So I basically haven’t moved on yet at all. I feel like I’m on a business trip, living out of a hotel, or away at camp or something, and that one of these days it will be over and I’ll get to go home to my boyfriend and cats.

This is obviously not good, because for one thing, since it doesn’t feel like real life, I’m spending money like I’m on vacation. Nothing “counts,” as it were, and I’ve also been picking up takeout way more than I did in my other life, partly because it’s been too hot to cook, and partly because I have approximately .0000005 inches of counter space.

The good thing is that there are many great little eateries in my neighborhood, including a pizza parlor which may produce the best slice I’ve ever had in the city. And there are some good Chinese places — one in particular, where I had better Malaysian Chicken than the Malaysian Chicken I had in Amsterdam at this little divey Chinese joint, the first restaurant we visited upon our arrival last fall.

So of course I had to text Elliott to tell him about this, and he was all like, “Why’d you have to share this with me? I thought Chinese takeout was Our Thing™.” And he’s right, it kind of was, which is why I felt the need to share it with him, and which is why I wish he were there with me to experience the Chinese places of the East Side, because guess what else (and I swear I’m not making this up)?

I have received fortune cookies with my food from all of the Chinese places from which I’ve ordered so far. I never once received a single fortune cookie from any of the West Side Chinese joints — or from the Brooklyn one that we kept in business! — but it would appear that the East Side does not fuck around when it comes to the completion of your Chinese food experience. They will give you one, and you’ll enjoy it.

I’ve been saving my fortunes, and when this is over (See? This is how I think.) and done with, I’m going to piece them together and doctor up for myself a monster fortune-cookie fortune manifesto. Since I haven’t been able to come to any worthwhile conclusions about my future by myself, maybe it will be what finally shows me the way.