Doors

When I read “Neverwhere” by Neil Gaiman there was one section that I remembered and still remember. I think it was on page 256 of the trade paperback and it talked about doors. It basically says that doors want to be opened.

I’m moving to Oregon, a coast I’ve visited a few times and like but never liked the fact that it didn’t snow. A coast where I associate surfing, bleached blonde hair, and bad movies from the 50s starring Frankie Avalon. A coast where I had some good food but also felt the overall feel was a flaky one. Then again, I’d only been in California.

This past spring Jen and I had some serious discussions about our lives, our work, and our relationship. We both wanted to change career paths somewhere down the line. My dream job is to work as a humane law enforcement agent or animal cop. Hers is to somehow be involved in the art world or creative industry – it can meld with her knowledge of programming but she wants to have some passion towards her work. Programming doesn’t evoke strong feelings of passion so much as a feeling of perfection. I understand that. I’m a very good problem solver with jobs I’ve had and can supervise people, however, I don’t want to always be in charge and I feel ill after a while working in an industry that I feel doesn’t somehow enhance society.

We decided NYC was too pricey and in some ways too big to break out and find what we need so we started looking at other cities. Our criteria was the following:

1: Must be gay friendly
2: Must still be a city
3: Must be cheaper than NY
4: Must have seasonal changes
5: Must have a decent public transportation system
6: Must have jobs or possibilities for us to find our careers
7: Must be open-minded

We figured Portland, Or sounded good and took a trip in June. We loved the place and it has a nice mix of a small city with suburb feel – meaning quiet residential areas, kickin’ nightlife, and artsy/music things. We also had a few friends from Twitter and I know one person from college and another from Orkut.

It’s now the end of October and we’re almost packed – on Fri the movers come and will take 40+ boxes and minimal furniture to our new home. I will pick up the rental car in the afternoon and by evening we will be on the road. It’s a door that is being opened. We’re not closing the door to NYC – just closing it over – and I’ll miss the people I have here:

My best friend since I was 13
My family
My close friend, Lori, who I’ve known for 6 years
And the gang from the NYC Shiba Rescue that I’ve known for about 2 1/2 years
I’ll miss the neighborhoods
I’ll miss the NYC skyline
I’ll miss the crazy NYC people who scream at each other across the street to talk rather than cross over and talk
I’ll miss the delis on every corner and 24 hour diners
I’ll miss Washington Sq. Park
I’ll miss the dirty dirty Coney Island beach and old rides
I’ll miss watching the basketball games at West 4th street