Thoughts of the week + softball

Hi. I'm in the thick of craziness, and I just apologize to all people I haven't emailed back for awhile. Paper deadlines really help you ignore the world :-(. But I'm now at the point where I'm addicted a bit, which is fun. You get caught up in it (you have to), and you want it to succeed and you want it to be useful, and you want to have a good paper to tell others how awesome your research is, even if it's only applicable in these restricted situations :-). I really believe in this and want to make it happen! So it's ok that I'm running myself into the ground a bit and working almost every waking moment. Although I do need sleep - I'm working on that. So yeah, it's good. It's coming along. Go page-friendly garbage collection! (that's my paper title)

But I was thinking the other day while swimming in Central Park. Great way to either take out the aggressions of the day, or just let your mind float away from them! Anyway - I was thinking about New York. About how I love it. It's just so diverse - so many things, people, opportunities. The park just cheers me up when I walk into it. I can't tell you how many running teams, triathletes, biker teams, athletes I passed. There are so many good communities here. And again, you find your own. The guys at the pool are fun to talk to as well - although more hard core than me. I'm working up to swimming for a full mile! Tuesday night I actually swam 17 laps in 1/2 hour! Each lap is 55 meters, so around 13 is supposed to be 1/2 mile. I think if I up my laps by a couple every time I go, I'll be able to make it :-). And no, Carol, I'm not doing a full tri with you. I just like swimming.

But anyway, people are friendly here. My ride home last night agreed that people here are pretty chill (in comparison with Paris), and they understand you have to make certain allowances for living in a place with very dense population. So they are pretty friendly overall. And there are just different parts. Naveen and I have tended to like the "grittier" parts - the W Village, maybe the east - we don't know it as well. Funky people, crazy shops, interesting restaurants. I like the real parts - not the pretentious parts where people work in trading and make oodles of money and can't live w/o their Blackberry and pay extravagant sums of money for very odd and sorta ugly fashions if you ask me. Although there are very revealing dresses, and most are short - show off legs. And these people go to the trendiest clubs to spend $12+ per pretentious tiny cocktail (with trendy name and concocted by said club). And it's not like you can actually have a real conversation in these places, either - too crowded and loud. It's like high school - the "in" crowd all over - the popular kids with money :-). But I digress - this is why I think I like Harlem. Although I get lots of looks, and see a cop arresting a guy across the street, it is real. People are people, and they sell incense along the street, and rasta hats :-). And I like the more down to earth places in the city - midtown isn't particularly this either. Time Square is a freaking circus - for tourists. And Rockefeller Center is sorta the same - and surrounded by high end clothing stores. But people are more real down in the villages, and I find it fun :-). There's always crazy things going on - not like the upper west side which is mostly sorta middle to upper class families who are quieter.

So out of all that, I came up with the fact that living here and getting used to things makes me feel way more worldly (there's people here from every country too) than most of the tourist world traveling I've done. Not that I didn't learn about other countries from those travels - I did. But you are somewhat isolated from life - from the nitty-gritty because you are a "rich" tourist. So I'm just saying living in NY is broadening my horizons even more than some world traveling can do, which is fun :-). No more being sheltered.

On a related note, I find that I really like and relate to people from old cultures. This makes me happy. Not that it's exclusive, but I've found that I get along well with people from other countries (or cultures), but that have some perspective on America, too. Look at Negin, Carol in Austin, Emina and Shan Shan here, and of course Naveen everywhere :-). I guess Naveen has made me more aware of the distinction between old culture and some of American culture, but it's more humble, more respectful, more family/group oriented than individual-oriented. And I like a lot of those values. I'll have to think on this more - it's definitely not exclusive, but it's interesting.

One other thing - given the amount of sleep that I get, and how stressed I've been lately (it shows on my wrecked face), I think exercise, again, is what's saved me. I insist on exercise, and it makes me happy and keeps me healthy.

So yeah, those are the thoughts of the week. In concrete news, softball was yesterday. WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! But it was sorta a technicality. The other team forfeited w/o enough players. But we had played them before in the playoffs and beat them, so the lineup was weird (we only played 2 of the 3 teams in the playoffs, but the 3rd team lost to the other 2 so they were out of the playoffs). So we ended up just scrimmaging last night, which was fun! And Go Bytecodes! Though we were the last team in the regular season, we pulled together as a team for the playoffs. They said I was the ringer, but I don't believe them. But it was great fun :-). All of our team players were really nice, and very encouraging! One inning in the scrimmage I got 2 outs in a row at first to end the inning! So we dumped the cooler on our captain, and went and drank beer, and ate chips and pizza at someone's house. It was fun to just chill and celebrate. But no more nights off! Just have to survive until Tuesday....

Yippee to life :-).

Sometimes a hamburger is soooo satisfying

So had a good weekend, despite circumstances.

Friday there was an interesting modern dance show at Central Park's Summerstage (thanks to Chris I'm into modern dance). There was also a bunch of interns going out to dinner and drinks. There were also Shakespeare plays in Riverside park. And what did we do? None of these. But I don't begrudge that because.... we went out for sushi - yum!! So tasty! Love salmon, yellowtail, and super white tuna. It's just so... buttery. Nothing else can fill that craving for rich sushi taste. Yum. Nuf said. So after that Naveen's good friends called us - they were in town from Illinois. We hurried to meet them. They are an awesome awesome couple from Brazil that are just now graduating from UIUC and moving to Seattle to start real jobs. See Mom - it's possible to graduate! So we had fun wandering around the city - after meeting at Rockefeller Center - and finally stopping for a couple of beers. Awesome people. I'm excited for them.

Saturday was lazy - slept in. I left for a storytelling session in Central Park at 1pm. Ok, I know, I know - I'm above 10. But seriously - it's my secret hobby (among others). My Mom knows that I love fairytales and when I go to different countries I like to get books on their culture's tales. It's just fun. So the title of this storytelling was "Mosquito Stories from Opposing Ends of the Earth (Africa and Scandinavia)." So it wasn't just a story, but from other countries - and hey, it said all ages. Of course I was the only non-parent above 10. I got there before others and the storyteller asked why I was there (politely) - if I studied storytelling. He said there are awesome workshops and teachers of storytelling in New York that I should check out. Very funny. Can I jump to that life briefly? To be a professional storyteller - how bizarre. But anyway - heard some great stories A couple of little ones from Mexico. An awesome one from Tibet about a magical castle seen in the lake and a male cinderella. One silly one from eskimo country about a boy who ate too much. One from W. Africa about why mosquitoes bite us. And one from the Ukraine that had a neat song and a magical boy (Telesic) who turned into a boy from a stick. And he had a magical boat, and there was a dragon lady who wanted to eat him. Good stuff. I was transfixed by the guy - he was pretty good. And it struck me how except for a few details (like a yak), it didn't matter where the story actually came from - they were just all good human stories. Fun stuff. So I left feeling happy, and ran into a farmer's market and decided to get lunch! Made fresh insalata caprese - using fresh mozarella and tomatoes. Got some really creamy and tasty sheep + cow cheese and some sourdough rye bread and some blueberries on the side :-). It was a great lunch if I do say so! Fun that that's possible here - just walking home and picking up fresh lunch. So we worked the rest of the day at Starbucks. Then went out in search of the Tunisian place I'd heard of that was 25 blocks away. We looked for it and we couldn't find it! I was so bummed. And we were hungry after all that walking. So we ended up at City Grill. Despite me swearing off American food, we really enjoyed our meal! Had a very tasty cheeseburger and fries and a shrimp, tomoato and eggplant quesadilla. Naveen and I share everything of course. Naveen got a red ale to drink and I a sangria + margarita mix - very tasty! They love sangrias in this city! But for dessert we picked a mixed drink, actually. I did rather :-). But it was so good! Godiva, Kahlua, and Baileys with vanilla ice cream - almost a mild chocolate/coffee milk shake. So tasty! We were happy :-).

Sunday was a good day. We got up and ran. It was only in the 70s, but I thought I'd die with the humidity! We went to the reservoir in Central Park which is a nice track. But we were drenched after just 1 loop! But we made it both loops. Came home and made the BEST omelet. I feel like I really like food :-) - I talk about it a lot. But it had onions, red and green peppers, cheese, broccoli, and mushrooms - most from our farmer's market out front. Very satisfying. Then we worked all afternoon again - oh - after a nice nap :-). We tried to go to the last showing of Shakespeare's "As You Like It" in Riverside Park, but failed. Though it wasn't raining anymore, they cancelled it because the performance area was wet. Bummer :-(. But Macbeth starts next week. But on the way home we got a pizza at our favorite place - sausage, eggplant, and mushrooms. Did I say I've been obsessed with eggplant lately? And pomegranate (mostly juice) :-). And we worked the rest of the night - but felt like a good weekend!

My carpool friend Shan Shan is at a conference this week, sadly, so I'm taking the subway+train+shuttle. Miss her. And I'm optimistic about my paper - keep on chugging! I hope I hope. And I wish my lower right back wasn't spasming with pain every time I move, but such is life right now. Happy week to you all!