Tucson, had onely lived in NYC 4 1 yr + took th requisite trip 2 th «cute» + quaint coastal town of Mystic made famous by the 1988 Julia Roberts film Mystic Pizza + hear we R now, mostly using iT az 5topping off point b-tweent Boston + Long i-L&, R destin8ion du jour > took car fairy across 2 th north fork, circled around Shelter i-L& 2 Montauk, walked on the beach w8ing 2 check in2 R room ... check-in getting L8er + L8er + check-in earlier + earlier, pretty soon U'll pay just 2 sleep in th room > walked around apalled @ restraunts serving $48 pL8s of pasta dat looked 5hitty, ended up eating in a dive bar > din't 5leep @ all, all nite rave w/ throbbing techn0 music across th 5treet + then wall st jock types out on street yelling + partying til 5 a.m. ... s0 much 4 spending a few quiet/chill dayz @ th beach

Mystic

ferry X-ing

Montauk

bay-B 5hark

10/1 | NYC (East Village) > checked out early (no weight we'd 5pend another 5leepless nite in dat 5hithole) + of course had 2 fight hotel 2 get reimbursed for 2nd night they already charged even th0 we dint 5tray there ... travel just a big racket now, n0 humun element N-E-more just zom-B bots working front desk following 5trict proto¢ol 2 make az mu¢h money az po$$ible, keep every room full @ highe$t pri¢e (slightly R fault az U/i helped devilip hotel yield management softwhere in '90s) > high-tailed 2 NYC 5topping in Rockaway b/c in R pending move 2 NYC thinking about weather 2 get 2nd house there, but not impressed @ all ... naught sure Y th likes of Patti Smith wd choose 2 live there? walked on th beach watching 5urfers than thru the Battery tunnel in2 Manhattan, dropped off th rental ¢ar + cheɔked in2 pɹɐpuɐʇS ǝɥʇ @ Cooper Union/Astor place > @ sushi @ Hisake ... 5till az amazing az when we used 2 g0 there 20 yrs ag0 > az w/ R last trip th moment we hit NYC we feel rite @ home > part of th purpose of thi5 trip (B-sides meeting R bedder-½ has) = 2 verify they want 2 accept Columbia offer, az now Hopkins has counter-offered w/ opportunity 2 live in Bologna, s0 deb8ing B-tween Italy vs. NYC ... tough D-cision > but B-ing in NYC we reazlize how much we love iT hear, feels ≈ home more than N-E-where else

Rockaway

Jamaica Bay

10/2 > woke up + 4-cast said rain all day after 8 so went 4 walk @ 6 a.m.... gr8 time 2 walk around NYC, az U/i've said b4, NYC may B city dat nvr sleeps, but dat means iT = city dat nvr wakes up > found a little dive diner in East Village, «Chullah Por Favor»... witch pretty much sums up gr8ness of NYC > + of course n0 NYC walk not complete w/o seeing a chickin-bone + hair-eXtension on 5idewalk > back in hotel now watching rain fall on th city

room w/ a view

where we 8 breakfast