Pat and I weaved in and out of the oncoming herd of taxis. He is a lot better at rollerblading than I am, but I still managed to pull myself out of some awkward situations. Madison Avenue is such a New York experience; looking down the street, the towering skyscrapers disappear into gray of dusk.

In between the honks and screeching buses, I told Pat about my date this afternoon. Meredith knew we were going to the park, but she wasn’t expecting the picnic I had made. Times like this afternoon make me hurt that we aren’t meant to be together, because sometimes it sure seems like it.

We met Joe (RW Miami) in SoHo for an off-Broadway show called Six Goumbas and a Wannabe, a story about a reunion of seven Brooklyn kids after years apart. Joe knew one of the actors because they are from the same neighborhood. Though I don’t remember which character he is, I know he is also on The Sopranos. It’s cool b/c they knew each other before they “made it” on TV. The show was great. But, had I watched this show five months ago, I wouldn’t have gotten any of it. Now that I live in New York, I laughed with the rest of them. It was kind of like a redneck joke, you really don’t understand it until you live around rednecks.

Joe went back home and Pat and I put on our rollerblades. I was in the fifth grade, visiting my uncle in Florida, when I first heard of rollerblades. I thought the whole thing was cool, but I didn’t get them b/c I figured the trend was well along and I would look dumb getting into it too late. (Oh…the mind of a fifth grader.) Here I am, deciding I’ve wasted ten years of fun.

We started out way down at the bottom of the island, and by 4:30 AM we were up at 151st. They say New York is “the city that never sleeps,” but it does. By one in the morning on a weeknight, the city is well into its slumber. It was like we had the whole city to explore, contending only with a few taxis and some eccentric night owls.

Pat is such an awesome guy. He is one of those people that you immediately feel comfortable talking with. Even after spending most of the day together, we still eagerly chatted as we rolled through the city.

It’s almost dawn, my legs are aching, and my eyelids are falling. Goodnight.