My Five (Part One)

In yesterday’s post I opened with the following:

“With the weekend upon me, it had been one of those weird weeks that on the one hand I'm glad to put behind me yet at the same time has been very influential for me. I don't know how to explain it succinctly but I'll try to do so”.

Rather than go over the entire week in gruesome detail, the next few posts will highlight the events of five particular days over the past two weeks that have turned things hear over heels for me. I will do my best not to be too verbose.

Tuesday May 29^th

Despite my best efforts over the preceding weekend, I did become a nervous wreck by that day since I still couldn’t figure out what the heck my speech topic would be. Twenty-four hours before giving the speech I decided to go to NYU for the first time in over six months. Returning to campus felt really weird since here were relatively few people on campus in comparison to the middle of either the fall or spring semesters. Moreover, I felt like an odd man out since I couldn’t recognize anyone there when I usually tend to spot a celebrity or a friend/colleague during my jaunts to campus. Still, I felt somewhat invigorated by being there and I was able to tie a few loose ends.

When I was a full-time student I would often eat out and my main place to go was this deli located on the southeast corner of Thompson and Bleecker. It used to be a dingy bodega-like store, but then it was renovated and I frequented the place due to its easy access and friendly Mexican staff.

Unfortunately, in my absence the aisles became narrower and I was forced to go elsewhere to satiate my appetite. That somewhere was a larger deli located off 5^th Avenue and 8^th Street, and it was there that I ordered this really delicious meaty sandwich along with free homemade lemonade.

Oh yeah, that calmed the nerves.

After lunch I slowly made my way to Long Island City (via the M5, Q32 bus combo) since I had an appointment with a cardiologist. Unlike my previous cardio doctor who was flippant and easily dismissive of patient’s physical concerns, this doctor was thorough, patient, and highly attentive. She was a breath of fresh air compared to the previous doc and I left the office feeling far more relieved than before.

It was on the commute back home that I finally figured out what to base my speech on. It was a magnificent stroke of luck that The Pogues’ “Irish Rover” popped into my mind. “Yes, it’s perfect!” I thought as I remembered small snippets of the lyrics.

“It would work.”

“No, it has to work.”

There was only one way to find out, and that would be on the next day.