Monday, May 05, 2008

Miss Me?

(cue "Morning" by Grieg)

Apologies for the lack of activity here but it's no fun writing in a fugue state. It's also impossible to write about life in New York when said life is...well...this:



Granted my lab is a windowless shared office in the basement of the same building that houses my department but you get the general idea. At any rate, I finally have something to write that isn't about stress, inertia, or panic.

Kate, Sonny, and Betty were in town last month. Kate is one of this year's Poetry Society of America's National Chapbook Award winners for her Dream of Water series. You can see the accompanying images as well as some of the poems here.

We also saw the Tisch School production of El Grito Del Bronx . I am truly ashamed of the fact that this was the first time I've seen anything at Tisch, which, given that it's right here and student tickets are insanely cheap, should have been a no brainer. But there it is. Chalk it up to lack of imagination. Oh well.

If this was typical of the quality of work the students are putting out then I will definitely be back. The play itself was very episodic, going backwards and forward in time. The first act felt uneven, but the pacing was better in the second act, although I'm not sure if that was a problem with the play or my own need to adjust to the rhythm.

Winter here wasn't particularly harsh but kinda clingy so since the weather's turned nice Spence and I have been exerting ourselves to be outdoors more. Spence bids farewell to NYC in about two weeks and is trying to cram the things he hasn't seen over the last four years into the space of a couple of weeks. Tales of his recent exploits avec and sans moi are here.

One of my new favorite places to go on a nice day is the South Street Seaport to look at the tall ships. It's a cheesy touristy area but you can't beat the tall ships and the view to Brooklyn.



Appropriate since I've decided to write about ships.


See what I mean about the view?

The weather hasn't been consistently great, yesterday windy and rainy, today, gorgeous. I was prepared to hole up for a second day in a row and catch up with missed TV on my DVR when Spence texted me: "It's gorgeous. Go outside right now." He wasn't wrong. I took the train to Prospect Park and wandered around a bit before finding a place to sit and read for an hour or so. Prospect Park is the other large park in New York designed by Frederick Law Olmstead. I can't say I actually have a preference for Prospect Park over Central Park but, being a Brooklynite, I opt for distance over fame.



Ah, green space.

Once again, I am decamping to Chicago before this wonderful weather turns vile. Next year will see me in a new apartment and, possibly a new neighborhood. I'm crossing my fingers that I find a place not too far from where I am now. Moving will be traumatic enough without the added nuisance of establishing a new routine regarding grocery, laundry, and train.

More soon-ish.