the view from the top

s and i celebrated our five-year anniversary on thursday with dinner out at mexican radio and a surprise trip to the empire state building. the esb has been on the us map for awhile now, but tickets are a little expensive, and we'd heard horror stories about the lines, so we'd skipped it in favor of other excursions. i am so, so happy we finally went! (although i highly recommend going on a weeknight in the winter--we practically ran through the building. i cannot imagine waiting in room after room of lines.)

it was cold and windy and eerily quiet and totally beautiful. (ok, full disclosure: it was freezing cold. but getting the 86th floor almost completely to ourselves? totally worth it.) the view was incredible. i took great delight in pointing out landmarks we're used to seeing from ground level: theatres we've visited, the washington square park arch, the bridge we've walked across. it was also strangely silent--we were too high up to hear street noise, not even honking horns, which is unheard of (ha!) in new york.

i felt like i got a new perspective on new york from so high up. the city at once feels enormous and tiny. from the sidewalk, 10 blocks can feel far and neighborhoods are defined by individual blocks. from up in the air, the city is distilled into heights and lights. at one point, i turned to s and exclaimed "this is our city!"

as i explained to a friend the other day, i often have moments where i am thrilled that this is my life. i spent much of my youth wanting to live in new york. when it didn't work out the first time, i was disappointed, but i knew that i wanted to try again when i had the time and energy to make this place my own. moving here as an adult, i've been able to really create a space here (between career, friendships, apartment, and fabulous relationship) that has helped me fall in love with this city for real--not a film new york or a fiction new york but a true new york. and seeing it all from the top of the empire state building helped put it all into perspective.

modern art like whoa

my parents were in town this past weekend for work (my mom for a conference, my dad for a meeting) and to hang out with me. we had a great time (enough for multiple entries, lucky you), and spent much of the weekend in museums.

i like to say that i was raised in museums. my father worked at the virgina museum when i was born, and they used to sell a post card of our little family: mama, papa and baby me looking at artwork. my parents taught me to look at art with a critical eye, to appreciate the beauty and power of a work, to consider the context of time and tastes, to form my own opinions of what is worthwhile. going to MOMA with my father is different than going with anyone else; he has a love, a reverence for the works of modern masters that is inspiring. he will pause to consider a piece for minutes at a time, letting the colors and forms move through him, sharing his new perspectives. i don't race through the galleries, but i think i often move too fast to experience the pieces in the way that he does. it was so much fun to explore the MOMA's permanent collection with him, to take each piece at a time and truly consider it fully.

on sunday we savored the fair weather (come back, sunshine!) as we walked up to the whitney. i am embarrassed to admit that we hadn't yet been to the whitney, especially considering it is on the us map (not for lack of trying! when we went last summer it was packed, with a line down the block and then some.) somehow i missed the eggleston and calder shows, which i regret completely. but i am glad that we were able to go this weekend. the whitney is sort of a bite-size museum, enough to fill a few hours, but not so large that you miss out on anything if you've got less than a day. (or a week--i'm looking at you, met museum.) we started from the top and worked our way down, first through the permanent collection which is heavy on the edward hopper, though still enjoyable--i do love me some claes oldenburg. their two major exhibits were "synthetic", which explored both synthetic materials and subject matter, and "site", devoted to the impact of place and process on works of art. there was an excellent video installation called "electric earth" in the site-specific exhibit which tracked a protagonist in-tune with the world and its sounds as he moved (and danced) through a desolate urban landscape. the artist had arranged multiple video screens through the space, so that the viewer progressed with the character through the world, always able to hear (and often able to see) what had come before and what was yet to come. we spent the most time in that installation, overwhelmed with images and sounds.

they were finishing the new jenny holzer exhibit, and i hope to make it back to see her installation. "protect protect" runs march 12 through may 31, and is billed as her most comprehensive exhibit in 15 years. as a fan of both art and words, i am always interested in jenny holzer's works, for their cryptic, insightful quality and modern-age presentation. i think the whitney is definitely worth a visit, and i hope to get back soon.

top ten

i've been out of town for the holidays in d.c., but i head back to my beloveds (ny and the boy) tomorrow, just in time for new year's eve. in honor of the end of this year and the start of the next, i would like to present my top 10 list of things that happened this year. some are specific, and some are more general, and all are previously referenced in this here blog (which means you can go back and read more!) and everything meant something to me, whether meaningful or just fun. now we've had plenty of ado. and so . . .

10. i enjoyed all that restaurant week had to offer. i love a fancy night out to dinner and drinks, and restaurant week is a great way to experience places i might not normally be able to afford. i've marked my calendar for this year, too.

9. i heard a lot of new music. from hearing friends play downtown, to the mars volta at terminal five, to eric bibb on governor's island, to fred sherry plays zorn, we had a lot of great auditory experiences this year. i look forward to discovering more new music in 2009.

8. i watched men battle to eat the most hot dogs at coney island. i know it may sound strange that this was one of my favorite things, but the contest was hilarious, coney island was as weird and wonderful as i had expected, and the day was all-around perfect. i will always remember my view from the top of the wonder wheel.

7. there were some great celebrity sightings this year, including christian bale, tony danza and the johns (hodgeman and oliver) of comedy central fame. i promise i'm not a rubbernecker, but come one--there's something kind of cool about seeing someone famous right next to you.

6. i went to a number of museums, and saw courbet at the met, miro at moma, and the next generation at the whitney biennial. there's a lot of art in this city, and i aim to see more in 2009.

5. s and i enjoyed "spring awakening" and my mom and i were enthralled with "gypsy", among other shows. i saw some fabulous theater, and even got an autograph from miss patti lupone.

4. we got to see a game in the soon-to-be-old yankee stadium. all team loyalties aside, there was something special about going to a game in the same stadium my grandfather had visited. as new york grows and changes, the opportunity for that gets smaller and smaller (my g'pa lived here in the 20s through the 50s--this is a different city.) plus i am a huge nerd for baseball, so it was a great time for me. we'll see if i can convince s to go again this spring.

3. i've had some "only in new york" experiences, including seeing paul simon perform at "revenge of the book eaters" and crashing a vampire weekend after-party with some delightful new friends. for me, this is why i moved here, why i stay here--i don't always love the challenges, but i do enjoy the rewards.

2. i made a lot of new friends, like mk, aa, my neighbor, ls, and others, and got to reconnect with other people, including jay and zp. for me, it is the people that make the place, and i am thankful to have such wonderful people in my life here in the city.

1. we moved into our own apartment. we'd been in progressive co-habitation since college, and of course we lived with the boys in boyland when i first arrived, but this was the biggest step we've taken towards saying "you are the one i will be with for good." and it feels good; it feels great. even when things are not so perfect, there is no one in the world i would rather buy towels with, wake up to in the morning, cook dinner for on the weekends, share a tiny apartment with. in a year that often felt like growing pains, this was the easiest, best and most rewarding step towards adulthood.

thanks for following me down memory lane. what did you love about 2008? (oh, and if one thing you loved about 2008 was this business, magical new york, fear not: my new year's resolution is to blog more. yay!)

the play's the . . . oh, you know

september was my no-fun month, so i made the decision (consciously or unconsciously) that october would be full of fun, and it has kicked off with a bang.

seeing a broadway show is on the us map, so thursday night s and i went to see "spring awakening" the 2007 tony award winning coming-of-age musical about love and rebellion. it was really fantastic, so full of energy and emotion. it reminded me of "rent" before it reached mythical status, when it was still new and invigorating. the songs and music have wonderful range as well; loud and exciting at times, soft and touching at others. (i'll admit it; i cried at the end.) the cast was really great as well, though it would have been something special to see the original broadway cast. almost every young actor was making their broadway debut, and their energy and joy in the opportunity were infectious. s got the soundtrack last night, and i can't stop listening to the songs.

i've been getting over a cold (well, i've had a cold for over a week now, so i hope i am getting over it), so we laid pretty low this weekend, working, running errands, attending a bake sale for obama. sunday night, however, i went to see "the seagull" with aa. i feel chekov is better appreciated with age. now that i am older and have experienced the slings and arrows of outrageous life, i can better understand the emotions simmering under the surfaces of petty interactions. it was a truly beautiful production, both the acting and the artistic direction. kristin scott thomas is wonderful as arkadina, pulsing with pent-up energy and anger and jealousy. her aging actress is almost pitiable in her need for affection and adoration, but too cruel in her treatment of her son and nina to inspire true sympathy. i was very impressed by carey mulligan's nina as well (even though my actor-brain was giving my own line readings and admiring her physicality), and liked some of the men. mackenzie crook, or gareth from the british office, was pathetic enough as konstantin, and i liked art malik as dr. dorn very much. in fact, only peter sarsgaard as trigorin seemed out of place, but i think that was more his spotty english accent than his acting. (although i recently read that chiwetel ejiofor did trigorin in the original english staging, and i wish wish wish i had seen that--i think he's a really fantastic actor.) the production values were also really wonderful, mostly spare with hints of elegance. aa and i were particularly jealous of arkadina's costumes, simple yet gorgeous, and i really liked the delicate, keening score. (oh, and lest you think i suddenly found a pile of money on the ground, i scored both tickets through the theater development fund, which provides discounted tickets to members who work for arts non-profits.) it won't be here for long, and i recommend it very highly.

seeing theater always makes me miss the stage. i spent my whole life identifying as an actress, and yet here i am in new york city, sitting behind a desk. and today the director of our theater program and i were talking about something and he said "oh, you like theater, don't you?" and it made me realize that i know and work with people who have no knowledge of whole parts of me. i have always been a performer, from the plays of emily dickinson's life i staged at age five, to improv and theater productions in college, and it is only now that i no longer have that creative outlet. it was theater that brought me to new york in the first place, when i came out here to attend nyu's tisch school of the arts, and i hate to think i could give up on it so easily. i can ignore the longing when i haven't seen any shows, or spoken recently with my "theater friends", but seeing these two very, very different and yet equally impressive shows has made me miss the theater more than i have in a long time. i need to find a way to express myself again.

tomorrow night s and i are headed out once more, so check back soon. i promise more posts this month, as things are looking up.

fish-licious

when we saw these neon fish at the new york aquarium, s said "ooh, fish-licious! blaine would like these fish." um, ok sweetie.

(i know i've been absent for awhile, but we went on vacation--hi mom and dad!, and then i was sick for two long weeks, which was a total bummer. oh, also, i'm kinda broke right now, so we haven't been going out and about much. but that all changed this weekend!)

the new york aquarium is on the us map, and originally i had wanted to head out there for the big baby birthday bash, back in june, but we missed that so we decided to go out this saturday. it was one of our quicker tourist trips, what with coney island being a short 30 minute ride from our neighborhood. i am a HUGE fan of zoos and aquariums (i used to work at a zoo, too, and i really kind of miss it), so i was very excited. we started at the otters, watching them eat on their backs and roll around, and headed to another tank to watch the shark feeding. the sharks share their home with one large ray and four super cool sea turtles. they also didn't eat anything. we watched the keepers drop fish after fish in and taunt the sharks with squid on a skewer, and the only ones eating were the very greedy turtles. ("it's more of a turtle feeding frenzy," said the woman next to us. i couldn't have agreed more, ma'am.) where was the dramatic gnashing of teeth and blood in the water?! (well, not blood for the kids' sake, but seriously, i wanted to see some shark teeth.) but i really liked the turtles, and took way too many pictures of them.



they had a couple of interesting exhibits, like "alien stingers" (jellies, coral and anemones) and something about the water's edge, which included a touch pool, but i've honestly been spoiled by west coast aquariums, and i missed interactive exhibitions. on a whim we decided to stay to watch the california sea lions perform, and i am so glad we did. they were so smart and really funny, giving flipper high-fives to their trainer and doing dances and racing around in the water. we hadn't sat in the front row in fear of getting splashed, but i wish we had because the front row all got kisses on the cheek from osborn, the older (and more talented) or the two performers! i highly recommend the show if you head out there. i have a funny video of osborn dancing, so if i can remember my vimeo log-in, i'll try to post it later.

the rest of our weekend was spent in co-habitational bliss, doing laundry and baking cookies and completely re-arranging the living room. s is off nights this week, which happily means that i get to see him every night when i get home (whee!) and i think we may try to do something else fun this week, so i promise more posting now that i am back in top form.

history in the making

hey, america. happy birthday!

in honor of your special day, we spent the day yesterday at the international nathan's famous hot-dog eating contest.



s had done his research, and we knew we needed to get there somewhat early in order to get a good view of the contest. we showed up around 11:30 am (it is supposed to start around noon) and were able to squeeze in close enough to get a view of the left side of the stage. there's quite a bit of pre-show (got to give those espn talking heads time to speculate about kobayashi's odds), and we immensely enjoyed the dancing hot dogs. after a half hour of bad emcee jokes and ineffectual cheerleaders, the eaters took the stage to pumped-up music and bios like "the mayonnaise-eating champion of the woooooorld!" while something like 10 people competed, including an old man and a couple of women, as well as a possibly-retired rapper who had entertained the crowd during the pre-show, the real contest was between "america's son" joey chestnut and the injured-yet-still-fearsome takeru kobayashi. the two have squared off on multiple prior occasions, and seem to trade titles back and forth. (i highly recommend reading their bios, if only for the hilarity. they discuss their training regimens, previous world records, and other ridiculousness typically reserved for actual sports.) after the introductions, there was a big count down, and then they started the shoveling. (at that point i turned to s and said "so now we just watch them eat for ten minutes?" he just laughed at me.) it ended up being remarkably entertaining, as i felt a kind of disgusted awe and began cheering along with everyone else. seriously. the emcee would yell "and joey chestnut has just eaten TEN hot dogs in ONE minute!" and the crowd would go wild. this year, they both managed to get down 59 hot dogs in the regulation ten minutes, for a history-making tie. the overtime round required one to eat five hot dogs faster than the other, and joey just barely eked out a win. (an OT that favored his start-strong, finish-weak style; had it been to eat more in a certain amount of time, i think kobayashi, even injured, could have pulled out a win. but that's just my amateur opinion.) it was over quickly, and the crowd didn't stick around to watch the closing ceremony.

we wandered along the boardwalk, avoiding the fried clams and freak-shooting, and eventually ended up near the wonder wheel, which at 150 feet is the tallest ferris wheel in the world. i wasn't about to jump on the cyclone (the scary rattling wooden coaster), so i convinced s to go on the wheel with me.



it's a fairly calm, slow ride, but you do get a great view of the beach and surrounding area, and we enjoyed sitting on top of the world for awhile. once we got back down, we strolled around a bit more, looking at the rides and snack shacks and old posters. i had wanted to come to coney island before it's changed by gentrification, and we got to see a little bit of everything it's known for; dirt and grime, games, rides, an old-fashioned freak show. i don't know how to feel about "the future of coney island"; on the one hand, it's kind of a gross place. on the other, it's always been that way, it's sort-of famous for being proud of being that way, and i don't agree with the need to clean everything up. i'd like to go back, if only to take more pictures and maybe to work up the bravery to ride the cyclone. s considered a hot dog (in honor of the day), but the wait was at least a half hour (everyone else was feeling honorific), so we headed home to eat.

the former co-inhabitants of boyland moved out to a former furniture factory in greenpoint and they've carved out a recording studio and some bedrooms on one of the floors. (it's really an amazing space, although the entrance leaves a little something to be desired. let's just say i'd rather visit.) their building has an incredible roof, with amazing views of manhattan, so last night we camped out up there to ooh and ahh over the fireworks. last year i spent the fourth in d.c., but i honestly felt the display here was more beautiful and inspiring. i'm not particularly patriotic, but i do love fireworks. (as ls and i agreed, i like to feel the boom.) we were a little far away to feel anything, but we had an excellent vantage point, and watched the fireworks explode over the river with the skyline in the background. it rained a little, but, intrepid city-folk that we are, we stood around under umbrellas watching the fireworks light up the sky. there were people i knew, and people i didn't, but i felt no shame in clapping my hands with glee over it all. i felt proud to be a new yorker, at the very least.

walking on water

i know i am acting like i've just discovered the camera recently, and in part i have rediscovered the camera (thanks due to the wonderful cams i got for christmas), but it's also partially because i have been doing things, you know, like having fun, recently. and then documenting said things in pictures.

yesterday s had to work in the morning, so we had saturday night date night. we've been itching to do more things off the "us map" (not u.s. as in united states, or even as in us weekly, of trashy mag glory, but us as in we) i made back in february, so we met yesterday afternoon at the base of the brooklyn bridge. (actually, tragically, we met in city hall park, and then mistakenly walked south down broadway to the staten island ferry and along the water back up to city hall park and to the base of the bridge.) the brooklyn bridge has a wooden walkway suspended above the traffic, with state-park-style placards along the way, mapping out old new york and the physics of bridges. i walked across the brooklyn bridge when i still attended nyu on the instructions of my father, and it was a pleasant, educational stroll. it's apparently much more popular on hot saturdays in june, and we had to hustle to keep up with the flow of walking traffic, but we still managed to stop in the middle, tourist-style, to take pictures and admire the view. (i took the above photo looking up at one of the piers, or whatever that's called. i obviously don't remember the info i read.)

once off the bridge and back safely in the bk, we headed to brooklyn bridge-fulton ferry state park to look for some dinner. we forewent the block-long line at grimaldis (some other time, i suppose) and had dessert first at the brooklyn ice cream factory, some of the best 'cream i've ever tasted. (super rich though; i couldn't finish my one scoop, and s, usually a champ, was bested by his two-scoop cone.) we ate overlooking the water with a view back at manhattan and the bridge we'd just crossed.

for dinner we trekked to smith street for pacifico and drank margaritas under the lights strung up on the porch. we were both pretty tired from the day (s had worked, i had run errands, we both had gotten lost and found our way back to brooklyn again), but we had a lovely dinner. we got home in time to watch the wire (we're total addicts) and fall asleep before work today. a miraculous date night indeed.

us weekend

this weekend was nice and relaxing. friday's weather was discouraging, so i spent the day doing laundry and lazing, and then we ordered in indian food and caught up on our season finales. (oh my gosh, lost.) saturday was gorgeous, so we spent the day on foot, walking park slope with a stop for tasti delite and a ramble through the park. everyone was out on saturday, soaking in the sunshine and blue skies. prospect park hosted baseball games for the small and tall, a wedding or two, a number of picnics, many happy dogs, and us, holding hands and making plans (for the new apartment.) saturday night i went to an 80s-themed birthday party tragically cut short by the fact that i had to work at 8 am on sunday.

it was a brooklyn weekend--i didn't get on the train once, and i definitely didn't go into manhattan. it was a nice weekend, but we've been so consumed with apartments and travel that i feel like we haven't been exploring as much as i like to. for valentines day, i made s an "us map" to new york city, a sort of resident's tourist guide of the places i want us to visit. and so i propose a poll (you can vote in the comments. and s, you can vote too): which of the following should we do next?

1. a trip to the south street seaport to see bodies the exhibition, which results in a post full of "eww! ... but also ... cool!"

2. a day at the museum of natural history. more eww/cool, but artsier. (this post may require references to noah baumbach.)

3. a morning walking the lower east side on the orchard street walking tour. it'll be more blogging about bagels, and other important jewish-new york landmarks.

vote or die.

hip! hip! jorge!

saturday was the most beautiful day i have seen in a long time here in nyc, and it was perfect timing, too: we went to the yankees game. yankee stadium is in it's last season (you could see the cranes slowly building the new ballpark just beyond left field) and i just had to see a game in the stadium my grandfather used to go to. i bought s tickets for his birthday back in march, and all week they kept predicting rain, so when we woke up to blue skies and sun, i knew the day was totally blessed.

yankee stadium has its own subway stop, it's own little world. the surrounding streets are devoted to baseball paraphenalia (my favorite store: stan the man's baseball land for men, women and children.) we entered through gate four and climbed slowly to the top of the stadium, seated high above the field (sorry again, sweetie) with a view of green plaid fields and miniature men in white. it was a perfect, gorgeous day, and despite the cold breeze, i was happy in my new hat, pretzel in hand, nestled up against my love, watching the bronx bombas (as s liked to say. he does a good silly accent, that boy.)

they lost, the yankees, though not as pitifully as they almost did. we were down 6-1 for a lot of the game, until jorge posada sent some runners home. the crowd went totally crazy, which is of course why we go to sporting events in the first place, that joy in shared victory (they've done psychological studies about it, how happy people can be when their teams are winning.) the guys behind us were a powerful cheering section, going horse with their cries of "here we go yankees, here we go!", "john-ny dam-mon", and my favorite "hip! hip! jorge!" we had a yankees family in front of us, mom and dad and sons and daughters and a granddaughter, all in hats and jerseys, noo yawk voices calling down the guy carrying hot dogs. i felt like we were a part of the crowd--no one knew we weren't just as die-hard as them (i think i put on a pretty good show, too, jumping out of my seat at the exciting moments.) it was just such a perfect afternoon.

i took the cutest pictures of us in our matching hats, too. if i give up on my psuedo-anonymity (i mean, only my friends read this anyway), i shall post them.