I Ain't Changed, But I Know I Ain't The Same

I've been staying pretty busy lately - classes this semester aren't really much more demanding than last semester, but they seem to be absorbing more of my time anyway. Still, I have been finding time for fun, so that's what I'll catch up on here. Last week we had a couple of totally glorious days of warmer temperatures - up in the mid-sixties. I decided to go walk around (in jeans and a short sleeved shirt!) in Central Park. On the way there I passed a music video shoot. I stopped to watch for a little while, largely out of curiosity to figure out whose music video it was. I eventually gave up. Nobody standing there knew, and it became wildly boring before too long, since they were just doing establishing shots.

In Central Park the ice, piled up after a very snowy winter, was melting so quickly that small rivers were running down all the hills. I visited the once-famous (now defunct) Tavern On The Green.

This used to be THE restaurant for the Broadway big shots to come to after a show. But it went out of business. Now it's a visitor's center (overpriced Central Park t-shirt anyone?). And the famous Crystal Room is shuttered. Technically speaking, the rich and powerful could still get food there, but they're probably not interested in what's on offer.

One rarely observes the glamorous eating from food trucks, even such high quality food trucks as have moved in here.

A couple of days later I visited Momofuku Milk Bar with my friend Michelle (at her suggestion). It is excellent suggestions such as these that keep things interesting. Milk Bar is a dessert spot that serves pretty off-the wall treats - in this picture I'm enjoying an apple pie truffle (small truffle that tastes EXACTLY like apple pie). They have things like blueberry cream cookies, French toast ice cream, cinnamon bun pie, and compost cookies (which have potato chips, pretzels, various candies, and coffee in them). Definitely super delicious, and pretty darn indulgent. A nice little place to visit at the end of a hard week of class work.

Over the weekend, Michelle's friend Marissa came to visit from Toronto, and I went with them to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for Balcony Bar. Every Friday and Saturday evening the Met sets up tables in the second floor balcony area (near Ancient Chinese Art), brings in a string quartet and a piano to play classical music, and serves wine and hors d'oeuvres. We even got all dressed up, and thus had a super classy museum trip.

Marissa and Me in front of the Temple of Dendur

Cheers!

On Tuesday I went with Marissa to The Jewish Museum to see their exhibit on Harry Houdini. It was fantastic! I learned a lot about the life of Houdini, and got to see his handcuffs, milk jug, upside down water chamber, and much more. It was a great display, with tons of artifacts from Houdini's life (which were super cool), old videos of Houdini performing his tricks (which were amazing), and modern art inspired by Houdini (which I was less interested in).

This weekend is a big school work weekend for me. Even though our Spring temperatures only lasted a couple of days, and it's chilly again, they did make me optimistic about the coming change in seasons. Hopefully as the weather continues to improve I can continue having time for adventures.

Break The Lock If It Don't Fit

Since it's been a little more than a week since my last post, I feel like I really need to put something here. Unfortunately, I haven't done anything especially interesting in the past 10 days. What can I say? It's been cold, my new living situation means I don't mind staying in, I've had plenty to do for my classes, my friends are also busy, and (reiteration for emphasis) it's been cold.

Not to say I haven't been having a nice time. Yesterday my suitemate and I walked 3 miles up to a Swedish coffee shop and back, and we had delicious frothy drinks and a nice time. We even saw Meg Ryan on the street. Wednesday I made banana pudding for my friend Kim (she's from South Korea, and had never tried it before), and we had some fun hanging out. Also on Wednesday, one of my professors took everyone out for a drink at his favorite bar after class. That was also very pleasant, and I got to know some of my classmates a little better.

Today I'm (finally) seeing The King's Speech - we got $3 tickets through the building we live in. It's supposed to warm up this week, so maybe I'll feel a little more adventurous. Right now things seem to be on a pleasantly even keel.

"If You Want to Walk Out the Door, Then Let Me Hold it Open"

Wow, it's been a crazy week! So much has been going, it really feels like I'm abridging three blog posts worth of excitement into this one. So, here goes.

Here's another picture of snow, though it may be the last one I put up. First of all because there's been a lot of snow, and so it's much less exciting (this one taken last Thursday morning, after 19 inches fell the night before). Second of all because we do seem to be edging towards the other side of snow. Or maybe any break from seemingly nonstop snow makes it feel like Spring is around the corner - this was the snowiest January in New York on record. In any case, last Wednesday night - as the snow started really and truly coming down - I had a thought. And my thought was "I bet some people are canceling their tickets to The Colbert Report because of this." I went online and, sure enough, there were tickets available for the next day's show. I snapped up two. Because of the last minute notice (and the blizzard), I wasn't able to find anyone to go with me. However, I wasn't really bothered by that. I took my Kindle so I could keep reading Dracula in line, got there two hours early (securing the number 1 place), and settled in for a chilly wait.

Like Jon Stewart at The Daily Show, Stephen Colbert takes questions before filming starts. He even does so out of character. I decided that I needed to ask a question here too.

Me: "Do you know how happy people from Charleston are that you're from there? So the people of South Carolina can sometimes look at the tv with hope and pride instead of fear?"

Stephen Colbert: (laughs a little) "Are you from Charleston?"

Me: "Yes"

Stephen Colbert: "Boy, I sure do miss it there. How are things there?"

Me: "You know, the same."

Stephen Colbert: "Crazy as ever? What do you miss the most?"

Me: "Well, my family's there -"

Stephen Colbert: "Family? Psh. I miss shrimp!"

The show was really funny, and it was a great experience. Then I had a really nice weekend - Lower East Side/East Village wander around/cannoli outing with Michelle, brunch with Rachel, some slightly warmer weather (above freezing!), and good things.

But then on Monday my roommate and I had a disagreement. It's resolved now, so there's probably no need to air all the thorny details on the internet. But things went bad in a way I didn't anticipate, very quickly, and then showed no sign of improving. Luckily for me, NYU was really on the ball - Tuesday evening all my stuff was moved to my new dorm! (Largely thanks to a heavy dose of determination and the generous help of Rachel.) I'm no longer a resident of Greenwich Village, I'm a ten minute walk up the street in the East Village. So I'm now a 10-15 minute walk from my classes and the library, but I'm that much closer to lovely things like my favorite coffee shop, the grocery stores, the bank, good restaurants, etc. Plus, I now have my own room!! I'm sharing a two person suite with a thoroughly sweet, agreeable, friendly, fun to talk to student at the dental school. My 26 hours of drama were extremely stressful and unfortunate, but my situation has now improved by leaps and bounds! My new space feels more "home-y" than my old one ever did - I feel much more relaxed!

New bedroom - viewed from the door. My dresser, desk, and half the window are blocked by the door frame. The closet is immediately to the right.

View of the new shared kitchen space. The fridge is to the left.

Oh, Man Is A Giddy Thing

The class I'm scheduled to have on Tuesdays was cancelled for this week, so I found myself with nothing I had to do today. Based on my experiences in Fall, these kinds of responsibility-free days really only exist in the first part of the semester. They are precious and not to be squandered. So I set my alarm for 8:30 and got up bright and early for a museum day.

It was snowing pretty enthusiastically when I left the apartment, but I was not to be discouraged. I was determined to see The Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum on the far north end of Manhattan. The Cloisters are in Fort Tryon park, and house more than 6,000 artifacts from Medieval Europe. I didn't think much of it's being in a park ahead of time, but I probably should have. The paths to the museum were ankle deep in snow, and in many places the snow covered long-standing patches of ice. The Cloisters are on top of a hill pretty far into the park, and it was a steep, slippery journey up. I was determined to make it, and even ended up using hands, feet, and one knee to climb the two sets of stairs pictured here (and got a purse full of snow, which I fortunately remedied quickly enough to avoid any damage).

By the time I got to the top of the hill I had actually exerted myself so much with snow-trudging that I had taken off my gloves, hood, and scarf. Fortunately, it was worth it. The Cloisters were gorgeous, and full of breathtaking rooms. The whole building has been designed to look like the original homes of the artifacts they house (and often things like doorways and windows are from the period). I tend not to take many pictures in museums, since they always fail to properly capture whatever I'm witnessing (and, to paraphrase my professor from last night's class, I'm trying to savor the experience rather than simply consume it). But I feel like this one is worth sharing, at least to give a vague impression of what the museum is like. I'd like to go back in the Spring, because the museum also has gardens that are supposed to be amazing. Of course, today the whole place was covered in snow, which gave the whole thing a borderline supernatural quality (for me at least).

Luckily, by the time I left the museum the snow had stopped, and I found a clearer path down. It was still icy in places, and required presence of mind while walking. But then, pretty much everywhere in New York requires that now. I think my time in high school working in Ye Olde Fashioned helped prepare me for this. At Ye Olde the floors behind the counter were covered in grease, making them randomly slick and borderline dangerous. We even used salt to absorb the grease, the same substance used to clear streets and sidewalks of ice here. So at least I have some practice in maintaining my balance when one foot suddenly slides forward from under me.

In any case, a ticket into The Cloisters is also a ticket into the Metropolitan Museum of Art, so I went there next. At this point all I'd had to eat for the day was a tall nonfat chai from Starbucks on my way to the subway in the morning, so with all the snow climbing and art viewing I was famished. I devoured a salad and pasta in the Met cafeteria, and then decided my best use of time would be to take advantage of some of the free guided tours. The Met has the largest footprint of any building in New York, and at 2 million square feet and 2 million artifacts the whole thing can be pretty overwhelming. I started out with a one-hour highlights tour (which included the actual ancient Egyptian temple - moved when the Aswan Dam was built - pictured here), and then went on a one-hour ancient Greek and Roman art tour. I truly love the Met, and hope to go back a good bit more while I'm here. After all, I barely scratched the surface of all there is to see. After the tours, I spent an hour in my favorite sections - European Paintings and 19th- and Early 20th- Century European Paintings and Sculpture. For your consideration, below are my three favorite paintings I've encountered in the Met (two, by the same artist, are related).

"Diana and Cupid" by Pompeo Girolamo Batoni

"Springtime" and "The Storm" by Pierre Auguste Cot

It All May Be A Lesson For The Hasty Heart To Know

Well, it was a glorious full five weeks in South Carolina. It's where my home is, complete with family, dear friends, pets, and my future husband. Christmas, New Year's, and everything else that happened was fantastic. Packing up and leaving was not easy. But it happened.

So after a night in the sleeper car (best travel method EVER!) I arrived back in the Big Apple at around noon today. I had already made some plans in preparation for my arrival - catch up with Michelle in the afternoon and see Wyatt Cenac (of Daily Show fame) perform stand-up in the evening. Having immediate plans was the best thing for me, I stayed busy all day and managed to avoid being dragged into the homesick mopeys.

New York is mostly how I left it, with a few changes to the landscape.

I understand that snow isn't a big deal to people here, but I just want to gawk and marvel at it. Sidewalks are slippery, big piles of refrozen snow (so, ice) are in patches along the sides of the roads, and dirty slush occupies the most heavily trafficked areas.

I met Michelle at her place, and we went for coffee, walked around, wandered through a bookstore, wandered towards a grocery store, thought better of it, got bagels, and wandered back. It was great to catch up, and the few hours we spent really zoomed by for me.

Those playing the home game will have noticed that we did an awful lot of traveling in that time, and may be interested to know that the temperature we were walking around in was 24 degrees Fahrenheit. Which is the kind of cold that freaks me out and usually prevents me from leaving the house (maybe because I grew up in a place where those temperatures can shut down schools and government offices). But the sun was shining, and we kept moving, so it really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Actually, it was pretty comfortable. Possibly because I was dressed like I was preparing to attend the cremation of Sam McGee. I'm not the only one taking tips from the Jack London fashion school. Apparently when the snooty yankees of the past scoffed at my claims to be cold with their "You haven't seen real winter"s, this was the winter they were referring to. And yes, it is colder. But at least there are the supplies to cope with it. Of course, it is supposed to get colder this week - the low tomorrow night is 5!

After I got all my things put away, it was time to meet Kim and cash in our free tickets to see Wyatt Cenac! We met a little early so that we could get some hot chocolate to sip while we stood in line - we got there around 8:15, and it was 9:00 before they let us in the building. Which was kind of a long wait in the cold, but I enjoyed catching up with Kim, and the time went by quickly. And the show was completely worth the chilly wait - Wyatt was hilarious! The show was being taped for Comedy Central, so if they pick the audience I was in (they filmed two), there's a chance we may be spottable when it airs on TV. We'd be good choices, since we did a lot of laughing. All in all, a great first day back.

It's True, Where Ever You Find Love It Feels Like Christmas

So day after tomorrow I'm coming home for the holidays, making tomorrow my final New York day of my first semester of grad school. In some ways it feels like time has gone by quickly. On the other hand, it definitely feels like it's been a long time since I first saw the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry. I've been busy, as the stack on the left indicates. That picture is of everything I read for my classes this semester. Every page there, my eyes traveled at some point. Some may have gotten a closer reading than others, but I still think it's pretty impressive. There's some proof it hasn't been all food and frolic, I've been doing the learning.

I've also been doing an awful lot of the essay writing since we saw The Daily Show last week. I'm halfway through my last essay, and although it is not an especially fun one to write, it is coming to me pretty well now. I'm hoping that by the time my feet hit Charleston soil, it will be totally behind me.

But still, it's important to seize those uniquely New York opportunities when they arise. Last night Rachel and I went to the Fifth Avenue area to see the windows that had been decorated for Christmas. They go all out, and some of them really are dazzling. Whole streets are lit up for Christmas, with trees and lights and even music in some places. We started our tour at Macy's (whose themes were "Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus" and "Miracle on 34th Street," hit Lord & Taylor ("Memories of Christmas"), and saw the Rockefeller Center and the Saks 5th Avenue Bubble and Snowflake Show (a coordinated light and music show projected on the side of the building, which was a major highlight of the evening. It was 22 degrees when we left our building at 5pm (in the pitch black of night), and despite my impressive layering it was bone chillingly cold. Fortunately we were able to duck into Rockefeller Center for a hot chocolate and heating break. After that we saw "The Gift Machine" at Diesel, some strangely overly glam mannequins at Henri Bendel and Bergdorf Goodman, a giant star in the middle of 5th Avenue, childlike whimsy at FAO Schwartz (another heating break), televisions at Bloomingdale's, and Marshmallow Love at Dylan's Candy Factory. It was an incredible way to start winding down the first third of my graduate school experience. Here are some highlights:

Macy's from across the street.

Macy's Miracle on 34th Street

Department stores ready to go under the tree.

The one, the only, uber-famous and oh so gorgeous, Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

Inside the children's wonderland that is FAO Schwartz

Bloomingdale's

So unless something incredibly unexpected happens tomorrow, and I don't just get up, go to the library, go to class, and then come back to the apartment to get ready to leave on a super early train to Charleston the next day, this will be my last blog post until I'm back in New York towards the end of January. So far graduate school has been amazing, and I've gotten a lot out of the city. But I know that there's TONS left to get, so be sure to tune in to my further adventures when the Spring '11 semester starts!

Show A Little Faith, There's Magic In The Night

I know it's been a while since I posted, but I do have a good reason. I've been doing nothing but schoolwork, so I had nothing to offer but descriptions of the inside of the library and the experience of staring at books and the computer screen for hours on end. Such is the end of every grad student's semester. I've actually been pretty lucky, I've only got one essay left. It's going to be a lot of work, but I've got a full week with nothing else to work on.

Today was finally our day for The Daily Show, which was wildly exciting. Rachel, Michelle, and I got brunch at Norma's first - which was fantastic. I'd eaten there once before, so I knew how good it would be. But still, it was dazzlingly good food. Norma's is in Le Parker Meridien, a fancy hotel that at this festive time of year has a display of very impressive gingerbread houses. This years themes was "Movies in NYC," thus this excellent King Kong gingerbread house. There were also houses for West Side Story, Ghostbusters, Big, and Stuart Little. It was very cute, and smelled fantastic.

After brunch, we walked to the Daily Show Studio, which is way off to the west side of Midtown. The neighborhood is full of car dealerships, and we passed the CBS Studio on the way. Fortunately, you know you've arrived once you're there - there's a many stories high picture of Jon Stewart that says "The Daily Show. For Larry Flynt's Hustler Club, go one block down and take a right." I'm sure those are legit directions, but fortunately we were in the right place.

And we were the first ones in said place.

We got there at about 1:50, three hours before we would get in the doors, and about five minutes before the next people in line did. And yes, waiting in line for three hours in the super freezing cold (it was probably about 33 degrees at the warmest point of the day) has its downsides. Specifically red noses, numb feet, and other feelings of discomfort. But the time passed pretty quickly - after a little more than an hour Alex, our fourth, joined us. She held our place in line, and Rachel, Michelle, and I were able to go to Starbucks for hot drinks and a break from the cold. When we walked in and the warmth of the heat hit us, I exclaimed, "Guys, let's live here!" It was that good.

Not too long after we got back, they checked our names off the list and handed out our tickets. After going over the rules several more times (turn off your cell phone, no pictures in the studio, etc), we got to go inside. We went through the metal detector, and were corralled into the waiting room. After hours standing outside, and having the rapid temperature change from icy cold to the stuffy heat of the waiting room we were feeling pretty ragged. But of course, as soon as we saw the set we were absolutely giddy. The desk is significantly smaller than I thought it would be, but otherwise it's what I expected. The studio is big for a live show - it seats around 200 people (though it still feels small when you're in it).

We were seated in the exact center of the third row - good seats. After everyone was settled the warm up guy came out to get everyone in a good mood. He had everyone cheering and yelling, and joked with people in the audience. After he was finished Jon Stewart came out. Of course, the crowd went nuts. Everyone was really excited. He took questions from the audience, and was (of course) very funny. Some guy asked him where he would recommend the audience go for drinks afterwards. Jon said it had been years since he was a "gat about town" and asked the guy where he liked to go. When the guy said, "Well Rudy's is always good" Jon interrupted with, "What? Rudy's is a shithole. That place is still open?" Then he turned to the audience and said, "People, I beg you, do not follow this man after the show. You will get arrested... and chlamydia."

Of course, I wanted to ask a question. How could I get that close and not get an interaction? I spent most of the day trying to think of one, and nothing came. Fortunately, about 15 minutes before the warm up guy came out, I thought of mine. So at my turn I asked, "Have you read any of the academic books that have been published on The Daily Show? Like college students are assigned as textbooks?"

He kind of laughed and looked down. "No. No I haven't. I think it's awful that students who pay money to go to schools are forced to buy them." I kind of expected that. He's always pretty self effacing on the cultural significance of his show.

"I had to read one for an undergrad class." I said.

"Really? You did? What class?"

"It was a class on the news media."

"What college?" He seemed intrigued.

"The College of Charleston. In South Carolina." At that point I was concerned he would make a South Carolina joke. But he didn't.

"Really?" He sounded confused. "That's a good school. That's like a respected institution. Wait, you know what it is? Colbert's from Charleston, so they're just trying to work him into the curriculum."

Then my friend Michelle asked what his favorite Springsteen song was (Thunder Road). Apparently it was the first song he taught his son. After a few more questions, he started the show.

It's actually amazing how fast the show goes by live. It was hilarious, and seeing it live was an amazing experience. Even though it went quickly, it was absolutely worth every second of waiting.

PS - Thanks to Rachel for taking the pictures!!