magicbeans. nothing if not awkward.

Slept late again. I can't shake this exhaustion. Other than the lingering cough I don't feel sick anymore. I've been eating regularly. Drinking plenty of fluids. I suppose, given my lack of health insurance, and that it's not an incapacitating exhaustion, I'll do as they did pre-industrial revolution and chalk it up to lethargy, not as a symptom, but as in end in itself.

Stopped by PDG this afternoon. To pick up a paycheck and make sure they remember my face for when work picks back up and they're looking to staff projects. Hung out and chatted for a bit.

Then headed up to Inwood again. To give the neighbourhood a once-over on foot in the daylight. Spent about an hour and a half wandering. From Dyckman Street (200th) up Broadway to about the tip of Manhattan. Back down through the Park Terrace area and Isham Park. Down Seaman and Payson Avenues. Park Terrace is beautiful. Quite a number of the buildings seem to be resident-owned co-ops, although I've seen some ads for rental apartments too. Maybe a touch outside my price range, but I'd live in a fifth-story walk-up shoebox on a street like this if it got good light.

I came across a black squirrel at the edge of the park. Black squirrels are rare in this part of the world. He or she walked right up to my foot, with no fear. I felt bad that I didn't have any food to share.

I stopped at a real estate agency on my way back to the train. The fee is a little higher than with most of the ads that one finds on craigslist, but it doesn't hurt to look. And I'm so glad I did. I only looked at three places. Two of them in the same building, across the street from the studio I looked at last week, mirror images of each other on the second and fourth floors, pretty large one bedrooms, no real views to speak of, but decent light, nice old hardwood floors, brand new kitchen appliances.

The third was the top floor of a house. I had passed it on my walk. 'How cute,' I thought, these two old houses nestled in among the larger apartment buildings. The space was a little smaller, but very unique, a slanted ceiling in the kitchen, a triangular window. Brand new renovation. And includes use of the roof deck on the back, which looks out into Inwood Hill Park.

There's two more apartments, one on Park Terrace West and one on Park Terrace East that the agent wants to show me on Monday. 'You've got to promise that you'll come back to see them,' she said. She was very friendly, herself a transplant from Brooklyn to Inwood. And I'm feeling more an more like it's going to be my new neighbourhood.

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Back in Brooklyn I called Cybèle to wish her a happy birthday. And again here: happy birthday.