Leave the North

My new bedroom in my new apartment.

I just spent the day temping at a marketing place that represents brands and people. Right next to my desk, there was a TV that played the same five Lady Gaga music videos in a continuous loop. I’m listening to all the catchy music in my iTunes library in the hopes that I don’t have to fall asleep with a mash up of all five spinning in my head. I’m going back to the same position tomorrow. I hope I get to hear a new artist.

Anyway, I’m sure you want to know about the new apartment in south Brooklyn. I’m really liking it so far, and have started to adjust from the hip Williamsburg to more family-oriented Park Slope. Above, you can see my new bedroom with its wood floors, exposed bricks, and white moldings on the walls. Sorry for the clutter, I’m still finding a place for everything.

Other side of my new bedroom.

And above is the other side of my bedroom. There’s also an alcove to the right where the door is, so I actually have a lot of space. I got the wardrobe for free when the girl who was moving out couldn’t fit it down the stairs. So far, I haven’t had to buy any furniture in New York. It’s kind of awesome. Now if only some warm clothing could come about in that way, although I wouldn’t trust picking up any fabrics from the streets for fear of bedbugs.

My neighbor, the dog.

There’s a cute dog that lives below my window and I haven’t heard him bark once. It’s mostly pretty quiet here, and the only noises are other tenants walking up the stairs and occasionally I feel the floor tremble as a subway train goes beneath us.

My neighbors, the cats.

There is also a group of cats that lives on the roof across from my window. I thought it was nice of them to all pose for this picture.

View from my window.

I can also see a church from my window. I found that there is a church with almost the exact same steeple as I was running around Green-Wood Cemetery. I was running the exterior of the cemetery, outside of the gates, and underestimated how big it was and how many turns I would take before I made it back. I saw a green steeple like this at one point and was getting my hopes up about almost being back, when I saw that the street signs still kept me many blocks away. Apparently, Green-Wood is 478 acres, so no wonder it seemed to go on forever. I’ll be doing some exploring in it soon, too.

Kitchen in my new apartment.

The kitchen in the apartment is a pretty big size by New York City standards. I got a ton of  my old kitchen things from my mom and brother over Thanksgiving, and it was fun to unpack them again. In my last apartment, I really only had a coffee cup to my name. Being that I’m in the South Park Slope/North Sunset Park area, I have a lot of grocery store options, including some Mexican and Vietnamese places. This is an improvement from the gourmet-only stores in Williamsburg.

Our spartan living room.

We’re a little short on decorations in the apartment right now, so I might pick up some things while in Oklahoma City for Christmas. This is our living room, and the sliding doors go to my roommate’s room. There’s a hallway between the living room and my room and the kitchen where there is the bathroom, which is almost as big as my bedroom. It’s very nice to have so much space, but even better is having privacy. I feel like in New York, you’re with huge masses of people all the time, that it’s important to be able to come home and have some solitude.

View of Manhattan from our roof.

Maybe the best part is the view from the roof, where you can see all of Manhattan. It’s even better at night.

This evening, I went to see Patty’s dad speak at the library about his book Dissection: Photographs of a Rite of Passage in American Medicine 1880-1930. Ah, to have a book on Amazon. Someday, maybe. Anyway, it was really interesting look at how medical students would take portraits done with the cadavers they were dissecting. It was fascinating to see men with bowler hats cradling flayed flesh in bare hands, or posing playfully with cigarettes jammed in the warped cadaver lips. Afterward, we ate at an Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village where I had penne with zucchini, walnuts, and gorgonzola cheese.

I’m going to sleep early to prepare for more temping. Well, early by my standards.

The Opera and the Mountain Goats

Inside the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center.

This week has been full of music. I started on Monday with the free dress rehearsal of Les Contes d’Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach at the Metropolitan Opera. Our seats were way up at the top balcony, but how can I complain about seeing one of the best opera companies in the world at no charge? And it was an incredible show, although it turned out to be a four hour commitment. Most of the other people there were retirees that had brought miniature bottles of red wine and sandwiches for the two intermissions, whereas Sean and I just had one scone to sustain us. The production itself was stunning and half the fun was seeing what new set and costumes were going to be unveiled next. There was a giant rotating dragon, a gondola rowing across the stage, a horde of umbrellas decorated with giant eyes, even a skeleton dressed in a top hat that wandered in the background. The details were incredible, even from the top balcony. The lead, Joseph Calleja, took a break after the first act due to a cold (saving himself for this week’s premiere), but even in one act his voice got ingrained in my head. The understudy wasn’t bad, but it was unfortunate that there was a reprise of one of the first songs at the end for comparison.The whole thing was in French, although I wasn’t able to understand anything as this was opera, but there were cool subtitle screens on the seats that made it easy to follow.

The plot was a little insane, but I’ll try to sum it up. As the translation of the French title is The Tales of Hoffmann, the plot is the story of Hoffmann’s three loves. Or rather, people he loves, as none of the women reciprocates. And each is more tragic for Hoffmann than the last. The first, Olympia, turns out to be a robot. The second, Antonia, is an artist with a bad heart and dies when the ghost of her mother comes and encourages her to sing. The third, Giulietta, is a prostitute who steals Hoffmann’s reflection. And throughout all these stories, Hoffmann is accompanied by his muse in disguise and is followed by a nemesis who is played by the same actor in different characters. The villain was my favorite. Played by Alan Held, he had this ridiculously evil laugh each time he entered the stage. But the whole cast was really incredible. I don’t know much about opera, and honestly hadn’t much enjoyed my previous opera experiences, but I would totally see this again. I’m going to have to keep my eye out for future free dress rehearsal tickets. You can see some clips from Les Contes d’Hoffmann in this YouTube interview with the director, Bartlett Sher.

Live floral arranging at Japan Brand.

That evening, after packing up my apartment, we visited the holiday market in Union Square and had apple cider before going to a Japan Brand event at Felissimo. There were tons of products made in Japan, as well as sake and various Japanese appetizers. The entertainment was live floral arranging that represented the seasons. That’s right, we watched someone arrange flowers and it was actually quite entertaining.

Ticket to the Mountain Goats/Final Fantasy concert.

Tuesday was moving day, which went relatively smooth. I got all my things packed into the van and we made it quickly to my new place, only to find that the girl who was moving out was still there. So, we had to move my things temporarily into the living room, but I don’t have many possessions so it wasn’t a big deal.

That night I went to see the Mountain Goats play at Webster Hall. I had actually seen them once before at Webster Hall, back in March 2008 when I came to visit Elizabeth. It’s not exactly an intimate venue, but they always put on a great show regardless of the space, even if I think the more delicate John Darnielle songs work better in small venues like the Opolis in Norman. I really miss the Opolis sometimes, where people were unfailingly polite, while crammed in a space the size of my current apartment. The crowd was horrible at Webster Hall, or at least the three people I was standing in front of. The whole time they were complaining that they “didn’t sign up for this” and that there wasn’t enough music to dance to and they didn’t recognize the songs. And I was just thinking, why the hell would you pay $25 for a concert for a band you’re not familiar with if you’re not willing to be surprised? And then ruin the experience for everyone around you? It was a much better experience after I moved further back.

Well, back to the music. Final Fantasy was the opener and I was blown away. I was familiar with his music, but hadn’t really thought about how it would be performed live. He recorded each violin part himself, then played them back while adding new strings over them. It was one of the coolest sets I’ve ever seen. This video of “The Butcher” should give you a good idea of his live presence (video is from another concert, not the one I went to).

The Mountain Goats were great as always. I think this was my fourth time seeing them. And it was a nice to surprise to see that they were joined by Perry Owen Wright of the Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers. I still regularly listen to The Mother Of Love Emulates The Shapes Of Cynthia and think he is a wonderful musician. I awkwardly interviewed him for a story I wrote for the OU paper way back when I was a young journalism student and the Mountain Goats were doing a show with Prayers and Tears in Norman. I hope he creates a new album and tours again soon.

The Mountain Goats set included tracks from the new album, The Life of the World to Come, as well as older songs like “Going to Georgia,” “Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod?,” and my favorite, “Against Pollution.” Which actually, I have a recording of Perry Owen Wright singing. God, I hope he doesn’t google himself and think I am insane. Well, enough fangirling, I’ll just say that the show was breathtaking and much needed after a rough fall of unemployment. If you want, there’s a complete set list and great audio of the show at nyctaper. You can also watch a good video from the concert of “Old College Try” on YouTube.

San Antonio

My cousin Sofia made me this welcome sign.

I’m all moved into my apartment, if not completely unpacked. Park Slope has a different vibe than Williamsburg, but I think I will like it here. I need to find a new jogging path now that I’m not living next to the running track. I’m starting to get oriented, as I took the subway to Target, Ikea, and Trade Joe’s today for supplies. I’ll post pictures of the new place later. Last Wednesday, I flew to San Antonio, Texas to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family and relatives. The trip to La Guardia from my apartment went smoothly and the car I’d requested showed up on time. Actually, it was two minutes late and the driver was really apologetic. I wish I could take cars more often. After a transfer in the fancy Dallas airport where you can use a credit card in the vending machines, I was landing in San Antonio and was greeted at the airport by my dad and brother. We then drove to my aunt, uncle, and three cousins’ house where I was formally welcomed by the above sign that Sofia made. The rest of my family only got their initials added at the top.

New part of the Riverwalk.

It was good to spend Thanksgiving in Texas, as I wasn’t able to come back to the States from France last year. It was such a nice change to be away from New York and the subway rides. I know I shouldn’t, but I do miss driving. I miss the ability to just drive anywhere you want, wherever you want. To have the freedom to drive all the way to Canada or Mexico if you wanted.

Fish installation at the Riverwalk.

That first night we walked along the newest section of the Riverwalk, where they had cool art installations under each overpass. I especially liked the above illuminated fish, which were suspended over the water. As the sun set we watched the bats fly out from under the bridge. Nature is something else I miss in New York. I remember a few weeks ago I was walking in Union Square and saw all these people gathered below a tree, flashing their cameras. I turned out there was a frazzled eagle perched there, feathers loose on its head. I feel lucky that I was able to grow up somewhere so close to nature that sometimes there would be a deer wandering in the street, a possum under the porch, or a fox at the tennis court.

Black Crowned Crane at the San Antonio Zoo.

The next day was Thanksgiving, and one of our family traditions is participating in a morning race. I only started running this fall, so I was wary about trying to run a 5K, as I had yet to run a mile in one go. However, my mom convinced me so we walked down to the Turkey Challenge. When the race started, we kept a steady pace and I was shocked to see the mile market appear before I was even tired. So I ran my first mile! We took a short walking break and started running again and the second mile marker appeared soon after. I think we took one more walking break before running the rest. My time came in at 36:57, which I don’t think is bad at all for my first 5K. My goal was to run a mile by the end of the year, so I guess that is accomplished.

Lorikeet at the San Antonio Zoo.

That afternoon we visited the San Antonio Zoo and saw many excellent birds and beasts, including the most giant hippopotamus that I’ve ever seen.

Lion hiding at the San Antonio Zoo.

After the visit to the zoo, we had Thanksgiving dinner, which was delicious and had many vegetarian-friendly side dishes, as well as a pumpkin pie.

Praying mantis wearing a scarf at the San Antonio Botanical Garden.

The next day we visited the San Antonio Botanical Garden, where they had these giant wooden insects displayed throughout the park. I loved the addition of a holiday scarf to this praying mantis. That afternoon we visited my great-aunt, who I hadn’t seen in a long time. That night we went to the River Parade, where boats decorated with holiday lights and blasting Christmas music cruised down the Riverwalk.

Cacti at Government Canyon.

On my last day, we took a hike in Government Canyon and saw many cacti and risked twisted ankles on rocky paths. I think this was my first time to be out of hearing distance of a car horn in quite a while. It also made me miss how I would go to a new place almost every weekend while in France. I should try to take some train trips out of the city.

Government Canyon seen from the top of the trail.

The next day I got to the airport early and flew back to NYC. I yet again got a cab driver who had no clue where Williamsburg was. I knew the right exit to take and was looking around at the buildings to orient myself when he pulled out an iPhone and was putting in the address. He asked me whether we were in Brooklyn or Queens, which made me want to scream. Anyway, we turned out to be a block away and I was soon dragging my suitcase up the stairs. Unfortunately, my suitcase got a broken wheel, but I guess it’s five years old and has been a lot of places. I also broke the zipper on my coat last night. Why??? Well, after leaving all my broken things in my apartment I met up with Elizabeth for falafel in the East Village and we compared our Texas Thanksgivings. I guess it’s officially the holiday season now. Time for my traditional last minute gift buying.