whew. this'll be a long one.

first off, let me wish ms. justine michelle troy a happy 22nd birthday. i wonder if the party's still on for tonight. hehe.

i guess its my obligation as the sole new yorker in this riskingabsurdity crew to blog my story about what is supposedly the biggest blackout in us history. so here i go..

i was winding up a meeting at work, just walking out of the conference room with my to-do list for the day. then the lights went out. first we thought it was our office (we'd been having issues all week), then we thought it was our building, then just our neighborhood. then we slowly heard it was all of new york city, then all of new york, then up to canada. 'wtf?!' i thought.

i was freakin out. everyone in our office quickly closed up shop and headed for the stairwell. we caught a glimpse outside and saw a black cloud on the east side. (never did find out what that was -- possibly a fire on 14th street by my old apt) i went downstairs (9 flights), ended up in a crowd, said gbye to the coworkers and tried to figure out what to do. i was freaking cuz i didn't know what was going on and it was far too reminiscent of 9/11.

phones weren't working and just like 2 years ago, everybody hit the sidewalks. but unlike 2 years ago, it was much less panicked so i calmed down and wandered to broadway, hoping i would run into someone i knew. i ran into my friend jen from PA who was just in the city for the day. we stood around in shock, observing the weirdness of the situation. people mass migrating, stores closed, traffic not moving, everyone just hangin out. i had to pee so we walked north to NYU, where i was sure to run into SOMEONE i knew.

went to this restaurant to pee. their bathroom was in the basement. me and this one lady from brooklyn took candles and made our way. the bar was packed. they had a good idea. i had even joked with my boss earlier saying we should get some beers before they went warm. hehe.

luckily, i ran into the two people i was looking for -- my friends justine and brian. we live in the same neighborhood so we trekked downtown together. stopped by subway for dinner then voyaged through little italy. bars and restaurants were packed, gelato was on sale. good times.

dripping in sweat, we winded up at justines apt. she only lives on the 3rd floor so we hung out there, drank some wine, and housed a few stranded jerzey friends. i eventually located my roomie around 11pm. we met up with his gf and her friends. they were totally drunk.

it seemed like the thing to do. as we walked the two blocks to my apt, we passed 2 buildings with electricity (damn rich financial district with their generators), people hangin out on the street with candles, glowsticks and flashlights, workers in their suits lying in lobbies or on the stoops of buildings cuz they couldn't get home.

my 9 flight ascent to my apt was pitch black. we had no water. i just went to bed. people partied outside. i heard the power in my apt come back on around 530 this morning, some chick screamed, "powers back on!" for all to hear. damn new yorkers.

so now... some of my friends have power, some don't. the subways are still closed. my dsl is down, so i've resorted to dial up. i'm bored. i should be productive, but of course i won't be. an unexpected 3 day weekend. woohoo! i'm glad vegas wasn't this weekend or else i'd be screwed. so that's my long-winded story. hope you enjoyed.

now i've experienced 2 historic events here. as much as i want to get out of this city, events like this really make me feel like i've bonded with this place. i [heart] ny. hehe. but i still miss home. 7 more days till the rock stars rock again.