I didn’t know what a city was until I saw New York. In honour of Bridget’s birthday, her man Andy and I plotted to deliver the best birthday present ever: MP in New York. Since Bird found herself a resident of that great city, she has been harassing me to visit. I always meant to go, but never had both the money and the time. Such is working life, I suppose. At any rate, an unbelievably inexpensive flight on LAN airlines (a Chilean company) was found and booked. Bridget had no idea. After meeting some random Irish guy at the airport bar, and after a few too many drinks thanks to the friendly leprechaun, I boarded the plan and just happened to run into some old university friends. We shared a cab into the city, and I met Andy at Juilliard. He managed to get Bridget to stop in for a visit. They chatted in the lobby, and then, from the double doors behind them, I burst forth in Canadian glory! It was absolutely brilliant. Bird took one look at me and broke down crying. It has henceforth been dubbed our ‘Oprah moment’. Definitely one of MY favourite things. And the weekend took off from there. After far too many bowls of guacamole, Grand Central Station, Soho, subways, and Kate Spade, I have finally been introduced to one fantastically bustling city. What’s more, is that I really got to see Bridget in her element. She has found her ‘bee’ people, which is an analogy I take from the Blind Melon video for No Rain. The little girl in the bee costume finally finds that field full of bee people, and they dance their hearts out. Bridget’s friends are beautifully like-minded, and have just as much heart as my little Bird which is a rare thing to find. I must admit, that I don’t think New York is the city for me, but I’d definitely like to stop by more often than not. I will be back in New York, and it will once again rock my world.