My baseline feeling in Chapel Hill is that it’s not too bad, if I make a constant effort to look for things I can enjoy, and to not think too much about the drawbacks. Sometimes living in North Carolina makes me think of characters in Greek tragedy, trying to escape their fate. But really, it’s not too bad, just an fairly uneventful area that requires lots of driving and lots of smalltalk.
My baseline in New York, though, is that everything is exciting and glowing with promise. Things I enjoy are effortless and omnipresent, everything just puts me a good mood. I love that sitting on the train with my coffee and Kindle isn’t indulgent slacking, it is the legitimate alternative to carefully backing the car out, fighting with traffic, and trying to get a parking space.
TechCrunch Disrupt was held in gorgeous flower-filled midtown this year, by the New Yorker Hotel. The show was bigger than last years, with even more to learn and to see. I bumped into friends and acquaintances from other shows, and I got a chance to play with some really great new toys, and wrote some good stories. I also took a walk to the old Next Island offices, so I could get coffee from my favorite place, and windowshop in the K-Town accessories stores.
One night, I went to the NY Gaming demos at Microsoft, it was a perfect spring evening to walk up through Rockafeller Center, and past the fountain by the Time-Life Building, and all the midtown backdrops when a movie wants to show it’s set in New York City. I visited with some friends, and saw great projects from other friends and New York neighbors. The usual reaction when I say that I write for Indie Game Mag is polite interest, and I’m always freaking stunned when someone recognizes it, but whenever that happens, it reminds me that I’m among “my people”. And it’s been really great to be around my people, in my favorite city.
