This is a sad story, and yet I like it very much. And it leaves me wondering (I’m always wondering) what was it that drove the individual who decided the best route forward was to go at maximum speed. And were they honest the whole time, or lying from the start?

After spending a year recovering from a roller coaster relationship that left me in shambles, I finally decided to get back out there and really date. I signed up for match.com, my first time for online dating, and mulled around a bit. After a few months I met TX, who I fell madly for. He was exactly the opposite of the man who had broken my heart. Sweet, sensitive, full of compliments and he showered me with affection. After three dates he said he didn’t want to see anybody else. I must admit it felt like things were moving way too quickly but I had never experienced something like this before. ‘Maybe this is it’, I thought. ‘This is just what real love is like and I’ve finally found the one.’ Sigh….how naïve I was.

I couldn’t believe how much we had in common. We had equal values and wanted the same things out of life. He would even jokingly talk about what we would name our kids someday. We enjoyed all that the city has to offer together including the first day of spring in the park. So many of those days felt like magic. He treated me the way I had always wanted to be treated. He made me feel sexy, confident and safe. On top of all that, it was the best sex I had ever had. I was floored. It was as if this man had opened a whole new universe of sexuality for me (I still thank him for that)!

Three months in I noticed that he was getting a bit moody. I brushed it off because I figured that was just him. I mean, hey, he was still talking about us going on a summer vacation together! Then, out of nowhere, he needed space. The same man who had taken the reigns of this love-affair express was now putting on the brakes! It was as if a rug had been pulled out from underneath me. What did I do? What happened? Less than a week later he broke it off altogether and I was heart broken. Even quicker than it had started, it was over and, yet again, I had to pick up the pieces of my broken heart.

This ‘winter romance’ in my case, taught me a hell of a lot about dating. We broke every rule in the book and it opened my eyes as to why there were rules in the first place. I had never been the kind of girl who could fall in love like that. In fact, I didn’t think it was even possible. I would roll my eyes at girls who told stories resembling this and here I was, one of the club. Now that enough time has passed I see how silly I was to have allowed myself to dive headfirst into something so new. Sometimes the romance sweeps you so high into the air that you lose sight of yourself.

I never go this far north, so for me it was like a visit to a different city.

I have been here 4 months now yet my stuff is still in cardboard boxes. I have barely started to unpack.

So, I read that the economy is doing badly:

The US economy has just marked two years of recovery from its worst recession since the Great Depression. But few Americans are celebrating; indeed, most believe that the economy is still in recession…. According to calculations by the Hamilton Project, the US will face a “jobs gap” of about 21m jobs…. The jobless recovery is also a wageless recovery for most Americans…. Real median household income in 2009 was 4 per cent lower than its pre-recession high and about the same as it was in 1997….

Of course, the economy is diverse and one individual’s experience can differ from the national average in marked ways. For me, this is my best year ever, in terms of the amount of money I’m making. And last year was also my best year ever, up till that time. But my experience is clearly not the national average.

Last Friday was foggy. I took some photos from where I work on 34th Street.

Last summer I did not have air conditioning. This summer I do. It makes a difference.

It’s amazing that I still don’t recognize the effects of coffee as it goes through my system. I’ve been drinking coffee for more than half my life. You’d think by now I’d be able to say “Oh, I’m mentally focused, this is because of the cup of coffee I drank 25 minutes ago” and then “Oh, I’m not mentally focused any more, the cup of coffee that I drank 3 hours ago is leaving my system.” But I rarely make the connection. And when I do make the connection, there is still some sense of surprise. Like, oh yes, this is why I drink the stuff (You might ask, “But surely you drink it for the taste?” What a silly question! Us addicts drink first because we’re addicts! Taste comes second!).