The Square

There's a North Fork bank in Journal Square, Jersey City, with a big lighted sign on top. When I was growing up (and I mean really little, like three or four), there was another bank there, and it had some sort of red sign. It was the furthest-away thing I could see from home. I used to tell my Mom that I wanted to go there, because it was the furthest-away thing I could see.

My mom would say, "That's Journal Square. You don't want to go there."

I moved to a small apartment off the Square a few days ago, right at the beginning of the High Holy Days, aka the 5 Days of New Years. So far it's been surreal, dear friends coming and crashing on the couch from afar, my wonderful girlfriend staying with me for a while, my buddy who's moving off to Abu Dhabi still around... its a honeymoon period for an apartment that has a small water heater, a neighborhood that is only mostly safe, and a place that, while it's not too expensive, I can barely afford. I'm trying to track down another (or an additional) source of employment... it's quickly becoming apparent that my newspaper job can't afford to pay me more, despite initial hopes that I'd be getting a raise, and I am literally living beyond my means at the moment. I have a lead on an interesting job that may involve Lifestyle Writing. But I'm just barely a reporter and just getting used to the idea of writing on command. But it's gonna take money to stay, and even more to leave and go elsewhere.

In the meantime, I've got a bike wheel to rebuild and parking tickets to avoid. Life's getting interesting.