The Old and the New

Had an absolutely fantastic visit with my friend Bertand on Friday. It was literally a 6 1/2 hour non-stop talk fest. I just love how easy it is to pick up with a good friend, not miss a beat, and just get back into a great feeling groove.  The weather was horrible that day so we just stayed in the apartment and then went out for a late lunch at a nearby Turkish restaurant.  Quite a wonderful day on Friday.

Later that evening Bob and I went to see the opening of Of Gods and Men. The story of Trappist monks in Algeria and what happens when politcal unrest threatens their existence and role in their community. It's a very moving story done in quiet, nuanced performances and scenes. Saturday was pretty much devoted to getting our taxes figured out--we quit at around 11pm after getting stumped on one entry that we just couldn't figure out what info it was they were asking for. This is the first time in 30 years we've had to submit state taxes as well as Federal taxes. We were somewhat entertained by how Yonkers played into so many of the questions on the state form. Not quite sure what it is about that place that sets it's a part for taxes. Sunday we went to the Queens Satsang for the first time. It was a really great gathering, about 50 people were there and it seemed to us that they are all regular attendees. The bhajan singing was very well done, sung with deep devotion and great enthusiasm. Many of them sung by the youth in the group. The Amma story read tonight was very moving and inspiring. People were friendly and welcoming. It's really what we've been looking for since leaving Seattle and it's not too far away like the New Jersey Satsang was. We did drive there as it's about 20 miles away but it only took us about 30 minutes without traffic. They meet monthly and we expect to attend regularly when we are in town. Next Sunday, Br. Dayamrita will be in town holding a one day retreat and we plan on going. It will be nice to know some people there this time.

I wasn't able to get any tickets to see Adele at the United Palace Theatre when they went on line with Ticketmaster...not sure what happened but looks like I amy have to scratch that plan for when Jeffrey visits.

Tomorrow I finalize my hiring paperwork with Columbia University Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders.

Our social life is starting to pick up quite nicely as we make plans with new friends here, look forward to friends and family visiting over the next few months, and we have trips planned to CA in early April and to Seattle in late May.  We also have a couple of weekends away planned to explore nearby environs, Cape May, New Jersey in April and Amish County in May. We also have a certificate for a cabin at one of the Finger Lakes in upstate New York that I need to schedule.

A Most Satisfying Day

Yesterday was an uncharacterically busy day which seemed to hold promise for a more full life for me here in NYC. At the end of the day, I felt a "high" that surprised me. I was up and out of the apartment to catch the A or C train uptown even before Bob went off to work.  I had a 9am appointments up at 168th at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and New York Presbyterian Hospital for my upcoming part time independent evaluator position with the Child Psychiatry Division of Columbia University.  I had to take a physical exam which was interesting in that for the first time in a very long time, my blood pressure was well within normal limits (even though I was a bit confused and rushed as to where I was supposed to go for my physical exam and the unexpected paperwork they had me fill out with very little direction).  For the last several years, my doctor in Seattle shared concerns with me about having borderline high blood pressure. Certainly the major reduction in stress has made for better health. I checked in as being in very good health. I then turned in a pile of paperwork and was scheduled for two mandatory orientations and given instructions for further online trainings. It felt very familiar walking around in a hospital and in hallways of academic offices. I had really nice interactions with several of the staff and I am genuinely looking forward to starting work with the research team.  That took up the entire morning and in the rush to make my appointment I forgot my keys and needed the doorman to let me into my apartment. The staff here are so incredibly nice. We continue to feel very fortunate to live where we do.  I had just enough time to drop off some things from my earlier appointment and get to the bus stop for my afternoon get together.

I already had plans to meet up with Margaret at 1pm to explore the Gramercy and East Village neighborhoods near where she and her husband live. I took the cross town M16 bus to her place, 2.2 miles away per Google maps for walking. The bus leaves a block from my building and drops me a block from her apartment complex. Public transportation doesn't get much better than that! It only took about 20 minutes or so and it was nice to be above ground for a change rather than underground. It was a really beautiful sunny day yesterday in the mid-forties. It's always interesting to see other people's living spaces in NYC. There is always an assessment of the layout of the apartment, how space is used, how much natural light comes in, what do you see out the windows, (and for me) what kind of kitchen space is there. Margaret had made us a very lovely lunch to start our afternoon and we continue to uncover more layers of shared interests. We then ventured off into the streets of Gramercy, Flatiron, and East Village neighborhoods. We both like Thrift stores and discount designer clothing stores. Being this is NYC, those stores have inventory far and above better than you find in most other cities. The East side is a haven for some really great ones for discount designer clothes and housewares. If and when I ever get a private practice going, no doubt I will want to dress many degrees more professionally than what I do now and plan to take advantage of shopping at these places more seriously.  One of our stops was at the Strand Bookstore (their slogan is 18 Miles of Books). In all honesty, we originally stopped there so I could use a restroom but it is a place I had wanted to go and it was just a really fabulous place. Multiple stories of books filling every nook and cranny covering any and every topic you could think of.....it came close to being a beloved library. Definitely made a mental note to go there on any rainy afternoon as browsing books is highly encouraged there and many were there doing just that. Great, great vibe in that place.  Walking around that part of town, we covered a fair amount of ground and it was fun and easy and comfortable. Margaret and I parted ways after several hours with plans for another outing soon and having discussed earlier a number of ideas of other excursions to make.  On my way home I made a stop at the Indian/East Asian grocery store Bob and I like to shop at, Kalustyans, to pick up a few things. Then I caught the M16 for home. I just had a really good feeling at the end of the day that things are starting to fall into place for me to build my own life and connections here in NYC. Obviously not a separate life from Bob but one that is not so dependent on him. It's important to me to have my own "comings and goings," so to speak, for reasons very particular to me. Yesterday felt that way with a clear sense of far more to come.

I downloaded Adele 19 and Adele 21 from ITunes. Darrow turned me on to her and she is GREAT! Love listening to her. She will be in town when Jeffrey comes to visit in May and I am going to try to get tickets for us. She is performing at the United Palace Theater up at 175th. It's a beautiful grand old performance hall. Check out these pictures of it........

http://www.google.com/images?q=united+palace+theater&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&oe=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Q9dmTbaxJsTpgAfz0pTLCg&ved=0CDQQsAQ&biw=1419&bih=693

Bertrand is here tomorrow visiting from Vancouver BC and it will be so wonderful to spend the day with him. We have a great time talking and laughing together. The weather is supposed to be CRAZY tomorrow, very high, gusty winds and some rain. It'll be an adventure going out and about.

The Big Tease

This past week was crazy for weather. After an absolutely blissfully warm springlike day last Friday, it was followed by absolutely frigids winds and then SNOW again last night. I think this snowfall was much harder on the psyche because of that big tease of spring on Friday.  Bob was telling his brother in CA that winter was over here and then a day later it's snowing again. There is predicition of a bit more snow/rain over the next few weeks but with a good dose of sun too, just not the high 60's temp we had on Friday. So NYC continues to slog through the winter.

We went to see the Merchant of Venice on Saturday night and while we both thought highly of Al Pacino's performance as Shylock we pretty much didn't like the rest of the play.  There are too many other main parts for him to carry this play alone and we just didn't think the other actors were strong enough to match Pacino's performance. It seemed pretty obvious that he is the main draw for the sold out crowds with Standing Room Only sales. We thought the time setting of the story was too modern and not seeming consistent amongst the characters, the casting seemed off for several of the characters, the story line is very anti-semitic, which we were aware of, but was far more uncomfortable for us than we had anticipated, and it was difficult at times to hear all the dialogue.  It might have been due to our main floor seats being under the balcony or poor projection by the actors at times. Lastly the ending was rather harsh and somewhat meloncholy when the couples were reunited.  Maybe we should be writing for the NY Times!!! We are hoping to get in several more plays over the next few months (Good People, House of Blue Leaves, That Championship Season, The Importance of Being Earnest, Avenue Q).  My mom will be visiting at the end of April/early May so we will probably see plays like The Lion King and Mary Poppins or Phantom of the Opera.

We met up with friends for brunch on Sunday on the Upper Westside near Columbia University. It was a crisp sunny day and we took a walk on the Columbia campus. It's been a while since I've been back there and it was as impressive as I remember it. I love college/university campuses.  Columbia has a beautiful chapel with several very detailed intricate stained glass panels. Quite spectacular.

Today was devoted to starting the process of getting our passports renewed in anticipation of a four to five week stay in India in late summer or early fall, paying bills, starting to make plans for traveling to CA for Bob's mother's 90th birthday celebration and to see my family in early April, and starting in on getting our taxes done. Organinzing our lives keeps me busy.............

Back in New York City!

I am now back two days from my near two week visit to Seattle. Immediately upon return, I felt like I needed a vacation from my vacation from my vacation life. I saw well over 50 people while in Seattle, many one-on-one or two, some in small gatherings, and a couple larger groups. I tried to pace myself with just two get togethers a day, some days turned into 3 and my last day was 4.  I started out strong since I have been living a relatively stress free life here in NYC. My friend Leanne warned me about trying to see too many people with each visit. She visits Seattle yearly from Denver and seems the expert of making the rounds. I was using her as a role model. I can not imagine how celebrities and statespeople keep their pace. I barely lasted two weeks! The notable thing about this trip is that for the first time in a very long time I wasn't cramming to get work done and all duties covered before leaving town and then worrying through most of my vacation about how much work I was going back to have to take care of once back, reading work emails every day to stay abreast of what was going on at work and with patients, and then getting back to work so behind that any relaxed feeling accrued during the vacation is pretty much gone after the first couple of days.  This visit started out relaxed, stayed relaxed, and I am still feeling the effects of a really great visit though I was pretty socialized out by the end.  It's so interesting how I've adapted so readily to NYC. While driving around Seattle I seriously thought to myself that it has way too many trees. Does a city really need that much nature imbedded in it? I never really noticed just how many trees, plant life, and open spaces (parks, yards, planting strips, etc) Seattle has. It reminded me of when I first moved to Seattle to go to graduate school 30 years ago, my dad asked me in all seriousness, if there was really a city there in all that forest.  He had a vision of Seattle being a complete forest, and now so much later, that was kind of my impression too.  I feel like there must be some curve for acclimation that I am now in that will eventually curve back to thinking NYC is a concrete jungle and Seattle a most needed nature respite. For now, I love the intensity of NYC, the crowded streets, the over stimulation, the CITY!  I think it is my nature to always be overstimulated in some way, before it was with work duties and responsibilities, and now that that is gone, its all about living in NYC. It felt great to be walking around my neighborhood and still discovering new places along streets I've now walked dozens and dozens and dozens of times. It was good to be home again and it was great to be back with Bob. I felt that NYC welcomed me back with fantastic weather these first two days back. Today was 66 degrees, sunny, and with a mild breeze. Everyone here was loving it--a great sneak preview to Spring.

Seattle weather was very true to form, a lot of rain, overcast gray days, and cold damp days despite the temps being in the low 50's. It was hard for me to feel warm there a lot of the time. I think it's easier to dress for warmth in NYC even when temps drop into the 20s. There were two really magnificent sunny days while I was there and then some bright spots here and there. Highlights of my trip were of course seeing all of my friends, having a really wonderful Fools for Love Club sleepover (this must have been close to our 30th annual sleepover), Barbara's great breakfast meal  (unbelievably delectable baked French Toast), having lunch at the Macrina Bakery in Belltown then a walk in the Olympic Sculpture Garden, going to the Crest Theater to see MegaMind, going to Satsang and doing the Arati with Visila, meeting the "Germans" in Paul's house, going to the farmers' market and buying multiple bags to bring back of their mad good coconut almond granola, going to the PCC to get special POH brand floss (Bob's favorite that we can't get here or online), just hanging out with Paul and his housemates while we all enjoy his witty repartee, taking a walk in Discovery Park along the bluffs above the Puget Sound, visiting at Children's Hospital (which I had initially had reservations about doing), dinner with Kelly and Sophia, learning about Kelly's medical school You Tube spot for their version of It Gets Better, eating at THRIVE, and getting to places in Seattle that I didn't spend much time in while living there (Belltown, Columbia City, Madrona, Madison Park). Another highlight was learning about Fixed Index Annuities at a free dinner that Paul took me to downtown and which by complete random design, Kelly's godfather, Norman sat down at our table at this event. (Downtown Seattle, by the way, was DEAD at 8:30pm.)  The only things I didn't do that I really wanted to do was to get a tofu banh mi sandwich at Saigon Deli in the International District and take a walk around Greenlake.

I did feel very ready to come back to NYC after two weeks. It's the kind of thing that staying any longer would have started to feel like I should be living a real life there since I know Seattle well and had pretty much seen all those I had wanted to see. Knowing that everyone is busy and you're not just starts to feel weird. And I missed Bob and our life in NYC.

Once back, there was a fair amount of settling back in, following up with a few things from the Seattle trip and visits, and getting things taken care of that had been put on hold for the two weeks I was gone. My role being that of taking care of all the details of our lives here while Bob puts in the hours and brings home the bacon. I've come to really enjoy that role in that it affirms our partnership in this new phase of our lives. We had a wonderful reunion upon my return and we are happy to be back in our rhythm together here.

BTW, while there, Darrow turned me on to two great music CD's:  Florence and the Machine--LUNG and Adele--Adele 19.  Love them.  

Check out the UW medical school's You Tube version of It Gets Better:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd21lx4dozk  Kelly and others did a stand out job on it!

We go to see Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino on Saturday night. We also have a number of visitors coming over the next several months so I am saving all kinds of articles of interesting places to see and do to suggest. Fun times ahead!

Heading back to the Pacific Northwest -- trading in snow for rain for awhile

I am leaving tomorrow morning for a two week visit back to Seattle. I have an annual event with four other friends (Fools for Love) that has gone on for close to 30 years without interruption. We can't all agree on when the first one was but we do know it's been since the early 80's we've been doing this sleepover. Wonderful tradition and a really great group of people. Though it's only a one night event, it's so worth it to travel the distance to partake.  It's provides a great reason to make an extended trip and reconnect with lots of other friends as well. While I really do love living in NYC, I do miss the social life I had there in Seattle. No doubt this move has brought Bob and me so much closer together as a couple in all the best ways. That is a huge plus of this move. However, being part of a couple isn't everything and having this opportunity to reconnect with friends will also be a very good thing. 

Checking the weather predictions for Seattle, there is a mid to high chance of rain for about 75% of the days I am there. Ahhh Seattle, so true to form in February.  The temps will run in the 50's which will feel like summer compared to what the temps have been here in NYC, though, the dampness there seems to make everything colder. So I don't anticipate blogging much from Seattle.  As before leaving for other trips, I am already a bit homesick for NYC........there is just something about this city that really clicks for me. And of course, I already miss Bob before even leaving.

21 years and going strong..........

Bob and I celebrated our 21st anniversary of our first date on February 1st. He took the day off and we had a lazy morning then bundled up to go see the Houdini exhibit at The Jewish Museum of New York City http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/exhibitions/houdini on the upper Eastside. It was very well done and quite fascinating all that he was able to escape from.  There were lots of references to how so many oppressed people during that time took his escapes from bondage as a metaphor to their own lives of oppression and wanting to escape the social and economic bonds of their lives. He really resonated to the masses and at times as many as 80,000 people would show up to watch one of his public stunts. From what you could draw from the material in the exhibit, he remained a very grounded person despite the incredible fame he garnered. He was quite a showman and knew how to generate a very high level of dread, anticipation, and exhiliration from the crowd. There were also several artists featured with modern interpretations or representations of Houdini and his works.  The rest of the museum was also very interesting and provided a very rich history of Jewish culture both historically and now.  

Harry Houdini

Bob helping Houdini carry his milk can for next escape feat!

Since the Guggenheim is just down the street on 5th Avenue from the Jewish Museum and we could get in for free courtesy of Morgan Stanley Corporate Sponsorship, we popped into the Guggenheim to see some impressionist (Cezanne, Manet, Gaugin) and modern abstract (Picasso, Kadinsky) paintings. So wonderful to have the opportunity to just "pop in" and absorb the beauty and creativity of  so many masterful painters.

I love the Guggenheim Museum design and the way they exhibit the art pieces in the fantastic spiraling walkways. Great architecture and gives a very different feeling of being in a museum.  Here are some pics of the inside and out. They are putting in a new exhibit to open on Friday so we only were allowed into a very small portion of the museum while there and no pics allowed of the paintings themselves.

inside the Guggenheim looking straight up from the entrance foyer

Spiraling walkways where the art pieces are hung for exhibit

Outside pictures of the Guggenheim reflecting the inner spiral walkways

After the museums we went to dinner at Candle's Cafe, a well known vegan restaurant in NYC. We were given a gift certificate by one of Bob's work colleagues.  We had a lentil soup which was delicious and seitan in a citrus marinade satay, also good but too large of a serving.  We then both had one of the pasta entrees, I had the rigatoni in a cashew cream sauce with dried tomatoes, crimini mushrooms, peas, and tapioca cheese. Bob had the lasagna with tofu ricotta cheese.  It was amazing how creamy and cheesy both dishes were without any use of dairy. They were both really delicious. We then ended with sharing a piece of carrot cake. Also very good, not too sweet which is the way we both prefer it.  You get very large servings so it's definitely a good value and the menu is quite varied with lots of great options for entrees or collections of side dishes.  We had eaten at the Candle's Restaurant a couple of year's ago which is more formal but I think the cafe does a really great job for more day-to-day meals. The only drawback for me was that I think I may have had a wheat overdose with eating both the large serving of seitan (gluten based protein) and the pasta, plus the cashew sauce was absolutely rich and delicious which may have also contributed to overloading my system a bit.  Next time, I will know to order a different combination or eat less and bring some home. The food was so good I was eating more for taste rather than from hunger.  We were there pretty early in the evening and it was a bad weather day, so not surprised it was kind of slow time for them.

Bob at Candle's Cafe for our 21st anniversary celebration of our first date

This looks like it could have been taken from a Dicken's novel and yet it is in a very nice Upper Eastside neighborhood very close to the uber modern Guggenheim Museum. I love that NYC is such a study in contrasts. Makes for it always being interesting to walk out and about.



Today my fellow Seattlite transplant (Margaret) and I took a tour of the New York Public Library. Truely mind boggling the amount of resources they have on hand. Their storage system goes on and on and on for hard copies of books, maps, periodical, microfiche, photos, dvds, cds, anything and everything that can be published aside from their electronic holdings--with no censorship of any materials. You can pretty much find anything published there--from the entire spectrum of the sacred to profane, mundane to esoteric, frivolous to academic, ancient to modern--you get what I mean. They are one of the premier libraries in the WORLD.  Just loved the tour and learning more about one of my most favorite places in NYC.