ONLY IN A BIG CITY I have to admit, cities actually do have some advantages For a country-boy it definitely comes as a bit of a surprise to find that New York is really quite nice. It's obviously much bigger than Charlottesville, Birmingham, Aztec, or almost any other place I've ever lived... but while that clearly opens up the door to numerous negatives, there are also positives to spending lots of time in a big city.
My wife flew into La Guardia on Wednesday night. She got a cab and was in the kitchen eating dinner in less than 30 minutes. That's still amazing to me.
I saw a Broadway show, went to two world-class museums, ate two of the best meals of my life, bought my wife some extremely chic clothes (on sale), and still managed to take naps, run in Central Park, and sleep in.
Let me just take a moment to talk about the museums. First, it's remarkable to note that my wife and I both got in for free to the museums with my Lehman ID. The MOMA is certainly worth the $20-25 a person they normally charge to get in, but thanks to the world of tax-deduction and corporate sponsorships, all Lehman employees get in (with up to 3 extra guests) for free. Sweet!
Next we went to The Met and were blown away. We saw the best Turner exhibition I can imagine on the one hand, and a Tara Donovan installation on the other. We chatted and sipped a glass of wine while listening to a fabulous chamber orchestra (with Grand Piano) on the balcony, and then looked at Greek sculpture on the way out.
The world is strangely compressed in the big city. And while this can be disconcerting, or even disorienting at times, at its best big cities stand as a monument to the well-considered human existence. Everything is so expensive here that only the best things can afford to justify their existence -and so the restaurants are all fine, the museums are all classy, and the people are all, well, at the top of their game.
Even the beggars are some of the best I've ever seen. Normally a man of iron resolve, these folks find away to get through the chinks in my armor and I have found myself driven to give away my apples, dollars, and energy on several occasions to help some of the wonderfully colorful souls found sitting... on this island the Indians called Manhattan.
I don't know if I'll end up here. I don't know if I'll get a job offer at the end of the summer. But that's all weeks away. Which in New York is months away. And so I'm just enjoying life in the most chaotic, well-constructed, outlandish place I've ever been blessed to hang my hat.
New York in the Summer.
p.s. The image above is from the national zoo in D.C. where I was with Megan two weeks ago. It's some kind of jellyfish and glows and shimmers with light, but because it can't steer with anything it just floats along enjoying life and being indigo with a psychedelic stripe. I've kind of adopted these things as my mascot for the summer. Posted July 07, 2008
Posted by: Lauren I'm glad you and Megan are making the most of your time in New York! Posted 2008-07-13 16:52:09 MOM Posted by: Brenda I'm glad you're making the most of your time in NYC! Fun times! Love ya! Mom Posted 2008-07-15 14:24:09 COMMENT ON THIS POST
