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This is Ladd. I've known him for a good while; we've seen each other at parties, but we haven't really gotten much of a chance to talk. We went out Tuesday evening. A couple of times a year the city goes bonkers and lets anyone attend the museums along Fifth Avenue for free. That stretch of museums is called Museum Mile. It's kind of speed appreciation of culture, because people want to be able to see as many museums as possible in a few hours. Ladd and I browsed in a few of the smaller museums. We did not go into the Met or the Guggenheim.
Of course they didn't allow photos inside the museums, and that was fine. We went to the National Academy Museum which showcased art by budding artists from everywhere. This was more modern art: mixed media, fluorescent colors, neon lights, computer parts. Outside the museum, beside some easels, children were sketching or painting or seriously contemplating their navels. 
The Museum of the City of the New York is pretty cool. Lots of exhibit cards to read, which there wasn't time for. And lots of old furniture. And drawing rooms. Really ornate, because that was Rockefeller's or whichever financial tycoon's wife's style. This is the place to go if you want detailed information on New York's progression, in terms of city planning, government, immigration, and its evolution into the capitol of the world.
The last place we stopped was outside The Jewish Museum to listen to a Yiddish folk band perform. These musicians were pretty hard core. There was an accordion and tuba and viola and clarinet and saxophone and drums and they played traditional music and some sort of tango-esque music, where a few couples danced a sexy, Eastern European dance. There was also this man who reminded me of Albert Einstein who danced to the faster, more polkalike music. This band was pretty good. A decent crowd gathered around them. Sadly, they did not meet my request of "Free Bird." The drummer totally could have gotten it started.
After the museums, Ladd bought us ice cream from an ice cream truck, then we went to an Indian restaurant for dinner. The conversation was pretty good. Although we didn't elaborate too much on our interests in spite of having a few things in common, we actually talked about our personal lives more. Our families, where we grew up. We talked about food, which is always safe. He's not a man of many words, and when the lull started to sag a little more, I asked him what his favorite invention is. Hee.
This man lives in the Upper West Side, 90-something and Riverside Avenue. The museums were in the 90s across Central Park, on Fifth Avenue. I live in Midtown, in the 30s. Ladd took me home, even after I insisted he didn't have to, because all he would have to do was catch a crosstown bus. That impressed me.
We have a male third roommate, and he's met two of these dates this month. How about I let him think I'm a playah? Can't slow a girl down, yo. Call me!
Okay, three dates in two weeks AND the Harbor Cruise AND Carnegie Hall. If no one signs up for this week, I get a little bit of a break.
I'll go ahead and link the harbor cruise photos. Click on the sunset below. I actually had a great time. The weather was perfect, and the company was fabulous. Yes, I felt great at the end of the evening, which was sometime around 2AM. However, my social fuel tank is running a smidge low, and with fuel averaging $4 a gallon? I'm taking it easy.
Part of an email to a friend:
Well, Austin is change. Change of pace. Change of scenery. All I can really explain is it's what I feel I need in my life. New York has been wonderful. I've grown much and learned a lot. I don't know if I told you I was in the temple one day seeking answers to my own personal life questions and the thought of Austin entered my mind. So I'm following up with that prompting. I'm not sure what's there for me, but I know it's there for me. Another phase, another way to grow. I wish I could be more specific, but my faith is being tried here, so that's all I have to go on.
This is Nathan. I asked him to look pensive for me, and he nailed it. We went out to the Museum of American Folk Art on Friday. Nathan's a great guy - very smart, very easy to talk to. Instead of covering a wide variety of subjects, we kept our conversation focused on books, movies, music, and art, with a few tangents here and there. One of them was about a book Nathan read about the DNA that determines our social dispositions. He taught me about introverts and extroverts, and their brain chemistry. And how they process energy from being around other people. He mentioned that there are outgoing introverts and shy extroverts. I made the mistake of looking at my watch while we were at dinner. I'm not sure why I did that, because I was having a good time, but then I was also anxious about the spelling bee and I was considering inviting Nathan over to come watch it with Becky and me. I don't know what the date etiquette defines. The museum featured an artist named Henry Darger. Brilliant, but typically eccentric. He's inspired a lot of newer artists in simulating his technique and philosophy. Some of his art is about children, but it isn't for children. Keep that in mind if you ever see this exhibit.
The bicycle sculpture hanging from the wall is a sneak. They wouldn't allow photography inside, and I needed something as a memento. This, as far as I know, is not Darger's work. I mean, this is a bicylist, not an anatomically confused child fighting in a battle. It was hovering over a couple of folk singers we decided to listen to before we went to dinner. The singers were good by the way, and again I must emphasize the je ne sais quoi scruffy musicians have. I don't know what, y'all.
Anyway, I really enjoyed going out with Nathan. He's well-spoken, courteous, funny, talented. He's probably one of the best guys I know here in the city.
I rode my bike to work today. It's five miles, which is a nice little ride. I left the apartment around 6:45 this morning, and got there before 7:30. I spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out how to maximize the securability of my bike locks with the bike rack. With traffic and backtracking (because I'm a stickler about going with the flow of traffic), I made it to work in about 35 minutes. It was a cool morning, hardly anyone was on the bike path, just a few runners who seem to have a habit of running every day. I was pretty energetic all day. I kept busy, I kept focused, I multitasked. However, I think I developed a little bit of road rage on the streets today, because I swore on several occasions, under my breath. And not even using the virtually harmless hell and damn. I kind of went full-throttle. Which is sad, because I even read the scriptures before diving into my workload. I tried leaving later than usual to avoid a lot of the other bikers, but the path was busy on the way home. My inner beast sneered and snarled at the pedestrians who didn't even look before crossing the street, especially when my light was green. I could have just, oops, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to run into you with my bike, because pedestrians ALWAYS have the right of way, which, incidentally, is one of the reasons I love this city. Still, I couldn't help but cuss at the people doing what I might have done if I were walking home from work. I'll just have to do better tomorrow.
- Mood:
awake
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