Sorry - haven't blogged a lot this week. It's been an up and down week. Did some Riverside running Monday evening which was really nice - the breeze from the water helped cut the humid hot weather (yay heat waves). Then N and I went to the super-healthy pizza place on the way home.
Tuesday was very exciting - the title really says it all :-).
So I played softball again, and I have to say I love this game! Missed you again Christine. So I was under the impression our team (the Bytecodes) sucked. Really. There's only 4 teams in the league and I heard it's very rare for us to win. So I'm just out there for fun anyway. I play 2nd base. It was a beautiful evening, even if a bit humid. We had a great team - another woman besides me so we didn't have any penalties! (If you have only 1 woman for example you start with 1 out every other inning). We had great team spirit. Mike Hind - my now 2nd line boss was there - backing me up at short-stop. So we started off at bat - I think at the end of the first it was 1-2. Nice that we score a lot more than pro baseball :-). Then by the end of the 4th we were up 8-6! I felt really good - we weren't making errors, I was pretty good at bat - got walked the first time, then got mostly base hits. Once I hit it at the pitcher's head and unfortunately got out. Another time I did a line drive at the 3rd baseman, and my whole team thought I'd make it, but the 3rd guy bee-lined it to the 1st base guy and just beat me - bummer. But overall I did well. Mike was awesome at short - catching tons of fly balls - one inning he got all 3 outs back to back with 3 pop up catches. So yeah - just exciting game. And the other team had some great players and hitters (I think one guy got at least 2 home runs). These games are only supposed to go 7 innings. So we had shut each other down 3 innings and we were still up 8-6 at the bottom of the 7th and they were up to bat . We just had to hold them off - go Bytecodes! Unfortunately 2 people got through before we shut them down, so it was tied at the end of the 7th 8-8. Although we usually don't play more innings, we went to the 8th! So exciting. My adrenaline was just pumping - we had a chance to win! So top of the 8th - we are up to bat. 3 guys bat before me and all get on base. I bat - accidentally bunt and get on base too. So we score with no outs, and have bases loaded! It's looking good. For some reason they keep making errors or we keep hitting well, because we just sailed through our roster and started over - scoring 6 runs that inning before they finally got 3 outs! We were so pumped - we did awesome :-). Such teamwork. I was excited to be the 3rd base coach and wave people in. Wow. So ok - we go to the field - just gotta stop them from overly scoring themselves. And we did! We let a couple of peopel score - the really good hitter, then the fast runner. But we caught some fly balls and struck a girl out and we suddenly won in the 8th 14-10!! I was so happy and flushed and felt like it was such a great game. I scored 2 of our runs overall and definitely got at least 1 out. Really energized me - working together, and really being into the spirit of the game, playing well. Go team! I loved it. :-).
So life was really good at the end of Tuesday - got a lot of exercise; got a ride home from a really weird guy who told me his life story within 15 minute of meeting me (and lots of personal, "what's really going on" stuff) - but he was really nice and a Manhattanite that'll tell me when he hears of things going on in the city; got home and Naveen had put together my bike for me and had dinner waiting - yum Chinese. Very good stuff.
Wednesday we were supposed to go to a free concert in Central Park of the NY Philharmonic in the evening - with fireworks to follow! I was excited, but unfortunately it got canceled because of rain. Bummer. So we went out to Indian food instead - yum. Oh yeah - and I went out to Dim Sum for lunch with my group - also tasty. Although I didn't know what I was doing, it seemed they either didn't come around very often, or the guy who was ordered for us cut it short because it didn't seem like a lot of food to me. But tasty :-).
That's most of my week. Tonight we are going to clean and get ready for our first visitor - Erica - who flies in tomorrow. I'm really excited! And I'll blog soon about all the other stuff going on with me - figuring out how to balance everything, figuring out my research goals, and figuring out time management. Life is always crazy, but I think I'm doing better - I have plans that might make life more sane (notice I'm doing fewer things during the week). So yeah - I think I'll make it. And it's almost a weekend so I can soon catch up on sleep! Have a good one...
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Sailin' around Manhattan
Hi all - I guess it's the end of another fabulous weekend. Had a fabulous time!
Friday Naveen and I picked up Cuban take-out on the way to a free Central Park show. We sat and ate our tasty dishes - shrimp marinated in a red sauce with onions and peppers and Naveen's rice with spicy sausage - and watched some Afro-American dance with some ballet and hip hop influences and some awesome African music and drum work! They had colorful costumes with tons of loose fabric tied around their body and they moved very freely and lithely. It was great fun. We got the feeling they were telling stories with the dance, we just didn't know what stories they were telling. Then we walked home during the pleasant night, and called it a night.
Saturday was great, too - we met up with friends for brunch at 1:30 or 2. Yay afternoon brunch! We went to this hole-in-the-wall place called Freeman's in the East Village. I swear you couldn't find this place even if you knew it - it's down an alley that doesn't show up on maps, and the restaurantdoesn't display it's name anywhere. It's just a door... But it was very nice - we got mimosas, and I got a baked omelet with spinach, gruyere cheese, and bacon - yum. And the company was wonderful - so my lab-mate at IBM is Emina who is originally from Bosnia. Her boyfriend came in from Boston for the weekend - he's from England. Then we met up with her MIT friend who lives in the city - he's from India. He brought a friend who was studying in the city just for the summer - she's from St. Petersburg. Holy Cow! Varied people. So the Indian was an interesting guy - his name is Rishie (something like that). He did engineering/computer stuff in school, decided he didn't like that environment and got a job in finance - high-profile trading. That totally wiped him out in 4 years even though he made a good living, so he just recently switched into the field of real estate. He has something to say about everything, and he's a very personable, intelligent guy. So we quizzed him on his careers, living in NY, living the American dream, etc. We learned a lot and it was very enjoyable. First - in careers we came to the conclusion that it's all about connectors - the people who can connect specialist doing X with specialist doing Y, or take ideas solved in 1 field and apply them to a problem in another. Maybe I can be a connector somehow! He did say you need both the skills and the drive in your career, and you should switch it up if you don't have both. I'm thinking I am not sure I have drive in CS - maybe I should switch a bit so I can still use my skills but work with people more? Also - the way to make Manhattan manageable, friendly and knowable is to find your neighborhood, then cultivate it - get to know the people who work in the restaurants you like, know the people in your neighborhood, friends, then everything there is familiar and nice - you can make it your own.
Anyway, we had some good brunch - these guys liked dessert, so we got bananas foster and a chocolate dessert. Then we took off and went up to the Met - Metropolitan Museum of Art. We saw an exhibit that Emina wanted to see - about a fashion dress maker that was revolutionary in the 1910s. Then we wandered a bit - seeing horse armor, musical instruments, a bit of the "Venice and Islam" exhibit, and seeing paintings and sculptures in between. It's just too big there - you really have to just want to see a particular part and go there and leave - it's exhausting otherwise! So we left, and walked aimlessly around the east side and talked. Then for a "snack" ( at 7pm) we took a cab down to Rishie's neighborhood and went to a little french restaurant he knows. We ordered beers and appetizers - very fun. Got mussels and crab cake, a potato and blue cheese gallette (layered thing), and calimari and fries. And of course dessert - Naveen and I got creme brulee. Fun times - and the people really made it a great day - so many interesting stories. I want to be that inspirational and adventurous - all these people that madke wonderful things of themselves by moving to another country which has to be so hard! After this we went our separate ways, and I took Naveen down to Union Square area because I like it, and we walked around. We checked out a brewery/restaurant and sampled several beers that were tasty - I really liked my summer apricot ale and my red ale as well! Nice that the city is so accessible and everyone is out and about...
Today was a day of sailing - it was wonderful! David Bacon - a colleague of mine at IBM - loves sailing. He sails every weekend at belongs to a club in lower Manhattan, so he invited us to go with him! So we did get dramamine, and headed off with him - getting down there around noon. It was so much fun to sail! Setting up the boat was really satisfying and tactile - Naveen and I surmised I should've studied civil engineering because I like that so much. We tied ropes all around this tiny boat - around 30 feet long and could only have 5 people aboard. It was fun to be put to work and learn to tack and winch and switch sails and all. And it was a HOT day - 95 in the city supposedly. So it was nice to be on the water and feel the breeze and the water, although the sun does zap your energy. We took snacks and just hung out. David did most of the sailing, and a friend of his came too. We tacked back and forth (switching the sail from 1 side to another) up wind - we went a far ways - past the Statue of Liberty south. We got beautiful views of Manhattan, Brooklyn, New Jersey, Ellis Island, Staten Island, Coney Island, and the statue herself! Very fun! We went down to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge which is pretty far. Then coming back down wind we could go a lot faster. We brought out this awesome huge sail - I can't remember the name of it right now (spinicker?) that really made sailing exciting (besides before when one side of the boat hit the water and you were semi-standing up). Beautiful. There's a lot of good hard work involved in sailing, and you do get zapped, but I can see the appeal. You really can get into the rhythm of it and forget your life. Relaxing :-). So we had fun with David hanging out afterward - just got drinks after coming back. Then he dropped us near home, and we were hungry so we stopped at Haitian food nearby on the way home. It was pretty good - we really liked their soup with meat and potatoes and vegies - hearty, but their pork dish seemed over cooked... Naveen's meatballs were tasty... But after the long day of sailing, we came home and passed out - tiring! Another Monday to look forward to tomorrow...
Friday Naveen and I picked up Cuban take-out on the way to a free Central Park show. We sat and ate our tasty dishes - shrimp marinated in a red sauce with onions and peppers and Naveen's rice with spicy sausage - and watched some Afro-American dance with some ballet and hip hop influences and some awesome African music and drum work! They had colorful costumes with tons of loose fabric tied around their body and they moved very freely and lithely. It was great fun. We got the feeling they were telling stories with the dance, we just didn't know what stories they were telling. Then we walked home during the pleasant night, and called it a night.
Saturday was great, too - we met up with friends for brunch at 1:30 or 2. Yay afternoon brunch! We went to this hole-in-the-wall place called Freeman's in the East Village. I swear you couldn't find this place even if you knew it - it's down an alley that doesn't show up on maps, and the restaurantdoesn't display it's name anywhere. It's just a door... But it was very nice - we got mimosas, and I got a baked omelet with spinach, gruyere cheese, and bacon - yum. And the company was wonderful - so my lab-mate at IBM is Emina who is originally from Bosnia. Her boyfriend came in from Boston for the weekend - he's from England. Then we met up with her MIT friend who lives in the city - he's from India. He brought a friend who was studying in the city just for the summer - she's from St. Petersburg. Holy Cow! Varied people. So the Indian was an interesting guy - his name is Rishie (something like that). He did engineering/computer stuff in school, decided he didn't like that environment and got a job in finance - high-profile trading. That totally wiped him out in 4 years even though he made a good living, so he just recently switched into the field of real estate. He has something to say about everything, and he's a very personable, intelligent guy. So we quizzed him on his careers, living in NY, living the American dream, etc. We learned a lot and it was very enjoyable. First - in careers we came to the conclusion that it's all about connectors - the people who can connect specialist doing X with specialist doing Y, or take ideas solved in 1 field and apply them to a problem in another. Maybe I can be a connector somehow! He did say you need both the skills and the drive in your career, and you should switch it up if you don't have both. I'm thinking I am not sure I have drive in CS - maybe I should switch a bit so I can still use my skills but work with people more? Also - the way to make Manhattan manageable, friendly and knowable is to find your neighborhood, then cultivate it - get to know the people who work in the restaurants you like, know the people in your neighborhood, friends, then everything there is familiar and nice - you can make it your own.
Anyway, we had some good brunch - these guys liked dessert, so we got bananas foster and a chocolate dessert. Then we took off and went up to the Met - Metropolitan Museum of Art. We saw an exhibit that Emina wanted to see - about a fashion dress maker that was revolutionary in the 1910s. Then we wandered a bit - seeing horse armor, musical instruments, a bit of the "Venice and Islam" exhibit, and seeing paintings and sculptures in between. It's just too big there - you really have to just want to see a particular part and go there and leave - it's exhausting otherwise! So we left, and walked aimlessly around the east side and talked. Then for a "snack" ( at 7pm) we took a cab down to Rishie's neighborhood and went to a little french restaurant he knows. We ordered beers and appetizers - very fun. Got mussels and crab cake, a potato and blue cheese gallette (layered thing), and calimari and fries. And of course dessert - Naveen and I got creme brulee. Fun times - and the people really made it a great day - so many interesting stories. I want to be that inspirational and adventurous - all these people that madke wonderful things of themselves by moving to another country which has to be so hard! After this we went our separate ways, and I took Naveen down to Union Square area because I like it, and we walked around. We checked out a brewery/restaurant and sampled several beers that were tasty - I really liked my summer apricot ale and my red ale as well! Nice that the city is so accessible and everyone is out and about...
Today was a day of sailing - it was wonderful! David Bacon - a colleague of mine at IBM - loves sailing. He sails every weekend at belongs to a club in lower Manhattan, so he invited us to go with him! So we did get dramamine, and headed off with him - getting down there around noon. It was so much fun to sail! Setting up the boat was really satisfying and tactile - Naveen and I surmised I should've studied civil engineering because I like that so much. We tied ropes all around this tiny boat - around 30 feet long and could only have 5 people aboard. It was fun to be put to work and learn to tack and winch and switch sails and all. And it was a HOT day - 95 in the city supposedly. So it was nice to be on the water and feel the breeze and the water, although the sun does zap your energy. We took snacks and just hung out. David did most of the sailing, and a friend of his came too. We tacked back and forth (switching the sail from 1 side to another) up wind - we went a far ways - past the Statue of Liberty south. We got beautiful views of Manhattan, Brooklyn, New Jersey, Ellis Island, Staten Island, Coney Island, and the statue herself! Very fun! We went down to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge which is pretty far. Then coming back down wind we could go a lot faster. We brought out this awesome huge sail - I can't remember the name of it right now (spinicker?) that really made sailing exciting (besides before when one side of the boat hit the water and you were semi-standing up). Beautiful. There's a lot of good hard work involved in sailing, and you do get zapped, but I can see the appeal. You really can get into the rhythm of it and forget your life. Relaxing :-). So we had fun with David hanging out afterward - just got drinks after coming back. Then he dropped us near home, and we were hungry so we stopped at Haitian food nearby on the way home. It was pretty good - we really liked their soup with meat and potatoes and vegies - hearty, but their pork dish seemed over cooked... Naveen's meatballs were tasty... But after the long day of sailing, we came home and passed out - tiring! Another Monday to look forward to tomorrow...
Friday, July 6, 2007
Jenn: the nomad
First of all - a shout out to my Mom - Happy Birthday!
So before I report recent activities that apparently make all my readers tired, I'm going to explain why I'm a nomad. It might be Mom's fault. But here we go. I know you have told me that I exhaust you with all my travels - that you can't keep up with where I am. It's not that I like the travel (who does with airports/airplanes these days?), but I like the places. I'm an addict, really, and I got some of my Mom's need to see everything. I don't quite understand it - why I can't just let some things/places/activities go. That's what Naveen would do. But really - I've been thinking about it recently - is it a fear of missing out on things? I don't know. But it's a big part of why I plan. What I really am passionate about is roaming - experiencing new places, new things, new people. Why do I have a thirst for the different, for the new? Why can't I enjoy a routine and getting more done and comforts of home. Well, I can, but knowing me I'd change it up pretty quick. Maybe I'll settle "down" later. An intern said something interesting the other day - we were talking about whether any of us had been on stage. The answer, if yes, was always "in high school and middle school". In college, especially in grad school - who has time for it anymore? You only do it if you are REALLY passionate about it. That struck me as interesting - do we just do everything when we are young, then grow up having found the things we really like and doing just them? And we have less time... Well, I'm not done exploring yet - in fact, maybe I can term myself an explorer. Travel is what makes me feel alive. The only problem is that a lot of it is cursory, surface-level. Naveen prefers to live in a place to really know it, not just visit for 2-3 days. Another thing to balance.
And along the same note - I find New York wonderful, and still unknowable. There are just TOO many things here to know, to feel familiar. Maybe a subset can be familiar - the things you are into. Portland felt so much more knowable. And Austin - I miss Austin. People definitely have flare there. I heard someone here say they hated the chains moving in - taking away the small corner deli or individual family store. But I would never imagine a slogan such as "Keep Manhattan Weird". But there you go - maybe my not being able to know Manhattan really has to do with me wanting to know a sample of EVERYTHING about a place. I don't want to miss anything! But it's impossible here. But I do love this place - this alive place. Everything is tangible, and everything makes you feel part of it - to a degree :-). Just walking my 3 blocks to the subway, passing churches, a grocery store, my favorite pizza store (well, their garlic knots are the best - except for my breath), a fruit stand, a deli, picking up a paper on my way down the subway... Living in the city - you are part of it just walking out the front door.
Which reminds me - Naveen went to our farmer's market (just outside the door) this morning and loved it :-). Yay for that! And I came to work obscenely early with my new carpool girl, and worked out and showered here. Ok not obscenely early, but I have to leave at 7:12 from my place to meet her. And she routinely works 10 hour days here. But I don't even want to tell about the better-timed carpool that is run by an extortionist manipulator. Sigh.
But the rest of the 4th of July was splendid - the run in the park made me happy. More cityscape - I'll have to take pictures one day. Then we saw the new Transformers movie in the theater - it was neat! We liked it - Naveen was like a happy little boy :-). So yes, it was cheesy and the characters and plot left a little to be desired, but it was entertaining and cute and the robots were very cool. The action - computer and human together - was done very well. So yay. Then we walked across town to join the throngs waiting hours for fireworks. We got pizza along the way :-). Happiness. I have some cool intern friends. We were on the upper deck of FDR with a great view of the East River and the barges that set off the fireworks. We even waited through some rain to see them finally a couple of hours later. So the fireworks were pretty awesome - saw cubes, hearts, smileys, planets, fractals, champagne fireworks. We saw stars and stripes that were awesome - they actually had stripes sort of hover high in the air on parachutes or something because they stayed there for several minutes! And there were awesome ones close to the water that reminded me of flowers - there was a center, then a trailing cone behind it. But they would shoot up a ways, then shoot back down, then shoot back up and continue oscillating. Sorta different. The only problem was that we missed some of the fireworks, and the effect of the finale because of the extreme smoke left in the wake of the previous fireworks. It really obstructed them entirely! We were unfortunately up wind of other other barges... But a fun night - we made our way across town to get home. Of course getting out of the area was hard - it took about 45 minutes to go a block because we ran into tons of people, but after we integrated with traffic again, we sailed home. Some of the interns mentioned the crowd was sort of sedate - no singing or hollering or anything. We pointed out it was still a weeknight...
So yeah - good times. The excitement of Thursday was that I found out I can get US Open tennis tickets through IBM!!!! I was so excited... The tournament is the week before and after Labor Day and we can even ride the subway to it. It's a life-long goal of mine to go to a major tennis tournament! So holy cow. So through some of Naveen's friends we have an opportunity to go to Belize over Labor Day weekend and scuba dive. I'm totally excited about that, too. See me, with the doing of all things? So we are doing both of course - we'll just go to Belize for 5-6 days and then come back for the tennis tournament - we got tickets for 9/7 - we are going to see the women's semifinals for only $40~ per ticket! So excited! We are going with some other intern friends - I've found that although events are really fun and important, people is what makes it. People are awesome, and I've met some cool ones up here - they make everything better. These random opportunities - they aren't just about things/places - they are about PEOPLE which is just so much better. Ah, life, and the human experience.
So here I go - struggling on, adventuring on. It already will be a great weekend...
P.S. More later on alternative careers, the American way of "working is everything", and where I fit in :-).
So before I report recent activities that apparently make all my readers tired, I'm going to explain why I'm a nomad. It might be Mom's fault. But here we go. I know you have told me that I exhaust you with all my travels - that you can't keep up with where I am. It's not that I like the travel (who does with airports/airplanes these days?), but I like the places. I'm an addict, really, and I got some of my Mom's need to see everything. I don't quite understand it - why I can't just let some things/places/activities go. That's what Naveen would do. But really - I've been thinking about it recently - is it a fear of missing out on things? I don't know. But it's a big part of why I plan. What I really am passionate about is roaming - experiencing new places, new things, new people. Why do I have a thirst for the different, for the new? Why can't I enjoy a routine and getting more done and comforts of home. Well, I can, but knowing me I'd change it up pretty quick. Maybe I'll settle "down" later. An intern said something interesting the other day - we were talking about whether any of us had been on stage. The answer, if yes, was always "in high school and middle school". In college, especially in grad school - who has time for it anymore? You only do it if you are REALLY passionate about it. That struck me as interesting - do we just do everything when we are young, then grow up having found the things we really like and doing just them? And we have less time... Well, I'm not done exploring yet - in fact, maybe I can term myself an explorer. Travel is what makes me feel alive. The only problem is that a lot of it is cursory, surface-level. Naveen prefers to live in a place to really know it, not just visit for 2-3 days. Another thing to balance.
And along the same note - I find New York wonderful, and still unknowable. There are just TOO many things here to know, to feel familiar. Maybe a subset can be familiar - the things you are into. Portland felt so much more knowable. And Austin - I miss Austin. People definitely have flare there. I heard someone here say they hated the chains moving in - taking away the small corner deli or individual family store. But I would never imagine a slogan such as "Keep Manhattan Weird". But there you go - maybe my not being able to know Manhattan really has to do with me wanting to know a sample of EVERYTHING about a place. I don't want to miss anything! But it's impossible here. But I do love this place - this alive place. Everything is tangible, and everything makes you feel part of it - to a degree :-). Just walking my 3 blocks to the subway, passing churches, a grocery store, my favorite pizza store (well, their garlic knots are the best - except for my breath), a fruit stand, a deli, picking up a paper on my way down the subway... Living in the city - you are part of it just walking out the front door.
Which reminds me - Naveen went to our farmer's market (just outside the door) this morning and loved it :-). Yay for that! And I came to work obscenely early with my new carpool girl, and worked out and showered here. Ok not obscenely early, but I have to leave at 7:12 from my place to meet her. And she routinely works 10 hour days here. But I don't even want to tell about the better-timed carpool that is run by an extortionist manipulator. Sigh.
But the rest of the 4th of July was splendid - the run in the park made me happy. More cityscape - I'll have to take pictures one day. Then we saw the new Transformers movie in the theater - it was neat! We liked it - Naveen was like a happy little boy :-). So yes, it was cheesy and the characters and plot left a little to be desired, but it was entertaining and cute and the robots were very cool. The action - computer and human together - was done very well. So yay. Then we walked across town to join the throngs waiting hours for fireworks. We got pizza along the way :-). Happiness. I have some cool intern friends. We were on the upper deck of FDR with a great view of the East River and the barges that set off the fireworks. We even waited through some rain to see them finally a couple of hours later. So the fireworks were pretty awesome - saw cubes, hearts, smileys, planets, fractals, champagne fireworks. We saw stars and stripes that were awesome - they actually had stripes sort of hover high in the air on parachutes or something because they stayed there for several minutes! And there were awesome ones close to the water that reminded me of flowers - there was a center, then a trailing cone behind it. But they would shoot up a ways, then shoot back down, then shoot back up and continue oscillating. Sorta different. The only problem was that we missed some of the fireworks, and the effect of the finale because of the extreme smoke left in the wake of the previous fireworks. It really obstructed them entirely! We were unfortunately up wind of other other barges... But a fun night - we made our way across town to get home. Of course getting out of the area was hard - it took about 45 minutes to go a block because we ran into tons of people, but after we integrated with traffic again, we sailed home. Some of the interns mentioned the crowd was sort of sedate - no singing or hollering or anything. We pointed out it was still a weeknight...
So yeah - good times. The excitement of Thursday was that I found out I can get US Open tennis tickets through IBM!!!! I was so excited... The tournament is the week before and after Labor Day and we can even ride the subway to it. It's a life-long goal of mine to go to a major tennis tournament! So holy cow. So through some of Naveen's friends we have an opportunity to go to Belize over Labor Day weekend and scuba dive. I'm totally excited about that, too. See me, with the doing of all things? So we are doing both of course - we'll just go to Belize for 5-6 days and then come back for the tennis tournament - we got tickets for 9/7 - we are going to see the women's semifinals for only $40~ per ticket! So excited! We are going with some other intern friends - I've found that although events are really fun and important, people is what makes it. People are awesome, and I've met some cool ones up here - they make everything better. These random opportunities - they aren't just about things/places - they are about PEOPLE which is just so much better. Ah, life, and the human experience.
So here I go - struggling on, adventuring on. It already will be a great weekend...
P.S. More later on alternative careers, the American way of "working is everything", and where I fit in :-).
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
All-American 4th of July
Happy 4th of July and Independence Day! I'm excited it's the 4th.
Last night I did the all-American thing and went to a Yankees game with friends! It was lots of fun - we ate hot dogs, soft pretzels, sang the anthem and "Take Me Out To the Ballgame". Very American :-). They were playing the Minnesota Twins, and although 2 out of the 8 intern group that went were Twins fans, and the Yankees have been doing horribly lately, we won! We left in the middle of the 8th inning and Yankees were up 8-0. We even saw a home run! It was great :-). We were in the bleachers, but after the sun got out of our eyes - it really was a great view of the field. And nice day - nice temperature. All-in-all fun. I liked Cano - he was good at bat. And we came away with a souvenir cup and a little helmet with their logo on it (it held ice cream :-)).
So I had been feeling sick all day - my stomach was bothering me then I felt a little feverish and light-headed at the end of the day, so we basically went home and crashed. I think my body was telling me to get some sleep! And it felt good to just sleep in today - I think I slept close to 12 hours - woohoo! Feeling better...
Now Naveen and I are planning more American activities while I'm off work today - going to see an afternoon movie, then going to join large throngs of people for hours to get a good spot to watch fireworks this evening! I'm excited :-). Oh yeah - we will run in the park first because we love that.
I keep hearing more things to do here and I'm going crazy! Hope I can do most of them and feel like I've experienced this place, but I probably shouldn't worry :-). Yes I've been pondering a lot lately - about planning and anticipation and trying to fit everything in and not miss anything and variety (trying new things everyday) versus doing what you know you like/being more stable... and what are you passionate about and what is a researcher and judging versus being inclusive. And even Manhattan being a special magical place with tons of new opportunities, or it being just another city with a few individual traits, but basically offering the same as other large cities. Too much pondering. It's usually Naveen that brings these things up, but not always, but it hurts my head to question myself all the time - or hurts my confidence. So rather than focus on all those today - I'm going to go enjoy my day off with Naveen :-).
Happy 4th!
Last night I did the all-American thing and went to a Yankees game with friends! It was lots of fun - we ate hot dogs, soft pretzels, sang the anthem and "Take Me Out To the Ballgame". Very American :-). They were playing the Minnesota Twins, and although 2 out of the 8 intern group that went were Twins fans, and the Yankees have been doing horribly lately, we won! We left in the middle of the 8th inning and Yankees were up 8-0. We even saw a home run! It was great :-). We were in the bleachers, but after the sun got out of our eyes - it really was a great view of the field. And nice day - nice temperature. All-in-all fun. I liked Cano - he was good at bat. And we came away with a souvenir cup and a little helmet with their logo on it (it held ice cream :-)).
So I had been feeling sick all day - my stomach was bothering me then I felt a little feverish and light-headed at the end of the day, so we basically went home and crashed. I think my body was telling me to get some sleep! And it felt good to just sleep in today - I think I slept close to 12 hours - woohoo! Feeling better...
Now Naveen and I are planning more American activities while I'm off work today - going to see an afternoon movie, then going to join large throngs of people for hours to get a good spot to watch fireworks this evening! I'm excited :-). Oh yeah - we will run in the park first because we love that.
I keep hearing more things to do here and I'm going crazy! Hope I can do most of them and feel like I've experienced this place, but I probably shouldn't worry :-). Yes I've been pondering a lot lately - about planning and anticipation and trying to fit everything in and not miss anything and variety (trying new things everyday) versus doing what you know you like/being more stable... and what are you passionate about and what is a researcher and judging versus being inclusive. And even Manhattan being a special magical place with tons of new opportunities, or it being just another city with a few individual traits, but basically offering the same as other large cities. Too much pondering. It's usually Naveen that brings these things up, but not always, but it hurts my head to question myself all the time - or hurts my confidence. So rather than focus on all those today - I'm going to go enjoy my day off with Naveen :-).
Happy 4th!
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Finally home
Had a good weekend - more low key than previously :-). We did end up going out and meeting up with my friends at a club in midtown - it was really fun! The DJ played great hip hop music, and we had some fun drinks - I enjoyed a B52. My friends were fun - Naveen got to meet a bunch of people from IBM. But wow, were the Europeans (after being influenced by the crazy CMU guy) totally crazy and really drunk! How weird... But we danced and generally had fun - took the subway home at 2am and felt very safe!
So another sleep in day - I needed it after this week! Someone was going to come fix our leaking sink from 10-11, and they didn't get here until 3pm - bummer! But we got settled in - did more unpacking and organizing and it was really nice to feel more settled in. After the fix-it man came, we went for a nice run in Central Park! I love that place - it feels so alive to me. We passed some beautiful fountains, a concert, hoola-hoopers and of course other exercisers, people chillin in the lawn, and kids playing. We went the RIGHT way this time, and actually found the 4 mile loop which was nice. Running feels good (when my knee isn't hurting) and I'm proud of myself for feeling I could go even farther!
So this evening we went out to find dinner - we happened upon a Turkish restaurant we had seen before - called Turkuaz at 100th and Broadway. The reason I'm giving you the info is that I'd highly recommend it!! We loved it - it hit the spot. I've been wanting Middle Eastern food, and I definitely got my eggplant kick fulfilled (I've been loving eggplant lately). But this place was awesome - had great atmosphere - Turkish rugs, antique-looking lanterns, and clothe was draped everywhere so we felt like we were in a tent. We got some wonderful dishes - zucchini pancakes, a cold eggplant and peppers and garlic and tomatoes fried concoction, yummy bread, and a lamb specialty with okra for our meal. Plus I got pomegranate juice, and we got authentic baklava and real Turkish coffee for dessert (which apparently you can't drink without a little bit of sugar at least! - strong stuff). Everything was divine, and brought to our table very fast and promptly. The second we finished anything, they took the plate from the table, and were very on top of maintaining our table and refilling water. The wait staff was all very personal and nice. Just a great night out! Very satisfying :-).
So we walked around a bit on the way home, and stopped by the grocery store! Very exciting to actually stock up on some food, and be prepared for the week. Now we actually feel like we live here :-). Things are getting more normal and routine, and as Naveen says - we have some time here, and I don't have to worry about missing out on things because we will always do things we enjoy. So settling in feels great :-). I really feel like our apartment is home, or will be for awhile! Now - to get ready for Monday and another day at IBM...
So another sleep in day - I needed it after this week! Someone was going to come fix our leaking sink from 10-11, and they didn't get here until 3pm - bummer! But we got settled in - did more unpacking and organizing and it was really nice to feel more settled in. After the fix-it man came, we went for a nice run in Central Park! I love that place - it feels so alive to me. We passed some beautiful fountains, a concert, hoola-hoopers and of course other exercisers, people chillin in the lawn, and kids playing. We went the RIGHT way this time, and actually found the 4 mile loop which was nice. Running feels good (when my knee isn't hurting) and I'm proud of myself for feeling I could go even farther!
So this evening we went out to find dinner - we happened upon a Turkish restaurant we had seen before - called Turkuaz at 100th and Broadway. The reason I'm giving you the info is that I'd highly recommend it!! We loved it - it hit the spot. I've been wanting Middle Eastern food, and I definitely got my eggplant kick fulfilled (I've been loving eggplant lately). But this place was awesome - had great atmosphere - Turkish rugs, antique-looking lanterns, and clothe was draped everywhere so we felt like we were in a tent. We got some wonderful dishes - zucchini pancakes, a cold eggplant and peppers and garlic and tomatoes fried concoction, yummy bread, and a lamb specialty with okra for our meal. Plus I got pomegranate juice, and we got authentic baklava and real Turkish coffee for dessert (which apparently you can't drink without a little bit of sugar at least! - strong stuff). Everything was divine, and brought to our table very fast and promptly. The second we finished anything, they took the plate from the table, and were very on top of maintaining our table and refilling water. The wait staff was all very personal and nice. Just a great night out! Very satisfying :-).
So we walked around a bit on the way home, and stopped by the grocery store! Very exciting to actually stock up on some food, and be prepared for the week. Now we actually feel like we live here :-). Things are getting more normal and routine, and as Naveen says - we have some time here, and I don't have to worry about missing out on things because we will always do things we enjoy. So settling in feels great :-). I really feel like our apartment is home, or will be for awhile! Now - to get ready for Monday and another day at IBM...
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Cupcakes, Bar Fight, Fireworks and Naveen, oh my!
Hi all, welcome to Friday in Manhattan! Did the work thing, even though I was a zombie (several days of only 5 hours sleep!). I went to lunch with my group, and lo and behold after lunch we took a nice long walk! Like 25 minutes long, we walked around the site - several buildings. Nice tradition to walk off lunch! We talked a bit about the demo I saw for a garbage collector I might work on at work. It was cool because it's used in the underlying system of both a small (model) helicopter, as well as a music synthesizer. And I was told the music synthesizer could be a good benchmark for me in my research - very cool! Maybe this doesn't make sense to some, but it was fun to see what I work on in a real thing so even non-CS people would appreciate it :-). So had a nice afternoon - we had an hour and a half brainstorming meeting with my project and decided we might work on a very ambitious, longer-term idea. Sort of exciting. Then I worked out briefly in the tiny workout room at work before jumping on the shuttle to get back to the city.
So I road the train down with a bunch of other cool interns and one mentioned the famous "Magnolia Bakery". Have you heard of it? Apparently it's famous for it's cupcakes! They had really wanted to check it out - but apparently it normally was a line around the block and an hour wait or something! So we all took the subway to that area after work - stopping through Grand Central Station which is HUGE! It was fun to go exploring with other interns :-). It happened to be in Greenwich Village which is a really cute area. We found the bakery, and there was virtually no line, so instead of going to grab dinner first was we thought we'd do, we just went in and got some cupcakes! :-). Yum. Although I didn't eat any then. We just waited 10 minutes in line or something. So then we went and found a place for dinner - we ended up at the White Horse Tavern. I wasn't too excited about bar food, but got a chicken and mushroom pie (like a pot pie). We were having fun hanging out and we were sitting outside on the nice evening. So suddenly a fight broke out next to us! Our nightly entertainment! So it's wasn't a fist fight or anything, but this guy went up to this girl and they were arguing and yelling at each other and calling each other names when they were about an inch from each other. Then she said something like "Just lay a finger on me, and I'll... ". So he did - pushed her in the shoulder area with his index finger. That really pissed her off - and before I knew it he had her arm too. They were really loud and the rest of us were just gaping at them. Then a security guy for the tavern came up and forcibly separated them, and sorta took the guy and shoved him out of the little gate around the patio and said to get out of here. Well, the guy fell and hit his head on the concrete and was really pissed that they were rough. He stayed on the sidewalk yelling at the girl for another 10 minutes - calling her a prick and a wuss. I still didn't know what they were actually fighting about! And the restaurant people were booing him and throwing food at him and saying to get out of here, but he wouldn't - he was just looking for a fight sorta. Apparently the cops were called because they came and apparently finally took the guy away. The restaurant people couldn't stop talking about this for the next 1/2 hour! Craziness! I've heard people argue on the subway and get in each other's faces, but this was way more heated - crazy!
So anyway, I left my friends, and when I walked back past the cupcake house on the way to the subway, there was a line around the block! Crazy... I had to go back to the subway, though, to meet Naveen at the airport - woohoo! So I went home, dropped off my cupcakes, and lo and behold outside my apartment window in the distance there were beautiful fireworks going on - and a big display that went on for awhile. I tried to take some pictures. I love the city skyline at night all lit up and it was beautiful with fireworks - reminded me of Portland :-).
But I ran out the door to catch the bus to Laguardia airport. I got to the corner where the bus picks up and there were like 4 fire trucks and several police cars. It didn't look like anything was going on at all and a lady told me sometimes they refill water on the hydrants or something, but they were just milling around. Weird. So I hoped on the bus that took 50 minutes to get to the airport - sorta slow. But I just read :-). It was pretty easy - and met Naveen! It was good to see him - I'm glad to introduce him to the city (although he's been here), and he said he got a great view of Manhattan as he landed and even picked out our apartment complex! His eyes were all awonder when we took the cab back home - the view of Manhattan as the cab crosses the bridge is really pretty. And we got dropped off at our place and I got to introduce him to our wonderful apartment! Yay! I'm glad he's here :-). I was so excited telling him all the things I want to do and what I've discovered - I guess I overwhelmed him. He said he just needed to get used to being here and explore the neighborhood a bit before I bombarded him with more stuff! I'm just over-excitable here with things going on :-). But he seems happy to be here too, so yay!
That was Friday. Saturday was basically about sleep (finally), getting a quick breakfast on Broadway (at 1pm), and then going out to a party at my boss' boss house in the suburbs and mingling with work folk. But we actually had a lot of fun. The area around here is really beautiful and green and we drove up the Hudson which is pretty. And his house was nice - lots of people brought kids who played around. Too much food, again - it's inevitable! And we got our first sample of the iPhone someone had just bought. Geeks, of course. But we had a lot of fun mingling. Nice people. And Naveen had fun playing badmitton. So finally stuffed, and coerced to bring leftovers home, we left to come back to the city! I am having fun here! Alright - time to head out again - maybe to get something that can pass as our dresser, and also maybe to meet friends. More later! Yay a fun, more relaxing weekend :-).
So I road the train down with a bunch of other cool interns and one mentioned the famous "Magnolia Bakery". Have you heard of it? Apparently it's famous for it's cupcakes! They had really wanted to check it out - but apparently it normally was a line around the block and an hour wait or something! So we all took the subway to that area after work - stopping through Grand Central Station which is HUGE! It was fun to go exploring with other interns :-). It happened to be in Greenwich Village which is a really cute area. We found the bakery, and there was virtually no line, so instead of going to grab dinner first was we thought we'd do, we just went in and got some cupcakes! :-). Yum. Although I didn't eat any then. We just waited 10 minutes in line or something. So then we went and found a place for dinner - we ended up at the White Horse Tavern. I wasn't too excited about bar food, but got a chicken and mushroom pie (like a pot pie). We were having fun hanging out and we were sitting outside on the nice evening. So suddenly a fight broke out next to us! Our nightly entertainment! So it's wasn't a fist fight or anything, but this guy went up to this girl and they were arguing and yelling at each other and calling each other names when they were about an inch from each other. Then she said something like "Just lay a finger on me, and I'll... ". So he did - pushed her in the shoulder area with his index finger. That really pissed her off - and before I knew it he had her arm too. They were really loud and the rest of us were just gaping at them. Then a security guy for the tavern came up and forcibly separated them, and sorta took the guy and shoved him out of the little gate around the patio and said to get out of here. Well, the guy fell and hit his head on the concrete and was really pissed that they were rough. He stayed on the sidewalk yelling at the girl for another 10 minutes - calling her a prick and a wuss. I still didn't know what they were actually fighting about! And the restaurant people were booing him and throwing food at him and saying to get out of here, but he wouldn't - he was just looking for a fight sorta. Apparently the cops were called because they came and apparently finally took the guy away. The restaurant people couldn't stop talking about this for the next 1/2 hour! Craziness! I've heard people argue on the subway and get in each other's faces, but this was way more heated - crazy!
So anyway, I left my friends, and when I walked back past the cupcake house on the way to the subway, there was a line around the block! Crazy... I had to go back to the subway, though, to meet Naveen at the airport - woohoo! So I went home, dropped off my cupcakes, and lo and behold outside my apartment window in the distance there were beautiful fireworks going on - and a big display that went on for awhile. I tried to take some pictures. I love the city skyline at night all lit up and it was beautiful with fireworks - reminded me of Portland :-).
But I ran out the door to catch the bus to Laguardia airport. I got to the corner where the bus picks up and there were like 4 fire trucks and several police cars. It didn't look like anything was going on at all and a lady told me sometimes they refill water on the hydrants or something, but they were just milling around. Weird. So I hoped on the bus that took 50 minutes to get to the airport - sorta slow. But I just read :-). It was pretty easy - and met Naveen! It was good to see him - I'm glad to introduce him to the city (although he's been here), and he said he got a great view of Manhattan as he landed and even picked out our apartment complex! His eyes were all awonder when we took the cab back home - the view of Manhattan as the cab crosses the bridge is really pretty. And we got dropped off at our place and I got to introduce him to our wonderful apartment! Yay! I'm glad he's here :-). I was so excited telling him all the things I want to do and what I've discovered - I guess I overwhelmed him. He said he just needed to get used to being here and explore the neighborhood a bit before I bombarded him with more stuff! I'm just over-excitable here with things going on :-). But he seems happy to be here too, so yay!
That was Friday. Saturday was basically about sleep (finally), getting a quick breakfast on Broadway (at 1pm), and then going out to a party at my boss' boss house in the suburbs and mingling with work folk. But we actually had a lot of fun. The area around here is really beautiful and green and we drove up the Hudson which is pretty. And his house was nice - lots of people brought kids who played around. Too much food, again - it's inevitable! And we got our first sample of the iPhone someone had just bought. Geeks, of course. But we had a lot of fun mingling. Nice people. And Naveen had fun playing badmitton. So finally stuffed, and coerced to bring leftovers home, we left to come back to the city! I am having fun here! Alright - time to head out again - maybe to get something that can pass as our dresser, and also maybe to meet friends. More later! Yay a fun, more relaxing weekend :-).
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Rainy day in Manhattan + Glutton
So I didn't post yesterday - this will cover yesterday and today.
Wednesday was a rainy day. That was sorta the mood too. And when I say rainy day - I mean it! I know we aren't nearly as bad as I've heard Austin has been lately (you guys canoeing to work yet?), but we had flooding. I don't know if that's normal here - in Arizona and Austin it is so I didn't think much of it. But there's a lot of people here, and that with flooding equals bad news. I didn't get it until I tried to go home (it started raining in the afternoon). By the way - I found out that rain comes very unexpectedly here - you really just need an umbrella (which I always forget) all the time. So it started raining in the afternoon (I was exhausted - coffee has been my friend this week). Watching the rain stream down a co-workers slanted (and coveted) window - I thought it was beautiful. But it made softball canceled sadly - I was looking forward to that. So I went to the rec-room and biked instead. Watched people play pool while biking :-). So, on the way home I noticed the havoc the rain had caused. Freeways were parking lots, it took close to 40 minutes to take the van to the train station when it usually takes 15. On the radio we heard that trains and subways had stopped for 50 minutes in the afternoon because the power went out in the city. You might imagine the craziness that causes in Manhattan. The radio asked people to "MTA asks people to please stagger when you commute home". We thought that was hilarious - yeah, I'll coordinate with everyone so we all go at different times! But actually I didn't have a huge problem getting home, besides taking a later train. And I found a pizza place close to my house with vegan and kosher and wheat pizzas! Crazy... Greg you can visit now :-). So I ran home and changed to go out to a birthday celebration at a restaurant/club.
So I met a girl at the BBQ Tuesday who was turning 27 Wednesday and invited a bunch of interns to celebrate with her at a bar/restaurant in the Upper West Side. I was excited to go and try a new place and make more friends. And it wasn't far - I walked of course. The bday girl actually turns out to live in my exact building, and said I was really lucky to find a sublet there and she loves it! So yay :-). She's a weath of info because she's lived there for a year (though she goes to Princeton in New Jersey - weird). But yeah - she thought I was way younger (you know that totally wins points when EVERYONE says it to me), and I'm older than her! Anyway - it was a pretty fun place. Kinda generic food - I got a shrimp quesadilla (I didn't eat pizza before - I just found the place). I mostly talked to a Bulgarian girl, an Austrian, and a Brazilian with German roots - we talked some about the EU. IBM really hires people from everywhere. Which makes it very interesting! I like a lot of the people I've met on the shuttles from the train this week - particularly others living in Manhattan. Yay friends! Although I'm a bit sick of doing the slightly exhausting "1st conversation" with new people everyday. If all you have is IBM in common, this conversation can be a bit boring, so you gotta go to something random pretty quick! I got a 7 & 7 in honor of Naveen. :-). And of course my semi-stalker showed up. She's not really my stalker, but I met her during orientation and she seems to follow me around at intern events when all I want to do is freely mingle and meet people. And I find her slightly annoying. She's from India - actually Madras. But I digress - we had some good conversation, and the bday girl had fun. We left about 11 and of course it was raining again and of course I was wearing a white shirt and hadn't remembered my umbrella. So I walked 14 blocks in the rain home :-). But the rain was actually nice. Although humidity!
So Thursday - today. Not too exciting - I guess the first several posts were the most exciting. Commuted to work again - and actually I really like the morning walk and Harlem - I think I'll miss it. And reading on the train. It's nice in the morning - everything feels calmer even though there are people everywhere. And I get handed a small local periodical (actually 2) when I go to the subway so I know the news in the morning. But yeah - work stuff. I went out to lunch with other interns today - mostly to mingle - I wasn't excited about going out. Went out with a Chinese girl, another Austrian, and an Iranian. I told you about the diversity. Someone at the BBQ said I'm the most normal (I used the word vanilla but he was talking about where I'm from), white American that they've met of all the interns. I enjoyed talking to the lunch folk about where they are from. Oddly enough several people have said Boston isn't very cool as a city - and one person even called it a small city! That seemed odd to me. Interesting people. They are in my group and apparently one of my main co-workers belongs to a sailing club and took them out sailing last weekend. I hope he does that again - I want to go! We all are going to a boss' boss party this Saturday in the burbs...
Anyway - there was a fair this afternoon where various groups presented their research. I guess it was nice for the interns to see what everyone is doing around the company (or building), but only 1 poster tangentially related to my research. And they had more free food/dessert. God the free food for interns! It's my downfall lately. I don't know why I gave up my ability to say no to food - lately I've been just wanting everything. I was so good at limiting myself in teh fall and spring, but when I'm in a new place and haven't done a lot of cooking at home I feel out of control and I give up slightly on the stringent food goal. I think the problem is really that I either limit myself entirely (especially limiting carbs, eating only wheat when I do, limiting quantity, not eating between meals, and eating almost no sugar), or feel like I'm "on vacation" and I sorta go wild because I'm not limiting anymore. Especially if it's free or new :-). I really need to find a balance, because the cookies made me feel slightly sick all afternoon. And I believe I can do it. I'm still doing the exercise thing everyday - but I know I've gained weight. It's not just the exercise - it's food intake, too. The food can make exercise easier or harder actually... And I don't know how to find a balance, but I need to. Can I ever eat something fried, or a pastry? What about carbs - how bad is bread (which I love)? Then desserts. I know it's not about denying oneself everything, it's just about control. But it is really hard to control when you go out to meals... But I can control extra intake - snacks, etc. Anyway..... I need to be more diligent and not feel bad all the time!
And speaking of feeling bad... Here's my current dilemma. It's very hard to focus on work. Ok, well I think getting into a new project takes time - I don't have momentum at the beginning of a project usually. So I'm not as worried about work during the day which should reach a rhythm (I'm still doing some settle-in tasks too). But I'm theoretically supposed to work on another project (besides the IBM one) for school for a paper deadline of Aug 7th. It's a continuation of what I've been working on at UT. And while I said I'd focus on research in New York, and I need to focus on my PhD now that I've met a lot of other goals in life (Kung Fu, scuba, triathlon), and I really need to make this paper deadline for my research - can I tell you how HARD it is to work on another project on the side!! While living in Manhattan?! I know I'm beating myself up a bit - I still haven't unpacked so I get some time to get used to being here... But if you know me you know my outside pursuits are really important to me - exercise, friends, experiencing this city. I've been going crazy with it (as you've read) - Naveen called me hyperactive. Which, as I've said, is exhausting. So again - a need for balance. I really didn't know I was such an unbalanced person!! :-). So basically I'm left with the constant of grad school: guilt. Sigh. Which is why I've done all the hinting about "is Computer Science really for me". There is constant pressure, and the people that I actually respect in the field work ALL THE TIME. The definition of researcher seems to include this proclivity towards workaholic-ness. And I just don't have it. I want to do good research and solve interesting problems - but why can't I enjoy life too? Why does that world seem dry so often? Have I just not met my ultimate problem that will lead me to want to work all the time?
Anyway, I got rambly. Sorry - it's my blog - so you get more than just adventures, but ponderings too :-).
Anyway - so always more questions, but I am happy. Naveen comes to Manhattan tomorrow - yay! And I ran again today when I got home - this time in the very narrow Riverside Park along the Hudson. Someone told me they liked it better than Central Park. It's definitely a nice park - and very good for running and biking. I ran down the park along some trails, but closer to the streets - it was pretty with lots of trees. Oh yeah, and it was sprinkling this whole time - another slightly rainy day! And me in a white t-shirt again :-). No wonder everyone stares at me. But when I got down to my destination (72nd), I figured out there's another trail that runs right along the water that is really cool! And I ran out onto a pier and everything. The water is pretty, as is the city scape. Again, happy. Came home - I'm trying to work and catch up and clean for Naveen tomorrow. Picked up some "soul food" in Harlem for dinner because I wanted to try it. It basically seems like southern food to me - collard greens, fried chicken, candied yams, baked macaroni and cheese, okra, corn, peach cobbler, ham, ribs - that stuff. But the guys in the shop were very nice to me. Harlem is warming on me - if you don't look at it as a place to put up heavy walls around yourself and look at everyone with scowl and skepticism - people are nice :-). But I think I'd rather do African food, but those places haven't appeared on my walk - although people in African garb have.
Ok I'm sure this is long - hope no one minds. I'm so happy tomorrow is Friday! Naveen comes, and I get to sleep in on the weekend! And be in the city more! I'm thinking of doing brunch - everyone here loves "brunch" which basically is from 10am to 3pm on weekends :-). Have a good weekend to you all!
Wednesday was a rainy day. That was sorta the mood too. And when I say rainy day - I mean it! I know we aren't nearly as bad as I've heard Austin has been lately (you guys canoeing to work yet?), but we had flooding. I don't know if that's normal here - in Arizona and Austin it is so I didn't think much of it. But there's a lot of people here, and that with flooding equals bad news. I didn't get it until I tried to go home (it started raining in the afternoon). By the way - I found out that rain comes very unexpectedly here - you really just need an umbrella (which I always forget) all the time. So it started raining in the afternoon (I was exhausted - coffee has been my friend this week). Watching the rain stream down a co-workers slanted (and coveted) window - I thought it was beautiful. But it made softball canceled sadly - I was looking forward to that. So I went to the rec-room and biked instead. Watched people play pool while biking :-). So, on the way home I noticed the havoc the rain had caused. Freeways were parking lots, it took close to 40 minutes to take the van to the train station when it usually takes 15. On the radio we heard that trains and subways had stopped for 50 minutes in the afternoon because the power went out in the city. You might imagine the craziness that causes in Manhattan. The radio asked people to "MTA asks people to please stagger when you commute home". We thought that was hilarious - yeah, I'll coordinate with everyone so we all go at different times! But actually I didn't have a huge problem getting home, besides taking a later train. And I found a pizza place close to my house with vegan and kosher and wheat pizzas! Crazy... Greg you can visit now :-). So I ran home and changed to go out to a birthday celebration at a restaurant/club.
So I met a girl at the BBQ Tuesday who was turning 27 Wednesday and invited a bunch of interns to celebrate with her at a bar/restaurant in the Upper West Side. I was excited to go and try a new place and make more friends. And it wasn't far - I walked of course. The bday girl actually turns out to live in my exact building, and said I was really lucky to find a sublet there and she loves it! So yay :-). She's a weath of info because she's lived there for a year (though she goes to Princeton in New Jersey - weird). But yeah - she thought I was way younger (you know that totally wins points when EVERYONE says it to me), and I'm older than her! Anyway - it was a pretty fun place. Kinda generic food - I got a shrimp quesadilla (I didn't eat pizza before - I just found the place). I mostly talked to a Bulgarian girl, an Austrian, and a Brazilian with German roots - we talked some about the EU. IBM really hires people from everywhere. Which makes it very interesting! I like a lot of the people I've met on the shuttles from the train this week - particularly others living in Manhattan. Yay friends! Although I'm a bit sick of doing the slightly exhausting "1st conversation" with new people everyday. If all you have is IBM in common, this conversation can be a bit boring, so you gotta go to something random pretty quick! I got a 7 & 7 in honor of Naveen. :-). And of course my semi-stalker showed up. She's not really my stalker, but I met her during orientation and she seems to follow me around at intern events when all I want to do is freely mingle and meet people. And I find her slightly annoying. She's from India - actually Madras. But I digress - we had some good conversation, and the bday girl had fun. We left about 11 and of course it was raining again and of course I was wearing a white shirt and hadn't remembered my umbrella. So I walked 14 blocks in the rain home :-). But the rain was actually nice. Although humidity!
So Thursday - today. Not too exciting - I guess the first several posts were the most exciting. Commuted to work again - and actually I really like the morning walk and Harlem - I think I'll miss it. And reading on the train. It's nice in the morning - everything feels calmer even though there are people everywhere. And I get handed a small local periodical (actually 2) when I go to the subway so I know the news in the morning. But yeah - work stuff. I went out to lunch with other interns today - mostly to mingle - I wasn't excited about going out. Went out with a Chinese girl, another Austrian, and an Iranian. I told you about the diversity. Someone at the BBQ said I'm the most normal (I used the word vanilla but he was talking about where I'm from), white American that they've met of all the interns. I enjoyed talking to the lunch folk about where they are from. Oddly enough several people have said Boston isn't very cool as a city - and one person even called it a small city! That seemed odd to me. Interesting people. They are in my group and apparently one of my main co-workers belongs to a sailing club and took them out sailing last weekend. I hope he does that again - I want to go! We all are going to a boss' boss party this Saturday in the burbs...
Anyway - there was a fair this afternoon where various groups presented their research. I guess it was nice for the interns to see what everyone is doing around the company (or building), but only 1 poster tangentially related to my research. And they had more free food/dessert. God the free food for interns! It's my downfall lately. I don't know why I gave up my ability to say no to food - lately I've been just wanting everything. I was so good at limiting myself in teh fall and spring, but when I'm in a new place and haven't done a lot of cooking at home I feel out of control and I give up slightly on the stringent food goal. I think the problem is really that I either limit myself entirely (especially limiting carbs, eating only wheat when I do, limiting quantity, not eating between meals, and eating almost no sugar), or feel like I'm "on vacation" and I sorta go wild because I'm not limiting anymore. Especially if it's free or new :-). I really need to find a balance, because the cookies made me feel slightly sick all afternoon. And I believe I can do it. I'm still doing the exercise thing everyday - but I know I've gained weight. It's not just the exercise - it's food intake, too. The food can make exercise easier or harder actually... And I don't know how to find a balance, but I need to. Can I ever eat something fried, or a pastry? What about carbs - how bad is bread (which I love)? Then desserts. I know it's not about denying oneself everything, it's just about control. But it is really hard to control when you go out to meals... But I can control extra intake - snacks, etc. Anyway..... I need to be more diligent and not feel bad all the time!
And speaking of feeling bad... Here's my current dilemma. It's very hard to focus on work. Ok, well I think getting into a new project takes time - I don't have momentum at the beginning of a project usually. So I'm not as worried about work during the day which should reach a rhythm (I'm still doing some settle-in tasks too). But I'm theoretically supposed to work on another project (besides the IBM one) for school for a paper deadline of Aug 7th. It's a continuation of what I've been working on at UT. And while I said I'd focus on research in New York, and I need to focus on my PhD now that I've met a lot of other goals in life (Kung Fu, scuba, triathlon), and I really need to make this paper deadline for my research - can I tell you how HARD it is to work on another project on the side!! While living in Manhattan?! I know I'm beating myself up a bit - I still haven't unpacked so I get some time to get used to being here... But if you know me you know my outside pursuits are really important to me - exercise, friends, experiencing this city. I've been going crazy with it (as you've read) - Naveen called me hyperactive. Which, as I've said, is exhausting. So again - a need for balance. I really didn't know I was such an unbalanced person!! :-). So basically I'm left with the constant of grad school: guilt. Sigh. Which is why I've done all the hinting about "is Computer Science really for me". There is constant pressure, and the people that I actually respect in the field work ALL THE TIME. The definition of researcher seems to include this proclivity towards workaholic-ness. And I just don't have it. I want to do good research and solve interesting problems - but why can't I enjoy life too? Why does that world seem dry so often? Have I just not met my ultimate problem that will lead me to want to work all the time?
Anyway, I got rambly. Sorry - it's my blog - so you get more than just adventures, but ponderings too :-).
Anyway - so always more questions, but I am happy. Naveen comes to Manhattan tomorrow - yay! And I ran again today when I got home - this time in the very narrow Riverside Park along the Hudson. Someone told me they liked it better than Central Park. It's definitely a nice park - and very good for running and biking. I ran down the park along some trails, but closer to the streets - it was pretty with lots of trees. Oh yeah, and it was sprinkling this whole time - another slightly rainy day! And me in a white t-shirt again :-). No wonder everyone stares at me. But when I got down to my destination (72nd), I figured out there's another trail that runs right along the water that is really cool! And I ran out onto a pier and everything. The water is pretty, as is the city scape. Again, happy. Came home - I'm trying to work and catch up and clean for Naveen tomorrow. Picked up some "soul food" in Harlem for dinner because I wanted to try it. It basically seems like southern food to me - collard greens, fried chicken, candied yams, baked macaroni and cheese, okra, corn, peach cobbler, ham, ribs - that stuff. But the guys in the shop were very nice to me. Harlem is warming on me - if you don't look at it as a place to put up heavy walls around yourself and look at everyone with scowl and skepticism - people are nice :-). But I think I'd rather do African food, but those places haven't appeared on my walk - although people in African garb have.
Ok I'm sure this is long - hope no one minds. I'm so happy tomorrow is Friday! Naveen comes, and I get to sleep in on the weekend! And be in the city more! I'm thinking of doing brunch - everyone here loves "brunch" which basically is from 10am to 3pm on weekends :-). Have a good weekend to you all!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Intoxicating
I decided last night while laying in bed that this place is intoxicating - Manhattan. I get swept up in it, and I feel like life is all fun and happy. Which is great except for the fact that one shouldn't really *always* be drunk :-). I do need life to settle down at some point right?!
Watching another Mets game - in the 10th inning again! Go Mets!
One more thing - I don't know if you are reading this or not - shoot me a comment so I know who is reading :-).
So today was another good day. Went to work early, but contrary to normal I really do enjoy the mornings and being out an about in them. It's just that whole lack of sleep thing that sucks :-). I picked up a muffin at a street cart in Harlem on my way in today - a big muffin for $1. That just made me happy - muffin on the go on the street! Took the train - nice public transportation. But it took around an hour and 15/20 minutes total to get from door to door - think I'll definitely do a carpool next week :-). Worked a couple of hours - mostly setting up - then joined my fellow interns at an IBM BBQ! I keep meeting a lot of HCI (human-computer-interaction) researchers which is interesting to me. One girl came from a psychology background to study the social impact of the internet on people/society. Interesting - I wonder if I had been exposed to this field if I would've pursued it. Met more people living in Manhattan - one in my building! Got invited to a bday celebration in the city tomorrow night at a local bar - yippee! Friends :-). It was a warm afternoon, but I can't believe how people complain here over 92 degrees! Sheesh :-). They had all these little games - I did play shuffleboard, but mostly walked around. Finally got back to the office around 3:30 and then had to leave again at 5 for softball!
I enjoyed softball - I really thought of you Christine! It really is a fun team game, and I got back into playing 2nd base. I can catch and throw though I'm rusty. I'm not the best at bat though. But Westchester, NY is beautiful - really green with lots of big trees. It felt like summer and I was happy to be out. Although our team name was NERDY - The Bytecodes... (eye roll). But yeah - I want to go hiking out there sometime - it is pretty. It's funny the dichotomy of the city versus the burbs... and either you are one or the other totally!
I got dropped off at the train station. Decided to talk home when I got back into Harlem - so I walked through Harlem! Although the sun was up and I walked a major street - and I felt totally safe, though I get starred at and I feel minority. Sometime I'll have to go to a soul food restaurant, although I think it's a lot like Southern comfort food. But actually when I got a bit more west, I saw cops on several street corners - someone is actively trying to keep things safe I think - especially around Columbia which has a beautiful campus! There are some beautiful churches here too... I am collecting restaurant names as I go too - found a couple of Ethiopian/African places (Mom!) and a neat Haitian place I want to try. Of course there's the Hungarian pastry shop too. And a billion pizza, deli, Italian and Mexican places. So fun to walk :-). But it took me about an hour the way I went :-).
So another fun day - low key. Tomorrow is more softball and also the UWS (upper west side) birthday thing. Should be fun! I'll try to unpack a bit and not be so intoxicated :-). It takes time - I swear! I don't want to go through withdrawl!
Watching another Mets game - in the 10th inning again! Go Mets!
One more thing - I don't know if you are reading this or not - shoot me a comment so I know who is reading :-).
So today was another good day. Went to work early, but contrary to normal I really do enjoy the mornings and being out an about in them. It's just that whole lack of sleep thing that sucks :-). I picked up a muffin at a street cart in Harlem on my way in today - a big muffin for $1. That just made me happy - muffin on the go on the street! Took the train - nice public transportation. But it took around an hour and 15/20 minutes total to get from door to door - think I'll definitely do a carpool next week :-). Worked a couple of hours - mostly setting up - then joined my fellow interns at an IBM BBQ! I keep meeting a lot of HCI (human-computer-interaction) researchers which is interesting to me. One girl came from a psychology background to study the social impact of the internet on people/society. Interesting - I wonder if I had been exposed to this field if I would've pursued it. Met more people living in Manhattan - one in my building! Got invited to a bday celebration in the city tomorrow night at a local bar - yippee! Friends :-). It was a warm afternoon, but I can't believe how people complain here over 92 degrees! Sheesh :-). They had all these little games - I did play shuffleboard, but mostly walked around. Finally got back to the office around 3:30 and then had to leave again at 5 for softball!
I enjoyed softball - I really thought of you Christine! It really is a fun team game, and I got back into playing 2nd base. I can catch and throw though I'm rusty. I'm not the best at bat though. But Westchester, NY is beautiful - really green with lots of big trees. It felt like summer and I was happy to be out. Although our team name was NERDY - The Bytecodes... (eye roll). But yeah - I want to go hiking out there sometime - it is pretty. It's funny the dichotomy of the city versus the burbs... and either you are one or the other totally!
I got dropped off at the train station. Decided to talk home when I got back into Harlem - so I walked through Harlem! Although the sun was up and I walked a major street - and I felt totally safe, though I get starred at and I feel minority. Sometime I'll have to go to a soul food restaurant, although I think it's a lot like Southern comfort food. But actually when I got a bit more west, I saw cops on several street corners - someone is actively trying to keep things safe I think - especially around Columbia which has a beautiful campus! There are some beautiful churches here too... I am collecting restaurant names as I go too - found a couple of Ethiopian/African places (Mom!) and a neat Haitian place I want to try. Of course there's the Hungarian pastry shop too. And a billion pizza, deli, Italian and Mexican places. So fun to walk :-). But it took me about an hour the way I went :-).
So another fun day - low key. Tomorrow is more softball and also the UWS (upper west side) birthday thing. Should be fun! I'll try to unpack a bit and not be so intoxicated :-). It takes time - I swear! I don't want to go through withdrawl!
Monday, June 25, 2007
God, life is great!
Hi all - blogging is fun. Well, it's especially fun if you have so many cool things to tell about - and that's what my subject means! This place is awesome - I am so lucky to have this opportunity and it just makes me happy. Plainly happy :-). Except for the fact that my shin really hurts from all the walking - but that's sorta good too :-).
So I left off yesterday afternoon I believe. Wow, it seems like longer - when you pack a lot into a day, I guess that's what happens. So I sojourned out around 4pm yesterday and took the subway up to Harlem for some fun. Just kidding - I went to Harlem to check out how to catch the train and get a ticket. I felt ok - as long as the sun's up I think it's ok. Definitely felt like a minority, and there were a lot of "soul food" restaurants. Anyway - walked down to the park and went to a free concert by the Harlem Blues and Jazz band - wow, that was awesome. These guys know their stuff - oldie's who've played with some greats. The wonderful saxophonist was 92 years old! Aah, sweet music to a backdrop of a beautiful pond with green trees everywhere. So the band included a keyboardist, a bass player, the saxophonist I said, a drummer, a singer (the only female), and another drummer who did bongos and xylophones and odd percussion. Wow. Good music. And the lady only sang 2 songs. But she was great - lots of "Oohs". Her 2nd song was giving advice to the ladies - When you are young, you get an old man who has money and knows how to give you lovin' . When you are old (over 42 in her book), you get a young man that takes your money and shows you how life is fun :-). She even picked out hot men in the audience and made them show their abs during the song! Silly. So that was great fun. Then I went to another section of the park and saw Shakespeare in the park - Love's Labour Lost! Also free. It was so fun - the gimmick was that each scene moved. So the audience would sit on the grass somewhere and watch a scene, then have to run to another hillock and sit to watch the next scene. The actors were really good and expressive - very funny and entertaining! It took more than 2 hours to see the whole play!
Interjection - go Mets! I'm watching the game - top of the 10th! - thinking of you Nick.
So Monday is today. Didn't get much sleep - had to get up a little before 6am - ugh!! First day at IBM. Tired. Anyway, this is the most boring part of my time here thus far. Well, it was ok. I took the subway then walked, then the train, then a van shuttle - yes it took awhile. Not too bad though. The annoying part was that we were supposed to get there at 8:30 sharp and nothing happened until 9:30! I could've slept. But I made a friend that also lives in the city and she hooked me up with some people that carpool out to work (1/2 hour instead of an hour and 15 minutes on public transit). So that'll be cool. Went through orientation - thought I'd die of boredom during the chemical hazards and safety guy. Free lunch, transport to my actual building, meeting my mentor, setting up accounts, etc. Nothing big. Except free coffee on Mondays :-). I had this thought today that being around these people and this computer environment (and I have to admit the nerdiness, the grayness) sorta depresses me. It zaps my energy instead of the opposite. Recently I've hung out with Toni's friends (psychologists), and Tara's friends (all businessy people), and they seem infinitely more interesting than people in my field. Maybe it's because I talked to them in a more social setting, but still. I'm not going to do anything about this right now or anything - I'm good at computer science and it's a good career. But I'm really not sure it makes me happy just in and of itself. I get my juices from interacting with people. Weird that I just now figured that out... 27 years.
Anyway - got home and went running in the park again - my favorite!! You have no idea - that totally cheered me up. The weather has been beautiful, and maybe the endorphines helped. But seriously - running around the trail (flat) around the reservoir staring at the gorgeous NY skyline and the shining orange setting sun just made me happy. (And I thought of running with you Carol and Negin around Town Lake!) Felt great! This is what it's about - that and on the way home (my 1/2 mile walk) stopping at a nice Mexican place to pick up tasty take-out. Oh the opportunities here and all within walking distance! Just walking makes me happy here :-).
So another good day - and it's now time for bed! Hope research is as good as home life :-).
So I left off yesterday afternoon I believe. Wow, it seems like longer - when you pack a lot into a day, I guess that's what happens. So I sojourned out around 4pm yesterday and took the subway up to Harlem for some fun. Just kidding - I went to Harlem to check out how to catch the train and get a ticket. I felt ok - as long as the sun's up I think it's ok. Definitely felt like a minority, and there were a lot of "soul food" restaurants. Anyway - walked down to the park and went to a free concert by the Harlem Blues and Jazz band - wow, that was awesome. These guys know their stuff - oldie's who've played with some greats. The wonderful saxophonist was 92 years old! Aah, sweet music to a backdrop of a beautiful pond with green trees everywhere. So the band included a keyboardist, a bass player, the saxophonist I said, a drummer, a singer (the only female), and another drummer who did bongos and xylophones and odd percussion. Wow. Good music. And the lady only sang 2 songs. But she was great - lots of "Oohs". Her 2nd song was giving advice to the ladies - When you are young, you get an old man who has money and knows how to give you lovin' . When you are old (over 42 in her book), you get a young man that takes your money and shows you how life is fun :-). She even picked out hot men in the audience and made them show their abs during the song! Silly. So that was great fun. Then I went to another section of the park and saw Shakespeare in the park - Love's Labour Lost! Also free. It was so fun - the gimmick was that each scene moved. So the audience would sit on the grass somewhere and watch a scene, then have to run to another hillock and sit to watch the next scene. The actors were really good and expressive - very funny and entertaining! It took more than 2 hours to see the whole play!
Interjection - go Mets! I'm watching the game - top of the 10th! - thinking of you Nick.
So Monday is today. Didn't get much sleep - had to get up a little before 6am - ugh!! First day at IBM. Tired. Anyway, this is the most boring part of my time here thus far. Well, it was ok. I took the subway then walked, then the train, then a van shuttle - yes it took awhile. Not too bad though. The annoying part was that we were supposed to get there at 8:30 sharp and nothing happened until 9:30! I could've slept. But I made a friend that also lives in the city and she hooked me up with some people that carpool out to work (1/2 hour instead of an hour and 15 minutes on public transit). So that'll be cool. Went through orientation - thought I'd die of boredom during the chemical hazards and safety guy. Free lunch, transport to my actual building, meeting my mentor, setting up accounts, etc. Nothing big. Except free coffee on Mondays :-). I had this thought today that being around these people and this computer environment (and I have to admit the nerdiness, the grayness) sorta depresses me. It zaps my energy instead of the opposite. Recently I've hung out with Toni's friends (psychologists), and Tara's friends (all businessy people), and they seem infinitely more interesting than people in my field. Maybe it's because I talked to them in a more social setting, but still. I'm not going to do anything about this right now or anything - I'm good at computer science and it's a good career. But I'm really not sure it makes me happy just in and of itself. I get my juices from interacting with people. Weird that I just now figured that out... 27 years.
Anyway - got home and went running in the park again - my favorite!! You have no idea - that totally cheered me up. The weather has been beautiful, and maybe the endorphines helped. But seriously - running around the trail (flat) around the reservoir staring at the gorgeous NY skyline and the shining orange setting sun just made me happy. (And I thought of running with you Carol and Negin around Town Lake!) Felt great! This is what it's about - that and on the way home (my 1/2 mile walk) stopping at a nice Mexican place to pick up tasty take-out. Oh the opportunities here and all within walking distance! Just walking makes me happy here :-).
So another good day - and it's now time for bed! Hope research is as good as home life :-).
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Day 2 - More Adventures
So more firsts on my 2nd day. So much fun to be had here!
I subway-ed down to Times Square and saw all the flashy lights for the first time.
Crazy tourist stop that place! Then I met up with my good friend Christine (at Port Authority) to spend the day together - I'm so glad she came to the city to hang out with me! I haven't seen her in almost a year :-). So she LOVES theater and we went over to the TKTS booth to check out discount Broadway matinee tickets - and got tickets to Company! Craziness. We grabbed some Italian lunch (I got veal with eggplant), then headed to the show. It was a good show. So the story was cute - a guy turns 35 and all his friends are married couples trying (some better than others) to convince him he needs to settle down and find a wife. It was very cleverly done - a musical. But no dancing. However, they had no orchestra - the actors played all the instruments as part of the scenes - it was so impressive! At times they walked around singing and playing their instruments. Other times they were in the background playing while a few characters were in the front acting or singing. Some fun songs. We really were impressed with the actors switching instruments and all! So the story was fun - and set in Manhattan so I liked those plot elements. And some parts were downright funny. But Christine and I agreed we really didn't understand the whole 2nd half. We were confused by the ending entirely!
So after that - more sojourning around the city. We ran into a random street fair - my favorite! Very random, though - they had booths with sunglasses, reggae music, African art, sheets, t-shirts, scarfs, jewelry, and all manor of randomness. But our favorites were the nice smells coming from the food booths - gyros and smoothie and sweet corn and lemonade, and where we stopped - crepes! We both got a crepe with some fruit in it - very tasty :-). Fun.
So we walked some more - went up to Central Park because Christine had never seen it. Then back down 5th Ave hitting some "places of interest" - Trump Tower, beautiful Gothic Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Plaza, NY Public Library, and then the Empire State Building. It was fun to just hang out with Christine and walk and talk and be amazed about being in New York together! And amazed about the city itself :-). The play we saw implied that you should live in Manhattan while young, and then eventually grow up and move out and have a family. Interesting idea. Oh and walking around streets on the weekend - not only are there tons of people, but also street vendors with art and stuff for sale - sorta cool. And of course the street musicians :-). Fun to listen. So today I did let myself be a tourist and I photo-documented most of the adventure! Maybe I'll post a link to the pictures when I download them later...
So I dropped Christine back of at the bus station after our great day together. Headed home to change, and went back out with friend Tara and her girlfriends in town. I met them in the Lower East side for a 11pm dinner reservation - can you believe that?! Only in NY. We had tapas which were tasty, and cocktails. After wandering around for awhile we found a fun bar that they wanted to go to - they were celebrating a 30th birthday. It was just great to be out and feel the beat of the city and think anything is possible here, and no one ever sleeps, and by the way does money flow quickly! The city is beautiful at night, and you can go hang out in almost any neighborhood - just pick what's most "you". The girls I was out with were really fun - I was glad to experience the scene with fun girls who were also not New Yorkers but could appreciate it :-).
Home late, but very satisfied with another New York day. The city is slowly getting to me! Now I'm trying to recooperate for my Sunday before I start at IBM tomorrow! Might go to some blues and jazz in the park this afternoon, and maybe a free Shakespeare play too! Endless possibilities here...
I subway-ed down to Times Square and saw all the flashy lights for the first time.
Crazy tourist stop that place! Then I met up with my good friend Christine (at Port Authority) to spend the day together - I'm so glad she came to the city to hang out with me! I haven't seen her in almost a year :-). So she LOVES theater and we went over to the TKTS booth to check out discount Broadway matinee tickets - and got tickets to Company! Craziness. We grabbed some Italian lunch (I got veal with eggplant), then headed to the show. It was a good show. So the story was cute - a guy turns 35 and all his friends are married couples trying (some better than others) to convince him he needs to settle down and find a wife. It was very cleverly done - a musical. But no dancing. However, they had no orchestra - the actors played all the instruments as part of the scenes - it was so impressive! At times they walked around singing and playing their instruments. Other times they were in the background playing while a few characters were in the front acting or singing. Some fun songs. We really were impressed with the actors switching instruments and all! So the story was fun - and set in Manhattan so I liked those plot elements. And some parts were downright funny. But Christine and I agreed we really didn't understand the whole 2nd half. We were confused by the ending entirely!
So after that - more sojourning around the city. We ran into a random street fair - my favorite! Very random, though - they had booths with sunglasses, reggae music, African art, sheets, t-shirts, scarfs, jewelry, and all manor of randomness. But our favorites were the nice smells coming from the food booths - gyros and smoothie and sweet corn and lemonade, and where we stopped - crepes! We both got a crepe with some fruit in it - very tasty :-). Fun.
So we walked some more - went up to Central Park because Christine had never seen it. Then back down 5th Ave hitting some "places of interest" - Trump Tower, beautiful Gothic Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Plaza, NY Public Library, and then the Empire State Building. It was fun to just hang out with Christine and walk and talk and be amazed about being in New York together! And amazed about the city itself :-). The play we saw implied that you should live in Manhattan while young, and then eventually grow up and move out and have a family. Interesting idea. Oh and walking around streets on the weekend - not only are there tons of people, but also street vendors with art and stuff for sale - sorta cool. And of course the street musicians :-). Fun to listen. So today I did let myself be a tourist and I photo-documented most of the adventure! Maybe I'll post a link to the pictures when I download them later...
So I dropped Christine back of at the bus station after our great day together. Headed home to change, and went back out with friend Tara and her girlfriends in town. I met them in the Lower East side for a 11pm dinner reservation - can you believe that?! Only in NY. We had tapas which were tasty, and cocktails. After wandering around for awhile we found a fun bar that they wanted to go to - they were celebrating a 30th birthday. It was just great to be out and feel the beat of the city and think anything is possible here, and no one ever sleeps, and by the way does money flow quickly! The city is beautiful at night, and you can go hang out in almost any neighborhood - just pick what's most "you". The girls I was out with were really fun - I was glad to experience the scene with fun girls who were also not New Yorkers but could appreciate it :-).
Home late, but very satisfied with another New York day. The city is slowly getting to me! Now I'm trying to recooperate for my Sunday before I start at IBM tomorrow! Might go to some blues and jazz in the park this afternoon, and maybe a free Shakespeare play too! Endless possibilities here...
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