Creator's New York City photo diaryfrom @milkytran

Themes

• personal growth
• modern dating
• city life
• vulnerability
• friendship

Techniques

• photo diary
• narrative storytelling
• self-reflection

Trends

• photo dump
• carousel storytelling
• vlog-style post

Post caption

Strangers, situationships and more — I’m really alive out here!!! Pittsburgh girl living in LA visiting NY, told in chronological order

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  7 TRUE STORIES FROM MY WEEK IN NEW YORK

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  1 - FILM FEST OPENING NIGHT -

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  When I’m a little anxious, I drink more. I drank 3 lemon drops and ended up kissing a guy from Denmark in my hotel room. At around 6AM, my body woke up, and I suddenly felt nervous that I was next to someone I did not know. I woke him up and said, “heeey haha, let me call you an uber” – like I hear most men say to women to get them to leave. He followed me on Instagram. “Whoa, you have a lot of followers.” Yes, I’m here in NY because I’m a content creator and speaking on a panel at this festival. WHICH YOU WOULD KNOW IF YOU ASKED ME ANYTHING ABOUT MYSELF 🤬!!!! “Will I see you again?”

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  2 - LUNCH WITH AN ONLINE FRIEND -

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  I met with a new filmmaker friend from online. My impression of him was different than what I expected. Warm, unpretentious, gooey. Even though we just met, he cried talking about friendships and forgiveness. I got teary eyed listening. The best people you meet are like mirrors – they reflect a different version of you. Here were two passionate kids obsessed with humanity, storytelling and filmmaking, powered through the consequences of being children of immigrants – self-produced pressure, overachieving and survival. He’s a DP, so our first collaboration was me giving him notes to frame my fit pic in the streets of New York.

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  3 - A WALK IN QUEENS -

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  I was walking to the subway (which smells like piss btw!!) and I hear running behind me! Panting. “Hi!!! I ran 2 blocks to say hi to you! Are you Milky?” It’s always the best surprise when someone recognizes me and it’s a beautiful Viet woman (my people!!!) I tell her my favorite meal is Bun Bo Hue and she recommends the restaurant Sao Mai. 2 days later, I go and … I RUN INTO HER! So New York!!! She joins me and my friend Amber for lunch. She says the last guy she was dating, she talked to him like a dog trainer. “OFF! NOW!!!” It’s unfortunate how easy it is for women to bond and commiserate about their disappointments in men…

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  4 - THE FILM PANEL / THE BIG DAY -

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  When I arrived, there were maybe 4 people in the audience… Omg… it flopped! The moderator said they sold 60 tickets, but it was a Sunday morning… Later, maybe 30 people trickled in. They were there for the festival, not me. I sat in the dark theater, sharing my vertical videos I’ve only released online. And immediately, people started laughing :) like A LOT!!!! The room bubbled with laughter and for the softer moments, I heard them hold their breath. “Beautiful,” someone whispered. It felt good to win over a room. An older man came up to me and said “you are charming. In many different ways.” An old friend from college came to see me with the same warmth I knew from 8 years ago. “It’s so special to think about how we talked about our dreams back then and to see them all come to life now.”

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  5 - YES AND -

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  I met up with my comedian friend for drinks before an improv show. As I walked there, my eyes welled with tears looking at how beautiful the streets of New York were, so full of life and character. I said “Are you going to live here forever?” She said, “Yes, ofc! The best part about NY is you never know how your night will end.” We go to the improv show and… NY comedy is different from LA comedy!!! I have never felt the urge to boo before that night. New Yorkers like to be intellectual and referential. I don’t wanna hear jokes about Supreme Court Justices !!! The night was still young, so we walked to Coyote Ugly. The bartender recognizes me and tells me “you gotta dance on the bar!” So we queue up 6 songs and get up in front of this EMPTY bar on a Sunday night and dance :) YES AND YES AND !!!

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  6 - HOTEL ROOM DANCING -

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  I had plans to throw a hotel room party and go dancing! Yes, I wanna get crazy!!! Instead, I get sick.

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  7 - THE SITUATIONSHIP -

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  I had plans to see my more-than-friends-less-than-something-more-ship and when he told me he was also sick, we decided to go get soup :) Even though he was coughing, he still smoked a cigarette. Wine pairs well with Dayquil, and we talked so much that the waiter came back 3 times because we still didn’t look at the menu. We took turns making each other laugh, and that’s all we did. When we arrived to the second bar, he told me he was newly seeing someone. That was okay – we live on opposite sides of the country, and I didn’t want anything more. That was a part of the magic – a container with lightning, like catching fireflies in a jar. I asked if he could still walk me to my hotel room? We kiss there. And he tells me he wouldn’t feel good doing anything more.

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  IS IT EVER REALLY CASUAL -

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  The jar got smaller. Less space for me. “I really want to, but I couldn’t live with myself,” he whispers. He’s leaning into me, and I suddenly say “I want all of you!” Uh oh! In the heat of the moment, do we say the words we don’t mean or the ones we really do? He tells me he can’t right now, “We’re the long game, I’ll always have a place for you, I want to move to LA eventually, it’d break my heart if we can’t stay friends.” I shake my head. “We’re not just friends.” He smiles back. He calls his car and leaves. I lie down staring at my ceiling until my speaker dies. The music stops. I see a word hover above my head like a titlecard. NOVEMBER. A fresh chapter coming soon.

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  8 - WAITING ROOMS ARE UGLY -

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  Waiting rooms are ugly How long will you stay? I don’t get over things. With everything - I dive in, swim 12 feet under, I see the world upside down until I nearly drown and lose my breath, but when I resurface for air, I become someone new :) TO SPEAK OR TO DIE! YES AND YES AND! I LOVE NEW YORK!