live alone

i when i came back from thanksgiving weekend, he was gone and so was all of his stuff. well. almost all of it. as i began to give everything the once-over, i kept finding his flotsam and jetsam all over the place, in spite of the note he left saying that he had moved out completely: the heavy pot (with lid and colander) that he hardly used because he preferred mine; the spatula he called a server; the food in the fridge. of course, he left his bathrobe hanging from the hook on the back of the bathroom door—but he takes all of the toilet paper he bought. he wasn’t about to leave that behind, even though he didn’t know where he would live. ditto for the pot holders. whatev.

the place was a real mess because i’d stopped cleaning up after him some months before, in protest. the next day, i came home in the evening, rolled up my sleeves and got to work. somewhere inbetween scrubbing out the kitchen and shifting my winter clothes into the closet in the other bedroom, it hit me: the only one who’ll jack up that stovetop is me.

my cute little gay neighbors guesstimate that it takes 10 to 15 years to have your own place in new york city. rent controlled, unfurnished, in a relatively safe, relatively non-trendy neighborhood with your name on the lease—not your parents. yours.

he just got here five minutes ago. he’s clueless with a master’s degree on a teacher’s salary. he doesn’t get it.

welcome to new york city, one of my neighbors guffawed. he’s right.

i’ve had it. if my roommate doesn’t leave by the end of this month, i’m going to have him evicted. he’s a grade A USDA prime idiot that’s taught me a very important lesson: don’t ever live with anyone, ever again. ever, ever, ever.

i’m so burnt out on living with people that if i ever get married, i’ll probably live alone. (i mean it.)

i’m doing a show and living in my own place at the moment which is glorious. of course i’m scheming about how i can live alone and what a huge financial whollop that is in the city. this is wonderful motivation. i’m frustrated enough to work smarter and harder. so maybe i’ll be showing him the door a lot sooner than i thought i would.

my roommate changed his mind. actually, he never got a rent-stabilized lease from the landlord, so he’s not leaving. sigh as soon as i get on my feet financially, i’m going to throw him out…but hopefully by then he’ll have his own place.

when i was in college, i lived alone most of the time and i loved it. but that was college in austin tx, where everything was cheap and the living was easy and the weather was usually sublime. i’m in nyc now, where the living isn’t easy at all. but i’ve managed to carve out a little something for myself—a two bedroom place that’s fairly cheap in relation to what everyone else is paying. well. my roommate is moving out, probably within the next month. when he first told me of his plan, i thought, oh boy i’ve gotta find another roommmate. but then i thought, why?

now’s my big chance to live alone in nyc. he’ll be out by may 1st. it’s time for me to have my own home here. i deserve it.