Hello! Ok, finally a more substantive update from moi. It's been a busy New York week for moi.
Last Wednesday I watched the lunar eclipse through the telescope of the S family across the street from me. I've lived in some fairly rural places in my life, yet this was my first time ever observing a solar phenomenon. In New York city. I find that highly ironic.
Friday night I was supposed to go bowling in the Bronx with people from my church. It's a testimony to how much I love my church that I would go bowling with them. Luckily, it snowed and bowling was cancelled.
My friend Shannon had been talking to me about the TV show "Lost." Everyone I'm meeting is into this show. I have standing invitations from several people to watch the new episodes at their houses ( I don't have a TV). So I took my free evening to start watching season 1 on abc.com. I'm really enjoying it so far. But I've received dire warnings from several parties (including Michiel in the comments section of my last post) that the plot takes a nose dive in season 3. I'll probably just keep watching - if for you no other reason than to fit in with my friends here. (a perfectly valid reason if you ask me:)
Saturday I spent about 4 hours preparing food for my Sunday guests. I watched "Lost" in the background. I don't really need to give it my full attention to be able to follow what' s going on. This is kind of embarrassing to admit, but I think I've already watched so much TV in my young life that I can always guess what will happen. TV is so formulaic.
Saturday evening Shannon and I went all the way uptown to see a performance of Medea. It was very good. I wouldn't say I "enjoyed" myself. If you're familiar with the plot, you will know why. At some points, it got so intense I had to look away - I couldn't bear it. We were in the second row so we could see the whites of the actors eyes. But anyway, it was a fantastic experience and I'm glad we went.
Sunday I went to church in the morning which was great as always. It's a small church but I never feel like I get to talk to everyone I want to. So to help with that, I had 12 (yes, twelve) people over to my apartment for dinner afterwards. It was super crowded but I thought it was fun. I made dutch apple cake. It turned out quite delicious, if I do say so myself. Then for dinner I made the same lasagna that I made for my brother's rehearsal dinner. One with beef for the omnivores, one with soy beef for me and another guy who's a vegetarian.
One guest brought a really yummy salad to go with the lasagna and a few people brought drinks so were all set. We had a good discussion about issues we face as Christians in a nonchristian society.
They all departed in the early evening and I sat back in my Ikea Poang chair with a nice cup of Earl Grey Tea and made a few phone calls. All in all, not a bad Sunday.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
do not take young children to the Ikea on Long Island
real life conversation I had with a clerk there yesterday.
Ikea clerk: How are you?
me: I'm worn out from all this shopping. I should get some coffee.
Ikea clerk: Try heroine. it'll work much better.
Ikea clerk: How are you?
me: I'm worn out from all this shopping. I should get some coffee.
Ikea clerk: Try heroine. it'll work much better.
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Did you know that
Brooklyn - by itself, without the other 4 boroughs - is the 4th largest city in America?
Friday, February 08, 2008
Happy Year of the Rat!
Wow. I’ve been busy. It started yesterday when my friend Shannon came over for dinner. We kept it simple with Spaghetti. But she’s going to be coming over regularly and we are dreaming about all sorts of interesting recipes.
I then went with her to her choir. They have their rehearsals at the home of the S. family across the street from me. I really like all the people in the choir (and it’s not exactly a tough commute) but I don’t want to commit because I’m worried about overextending myself. I am going to take Hebrew Class Tuesdays. Bible Study Thursdays. Possibly another Bible study. And of course I want to get involved in local politics. I’ve decided I want to be Brooklyn Borough President before I turn 40.
After choir I hung out with some of the people from 9pm till midnight. We had such a good time sitting around the kitchen table talking and laughing. It was so ‘gezelig.’ I wish every evening could be like that.
Today was a very long day for me. In the morning Mrs S. and I went to the funeral mass for the husband of my landlady. It was held in the massive basilica nearby. The whole affair was very impressive. During communion the organ played Mozart’s “Ave Verum.” I love that hymn.
I then went home for about 1.5 hours. I sent off a few business emails to try to convince my employers that I do occasionally, you know, work.
Did you know that today is the Chinese New Years? (neither did I) apparently it’s the year of the rat. Mrs S. and her 12 year old son and I went to Chinatown in Manhattan to see the celebrations . Different groups of performers were going around the streets wearing these huge Chinese dragon costumes (there were usually 3 dragons, a red one, a pink one, and a blue one) Drummers played traditional Chinese tunes as the dragons danced around. They made their way along the street very slowly stopping in at every store. I think that must be a Buddhist tradition for warding off evil spirits.
As we walked along, we were up to our ankles in confetti. People were shooting it off constantly. Sometimes, they would shoot up these little pink parachutes with Chinese characters. Apparently if you catch the parachute before it touches the ground, you will have good luck in the New Year. Everyone was running trying to catch them. It was very fun.
The S.'s and I had lunch at a Chinese restaurant called “the House of Vegetarian.” The food was excellent.
Later that evening I had my church bible study on the Upper East Side. I had about 3 hours to kill before it started. I chilled out at a coffee shop and worked for a bit. The bible study was great. The church member who hosts it has a beautiful apartment full of interesting books. He also has very nice paintings on his walls. I asked him about them and he said his stepbrother is an artist. I think his work is quite good.
So after bible study, we all had coffee (decaf, blech) I talked with a church member who is a security guard for a major fashion house and he was telling me all about how annoying PETA protestors are. Then I drove home with some fellow church members and now I’m drinking tea and writing you a blog post.
So: some very long days full of interesting experiences. If this is what life in New York will be like, I can’t imagine I’ll ever get bored with it.
I then went with her to her choir. They have their rehearsals at the home of the S. family across the street from me. I really like all the people in the choir (and it’s not exactly a tough commute) but I don’t want to commit because I’m worried about overextending myself. I am going to take Hebrew Class Tuesdays. Bible Study Thursdays. Possibly another Bible study. And of course I want to get involved in local politics. I’ve decided I want to be Brooklyn Borough President before I turn 40.
After choir I hung out with some of the people from 9pm till midnight. We had such a good time sitting around the kitchen table talking and laughing. It was so ‘gezelig.’ I wish every evening could be like that.
Today was a very long day for me. In the morning Mrs S. and I went to the funeral mass for the husband of my landlady. It was held in the massive basilica nearby. The whole affair was very impressive. During communion the organ played Mozart’s “Ave Verum.” I love that hymn.
I then went home for about 1.5 hours. I sent off a few business emails to try to convince my employers that I do occasionally, you know, work.
Did you know that today is the Chinese New Years? (neither did I) apparently it’s the year of the rat. Mrs S. and her 12 year old son and I went to Chinatown in Manhattan to see the celebrations . Different groups of performers were going around the streets wearing these huge Chinese dragon costumes (there were usually 3 dragons, a red one, a pink one, and a blue one) Drummers played traditional Chinese tunes as the dragons danced around. They made their way along the street very slowly stopping in at every store. I think that must be a Buddhist tradition for warding off evil spirits.
As we walked along, we were up to our ankles in confetti. People were shooting it off constantly. Sometimes, they would shoot up these little pink parachutes with Chinese characters. Apparently if you catch the parachute before it touches the ground, you will have good luck in the New Year. Everyone was running trying to catch them. It was very fun.
The S.'s and I had lunch at a Chinese restaurant called “the House of Vegetarian.” The food was excellent.
Later that evening I had my church bible study on the Upper East Side. I had about 3 hours to kill before it started. I chilled out at a coffee shop and worked for a bit. The bible study was great. The church member who hosts it has a beautiful apartment full of interesting books. He also has very nice paintings on his walls. I asked him about them and he said his stepbrother is an artist. I think his work is quite good.
So after bible study, we all had coffee (decaf, blech) I talked with a church member who is a security guard for a major fashion house and he was telling me all about how annoying PETA protestors are. Then I drove home with some fellow church members and now I’m drinking tea and writing you a blog post.
So: some very long days full of interesting experiences. If this is what life in New York will be like, I can’t imagine I’ll ever get bored with it.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
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