Back to work

What's with the weather? The high on Saturday was 72!

I have had rather uneventful days at work. Last week, my boss was still on vacation, so I was here in the office all by my lonesome, the first week of January, hardly anybody coming in, and why should they? Classes don't begin until the 17th! Needless to say, there was a tournament of spider solitaire here, and I won.

I stayed in all weekend, even though Saturday was like a beautiful spring day. I swear the flora and fauna are going to be confused, once they find their buds freezing off and their babies being born in the snow.... I was feeling sick with my cough that has not improved, and I was cleaning and trying to organize the disaster that is my room. I am still working on that little project, and I will need to finish soon if I want things to be in shape before classes start next Wednesday.

One of the wonderful things about living in New York is one's close proximity to excellent art. Since moving here, I have not seen art or been to a concert that was not at a free opening at the art gallery where Seunghyun works, so I've decided to do something at least once a month. There's opera, ballet, concerts, and museums to see till you perish!

One of the less than wonderful things about living in New York is the high cost of enjoying all this excellent art that surrounds one. Student tickets for a night at the opera or at the Philharmonic may go for about $25-$35, but I still don't know for sure because I haven't had the chance to even try to get one. You have to go in person to the box office the day of to see if they even have any student tickets for the opera, and you can try to get student rush tickets to hear an orchestra concert, but what are the odds if Pinchas Zuckerman and Julie Taymor are selling out the house? I suppose the nosebleed/standing-room-only tickets for $15 are a good deal if the rest of the tickets are going for around $100.

I've been wanting to see Die Zauberflöte. Ah, the memories.... Sandy and I used to sing along to that insane Queen of the Night aria, so I'd love to see the whole opera. Lucky for me, I have at least one opera buddy here to accompany me: fellow ex-Brown orchestra member Bill. As he says, when can you find someone under the age of 65 who appreciates classical music? Yeah, I can assure you that not all my friends here will be jumping up to pay $35 for an opera show. Anyway, I'm going to try to get tickets for the Friday night show; keep your fingers crossed.

Not everything here is super-expensive, of course. There are concerts at the University that look great, and the student tickets can be under $10. This month, I'm going to a Varese concert where they'll play all kinds of fancy modern art-music percussion pieces. Bill can't go, though he would really like to. Maybe I'll be able to trick one of my other friends into coming with me; the ticket is only $7.

Speaking of Columbus, I'm going there again this weekend. I can't help it; the fare sales are sensational. When you can fly round-trip for $100 to a city where you have lots of friends, you do it.

In other news, I'm trying to be good about practicing yoga. I haven't been doing it regularly at all, so I am going to attend classes. I'm picky, so it's been hard to find a yoga studio that I like. Yes, even in New York! There are just too many of them. But now I think I've found a good one; it may be too early to say, but I'm enjoying it.

I'm also going to take advantage of benefits from work, now that my stupid 3-month waiting period is over. I may take some Saturday Spanish classes that are free, so that I can finally improve my awful Spanish, and I hope to switch my health insurance so that I don't have to pay the exorbitant fees at this school. Too bad for me that I have a 6-month waiting period until I can use tuition exemption credits; I'll have to wait till the summer for that.