Diving In

I think I'm getting a grip on one of the many appeals of New York.

It might be the appeal of cities generally, but don't ask me - I went from growing up in a small decaying Victorian seaside town to university at a medium-sized West Midlands town to working in a charmless London commuter satellite town....to the Big Apple. This is the first city I've lived in.

Whatever your angle on life, whatever your dream is, you can do it here. If you want to do aerial acrobatics whilst juggling marmots above a pit of porcupines smeared with honey whilst a fat man in a leotard sporting a Village People moustache stands by and waits to release the bees, then it might take a bit of doing, but I'm pretty sure you'd be able to do it if you tried hard enough.

Musician, entrepeneur, gymnast, chef, businessman, gourmet, sportsman, aficionado, multiculturalist, artist, naturalist, naturist, spiritual being, nihilist, politician, writer, absurdist, fetishist, train spotter, orthopaedic surgeon...it doesn't matter what your thing is - there's something for you here, and more than likely you'll be able to find people who share your passion.

The only thing New York doesn't cater for are those who do not need to be catered for; those who don't have a passion. I get the feeling that you can be very quickly left behind by New York.

Stepping out of our apartment after a morning of trawling job websites is like stepping into the sea. The feeling of immersion is the same - that all around you is constantly moving and flowing and that you are surrounded by it; you move within it and you move through it and in spite of it. Because all around you is moving itself, it is not unlike moving in water - there is a very slight resistance to each move you make - but like bathing it is refreshing and invigorating, and the resistance of the water is good for you and makes you stronger.

After a slippery noodle lunch the other day I walked up past the Flatiron Building and onto Fifth Avenue and spotted the New York Museum of Sex. It was a plain looking building with a few banners bearing tongue-in-cheek pictures of lotus flowers. Right next door was the Gershwin Hotel, covered with large white and glowing horns.

Sometimes you've really got to love this city.