>Rock Star No Longer
>I haven’t been to Jack’s office since my last day “working” for him. We had only been at that office for about a year before I made Ballyhoo Promotions and Tex in the City my full time gig (aside from that part time stint for the exVPoftheUSofA) so I have no particular lasting affection for the place. Unlike my office in the British Empire Building at Rockefeller Center where I enjoyed my first job after moving to NYC, met Jack, endured 9/11, watched from perched upon my window ledge all the subsequent funerals at St. Patrick’s, learned of my dad’s sentence of 20 years in jail for the attempted murder of his wife, fled from the blackout, hosted my annual private Rock Center tree lighting party (link to the last party) and created other awesome and awful memories.
Today, in anticipation of Sunday’s AIDS Walk, I stopped by this other office to pick up a box of Tex in the City t-shirts Jack has been storing for me since I left. When I stepped off the elevator I was met with a group of familiar faces whose eyes collectively grew large and big smiles swept across their faces. “KAMBRI!” They shouted in unison. I immediately began strutting like my dad and felt like a million bucks. Wow, that felt good. I had no idea I’d left a good impression! I was so miserable there.
Even with the warm reception, I don’t miss that place. Rock Center, however, is forever in my heart and soul. There’s too much history between us. It felt good to be back in the ‘hood and recognizing the change along with the sameness and even better to know that I’m there by choice to meet old friends and run errands and not the drudgery of working in an office. I like being uncensored by anyone but myself and I like where I am, in Queens, in my office, in my apartment, with my fiance and dog and bird and rabbit and not nearly worth the million bucks I felt like today.