So, ok, here's the problem. I have a hard time letting people in. I'm guarded. Very guarded. I'm usually other people's support. I give good advice, I am a good listener. I can be the voice of reason. I'm rational, pretty much. It's like when I taught tennis - I could see other people's flaws way easier than my own. So I try to help people. And I sort of brush people off when they ask how I'm doing. I answer, but I don't want to lean on people too much. It's too much to ask, really. I can give them a tidbit of what I'm feeling, but laugh it off. Yeah - things are fine. Research is slow, I miss Austin. NYC is exciting. All these things are true, but they aren't deep, you see. They aren't how I'm actually doing. Well, they are, but only at the surface. Why am I still scared to break down to people, to ask for help?
I was talking to my carpool guy (Ramon) yesterday about his home, the Dominican Republic. Similar to some of the Indian cultural things - he said family is everything. There, he said, there is no way you have a room or even bed to yourself if you have any family members the same sex as you. Whereas here, kids are given their own room to encourage their individuality, their growth, their space. But he said family will always be closer than friends. To me family is everything. Ok, I didn't share a bedroom while growing up. But the people that I consider myself tightest with are family members and my significant other. They are the people who should be there with me through thick and thin, who will accept me even if they see me at my worst. I don't really expect the same of my friends - don't know why. They have their own problems and issues - why should I burden them with mine? I will burden them some - with some shared experience (like grad school or whatever), but not as much as I expect of family and my significant other. I don't know if this is weird - I've been told I should put more into my friends. And I've been trying, but it's hard. I shy away quickly if someone says they have to go, or if I haven't talked to them in awhile, or if they start talking about themselves. I don't know if part of it is that I don't like the phone much. But yeah.
So that's why it's hard up here. I don't have people I feel really safe with. I have some superficial friendships. And I'm scared to dump on people too much or worry them. I try to deal with things, and things have to be taken with a grain of salt because I am quite up and down. I think really I'm bi-polar, but not an extreme case of it. All this seems slightly ironic given my recent discovery that what makes me happiest is people - close, shared experiences. I really enjoy people an their variety. I want to help people - that's why I like teaching. And people are interesting to figure out, and ever-changing, many dimensional. Ah, life is crazy. Still so much to figure out.
And btw - it's 56 degrees here! Very exciting. Hope I don't freeze and shatter!
So here I go - on with life's experience. G'day.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Finally Fall
I don't feel like being productive right now, so I'll write in my blog. It's a gray, rainy day, and cooler. It dropped to the 60s yesterday - 20 degrees cooler than Monday. Welcome fall :-). I love the heat, but I have to say the fall, changing colors, and being cosily wrapped up appeals to me right now. Maybe I'm sick of my short-sleeved clothes. But here we are.
I'm happy today. Yes, I'm up and down - don't know how to get away from that. But I have been in contact with some older friends lately and that just makes me happy. Neat to get re-united with Holly who I was raised with before age 8? She has a blog here, too, and she lives in Connecticut and hopefully we'll meet up! Also 27 and single, so we can bond over that :-). Just that little reach out made me happy. And a couple of other things.
Monday was fun. I determined this week would be a lot more low-key - life's been too frazzled lately. And it has been more low-key - yippee. Although I did go out Monday night, but I ate at home which makes me feel better. Went with my roommate to a film festival film called "Flight of the Red Ballon" with Juliet Binochet! Set in Paris, sorta linked to the children's story if you know it. Artsy, so slow at parts, but good acting, good (sad) story. Felt nice to go. It was in the Time Warner building in Columbus Circle which is fabulous - nice theater! And nice to go with someone - my roommate and I are becoming friends. Although she's so particular about things at home. I get the feeling she follows me around and re-does everything her way after I leave. But just a feeling.
Trying to get more sleep this week, too. And yesterday especially I succeeded. After finishing Harry Potter! Well, I have yet to read the epilogue, but I got to the end of the story. Ah, and a good story it was. I read so slow towards the end - I hate to finish books because it means the end of the story, end of characters I'm attached to! Sniff. Go Harry.
But also yesterday I rode my bike. Always on Tuesdays. Altho this was after the drop in temperature and it was windy along the Hudson River track, and sprinkling. Tough ride, but I made it. Went from my now-home back up to my old neighborhood- up to 100th! Proud of myself. Still doing exercise about 6 times a week. But happily yesterday I was home before 6:30 (from my ride) and had the whole night to just relax at home! I did 2.5 hours of work - good for me. And made another good dinner. Just felt more at peace, which I needed. Hopefully can do that again tonight!
I was thinking lately that I feel like Neo. Before following the white rabbit, before Trinity, before taking the red pill. Woah - that makes me Keanu - scary. But anyway - still discovering my true destiny, my purpose, still gray but ready to awaken. And I especially like this analogy because he was strongly attached, they said, not to humanity per se, but to 1 other human. But he had to discover that over time. Eventually...
People are important - they really make my life full so to speak. And I miss people. Having experiences is wonderful, but singular experiences still lack a certain shared essence. But I'm particular about my people. Who knew there are so many crazy people out there? Maybe it's just this city...
Ok enough rambling. Enjoy your week.
I'm happy today. Yes, I'm up and down - don't know how to get away from that. But I have been in contact with some older friends lately and that just makes me happy. Neat to get re-united with Holly who I was raised with before age 8? She has a blog here, too, and she lives in Connecticut and hopefully we'll meet up! Also 27 and single, so we can bond over that :-). Just that little reach out made me happy. And a couple of other things.
Monday was fun. I determined this week would be a lot more low-key - life's been too frazzled lately. And it has been more low-key - yippee. Although I did go out Monday night, but I ate at home which makes me feel better. Went with my roommate to a film festival film called "Flight of the Red Ballon" with Juliet Binochet! Set in Paris, sorta linked to the children's story if you know it. Artsy, so slow at parts, but good acting, good (sad) story. Felt nice to go. It was in the Time Warner building in Columbus Circle which is fabulous - nice theater! And nice to go with someone - my roommate and I are becoming friends. Although she's so particular about things at home. I get the feeling she follows me around and re-does everything her way after I leave. But just a feeling.
Trying to get more sleep this week, too. And yesterday especially I succeeded. After finishing Harry Potter! Well, I have yet to read the epilogue, but I got to the end of the story. Ah, and a good story it was. I read so slow towards the end - I hate to finish books because it means the end of the story, end of characters I'm attached to! Sniff. Go Harry.
But also yesterday I rode my bike. Always on Tuesdays. Altho this was after the drop in temperature and it was windy along the Hudson River track, and sprinkling. Tough ride, but I made it. Went from my now-home back up to my old neighborhood- up to 100th! Proud of myself. Still doing exercise about 6 times a week. But happily yesterday I was home before 6:30 (from my ride) and had the whole night to just relax at home! I did 2.5 hours of work - good for me. And made another good dinner. Just felt more at peace, which I needed. Hopefully can do that again tonight!
I was thinking lately that I feel like Neo. Before following the white rabbit, before Trinity, before taking the red pill. Woah - that makes me Keanu - scary. But anyway - still discovering my true destiny, my purpose, still gray but ready to awaken. And I especially like this analogy because he was strongly attached, they said, not to humanity per se, but to 1 other human. But he had to discover that over time. Eventually...
People are important - they really make my life full so to speak. And I miss people. Having experiences is wonderful, but singular experiences still lack a certain shared essence. But I'm particular about my people. Who knew there are so many crazy people out there? Maybe it's just this city...
Ok enough rambling. Enjoy your week.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Theater Week + Village exploits
A lot has happened this week! Crazy...
So Monday I moved to the West Village! The moving itself was no fun - ugh. Had to pack up all my stuff - took 2 boxes to UPS to mail back to myself (I'm in a lot smaller place) in Austin. I rode my bike down to my new place - a little less than 6 miles. That would've been no problem, but I decided to bring a couple of bags of my stuff to ease the real move later. BAD idea! Let me tell you now - never carry any weight in garbage bags while biking any sort of distance. I have bruises all over my arms, and the bag straps broke and I had to go very slow, and the bags got holes while swinging around and hitting my tire and such. I thought they'd just break open at any moment. It was a pain! So -word to the wise - never do that :-). And I just had hangers, some food I didn't want to toss, and laundry detergent! But the rest of the move was pretty smooth. Got my suitcases all packed and everything fit. Had help carrying my stuff down in the old place - the next renters were seeing the place as I left. I was sorta mad I couldn't say bye to the place by myself, but that's how it goes. It's in the past. Then I just took a car down here with my suitcases, and a handyman actually helped me up with my suitcases, as did my new roommate! So awesome :-). So that night I unpacked - I really just wanted to be settled in. And I got everything to fit in my limited space - I like my cosy room. I like my bunk bed and the darkness of the room - I think I sleep better here, but the bed creaks and I literally have to climb to get up there - and step on the dresser. It's annoying if I wake up and have to use the restroom! But oh well... But the room is cosy - just what I need. And I really like my new roommate Paulette. We are getting along famously! She works from home so it feels like she is ALWAYS here (she's a notary public). But she is cool - she makes tons of good recommendations of things going on, ways to get discounts to theater tickets. And she spent hours on the phone with tech support to help get the internet set up for me - that was a nightmare. But it's all ok! So yay for my new place. That first night Paulette fed me green beans and homemade vegie meatloaf she had made - very cool!
So I went to work on Tuesday - it is a bit of a longer ride from down here, but it works. Tuesdays my carpool guy comes home early to go sailing, so I got to go on a nice bike ride in the area! My roommate recommended her route - going across town on 10th St. to the East River. There are some beautiful views of the water, bridges, and buildings on that trail on the east. Then I biked down to the tip - past South Seaport. It was fun, although the trail isn't as good as on the west. Then of course I came back up the west path along the Hudson. It was really fun, and a pretty good ride! Although I get frustrated riding on the streets and having to stop all the time. So nice to have a new route. Then I ended up walking around the neighborhood - love it! Walked down Bleecker street where there are tons of cool places. Tons of gourmet stores - teas, ice cream, olives, wines, cheese, breads. Yum! I stopped at a place for a slice of pizza that my carpool guy said was in the best in the neighborhood. It was pretty good, but I burned my mouth... Then stopped for yummy gelato (also recommended by my carpool guy) on the way home. Got eggnog and spicy chocolate :-). Then walked down Hudson - got a few things at a store, and passed all the cool restaurants and bars. Too tempting! Then headed home.
Wednesday was a semi-day off. I stayed home and ran up the west river track. Running outside is a lot harder than on a machine in a gym! But I made it - did my 5K. And it was beautiful. To cool down I walked along the pier at the end of my street. Very fun. Then I got ready and went to a really cute coffee shop just a couple of streets up with free wifi! It's small, but cute, and friendly, and the tables are sections of tree trunk :-). So was glad to find that. Then buzzed off to meet Christine and friends Ryan and Amy! We went to a quick lunch - they grabbed pizza slices and I got an eggplant parmigiana hero sandwich which was cheesy, but cool. It was fun to get to know Christine's friends - they are cool nerds, too - and sporty! We had fun conversations about work spouses too :-). And then we went to Wicked - the musical! We'd been looking forward to this for awhile. I read the book recently and the story - Wizard of Oz from the Wicked Witch's point of view - was really cool. The musical was amazing! Very extravagant - in scenery, props, costumes - all very excessive! And the songs were very nice. It was a sort of fantastical story with flying monkeys and stuff, so sometimes it seemed a little over the top to me, and Christine was a bit disappointed with the voices of the 2 main women. But overall it was a very fun story and a great show! Very fun :-). And although it was different from the book, parts were better :-). Glad to see it! And we had really close seats too. So that was cool. So we jumped on a subway after and went out to Brooklyn! Christine knew an authentic Lebanese restaurant that her dad had brought her to before (he's Lebanese). She was so happy - she said everything tasted like her grandmother's cooking! She told us what to get - the pate was a specialty, but not quite my favorite. I loved the spinach pies, and the roasted pepper and walnut spread was pretty good. Then I had Kibbi balls in yogurt for the meal - very tasty, and with lamb and pine nuts! Yum. And we got a sample of a sweet dessert with phyllo dough - very nice round off to the meal! So we had a lot of fun, and rushed back to the city so they could make their train back to Maryland. I wish they could've stayed longer - we had a lot of fun! I might try to visit them down there before I go back to Austin... Good theater and good food - can't be beat.
We played with the internet Wednesday night for 2.5 hours - ugh. Couldn't get the router I bought to work, but it turned out to be a falty ethernet port on the modem. Ugh - hate dealing with these things! Take so long... But we ordered a new modem from the ISP and finally finally got internet working on Friday - yay! Pain in my butt.
Thursday was another day at work... Not much went on. When I got home I walked around the area more. Then ended up at another carpool recommended place - Mexicana Mama - really close to my place. It was so good - authentic Mexican food with some awesome cheese (chihuaua) and spices. I had a sort of creamy jalapeno salsa that was awesome - not too hot. And a blood orange margarita. And yummy mahi mahi fish tacos with a spicy sauce :-). So good! And then I treated myself to a flan dessert - don't worry, I took leftovers! But their flan was thicker - sorta like cheesecake, and they put a sort of caramel on it and mixed nuts - tasty. Another good night :-).
Friday I went to work again - although it's usually my stay at home day, I'd done that 2 days already this week. So had a good day at work, and left a bit early and took a bus down to the city. I really wanted tickets to a NY City Center "Fall for Dance" festival, and they were sold out by the time I called, but cancellation tickets were available the day of the performance starting at 6:30. So I got there about 5:20 and got tickets!! It's not much fun to wait, but it paid off - I got a great orchestra seat. Went home to drop stuff off, then came back for the performance. Oh my God it was amazing! And only for $10. All these different companies came together and each showcased a main piece of theirs. It was awesome. They all were very different styles and at different tempos. But fun! The first one was actually 8 guys from South India - reminded me of Naveen. It was odd - 1/2 of them did music while the other half did dancing, but they all wore suits. It was interesting - Indian style dancing, but modern, and an interpretation on the crazy business world as the guys lived out a day of work. Very cool. Then 1 black women did a dance - frenetic really - about the "sacred feminine". 1/2 of her costume was a suite, and 1/2 was a tube top - sort of a balance between fun and responsibility. Very cool. Piece #3 of 5 was very seductive - a couple with a lot of work on the floor and rolling over each other - intertwined. Then piece #4 was by the Boston Ballet - although I thought it'd be less modern because the women were ballerinas in tutus and the shoes, it actually was sorta dark and they had both traditional elements with the guys lifting up the women, and other elements where the people looked broken and put their arms at weird angles and stuff. Interesting piece. The last one was really energetic and fun! This group was from South Africa! There were guys that did tap, guys that stomped around and hit noise-making pads on their legs. They were always making a lot of noise and music and always high energy - jumping around. And through the performance they got less clothed which was really fun. A great finale to a great night! I'm so glad I got to see such a variety of dance! Made me very happy. Then I just grabbed a make-it-yourself salad from a deli and walked down to Rockefeller Center to eat it. That night it seemed the city was mine - beautiful and full of opportunity. They were filming at the Rockefeller Center - they had an ice rink up (tho it was 80 that day) and in the middle like a carpetted lounge area with leather couches where fancy people were hanging out! Very weird. But they played fun 80s skate music. Then I headed down to the E. Village to hang out with Mo - softball guy. He was hanging out with 2 friends from college - a couple - that were really nice. They live up in Westchester. They were fun to talk to, tho Mo was bummed about turning 30 (Sat was his bday). So we just went out for drinks. Mo knew the bartenders, so we got some nice treatment - had a great drink called "Chillin on my carpet" with Kahlua, Frangelico, and cream I think. Yum. Was fun, but I stayed too late and drank a little too much. But it was fun :-).
Saturday! See - big update... I slept in - didn't want to do anything. Finally got up and going out of the house around 2pm. Walked to Union Square - my favorite area. Went to a huge farmer's market that lifted my spirits - love fresh fruit and vegies! Then hit up a street festival in the area - bought some treasures! Bought a neat picture of New York City - midtown with the Empire State Building - one I liked Mom! It was neat - had a nice view from the water with city lights reflected. So yay! Hopefully my last souvenir. Then I got a neat glass teardrop necklace with a bunch of colors in it - I couldn't resist. And a neat Indian-influenced funky spaghetti strap top in browns and greens. Fun! I wore that shirt to go out later in the night for Mo's birthday! But yes, I kept going around Union Square - hit up Trader Joes which was fun, but there's only 1 in the city so lines were amazingly long. And finally, with all purchases in tow, I stopped at Filenne's Basement to find a sweater and tights to wear with the wool skirt I bought before. Success - after waiting in line to try everything on. Everything here is a line - too many people! Then I bussed home - very tired with all my stuff. I actually took a quick nap. Then headed out - in my awesome brown boots that I bought in Boston, and of course my new shirt, to the East side. I ate as Veselka - a well-established Ukranian famous retaurant. I did a sample-dinner: tasty borscht, salad, then meat-stuffed cabbage, pierogies, and kielbasa sausage. Yum! Nice to eat ethnic food - at least I love it. Then joined Mo and company celebrating his birthday at bars across from his place! Met a lot of his friends - they were all really nice, and most from around here. It was nice to hang out and chat with fun people - got a couple of invites to hang out again. All good people, but it made me miss MY old friends, and feel a bit out of place. Sometimes you just get tired of putting yourself out there all the time - being the gregarious one! Trying everything new... But had fun - chatted with Mo's cousin too who is nice. Left a bit earlier than the night before because I wasn't into drinking much 2 nights in a row! But it was also neat to tell people my story, and have them be really impressed with me moving out to NY by myself just for the experience! It's not always an easy city :-).
Which brings us to today. I gotta stop doing things, because there's too much to blog about! I got up early - when am I going to sleep?! I went on a bike ride which was fun. Turns out the east river track doesn't go all the way up and it was sorta a pain. But cut across central park which was pretty as always. Nice to bike and exercise. Then came home, showered quickly to get ready to go to an Off Broadway show my roommate recommended - this was the last day of some 2 week theater festival. I saw Jane Austen's Emma performed on stage in a musical. Totally neat! Awesome story - classic of course. I wasn't sure how it'd be in a musical, but they did a really good job. And it was fun in a small theater to be so close to the stage. The actors did a good job. Sometimes were pretty funny and cheeky, but all in all a great story to get lost in. Ah, romance. Sigh. So left to a beautiful day - we've had more summer days lately. Walked around a bit, then headed to East Village again. I heard about a good authentic German restaurant celebrating Oktoberfest, so I wanted to go. And they had a band and everything - with an accordian, basson, trumpet, and french horn! And roudy beer drinkers who cheersed and swayed and sang along. It was crowded and I had to wait to even get inside. But I had a small stein of Hoffbrau beer in the spirit, and a Bavarian pretzel. :-). Then got bratwurst with potato salad and sauerkraut to go for dinner. I had fun, but felt weird being there in a rowdy crowded place by myself. Think it would've been better with other people. :-(. But yeah - so headed home and ate tasty German food there. Nice to be home and relax. And talked to my roommate - we might go to the New York Film Festival tomorrow! Fun. Hit the grocery store quickly to have lunch for tomorrow, and just been relaxing the rest of the night. And now I'm ready to go sleep!
Good weekend (and week!), but yet again, I feel tired by all my activities and feel I should take some down time. Hopefully I can this week. I try to do everything - maybe to make life exciting and new, but maybe sometimes life can be slow and boring! We'll see :-). Just feel I should take advantage of this amazing city and all I can while I'm here... Fun Fun - and so much going on!
Love to all... J
So Monday I moved to the West Village! The moving itself was no fun - ugh. Had to pack up all my stuff - took 2 boxes to UPS to mail back to myself (I'm in a lot smaller place) in Austin. I rode my bike down to my new place - a little less than 6 miles. That would've been no problem, but I decided to bring a couple of bags of my stuff to ease the real move later. BAD idea! Let me tell you now - never carry any weight in garbage bags while biking any sort of distance. I have bruises all over my arms, and the bag straps broke and I had to go very slow, and the bags got holes while swinging around and hitting my tire and such. I thought they'd just break open at any moment. It was a pain! So -word to the wise - never do that :-). And I just had hangers, some food I didn't want to toss, and laundry detergent! But the rest of the move was pretty smooth. Got my suitcases all packed and everything fit. Had help carrying my stuff down in the old place - the next renters were seeing the place as I left. I was sorta mad I couldn't say bye to the place by myself, but that's how it goes. It's in the past. Then I just took a car down here with my suitcases, and a handyman actually helped me up with my suitcases, as did my new roommate! So awesome :-). So that night I unpacked - I really just wanted to be settled in. And I got everything to fit in my limited space - I like my cosy room. I like my bunk bed and the darkness of the room - I think I sleep better here, but the bed creaks and I literally have to climb to get up there - and step on the dresser. It's annoying if I wake up and have to use the restroom! But oh well... But the room is cosy - just what I need. And I really like my new roommate Paulette. We are getting along famously! She works from home so it feels like she is ALWAYS here (she's a notary public). But she is cool - she makes tons of good recommendations of things going on, ways to get discounts to theater tickets. And she spent hours on the phone with tech support to help get the internet set up for me - that was a nightmare. But it's all ok! So yay for my new place. That first night Paulette fed me green beans and homemade vegie meatloaf she had made - very cool!
So I went to work on Tuesday - it is a bit of a longer ride from down here, but it works. Tuesdays my carpool guy comes home early to go sailing, so I got to go on a nice bike ride in the area! My roommate recommended her route - going across town on 10th St. to the East River. There are some beautiful views of the water, bridges, and buildings on that trail on the east. Then I biked down to the tip - past South Seaport. It was fun, although the trail isn't as good as on the west. Then of course I came back up the west path along the Hudson. It was really fun, and a pretty good ride! Although I get frustrated riding on the streets and having to stop all the time. So nice to have a new route. Then I ended up walking around the neighborhood - love it! Walked down Bleecker street where there are tons of cool places. Tons of gourmet stores - teas, ice cream, olives, wines, cheese, breads. Yum! I stopped at a place for a slice of pizza that my carpool guy said was in the best in the neighborhood. It was pretty good, but I burned my mouth... Then stopped for yummy gelato (also recommended by my carpool guy) on the way home. Got eggnog and spicy chocolate :-). Then walked down Hudson - got a few things at a store, and passed all the cool restaurants and bars. Too tempting! Then headed home.
Wednesday was a semi-day off. I stayed home and ran up the west river track. Running outside is a lot harder than on a machine in a gym! But I made it - did my 5K. And it was beautiful. To cool down I walked along the pier at the end of my street. Very fun. Then I got ready and went to a really cute coffee shop just a couple of streets up with free wifi! It's small, but cute, and friendly, and the tables are sections of tree trunk :-). So was glad to find that. Then buzzed off to meet Christine and friends Ryan and Amy! We went to a quick lunch - they grabbed pizza slices and I got an eggplant parmigiana hero sandwich which was cheesy, but cool. It was fun to get to know Christine's friends - they are cool nerds, too - and sporty! We had fun conversations about work spouses too :-). And then we went to Wicked - the musical! We'd been looking forward to this for awhile. I read the book recently and the story - Wizard of Oz from the Wicked Witch's point of view - was really cool. The musical was amazing! Very extravagant - in scenery, props, costumes - all very excessive! And the songs were very nice. It was a sort of fantastical story with flying monkeys and stuff, so sometimes it seemed a little over the top to me, and Christine was a bit disappointed with the voices of the 2 main women. But overall it was a very fun story and a great show! Very fun :-). And although it was different from the book, parts were better :-). Glad to see it! And we had really close seats too. So that was cool. So we jumped on a subway after and went out to Brooklyn! Christine knew an authentic Lebanese restaurant that her dad had brought her to before (he's Lebanese). She was so happy - she said everything tasted like her grandmother's cooking! She told us what to get - the pate was a specialty, but not quite my favorite. I loved the spinach pies, and the roasted pepper and walnut spread was pretty good. Then I had Kibbi balls in yogurt for the meal - very tasty, and with lamb and pine nuts! Yum. And we got a sample of a sweet dessert with phyllo dough - very nice round off to the meal! So we had a lot of fun, and rushed back to the city so they could make their train back to Maryland. I wish they could've stayed longer - we had a lot of fun! I might try to visit them down there before I go back to Austin... Good theater and good food - can't be beat.
We played with the internet Wednesday night for 2.5 hours - ugh. Couldn't get the router I bought to work, but it turned out to be a falty ethernet port on the modem. Ugh - hate dealing with these things! Take so long... But we ordered a new modem from the ISP and finally finally got internet working on Friday - yay! Pain in my butt.
Thursday was another day at work... Not much went on. When I got home I walked around the area more. Then ended up at another carpool recommended place - Mexicana Mama - really close to my place. It was so good - authentic Mexican food with some awesome cheese (chihuaua) and spices. I had a sort of creamy jalapeno salsa that was awesome - not too hot. And a blood orange margarita. And yummy mahi mahi fish tacos with a spicy sauce :-). So good! And then I treated myself to a flan dessert - don't worry, I took leftovers! But their flan was thicker - sorta like cheesecake, and they put a sort of caramel on it and mixed nuts - tasty. Another good night :-).
Friday I went to work again - although it's usually my stay at home day, I'd done that 2 days already this week. So had a good day at work, and left a bit early and took a bus down to the city. I really wanted tickets to a NY City Center "Fall for Dance" festival, and they were sold out by the time I called, but cancellation tickets were available the day of the performance starting at 6:30. So I got there about 5:20 and got tickets!! It's not much fun to wait, but it paid off - I got a great orchestra seat. Went home to drop stuff off, then came back for the performance. Oh my God it was amazing! And only for $10. All these different companies came together and each showcased a main piece of theirs. It was awesome. They all were very different styles and at different tempos. But fun! The first one was actually 8 guys from South India - reminded me of Naveen. It was odd - 1/2 of them did music while the other half did dancing, but they all wore suits. It was interesting - Indian style dancing, but modern, and an interpretation on the crazy business world as the guys lived out a day of work. Very cool. Then 1 black women did a dance - frenetic really - about the "sacred feminine". 1/2 of her costume was a suite, and 1/2 was a tube top - sort of a balance between fun and responsibility. Very cool. Piece #3 of 5 was very seductive - a couple with a lot of work on the floor and rolling over each other - intertwined. Then piece #4 was by the Boston Ballet - although I thought it'd be less modern because the women were ballerinas in tutus and the shoes, it actually was sorta dark and they had both traditional elements with the guys lifting up the women, and other elements where the people looked broken and put their arms at weird angles and stuff. Interesting piece. The last one was really energetic and fun! This group was from South Africa! There were guys that did tap, guys that stomped around and hit noise-making pads on their legs. They were always making a lot of noise and music and always high energy - jumping around. And through the performance they got less clothed which was really fun. A great finale to a great night! I'm so glad I got to see such a variety of dance! Made me very happy. Then I just grabbed a make-it-yourself salad from a deli and walked down to Rockefeller Center to eat it. That night it seemed the city was mine - beautiful and full of opportunity. They were filming at the Rockefeller Center - they had an ice rink up (tho it was 80 that day) and in the middle like a carpetted lounge area with leather couches where fancy people were hanging out! Very weird. But they played fun 80s skate music. Then I headed down to the E. Village to hang out with Mo - softball guy. He was hanging out with 2 friends from college - a couple - that were really nice. They live up in Westchester. They were fun to talk to, tho Mo was bummed about turning 30 (Sat was his bday). So we just went out for drinks. Mo knew the bartenders, so we got some nice treatment - had a great drink called "Chillin on my carpet" with Kahlua, Frangelico, and cream I think. Yum. Was fun, but I stayed too late and drank a little too much. But it was fun :-).
Saturday! See - big update... I slept in - didn't want to do anything. Finally got up and going out of the house around 2pm. Walked to Union Square - my favorite area. Went to a huge farmer's market that lifted my spirits - love fresh fruit and vegies! Then hit up a street festival in the area - bought some treasures! Bought a neat picture of New York City - midtown with the Empire State Building - one I liked Mom! It was neat - had a nice view from the water with city lights reflected. So yay! Hopefully my last souvenir. Then I got a neat glass teardrop necklace with a bunch of colors in it - I couldn't resist. And a neat Indian-influenced funky spaghetti strap top in browns and greens. Fun! I wore that shirt to go out later in the night for Mo's birthday! But yes, I kept going around Union Square - hit up Trader Joes which was fun, but there's only 1 in the city so lines were amazingly long. And finally, with all purchases in tow, I stopped at Filenne's Basement to find a sweater and tights to wear with the wool skirt I bought before. Success - after waiting in line to try everything on. Everything here is a line - too many people! Then I bussed home - very tired with all my stuff. I actually took a quick nap. Then headed out - in my awesome brown boots that I bought in Boston, and of course my new shirt, to the East side. I ate as Veselka - a well-established Ukranian famous retaurant. I did a sample-dinner: tasty borscht, salad, then meat-stuffed cabbage, pierogies, and kielbasa sausage. Yum! Nice to eat ethnic food - at least I love it. Then joined Mo and company celebrating his birthday at bars across from his place! Met a lot of his friends - they were all really nice, and most from around here. It was nice to hang out and chat with fun people - got a couple of invites to hang out again. All good people, but it made me miss MY old friends, and feel a bit out of place. Sometimes you just get tired of putting yourself out there all the time - being the gregarious one! Trying everything new... But had fun - chatted with Mo's cousin too who is nice. Left a bit earlier than the night before because I wasn't into drinking much 2 nights in a row! But it was also neat to tell people my story, and have them be really impressed with me moving out to NY by myself just for the experience! It's not always an easy city :-).
Which brings us to today. I gotta stop doing things, because there's too much to blog about! I got up early - when am I going to sleep?! I went on a bike ride which was fun. Turns out the east river track doesn't go all the way up and it was sorta a pain. But cut across central park which was pretty as always. Nice to bike and exercise. Then came home, showered quickly to get ready to go to an Off Broadway show my roommate recommended - this was the last day of some 2 week theater festival. I saw Jane Austen's Emma performed on stage in a musical. Totally neat! Awesome story - classic of course. I wasn't sure how it'd be in a musical, but they did a really good job. And it was fun in a small theater to be so close to the stage. The actors did a good job. Sometimes were pretty funny and cheeky, but all in all a great story to get lost in. Ah, romance. Sigh. So left to a beautiful day - we've had more summer days lately. Walked around a bit, then headed to East Village again. I heard about a good authentic German restaurant celebrating Oktoberfest, so I wanted to go. And they had a band and everything - with an accordian, basson, trumpet, and french horn! And roudy beer drinkers who cheersed and swayed and sang along. It was crowded and I had to wait to even get inside. But I had a small stein of Hoffbrau beer in the spirit, and a Bavarian pretzel. :-). Then got bratwurst with potato salad and sauerkraut to go for dinner. I had fun, but felt weird being there in a rowdy crowded place by myself. Think it would've been better with other people. :-(. But yeah - so headed home and ate tasty German food there. Nice to be home and relax. And talked to my roommate - we might go to the New York Film Festival tomorrow! Fun. Hit the grocery store quickly to have lunch for tomorrow, and just been relaxing the rest of the night. And now I'm ready to go sleep!
Good weekend (and week!), but yet again, I feel tired by all my activities and feel I should take some down time. Hopefully I can this week. I try to do everything - maybe to make life exciting and new, but maybe sometimes life can be slow and boring! We'll see :-). Just feel I should take advantage of this amazing city and all I can while I'm here... Fun Fun - and so much going on!
Love to all... J
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Uptown, downtown, all around town with Mom
Mom and I had a fabulous weekend. We traveled as far north as ~230 St. in the Bronx, and as far south as Staten Island - where the ferry docked! We took 5 different subway lines - red, yellow, green, blue and orange. We walked from Park Place down to Battery Park (past the World Trade Center), then back up to 6th Street in the East Village (through Chinatown and Little Italy)! We walked from 97th on the west side down to 57th on the east side, took the subway up the east side and came back west via 103rd St. Then we walked from 48th St. to 26th street. Also walked from 97th to around 82nd, back up to 104th. And that was just the Manhattan walking - we covered almost the whole island! And had fabulous adventures :-).
So I ran around the reservoir (for the last time - sniff) Friday morning while Mom was flying in on her red eye. Mom arrived fine, and we ate some cheese and crackers for lunch - yum :-). And cheese curds Mom had brought! And fresh fruit :-). Then we set off! We went to a street festival (my Mom loves them) downtown and got me a hair clip and earrings, and Mom socks. Then we meandered around - I introduced Mom to Starbucks. Their vanilla coffee was good! Then we saw the World Trade Center. Made our way down to Battery Park and looked at a billion framed photographs of the city that were pretty. Then took the Staten Island ferry! Nice ferry ride - and free! Fun views. We basically rode over and rode back - there's really nothing to do on Staten Island. Then I convinced my Mom that it was a short walk to the East Village :-). She couldn't believe all our walking, but it was fun! We walked through Chinatown and Little Italy so she could see it. But yeah - lots of walking. We ended up at my favorite Ethiopian place in the west village - awesome food! And Mom and I shared a bottle of wine - yum. Great dinner after all that walking. Love Ethiopian! Next time going for tibs... It was nice just to hang with my Mom, too. So we walked back to the subway (my Mom didn't kill me yet for all the walking) and called it a night just as the east village was heating up!
Saturday we awoke early - I awoke to my Mom's "time to get up" call - as usual. We set out for our Central Park adventure. Grabbed bagels and coffee for Mom along the way - yay New York. Ate in the park, and then walked! Walked past the reservoir, past Delacorte Theater and the castle, past the boathouse and the bow bridge - pretty - and then down to the south end of the park. Finally saw the stone bridge I love so much in pictures!! Although I ended up buying the sequence of the 4 seasons on the maple tree walkway instead. But so pretty - and calming, the park. Awesome. Then we veered away from the park to hit the Harley Davidson store - yeah, guess who that was for! Took the subway back up town and walked across the park at 103rd, and home! Then quick shower and dressed up for our Broadway Show! We saw "A Chorus Line" which was fun - had dancing and singing! It was neat - although atypical with the other Broadway shows I've seen - no props, and mostly individual stories told by the characters just talking on stage. There was the overarching plot of the audition, but it was a bit thin. But it was enjoyable :-). Then we wandered around Times Square which makes me very chlosterphobic. Bleh. We stopped in at the M&M store which was really fun. Then I had to get out of there. So we hopped over to Bryant Park. Then headed down 5th Ave to find our Indian place with dosas. It was much easier with Shan Shan's Zagat guide! Awesome :-). Yum with the South Indian dosas and pakora appetizers! Always delightful - and Mom was really happy sampling all the great foods that she can't get in Brookings. So we called it an early night - subwayed home and watched "All About Eve" - a movie about Broadway stars made in 1950! Yay old movies. Thought it was appropriate with the setting and all. :-).
Sunday - another whirlwind. But it's fun, I swear! We got up leisurely and walked down to Popover Cafe which I'd been wanting to try. Awesome place - great atmosphere. Pretty good popovers - they really popped, but a little crustier than ours. Like that they serve them with every meal. Then they had great variety of food and drinks - I could have ordered 10+ different things to enjoy! Mom got a sort of greek egg scramble thing, and I got a spinach, mushroom and goat cheese omelet. Tasty :-). And filling with our side of bacon. So we set out again - I took Mom to Riverside Park so we could see the Hudson - pretty as always. Love those parks. Then we walked back up to 96th for another street festival! Wandered through it some - I actually got a little keychain (frog) with a clock on it which is useful, then a NYC t-shirt for me. Then we headed out to the Bronx to check out New York Botanical Garden! It was big - lots to walk, and we had to walk a mile to even get to the garden from the metro. It was really pretty - some of the gardens, and the pine forest, but mostly it was just nature forest and stuff - not lots of flowers. We really enjoyed the rose garden - still many in bloom! And we saw a wedding going on... Again - relaxing scenery, but we were tired by the end. So we bus+subwayed back in time to get a nice gyro dinner from the street festival in my neighborhood. Mom loves gyros :-). And we got another bottle of wine. BTW - I did get Mom a couple of Christmas presents in all our wanderings too - don't think all the things we bought were for me! But anyway, we were happy to take all our treasures and food home and just relax for the rest of the evening at home! Tiring weekend, but full and really fun.
I loved every minute of it. And I think I convinced Mom of the merits of this city - everything being so accessible, using public transportation, awesome variety of food :-). We just both agreed we didn't want to live here forever. But we had great adventures together! And it was just awesome to have her around - my companion for the weekend :-). I love that my Mom and I are best friends and we can just be around each other and it's easy - we understand each other and can talk about everything. You can't get that kind of relaxation from anyone but those who've known you for years and years. I love it. And I wish I could have that more often. I love you Mom! Thanks for the visit :-).
Now - I need my relaxation! I wonder if I just fill my time with all these things to do just that - fill time. Don't get me wrong - I love the things I do, but sometimes I just feel like I'm chasing my own tail. I am having fun, but I feel I've lost the ability to relax. What makes me calm and at peace anymore? I guess exercise... Anyway. Monday I moved, and now I'm in my new place. I love it! - love the neighborhood and my roommate is cool. Glad to be here, and I'm getting settled. More about all this later...
So I ran around the reservoir (for the last time - sniff) Friday morning while Mom was flying in on her red eye. Mom arrived fine, and we ate some cheese and crackers for lunch - yum :-). And cheese curds Mom had brought! And fresh fruit :-). Then we set off! We went to a street festival (my Mom loves them) downtown and got me a hair clip and earrings, and Mom socks. Then we meandered around - I introduced Mom to Starbucks. Their vanilla coffee was good! Then we saw the World Trade Center. Made our way down to Battery Park and looked at a billion framed photographs of the city that were pretty. Then took the Staten Island ferry! Nice ferry ride - and free! Fun views. We basically rode over and rode back - there's really nothing to do on Staten Island. Then I convinced my Mom that it was a short walk to the East Village :-). She couldn't believe all our walking, but it was fun! We walked through Chinatown and Little Italy so she could see it. But yeah - lots of walking. We ended up at my favorite Ethiopian place in the west village - awesome food! And Mom and I shared a bottle of wine - yum. Great dinner after all that walking. Love Ethiopian! Next time going for tibs... It was nice just to hang with my Mom, too. So we walked back to the subway (my Mom didn't kill me yet for all the walking) and called it a night just as the east village was heating up!
Saturday we awoke early - I awoke to my Mom's "time to get up" call - as usual. We set out for our Central Park adventure. Grabbed bagels and coffee for Mom along the way - yay New York. Ate in the park, and then walked! Walked past the reservoir, past Delacorte Theater and the castle, past the boathouse and the bow bridge - pretty - and then down to the south end of the park. Finally saw the stone bridge I love so much in pictures!! Although I ended up buying the sequence of the 4 seasons on the maple tree walkway instead. But so pretty - and calming, the park. Awesome. Then we veered away from the park to hit the Harley Davidson store - yeah, guess who that was for! Took the subway back up town and walked across the park at 103rd, and home! Then quick shower and dressed up for our Broadway Show! We saw "A Chorus Line" which was fun - had dancing and singing! It was neat - although atypical with the other Broadway shows I've seen - no props, and mostly individual stories told by the characters just talking on stage. There was the overarching plot of the audition, but it was a bit thin. But it was enjoyable :-). Then we wandered around Times Square which makes me very chlosterphobic. Bleh. We stopped in at the M&M store which was really fun. Then I had to get out of there. So we hopped over to Bryant Park. Then headed down 5th Ave to find our Indian place with dosas. It was much easier with Shan Shan's Zagat guide! Awesome :-). Yum with the South Indian dosas and pakora appetizers! Always delightful - and Mom was really happy sampling all the great foods that she can't get in Brookings. So we called it an early night - subwayed home and watched "All About Eve" - a movie about Broadway stars made in 1950! Yay old movies. Thought it was appropriate with the setting and all. :-).
Sunday - another whirlwind. But it's fun, I swear! We got up leisurely and walked down to Popover Cafe which I'd been wanting to try. Awesome place - great atmosphere. Pretty good popovers - they really popped, but a little crustier than ours. Like that they serve them with every meal. Then they had great variety of food and drinks - I could have ordered 10+ different things to enjoy! Mom got a sort of greek egg scramble thing, and I got a spinach, mushroom and goat cheese omelet. Tasty :-). And filling with our side of bacon. So we set out again - I took Mom to Riverside Park so we could see the Hudson - pretty as always. Love those parks. Then we walked back up to 96th for another street festival! Wandered through it some - I actually got a little keychain (frog) with a clock on it which is useful, then a NYC t-shirt for me. Then we headed out to the Bronx to check out New York Botanical Garden! It was big - lots to walk, and we had to walk a mile to even get to the garden from the metro. It was really pretty - some of the gardens, and the pine forest, but mostly it was just nature forest and stuff - not lots of flowers. We really enjoyed the rose garden - still many in bloom! And we saw a wedding going on... Again - relaxing scenery, but we were tired by the end. So we bus+subwayed back in time to get a nice gyro dinner from the street festival in my neighborhood. Mom loves gyros :-). And we got another bottle of wine. BTW - I did get Mom a couple of Christmas presents in all our wanderings too - don't think all the things we bought were for me! But anyway, we were happy to take all our treasures and food home and just relax for the rest of the evening at home! Tiring weekend, but full and really fun.
I loved every minute of it. And I think I convinced Mom of the merits of this city - everything being so accessible, using public transportation, awesome variety of food :-). We just both agreed we didn't want to live here forever. But we had great adventures together! And it was just awesome to have her around - my companion for the weekend :-). I love that my Mom and I are best friends and we can just be around each other and it's easy - we understand each other and can talk about everything. You can't get that kind of relaxation from anyone but those who've known you for years and years. I love it. And I wish I could have that more often. I love you Mom! Thanks for the visit :-).
Now - I need my relaxation! I wonder if I just fill my time with all these things to do just that - fill time. Don't get me wrong - I love the things I do, but sometimes I just feel like I'm chasing my own tail. I am having fun, but I feel I've lost the ability to relax. What makes me calm and at peace anymore? I guess exercise... Anyway. Monday I moved, and now I'm in my new place. I love it! - love the neighborhood and my roommate is cool. Glad to be here, and I'm getting settled. More about all this later...
Thursday, September 27, 2007
This city is MINE!
So I know I'm up and down, but I have to say - I love this city. Yes, it is impersonal, and yes everything is crazy and it is excessive with stimuli. But really - it's awesome too. People really know how to deal with people - they aren't rude, they just have to deal with tons of people being packing in a tiny island. And yes they are always rushed, in a hurry - slightly frenzied, so they get a bit mad when you get in their way. But otherwise, they are pretty considerate :-).
But the real reason I love this city is that I can come home by subway at 10:15 pm - travel 6 miles for $2 pretty quickly while reading my Harry Potter book (I saw several subwayers reading it when it came out!) and there are people all over - tons of people walking the streets, on the subway. 10pm is hardly anything here - not late! Love that anything is possible - that you can have any schedule you want. That my new neighborhood ROCKS! So yes, my street is the home of the gay and transvestite crew, but my neighborhood rocks! West Village - oh yeah. I walked up Hudson tonight with my new keys in hand and passed 15 restaurants and bars in like 1 minute - of all different kinds. You can just head out your front door and be minutes from anything - a post office, wonderful bakeries (I'm close to Magnolia Cafe and it's cupcakes - deadly!), a grocery store, a laundromat, tons of good restaurants. So exciting! Love it. Love that this city is awake late like me. It has so much to offer - and it's fun to just have everything. Sure it's given to its excesses, but it's exciting :-).
I've been having fun this week. Besides working hard and cleaning and packing hard every night this week (my apartment looks amazing - feels good to get that done altho tiring), I went out with friends twice. Love friends! Went out with Sharon from my building - she was an intern this summer, but now she is back at Princeton. We finally got to go to sushi together! It was so fun - we talked about boys. Mostly she talked - she's been going on a lot of dates lately, and wants to know why the guy who she has fabulous dates with never actually calls! She's fun. And the sushi was yummy of course. I was just excited to have a "girl's night" so to speak. Neat to connect again - will try to keep up with her, though I am moving!
Tonight went out with Mohammed down by his school again. I love how we can choose a different restaurant every Thursday night within a small radius from his school - so much to choose from. Today we went to a Malaysian/French Cafe - bizarre, but so tasty! I got this Homemade Acar - mixed pickle with tons of veggies. Yum :-). Had to. Then a wonderful chicken curry - Rendang Chicken. So curry spicy and yummy! Love food here. And had a nice chat with Mohammed - I decided I need to stop having an agenda. I'm so exhausted because I am too planny - have too many expectations. I need to mellow out and go with the flow - it'd be so less fretful. I really want to just enjoy life and not worry about the future so much. It's my new "plan" - like the if you decide you are in a good mood, then you have a good day! Good to have a good outlook. Try not to focus on the negatives of being in research for example :-).
Anyway - fun times. And Mom's here tomorrow - can't wait! Happy weekend.
But the real reason I love this city is that I can come home by subway at 10:15 pm - travel 6 miles for $2 pretty quickly while reading my Harry Potter book (I saw several subwayers reading it when it came out!) and there are people all over - tons of people walking the streets, on the subway. 10pm is hardly anything here - not late! Love that anything is possible - that you can have any schedule you want. That my new neighborhood ROCKS! So yes, my street is the home of the gay and transvestite crew, but my neighborhood rocks! West Village - oh yeah. I walked up Hudson tonight with my new keys in hand and passed 15 restaurants and bars in like 1 minute - of all different kinds. You can just head out your front door and be minutes from anything - a post office, wonderful bakeries (I'm close to Magnolia Cafe and it's cupcakes - deadly!), a grocery store, a laundromat, tons of good restaurants. So exciting! Love it. Love that this city is awake late like me. It has so much to offer - and it's fun to just have everything. Sure it's given to its excesses, but it's exciting :-).
I've been having fun this week. Besides working hard and cleaning and packing hard every night this week (my apartment looks amazing - feels good to get that done altho tiring), I went out with friends twice. Love friends! Went out with Sharon from my building - she was an intern this summer, but now she is back at Princeton. We finally got to go to sushi together! It was so fun - we talked about boys. Mostly she talked - she's been going on a lot of dates lately, and wants to know why the guy who she has fabulous dates with never actually calls! She's fun. And the sushi was yummy of course. I was just excited to have a "girl's night" so to speak. Neat to connect again - will try to keep up with her, though I am moving!
Tonight went out with Mohammed down by his school again. I love how we can choose a different restaurant every Thursday night within a small radius from his school - so much to choose from. Today we went to a Malaysian/French Cafe - bizarre, but so tasty! I got this Homemade Acar - mixed pickle with tons of veggies. Yum :-). Had to. Then a wonderful chicken curry - Rendang Chicken. So curry spicy and yummy! Love food here. And had a nice chat with Mohammed - I decided I need to stop having an agenda. I'm so exhausted because I am too planny - have too many expectations. I need to mellow out and go with the flow - it'd be so less fretful. I really want to just enjoy life and not worry about the future so much. It's my new "plan" - like the if you decide you are in a good mood, then you have a good day! Good to have a good outlook. Try not to focus on the negatives of being in research for example :-).
Anyway - fun times. And Mom's here tomorrow - can't wait! Happy weekend.
Monday, September 24, 2007
For the future
This is sort of a reminder to myself - in the future, when I have time (ha!), I really want to go back to both tennis and piano. I miss them and I think they are awesome, timeless (ageless) activities. :-). That is all.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Oh the Places I Go
Can anyone get the reference of the title?
So I'm sorry my last post was negative. It doesn't mean everything is horrible, or I'm super depressed. I was just having a bad day. And this is my outlet. But things are cyclic and they go up and down and I'm fine.
First happy thing - I found a GOOD place to live. I was feeling really stressed about the loft place. Felt like they were very demanding and almost extorting money from me. And they kept calling and asking what was up with the money (they needed a bank check for all 3 months - their time frame not mine - plus 1 month deposit all UP FRONT!). I respect that NY is different than other places, and people can't be trusted - especially these people seem to be used to artists. But I already felt like it was a lot of money for a cubicle living space in a loft. And I felt hassled by them. And if I choose the place because the people seemed cool - well, they didn't seem cool anymore. So I found a different place that I really like! It's in the West Village - really close to my carpool guy (he's happy about that). Cute little place above a Chinese restaurant. It's a 1 bedroom and I'll be sharing it with Paulette, but I get the bedroom. She works from home as a notary public for loans. And she has a really cute bird - Birdette! I lovebird. I love birds - I hope I can play with this one - she seems friendly :-). The place is cute - decorated with Betty Boop. And I actually get the top bunk of a bunk bed! Well, the bottom is actually a futon that she keeps as a couch instead of a bed. But that's cool! So I'm really excited about my new place and new area - I move in a week! I'm a little worried about packing everything up, but this lady seems like such a better deal than the last people - and trustworthy - she printed up an agreement we both signed. So yeah - there are still good people - I just need to find them :-). So yay - a place to move into. Unfortunately it's only available until mid November - will figure that out later.
So that was good news. Then Thursday had a good day at work, and went out to dinner with softball guy again. It was a nice time - we had some good conversation. We found a really cute place that had good beer! I almost got my favorite - Douchess (tastes like sour cherries - you have to like it :-)), but it was only available in a huge bottle. So I got a tasty Delirium Tremens. We shared some calamari for an appetizer, and surprise of surprises - I got NY Strip Steak! With some creamy tarragon sauce that the waiter recommended. It was actually pretty tasty, but I couldn't finish it. And it was sorta pink in the middle - too pink for me. And too thick for me. But something different :-). Cute place. Fun times. I definitely appreciate having a friend in the city - I miss people who know me.
Friday was fun - I worked from home. Slept in a bit, went to my favorite farmer's market right outside for the last time - sniff! Got some goodies. Then went biking in central park - my 10 miles. Was nice! Challenging hills, nice day. Green :-). Happy. Worked all afternoon, then got ready for my adventure - to the OPERA!! So I got a discount ticket in the New York Opera in their Opera For All program - for every performance, they have a limited number of orchestra tickets for only $25. Was so happy to go - I dressed up and went down to Lincoln Center. Beautiful night - we got back up to 80 lately. And I saw La Boheme! I was pleasantly surprised - my ticket ended up being front row center! I couldn't believe my seat - didn't think I totally deserved it! But I could look over the wall at the orchestra - wow. It was a great story - what Rent was based on and that's why I wanted to see it. Of course Rent modernized it, but it was the same story! Very poignant, nicely sung. I had fun - even by myself :-). Then, even with my slightly painful heels, I walked down to a place where my carpool guy (Ramon) recommended the Mexican tacos. Said they were the best he's had oustide of Mexico - they were sold in the back of this tiny Mexican grocery store! I got 1 of spicy pork, and 2 little others of something liek mushrooms and corn (but spice-ized) - all recommended by Ramon. They were tasty - I liked the corn-type filling the best. Felt adventurous! And of course had Jarrito beverage :-).
Then it was Saturday! Tried to sleep in, but don't know if it's my mind, or the sun, but I wake up anyway. Not terribly early, though - 9:30. So got up and biked down to the Hans Christian Anderson statue in Central Park to catch the fairytelling hour! They were telling "The Ugly Duckling" which is a good story. I just love stories. I sat there in this beautiful setting and listened while enjoying my zucchini muffin. A guy told one story first about 2 princesses - a beautiful charming dainty one, and her twin - an ugly haggard, rough-around-the-edges one who liked to ride a wild goat and carry a wooden spoon and dress in rags. He said it was sort of an Ugly Duckling story too, and I really enjoyed it. So had a fun storytelling hour, then thought about sitting in the park and reading, but it started raining! So perfect time to do what else I wanted to do - go to the Natural History Museum! For free with my IBM badge - love these free things :-). And it was magnificent - so huge. Naveen would've loved it. There were exhibits about the Big Bang and stars and planets, and how the Earth was formed, then there were exhibits about all the people and animals on this planet - mammals from each continent, birds, artifacts from ancient people of each continent, ocean animals, oh yeah - and minerals, and how humans became humans from chimps and neanderthals, and then last but not least, dinosaurs :-). Magnificent museum. Too much to see really, and as always with museums - I appreciate it, but am exhausted after an hour or 2 and can't take in more. But it was fun. So I headed home to drop off my bike, then decided to heat to Brooklyn to try the Red Hook Latin American food stands that I heard were fabulous! Yes, I know - I love to do everything. So I subwayed over, and tried El Salvadorian pupusas - corn dough wrapped around your ingredients (I got cheese and jalapeno because it was recommended by NY Times) and fried which were awesome. Then Mexican huaraches - sort of like a big tortilla (which has beans built into it) then I got chorizo as a filling and cheese, though traditionally they don't have cheese), then toppings - lettuce, tomato, salsa. Yum - awesome! So happy :-). And I go the Horchata drink - sort of cinnamony white drink that's Mexican. And got a bag of mango for dessert - and of course they put some lemon-lime and chilli powder in the bag which made it taste very nice! Loved my experience - adventures, right? :-). So awesome food - too much of it. I stopped to watch the soccer for a bit, and an interesting guy came up and talked to me for awhile. A 30 year old born in El Salvador, living in Queens since he was 12. Had a dark beard, tattoes all over his arms, and a chin piercing. But he was nice :-). Random conversation - talking to real people is nice, even if they don't know you. Then we parted and I took the subway home. I laid on the couch watching movies on TV the rest of the night - too tired for anythign else. I could've joined a friend Rishi, but they headed to Brooklyn for drinks at like midnight, and I couldn't make myself go out that late.
Sunday! I woke up after my usual 8 hours, but I forced myself to go back to sleep so I could catch up a bit. And it worked! Felt good when I woke up at 11 :-). Did stuff around the house until I roused myself to leave into the beautiful day! Rode my bike down Riverside Park until I reached the dock. I had grabbed a bagel on the way to eat - yum :-). So I ate that while enjoying the sun sitting on the lawn. Then I found the free kayaking! Got a lift vest, and jumped in the kayak. Went by myself, as I did the rest of the weekend, but as I said it was a beautiful day and it was nice to be on the water and enjoying the views. They really didn't give me instructions after I said I'd been once before. And I took off! Did 4 laps in their little area until my arms got tired, then went back in, but it was nice to just be out on the water, enjoy the summer, and exercise my arms. But my butt was sitting in water the whole time! So had wet butt the rest of the afternoon :-). Then went back to my bike, and rode down to Columbus Circle. Had a fun ice cream :-). Then road to the exact opposite of the park - 106 and 5th Ave! Beautiful day to be out :-). Went to see the Harlem Meer Performance - free again. 4-6 there was a Jazz band playing. The leader was a bass player - Bobby Cunningham I think. He played wonderfully. Then had a piano player and drummer. For some songs they pulled in a lady to sing which was my favorite. Again - beautiful day, sitting in the park next to a beautiful lake with willows dipping down into the water. I felt totally relaxed just hanging out and listening to jazz. Very relaxing stuff. Happy times. And the people there are really nice - friendly folk. Talked to a retired Lit professor for part of intermission. He was super nice - said academia was the way to go - he just got back from an 9 month trip in SE Asia that he said cost him $6500 total! Holy cow - that's the life I want! Love these random conversations with nice people :-). So very relaxing and I let my mind wander over my life.
So I felt very good about taking advantage of being in NY in the last vestages of summer, and doing my last few experiences in the upper west side - really taking advantage of my parks! I feel good about all I've experienced here in New York - there is so much to do here. Adventures make me happy! But I do miss people, miss the shared experience a bit. But I will definitely enjoy that when I get back to Austin! And next weekend when my Mom is visiting - yay! So life is good - I'm enjoying a relaxing night at home tonight - making lamb stew with lamb I got from my farmer's market. Hope it turns out ok :-). Have a good week to all!
So I'm sorry my last post was negative. It doesn't mean everything is horrible, or I'm super depressed. I was just having a bad day. And this is my outlet. But things are cyclic and they go up and down and I'm fine.
First happy thing - I found a GOOD place to live. I was feeling really stressed about the loft place. Felt like they were very demanding and almost extorting money from me. And they kept calling and asking what was up with the money (they needed a bank check for all 3 months - their time frame not mine - plus 1 month deposit all UP FRONT!). I respect that NY is different than other places, and people can't be trusted - especially these people seem to be used to artists. But I already felt like it was a lot of money for a cubicle living space in a loft. And I felt hassled by them. And if I choose the place because the people seemed cool - well, they didn't seem cool anymore. So I found a different place that I really like! It's in the West Village - really close to my carpool guy (he's happy about that). Cute little place above a Chinese restaurant. It's a 1 bedroom and I'll be sharing it with Paulette, but I get the bedroom. She works from home as a notary public for loans. And she has a really cute bird - Birdette! I lovebird. I love birds - I hope I can play with this one - she seems friendly :-). The place is cute - decorated with Betty Boop. And I actually get the top bunk of a bunk bed! Well, the bottom is actually a futon that she keeps as a couch instead of a bed. But that's cool! So I'm really excited about my new place and new area - I move in a week! I'm a little worried about packing everything up, but this lady seems like such a better deal than the last people - and trustworthy - she printed up an agreement we both signed. So yeah - there are still good people - I just need to find them :-). So yay - a place to move into. Unfortunately it's only available until mid November - will figure that out later.
So that was good news. Then Thursday had a good day at work, and went out to dinner with softball guy again. It was a nice time - we had some good conversation. We found a really cute place that had good beer! I almost got my favorite - Douchess (tastes like sour cherries - you have to like it :-)), but it was only available in a huge bottle. So I got a tasty Delirium Tremens. We shared some calamari for an appetizer, and surprise of surprises - I got NY Strip Steak! With some creamy tarragon sauce that the waiter recommended. It was actually pretty tasty, but I couldn't finish it. And it was sorta pink in the middle - too pink for me. And too thick for me. But something different :-). Cute place. Fun times. I definitely appreciate having a friend in the city - I miss people who know me.
Friday was fun - I worked from home. Slept in a bit, went to my favorite farmer's market right outside for the last time - sniff! Got some goodies. Then went biking in central park - my 10 miles. Was nice! Challenging hills, nice day. Green :-). Happy. Worked all afternoon, then got ready for my adventure - to the OPERA!! So I got a discount ticket in the New York Opera in their Opera For All program - for every performance, they have a limited number of orchestra tickets for only $25. Was so happy to go - I dressed up and went down to Lincoln Center. Beautiful night - we got back up to 80 lately. And I saw La Boheme! I was pleasantly surprised - my ticket ended up being front row center! I couldn't believe my seat - didn't think I totally deserved it! But I could look over the wall at the orchestra - wow. It was a great story - what Rent was based on and that's why I wanted to see it. Of course Rent modernized it, but it was the same story! Very poignant, nicely sung. I had fun - even by myself :-). Then, even with my slightly painful heels, I walked down to a place where my carpool guy (Ramon) recommended the Mexican tacos. Said they were the best he's had oustide of Mexico - they were sold in the back of this tiny Mexican grocery store! I got 1 of spicy pork, and 2 little others of something liek mushrooms and corn (but spice-ized) - all recommended by Ramon. They were tasty - I liked the corn-type filling the best. Felt adventurous! And of course had Jarrito beverage :-).
Then it was Saturday! Tried to sleep in, but don't know if it's my mind, or the sun, but I wake up anyway. Not terribly early, though - 9:30. So got up and biked down to the Hans Christian Anderson statue in Central Park to catch the fairytelling hour! They were telling "The Ugly Duckling" which is a good story. I just love stories. I sat there in this beautiful setting and listened while enjoying my zucchini muffin. A guy told one story first about 2 princesses - a beautiful charming dainty one, and her twin - an ugly haggard, rough-around-the-edges one who liked to ride a wild goat and carry a wooden spoon and dress in rags. He said it was sort of an Ugly Duckling story too, and I really enjoyed it. So had a fun storytelling hour, then thought about sitting in the park and reading, but it started raining! So perfect time to do what else I wanted to do - go to the Natural History Museum! For free with my IBM badge - love these free things :-). And it was magnificent - so huge. Naveen would've loved it. There were exhibits about the Big Bang and stars and planets, and how the Earth was formed, then there were exhibits about all the people and animals on this planet - mammals from each continent, birds, artifacts from ancient people of each continent, ocean animals, oh yeah - and minerals, and how humans became humans from chimps and neanderthals, and then last but not least, dinosaurs :-). Magnificent museum. Too much to see really, and as always with museums - I appreciate it, but am exhausted after an hour or 2 and can't take in more. But it was fun. So I headed home to drop off my bike, then decided to heat to Brooklyn to try the Red Hook Latin American food stands that I heard were fabulous! Yes, I know - I love to do everything. So I subwayed over, and tried El Salvadorian pupusas - corn dough wrapped around your ingredients (I got cheese and jalapeno because it was recommended by NY Times) and fried which were awesome. Then Mexican huaraches - sort of like a big tortilla (which has beans built into it) then I got chorizo as a filling and cheese, though traditionally they don't have cheese), then toppings - lettuce, tomato, salsa. Yum - awesome! So happy :-). And I go the Horchata drink - sort of cinnamony white drink that's Mexican. And got a bag of mango for dessert - and of course they put some lemon-lime and chilli powder in the bag which made it taste very nice! Loved my experience - adventures, right? :-). So awesome food - too much of it. I stopped to watch the soccer for a bit, and an interesting guy came up and talked to me for awhile. A 30 year old born in El Salvador, living in Queens since he was 12. Had a dark beard, tattoes all over his arms, and a chin piercing. But he was nice :-). Random conversation - talking to real people is nice, even if they don't know you. Then we parted and I took the subway home. I laid on the couch watching movies on TV the rest of the night - too tired for anythign else. I could've joined a friend Rishi, but they headed to Brooklyn for drinks at like midnight, and I couldn't make myself go out that late.
Sunday! I woke up after my usual 8 hours, but I forced myself to go back to sleep so I could catch up a bit. And it worked! Felt good when I woke up at 11 :-). Did stuff around the house until I roused myself to leave into the beautiful day! Rode my bike down Riverside Park until I reached the dock. I had grabbed a bagel on the way to eat - yum :-). So I ate that while enjoying the sun sitting on the lawn. Then I found the free kayaking! Got a lift vest, and jumped in the kayak. Went by myself, as I did the rest of the weekend, but as I said it was a beautiful day and it was nice to be on the water and enjoying the views. They really didn't give me instructions after I said I'd been once before. And I took off! Did 4 laps in their little area until my arms got tired, then went back in, but it was nice to just be out on the water, enjoy the summer, and exercise my arms. But my butt was sitting in water the whole time! So had wet butt the rest of the afternoon :-). Then went back to my bike, and rode down to Columbus Circle. Had a fun ice cream :-). Then road to the exact opposite of the park - 106 and 5th Ave! Beautiful day to be out :-). Went to see the Harlem Meer Performance - free again. 4-6 there was a Jazz band playing. The leader was a bass player - Bobby Cunningham I think. He played wonderfully. Then had a piano player and drummer. For some songs they pulled in a lady to sing which was my favorite. Again - beautiful day, sitting in the park next to a beautiful lake with willows dipping down into the water. I felt totally relaxed just hanging out and listening to jazz. Very relaxing stuff. Happy times. And the people there are really nice - friendly folk. Talked to a retired Lit professor for part of intermission. He was super nice - said academia was the way to go - he just got back from an 9 month trip in SE Asia that he said cost him $6500 total! Holy cow - that's the life I want! Love these random conversations with nice people :-). So very relaxing and I let my mind wander over my life.
So I felt very good about taking advantage of being in NY in the last vestages of summer, and doing my last few experiences in the upper west side - really taking advantage of my parks! I feel good about all I've experienced here in New York - there is so much to do here. Adventures make me happy! But I do miss people, miss the shared experience a bit. But I will definitely enjoy that when I get back to Austin! And next weekend when my Mom is visiting - yay! So life is good - I'm enjoying a relaxing night at home tonight - making lamb stew with lamb I got from my farmer's market. Hope it turns out ok :-). Have a good week to all!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Defeated
I'm sorry, but I just need to complain for a minute. I feel beaten down, defeated. Maybe by this place. I'm just exhausted by everything right now - the difficulty of finding a place to live here, the fact that everything revolves around money, the fact that I have lost faith in my chosen field (Computer Science), the fact that I don't have close people around me. I'm tried of fighting everything - tired of searching, tired of chores, tired of not relaxing, tiring of going ALL THE TIME. I need a break - please let me crawl into a hole and not be bothered for awhile. I don't want to think about work, or about subletting my Austin apartment again, or about getting my stupid perscriptions from Austin in the future, or laundry, or money, or fitting in everything I want to do in New York (there's more in this list, but I won't go on). I think part of this is definitely pressure on myself - and I am tired. I need a break from being me for a bit...
P.S. Yeah it doesn't help that I can't extend my left arm all the way. I worked biceps on Monday for the first time in awhile and biked yesterday and I think it just kinked the ligaments in my elbow :-(.
P.S. Yeah it doesn't help that I can't extend my left arm all the way. I worked biceps on Monday for the first time in awhile and biked yesterday and I think it just kinked the ligaments in my elbow :-(.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Life: Lucky, Lovely, and Lost
[UPDATED!] Hi all. I very much want to blog, but it's just been crazy lately and I'm not going to be able to finish the post right now. But I'll start and check back later for more.
So, so much has happened! I was very stressed last week, and I'm still stressed - mostly for finding a place to live here the rest of the fall! It's a tortuous process. But sometimes it's fun to visit different apartments up here and see the possibilities. But boy do things go fast and people are flakes! Ugh. Anyway.
Thursday last week was fun - got a ride in with Mohammed (softball guy). We decided to grab dinner downtown (ish) when we drove back to the city at the end of the day. We walked through SoHo to find a random place to eat - found a cute French place! Ate a fabulous goat cheese salad (wish there was more salad). And the sea bass with mushroom risoto was so tasty too! I think I was craving rich food. And had fun going through the conversation about life crisis with Mohammed - the "I'm almost done with school, I don't really know what I want to do or what makes me happy, and I have no clue where I'll be in a year" thing. I've been doing that a lot lately. But it's interesting - it's definitely where I'm at too. Scary and exciting. So good night. Feel bad about Mohammed being so nice to me - taking me to events, paying for things, driving me back home though he is going away from where he lives. But it's nice too.
So then Thursday night I got ready to go to Boston Friday and visit Emina! Was so excited :-). I was slightly anxious about traveling - odd to think I hadn't traveled at all for almost 3 months - unheard of for me, right? So had to pack a bag and all that. Had a nice chat with Naveen before I left too. Boy is he making a lot of effort to change. But still.
So Friday I got up early enough to go for a beautiful (nice temperature too - dropped lower this weekend) run around the reservoir in Central Park. It was a challenge but fun. Love the views. Then stopped at the beautiful Farmers Market outside my door on the way back. Love fresh vegies! Makes me happy :-). Then got ready and took off for my Boston weekend adventure! I took the Chinatown bus - it's awesome. And hey, I'm still a student. $15 for the 4 hour bus ride to Boston, and it goes from Chinatown to Chinatown :-). Still pretty comfy, and same amount of time as the train, but $80 less! I was impressed. I basically read the whole way - papers for work, and dozed a bit :-). That's what I miss about traveling - the naps while on the plane! So I made it successfully to Boston and just took the subway to MIT where I met Emina and Aled!
[Adventures in Cambridge and Boston here. Also NYC and Boston comparisons.]
So I made it to MIT. Met Emina and saw her very weird clown Computer Science building. It really is a circus with crazy colors, angles. We met some of her groupmates, then headed off to dinner at Legal Seafood with Aled. He was nice enough to pay for our dinner! I got (the authentic) clam chowder there, plus a combo crab cake platter - with shrimp and scallops too which was so good. It's so nice to talk to Emina and Aled, too - they are cute. They are in love and engaged, and Aled is so good to her (she's pretty demanding :-)). Plus I can bond with them over where we are in our lives. Had more of the "life crisis" chats of course. Emina is wonderful to me too :-). Good friend. So after dinner we went back to their "flat" and they rolled out a futon mattress for me in the living room. Their place was very cute! And they welcomed me fondly :-). Nice to have people who are that good to you.
Next morning we woke up leisurely. Over coffee and biscotti (love their life style!) while still in pjs (Aled had left for rugby), Emina and I chatted for hours about boys, and life. She's very encouraging. Then we finally showered, and headed out to Harvard area to grab a nice Middle Eastern lunch - a hummus plate with chicken and red and green peppers, and zucchini. We shared and got some good tea too. Then we walked around Harvard square. So I have to pause here and say (maybe because we were mostly in Cambridge) - Boston is full of young, intelligent people! And it's way cleaner than NYC - especially the subways. It was a brisk weekend (it's getting to be fall - NOOOO!), but it was nice to walk around and feel people like me around. And cute shops and bookstores, etc. Love the big college town feel! I can see why so many people love that city. So Emina talked me into buying fabulous boots at The Tannery. I won't say how much they were - but they are beautiful and will be a good staple in my wardrobe. I like it how Emina teaches me fashion - I would love to take her shopping with me all the time! Altho it can be costly :-). Then she knows I like earrings, so we went into a fun shop with tons of earrings. Got a beautiful pair of dangly, slightly fancy turquoise earrings made of the apatite stone. Very fun. Then of course we grabbed ice cream at the fabulous Herrell's. Funny I had been there before on my last trip. Actually a lot of the place looked familiar - I like the smaller town feel. So we came home to drop off shopping and met Aled back from rugby. Altho we were going to head into town for more shopping, we got caught up relaxing at home and watching some recorded UK World Cup rugby matches instead :-). And of course snacking on some lovely snacks from Whole Foods - rosemary flatbread, wasabi peas, and wonderful little mapley thin waffles. We finally roused ourselves to go out to dinner - we walked Newbury Street which is famous there for all the designer shops. It was fun to walk around - I tried out my new boots. But we did a lot of walking that day.... Boston restaurants are crowded on a Sat night, but we ended up at a pretty tasty Indian restaurant. I got a lamb curry - reminded me of Naveen of course. But the food roused me - for some reason I was really hungry and tired before meals this weekend (low blood sugar from all the walking), but food always perked me right up!
So Sunday was another nice lazy day. I swear they slept around 11 or 12 hours! But that was alright with me, although I don't know if it was being in a different place - I wasn't able to sleep in much. And of course I went to bed a bit later than them because I like late nights. But anyway - had our traditional lazy morning - with coffee. Didn't get out of the house until after noon, but they took me to a neat Bosnian restaurant for lunch! Was happy to eat food from Emina's homeland. Altho to hear her talk about it is chilling... Just don't introduce her to any Serbians - yikes. Anyway - I got the traditional Burek - a flaky bun like thing stuffed with beef. It was good, but I almost liked Emina's cheese one better. She said her Grandma made a spinach one that was awesome - would've been my favorite! Aled was still hungry, so we got 2 desserts (the portions were small). Traditional crepes filled with chocolate ganache and hazelnuts - yum. And an apple, pear, and something else strudel with some vanilla gelato and caramel on top. So tasty! Love the finer things in life - living with your taste buds! Sad to say we left (cute waiter), and went to actual Boston - around the Commons and walked around Fannuel Hall and Government Center and the Harbor. It was a nice day, and really fun to just hang out and walk. Finally took some pictures that day - not much to take pictures of while just hanging out and shopping :-). But that's what it was about - just hanging out. No expectations, no agenda. Good time with good friends. And I needed it. And I thoroughly loved it. Although loving this city that I didn't even live in and Emina telling me I should move there didn't help. Felt slightly lonely as I stayed with lovebirds. And as I feel lost...
I had a wonderful (lovely) weekend with them. It is nice to have good friends who are also awesome people. :-). But I have to saw during the weekend I felt a bit lost - drifting. Not sure where I belong or am supposed to be. I fit everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Maybe that's an artifact of going on a mini-vacation from my temporary living situation in NYC, but it's weird. An in general, the nomadic existence makes this problem hard anyway. But in general I consider home to be where the people very closest to me are; so that in itself changes. Home is people, not a place. But when in a city 2 levels of indirection from home (Austin->NYC->Boston), visiting friends I love but have only known for 3 months, I felt like I lost my sense of balance. And the people I am close to are now fewer, and they are spread out. Where am I and where do I fit? What will become of me - especially after grad school? I'm lost. I know I'll find my way, but it's weird. In some sense I was very happy to come home - to recognize NY neighborhoods and subway lines, and climb back into my familiar bed in the Upper West Side. But it was a sad, slightly lonely coming home, too. This is not my HOME either - it's just temporary.
I'll have to explain "lucky" later - it has to do with a phone call to my current landlady, but now I have to go work out and get ready to visit 5 different potential places to live tonight! Check back later for details!
Ok to so finish up the post (I know I write a lot): Really quickly while at Emina's I called my current landlady, even though I didn't want to. I needed to give her notice which I really didn't want to do because I'm leaving 2 weeks early from this place - of course because of Naveen. And I was terrified, but when I told her, she paused, and said "You know, if it was anyone but you, I'd protest and say you had to pay anyway. But it's ok.". Which, besides showing me that I am very lucky, renews my faith in people. It really is true that people are awesome - and if you look them in the eye, and smile at them, and generally have good will and friendliness, they respond to it! And they recognize good people too. So I am a good person, and I'm glad this worked out! I feel like maybe some people - even people on the street - can see the beautiful happy me shining out from within. When I let her shine that is ;-). And then the world is a closer place somehow.
So quick update from all my STRESS about finding a place to live. Maybe I can tell you later about all my visits to apartments (and those that flaked on me), and the various levels of crazy and sane and situations. It's exhausting - let me just tell you that. But I finally found a place! Just today - and I had to leave work midday to come into the city to do it. Sheesh. But I made it and I'm just glad it's over with! I really do need a weekend to do nothing - I just feel like I haven't had a moment's peace in a very long time. So tired. But anyway - found a place - right in Union Square basically which is a perfect location. Close to Whole Foods! Now let me just tell you that in general NYC is so frustrating, and it's a seller's market and places go in about an hour after they become available. So the place I got - I'm excited about it, but I'm paying too much for the space I actually get. You know - limited space, limited privacy for anything affordable in NY. But I'm excited. It's all tradeoffs, and hopefully I made a good one. I'll be living with 3 other people in a loft - a lady photographer, a male musician/filmmaker (who was "discovered" by Norah Jones while Karaoke-ing), and a French lady who works in finance who I haven't met. Part of the reason I agreed to pay what I did (don't ask - it was in my price range) was for the fun roommates - I can totally see myself hanging out with these guys. And the wonderful location - I can walk to where my carpool takes off from too. So happy day! And hopefully I can not be stressed now :-). Yeah - hehe.
One other quick tidbit - I finished Harry Potter 6 and today bought the final book! I'm scared and part of me doesn't want to finish the series because then there won't be more to read! But I have to - I'll let you know how it goes :-). And btw, I went on a fabulous 10-11 mile bikeride down the Hudson today - very nice, but it's getting colder, and darker earlier.
So tomorrow is a new day - hope it's well for you all.
So, so much has happened! I was very stressed last week, and I'm still stressed - mostly for finding a place to live here the rest of the fall! It's a tortuous process. But sometimes it's fun to visit different apartments up here and see the possibilities. But boy do things go fast and people are flakes! Ugh. Anyway.
Thursday last week was fun - got a ride in with Mohammed (softball guy). We decided to grab dinner downtown (ish) when we drove back to the city at the end of the day. We walked through SoHo to find a random place to eat - found a cute French place! Ate a fabulous goat cheese salad (wish there was more salad). And the sea bass with mushroom risoto was so tasty too! I think I was craving rich food. And had fun going through the conversation about life crisis with Mohammed - the "I'm almost done with school, I don't really know what I want to do or what makes me happy, and I have no clue where I'll be in a year" thing. I've been doing that a lot lately. But it's interesting - it's definitely where I'm at too. Scary and exciting. So good night. Feel bad about Mohammed being so nice to me - taking me to events, paying for things, driving me back home though he is going away from where he lives. But it's nice too.
So then Thursday night I got ready to go to Boston Friday and visit Emina! Was so excited :-). I was slightly anxious about traveling - odd to think I hadn't traveled at all for almost 3 months - unheard of for me, right? So had to pack a bag and all that. Had a nice chat with Naveen before I left too. Boy is he making a lot of effort to change. But still.
So Friday I got up early enough to go for a beautiful (nice temperature too - dropped lower this weekend) run around the reservoir in Central Park. It was a challenge but fun. Love the views. Then stopped at the beautiful Farmers Market outside my door on the way back. Love fresh vegies! Makes me happy :-). Then got ready and took off for my Boston weekend adventure! I took the Chinatown bus - it's awesome. And hey, I'm still a student. $15 for the 4 hour bus ride to Boston, and it goes from Chinatown to Chinatown :-). Still pretty comfy, and same amount of time as the train, but $80 less! I was impressed. I basically read the whole way - papers for work, and dozed a bit :-). That's what I miss about traveling - the naps while on the plane! So I made it successfully to Boston and just took the subway to MIT where I met Emina and Aled!
[Adventures in Cambridge and Boston here. Also NYC and Boston comparisons.]
So I made it to MIT. Met Emina and saw her very weird clown Computer Science building. It really is a circus with crazy colors, angles. We met some of her groupmates, then headed off to dinner at Legal Seafood with Aled. He was nice enough to pay for our dinner! I got (the authentic) clam chowder there, plus a combo crab cake platter - with shrimp and scallops too which was so good. It's so nice to talk to Emina and Aled, too - they are cute. They are in love and engaged, and Aled is so good to her (she's pretty demanding :-)). Plus I can bond with them over where we are in our lives. Had more of the "life crisis" chats of course. Emina is wonderful to me too :-). Good friend. So after dinner we went back to their "flat" and they rolled out a futon mattress for me in the living room. Their place was very cute! And they welcomed me fondly :-). Nice to have people who are that good to you.
Next morning we woke up leisurely. Over coffee and biscotti (love their life style!) while still in pjs (Aled had left for rugby), Emina and I chatted for hours about boys, and life. She's very encouraging. Then we finally showered, and headed out to Harvard area to grab a nice Middle Eastern lunch - a hummus plate with chicken and red and green peppers, and zucchini. We shared and got some good tea too. Then we walked around Harvard square. So I have to pause here and say (maybe because we were mostly in Cambridge) - Boston is full of young, intelligent people! And it's way cleaner than NYC - especially the subways. It was a brisk weekend (it's getting to be fall - NOOOO!), but it was nice to walk around and feel people like me around. And cute shops and bookstores, etc. Love the big college town feel! I can see why so many people love that city. So Emina talked me into buying fabulous boots at The Tannery. I won't say how much they were - but they are beautiful and will be a good staple in my wardrobe. I like it how Emina teaches me fashion - I would love to take her shopping with me all the time! Altho it can be costly :-). Then she knows I like earrings, so we went into a fun shop with tons of earrings. Got a beautiful pair of dangly, slightly fancy turquoise earrings made of the apatite stone. Very fun. Then of course we grabbed ice cream at the fabulous Herrell's. Funny I had been there before on my last trip. Actually a lot of the place looked familiar - I like the smaller town feel. So we came home to drop off shopping and met Aled back from rugby. Altho we were going to head into town for more shopping, we got caught up relaxing at home and watching some recorded UK World Cup rugby matches instead :-). And of course snacking on some lovely snacks from Whole Foods - rosemary flatbread, wasabi peas, and wonderful little mapley thin waffles. We finally roused ourselves to go out to dinner - we walked Newbury Street which is famous there for all the designer shops. It was fun to walk around - I tried out my new boots. But we did a lot of walking that day.... Boston restaurants are crowded on a Sat night, but we ended up at a pretty tasty Indian restaurant. I got a lamb curry - reminded me of Naveen of course. But the food roused me - for some reason I was really hungry and tired before meals this weekend (low blood sugar from all the walking), but food always perked me right up!
So Sunday was another nice lazy day. I swear they slept around 11 or 12 hours! But that was alright with me, although I don't know if it was being in a different place - I wasn't able to sleep in much. And of course I went to bed a bit later than them because I like late nights. But anyway - had our traditional lazy morning - with coffee. Didn't get out of the house until after noon, but they took me to a neat Bosnian restaurant for lunch! Was happy to eat food from Emina's homeland. Altho to hear her talk about it is chilling... Just don't introduce her to any Serbians - yikes. Anyway - I got the traditional Burek - a flaky bun like thing stuffed with beef. It was good, but I almost liked Emina's cheese one better. She said her Grandma made a spinach one that was awesome - would've been my favorite! Aled was still hungry, so we got 2 desserts (the portions were small). Traditional crepes filled with chocolate ganache and hazelnuts - yum. And an apple, pear, and something else strudel with some vanilla gelato and caramel on top. So tasty! Love the finer things in life - living with your taste buds! Sad to say we left (cute waiter), and went to actual Boston - around the Commons and walked around Fannuel Hall and Government Center and the Harbor. It was a nice day, and really fun to just hang out and walk. Finally took some pictures that day - not much to take pictures of while just hanging out and shopping :-). But that's what it was about - just hanging out. No expectations, no agenda. Good time with good friends. And I needed it. And I thoroughly loved it. Although loving this city that I didn't even live in and Emina telling me I should move there didn't help. Felt slightly lonely as I stayed with lovebirds. And as I feel lost...
I had a wonderful (lovely) weekend with them. It is nice to have good friends who are also awesome people. :-). But I have to saw during the weekend I felt a bit lost - drifting. Not sure where I belong or am supposed to be. I fit everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Maybe that's an artifact of going on a mini-vacation from my temporary living situation in NYC, but it's weird. An in general, the nomadic existence makes this problem hard anyway. But in general I consider home to be where the people very closest to me are; so that in itself changes. Home is people, not a place. But when in a city 2 levels of indirection from home (Austin->NYC->Boston), visiting friends I love but have only known for 3 months, I felt like I lost my sense of balance. And the people I am close to are now fewer, and they are spread out. Where am I and where do I fit? What will become of me - especially after grad school? I'm lost. I know I'll find my way, but it's weird. In some sense I was very happy to come home - to recognize NY neighborhoods and subway lines, and climb back into my familiar bed in the Upper West Side. But it was a sad, slightly lonely coming home, too. This is not my HOME either - it's just temporary.
I'll have to explain "lucky" later - it has to do with a phone call to my current landlady, but now I have to go work out and get ready to visit 5 different potential places to live tonight! Check back later for details!
Ok to so finish up the post (I know I write a lot): Really quickly while at Emina's I called my current landlady, even though I didn't want to. I needed to give her notice which I really didn't want to do because I'm leaving 2 weeks early from this place - of course because of Naveen. And I was terrified, but when I told her, she paused, and said "You know, if it was anyone but you, I'd protest and say you had to pay anyway. But it's ok.". Which, besides showing me that I am very lucky, renews my faith in people. It really is true that people are awesome - and if you look them in the eye, and smile at them, and generally have good will and friendliness, they respond to it! And they recognize good people too. So I am a good person, and I'm glad this worked out! I feel like maybe some people - even people on the street - can see the beautiful happy me shining out from within. When I let her shine that is ;-). And then the world is a closer place somehow.
So quick update from all my STRESS about finding a place to live. Maybe I can tell you later about all my visits to apartments (and those that flaked on me), and the various levels of crazy and sane and situations. It's exhausting - let me just tell you that. But I finally found a place! Just today - and I had to leave work midday to come into the city to do it. Sheesh. But I made it and I'm just glad it's over with! I really do need a weekend to do nothing - I just feel like I haven't had a moment's peace in a very long time. So tired. But anyway - found a place - right in Union Square basically which is a perfect location. Close to Whole Foods! Now let me just tell you that in general NYC is so frustrating, and it's a seller's market and places go in about an hour after they become available. So the place I got - I'm excited about it, but I'm paying too much for the space I actually get. You know - limited space, limited privacy for anything affordable in NY. But I'm excited. It's all tradeoffs, and hopefully I made a good one. I'll be living with 3 other people in a loft - a lady photographer, a male musician/filmmaker (who was "discovered" by Norah Jones while Karaoke-ing), and a French lady who works in finance who I haven't met. Part of the reason I agreed to pay what I did (don't ask - it was in my price range) was for the fun roommates - I can totally see myself hanging out with these guys. And the wonderful location - I can walk to where my carpool takes off from too. So happy day! And hopefully I can not be stressed now :-). Yeah - hehe.
One other quick tidbit - I finished Harry Potter 6 and today bought the final book! I'm scared and part of me doesn't want to finish the series because then there won't be more to read! But I have to - I'll let you know how it goes :-). And btw, I went on a fabulous 10-11 mile bikeride down the Hudson today - very nice, but it's getting colder, and darker earlier.
So tomorrow is a new day - hope it's well for you all.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Tough day
So even though I have a lot of mental will power, I realize that my eating is definitely tied to my mood and stress levels. Let's just say I ate too much last night :-(. Ugh.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)