The Year of the Pickleback

It's June and if I had to guess, I'd say that 2013 is The Year of the Pickleback. I had my very first one this past New Year's Eve in San Diego (you can probably find this in an earlier post) and my second one last night in New York City. A pickleback shot is a shot of whiskey followed by a shot of pickle juice, and I think that fact alone gives a lot of room for interpretation and metaphors, so everyone can make of that what they will.

A friend of mine from college, Nico, and I, have been crossing paths a lot lately... both online, through phone, and in person, which is impressive considering he's been traveling the world and I've been fairly stationary here on the East Coast, but it turns out that we are both going through a lot of similar life things right now, and have had a lot to talk about. And from that what I mean is that I am most grateful for his wisdom and ear as he has already gained a lot of experience in what I have been wrestling with. He is also a very good example of compassion and positivity, which surprises me for some reason because, although I just can't put my finger on it, he doesn't come off as the type of person that would. But he does, and he is, and it reminds me that everyone can be. So anyway, he was passing through NYC this week, and I was very happy to meet up with him.

Because his time was so limited in the city, he invited me to hang out with him and his friends from high school, but not before we got some time to catch up ourselves first. We agreed to meet on Delancey street off the F train stop after I got off work. The evening was beautiful, and at that point of the Lower East Side I was close to the Williamsburg bridge and the water so the air felt wide and open, and the breeze was warm, and I just listened to Modest Mouse and waited on the corner for him. He arrived shortly, and we went walking and ended up at Hotel Chantelle's rooftop, making friends with the busboy and enjoying the Motown music while we caught up, and boy did we both have a lot to talk about, although I suppose the stories of his travels in Berlin and Rio were much more interesting than mine. We were there for about two hours before we went to Fontana's to meet up with his childhood friends, one of which I'd met before, and since they were all from Pasadena, I didn't feel too out of the loop.

Well, you know how these nights go. Round after round until I'm not sure how many beers its been, someone bringing you shots without your permission which of course you will take now, and then being so hungry I took my wallet and went wandering around Chinatown looking for food for us all, which I brought back and we all devoured in a few minutes. All of us had to be up early this morning (locals worked and Nico had to catch a flight to Minnesota) and we said goodbye at the subway stop. I don't even have a picture of us to share; not from college, not from New Years' 2009, not from our Rock Band weekend last fall, not from last night. Guess we just have that elusive sort of friendship... like the kind that I can't prove so you will all just think he's imaginary.

All this to say that I woke up with something of a headache (weird) and on my lunch break went walking in the neighborhood and I saw a sign that said "This is NYC. Even the Headaches Have Headaches" and I thought... well ain't that the truth.