Party Hard

Everyday, as I leave my apartment for work, I walk by a public playground. There are also a couple of basketball courts and an asphault area where kids play baseball and kickball (actually I've never seen kickball; do kids still play that?). I guess there's a school nearby because I often see kids playing there during the day having recess. On Monday though, I left my apartment around 8AM that morning and saw some kids having a Halloween party. They looked pretty cute and some had some pretty elaborate costumes. As I walked by the festivities, I thought to myself, "Man, kids party early these days." I remember when I was in school, I cringed--and still do--whenever I had to wake up before 10AM. I can't even fathom going to a Halloween party at 8AM, no matter what age I am.

So as you can imagine, I LOVE my extra hour. Daylight Savings Day is the best holiday of the year, and this year was doubly great because I completely forgot about it. It was a much welcomed surprise. I remember waking up on Sunday around 7:30AM and thinking "Wow. Check me out. I'm up early today." Then someone texted me and I'm thinking again "Wow. Everyone's up so early today." So I was feeling pretty good and then I saw one of my clocks that doesn't automatically change for Daylight Savings, and the light bulb clicked in my head. "AHHH. Daylight Savings." The rest of the day and actually this whole week, I felt so rested. I went to the gym and then went down to the Village and walked around a bit and stopped by Jefferson Market to buy a ham because ever since I saw this recipe for a Ham Baked in Coca-Cola, I've been dying to try it. I went to Jefferson because I was so utterly confused about my ham situation and I heard that Jefferson Market has a really good meat department. I had no idea what I was supposed to buy. Do I buy smoked, baked, cooked or roasted? Or am I supposed to buy a raw ham? But isn't ham, by definition, cooked? Luckily, the butcher at Jefferson was very nice and clearly knowledgable about the great ham debate and was sympathetic to my lack of knowledge. I made the ham later that night and it was like gastronomic heaven. It was soooo good. I think I wanna make it again.

Anyway, I digress. Thinking of Daylight Savings reminds me of the time when a few years ago, I told a friend of mine that it was Daylight Savings time. It happened on a day when something significant happened to me and so I was calling all my friends to talk about it. And then I'd end the conversation by saying, "Oh, by the way, it's daylight savings." Later that evening, I turn on the TV to watch the Simpsons, and I realized I missed it. Hmmm...what's going on? Then I look at my calendar. Oh crap. Daylight Savings is NEXT weekend. I told everyone that it was THIS weekend. Some of the people I talked to that day, I hadn't heard from in close to a year. So I proceeded to call everyone back, and say "Oh, SORRY. It's not Daylight Savings today." It turned out that virtually everyone I told had not only believed me, but also told all of their friends that it was Daylight Savings. One of my friends said to me that the Mayor was gonna have to go on NY1 and make an annoucement: "It is NOT Daylight Savings. That was just a false rumor spread by Terence C."

Well, here's the solution. We should just gain an hour twice a year, not once.

Hair Trauma

So if there is anything about myself that I get really obsessed about, it's my hair. I'm Asian and I can do just about two things with my hair: 1) make it stick up; or 2) part it. I go for the latter (I part to the right). But styling is another issue. I am forever in search of the perfect hair product. I used to use gel, but I got tired of the wet, "Ross from Friends", crunchy look. So I finally upgraded to pastes, creams and pomades. I soon realized that I need to have at least two or three types of product because the pastes/pomades work better when my hair is close-cropped and short, whereas the creams work best when my hair is longer. In any event, I have yet to find a product that I can depend on all the time. I've had some good runs. For a long time I was using Aveda's Flax Control Paste. At first I thought this would be the only styling product that I would never need. It gave a nice hold, but still left my hair soft. But then my hair started to look limp and flat. Also, I got tired of the incredibly strong smell. It wasn't that unpleasant, and a guy I used to date actually really liked the smell, unlike some Aveda scents that you could choke on. But it was just so STRONG. One time when I was in the gym locker room, a guy told me he recognized the smell of my hair and "guessed" that I used Aveda. I thought maybe he had the nose of a bloodhound, but a couple of other people recognized it too in the strangest of places. Yeah, this stuff has got to go, I thought to myself.

So since then, I've tried everything--Stephen Knoll (also too smelly), Charles Worthington (too greasy), Bumble & Bumble (too shiny looking), Terax (doesn't hold well), Rene Furterer (too "crunchy"), Frederic Fekkai (too girly), Kiehl's (which I'm a big fan of), Davines (too sticky), MOP (was ok, maybe i'll try it again), Aesop (they don't make a pomade), Phyto (no pomade or paste either) and the list goes on and on. You name it, I've probably tried it.

I've also visited my fair share of barbershops and salons. When I first moved to New York, I frequented barber shops including Feature Trim & Chelsea Barber, but I got really tired of the barber just taking the clippers and running with them. The last time I was at a barbershop, I got so nervous about my barber's free will with the clippers that I said, "You know, I don't want my head shaved." Although, I have always wondered how I'd look with a buzz cut. Hmmm....

Then I went to Arrojo Studio of TLC's What Not To Wear fame, but I got so turned off by the wait and the prices there that I decided not to go back. Then I checked out Robert Kree in the West Village, which was decent and although not a bargain, was somewhat reasonably priced for New York at $65. But I just wasn't really wowed by any of the cuts I got there. Robert Kree, though, wasn't a total loss. I found one of my staple hair products that will hopefully continue to be in my medicine cabinet. The Moldit stuff is great. It gives me that matte, texturized look that I'm going for.

It was time for me to go on the hunt once more, and then I found Sam Wong. Sam has a small salon in NoHo on Elizabeth Street after being above the Mercer Hotel for ten years. He only works three days a week and has been cutting hair for a long time and has lots of celebrity clients. I went to him because he's from Hong Kong and I figured he'd know what works and what doesn't work for Asian hair. I was right. He always gives me the best haircuts. And his assistant who gives the scalp and neck massages has magic fingers. So why did I leave? Well, I got tired of paying $100 every 4 or 5 weeks for my haircut .

I then checked out the John Allan Club. John Allan's is an interesting place. They bill themselves as a Gentleman's Club where you can have a beer, play pool, get your shoes shined and get haircuts/manicures from blonde women in little black dresses. You can really feel the testosterone-y ambiance the minute you walk in. For the services, you can either pay a la carte or you can pay an annual membership and get all the haircuts/manicures you want. At $65 for a shampoo/haircut + manicure + hot towel + shoe shine, it's not a bad deal. The women who do the services are all very nice, but there's a definite and amusing hierarchy. When you sit down, you first start chatting with your shampoo girl, and then the manicurist meets you in your haircut chair (or whatever it's called) and chats some more. Finally the Queen arrives, your stylist. The manicurist shuts up while Queen Stylist chats me up.

At any rate, John Allan's was ok, but then the last haircut I got there was TERRIBLE. I actually got it cut again a week later when I was in San Francisco and got a great cut. There I went to a place called Elevation. But I remember looking at their website and seeing "Largest street level salon+cafe in San Francisco." Uhhh....so what? Is that something really to brag about?

Come to think of it, my best haircuts have actually been at places outside of New York. I've gotten great cuts in Toronto, Chicago, Vancouver, and Sydney. Oh in Sydney, I still remember "Mac", this cute Aussie surfer guy who actually lived in New York a few years ago and knew the guy who cut my hair at Arrojo (Nick Arrojo is Australian and hires lots of Aussies.)

So last night I got a haircut at a new place with a funny name, Sergio Limpopo. Overall, I'm very pleased with my cut. I think I'll continue seeing them for a few more visits. I got their name from a friend of mine and was most attracted by the price--$40. The one thing that was annoying was the girl took FOREVER to cut my hair. I think I scared her when I told her that I was visiting her salon for the first time because I hated my last haircut so much at John Allan's. I think she actually tried to look at each individual hair on my head. I thought I was gonna fall asleep. Well, the cut was actually only about an hour, I guess, but still...I thought it was a long time.

As you can see, I've spent a lot of time researching the topic of my hair. The funniest thing is that I've asked for the same cut for the last 14 or 15 years and it really doesn't look that special. Just tapered in the back, short on the sides and top and textured and parted to the right. That shouldn't be that hard to do, right?

Subway Interior Decorating

So this morning I was late to work as usual. With my new job, I tend to work from home in the mornings from about 8-9AM. I really like to work from home. I get to sit at home with my laptop on top of a pillow on my couch. Or I get to lie on my bed with my laptop in front of me all in the comfort of a tshirt and boxers. I always have my iTunes going on and the TV on mute, so I'm paying attention to 3 things at once!

At any rate, today when I got on the "S" Shuttle at Times Square, I entered the slopes of a snowy mountain. Inside the car, snowy mountain wallpaper covered the walls and the seats had been replaced with long cream-colored benches that were supposed to look like a snowy rocky mountain slope. It definitely woke me up this morning. I was wondering what it was all for. Was this something new the MTA was going to do for the holidays? After I sat down, I looked up and realized that in addition to the snowy motif, Eddie Bauer ads were everywhere. OH! I get it now. The new interior decorating was for Eddie Bauer's new Rockefeller Center "Down" Store. I felt very much "in the know" since my comforter happens to be Eddie Bauer.

This got me thinking. The MTA should decorate the insides of the subway more often. How about a Prada one? Or a US Open themed one? That would be so cool, I think.

Another Great Find

So the other day I bought some plastic wrap. I didn't really think about it and just picked up a box at Duane Reade. That night, I opened the carton and pulled out some plastic wrap to cover a bowl of chopped bell peppers and scallions in preparation for an omelette that I was gonna make the next morning. I started to tug at the plastic wrap to cut off a piece when I realized there was no blade. Instead this plastic wrap had an EZ Slide Cutter. Whoa. How come I've never heard of this before? What rock have I been living under? I'm totally enraptured by this. I wish I could think of stuff like this. Now I have nice clean and smooth cuts for my pieces of plastic wrap.

(Sidebar: I have been having this Nigella omelette every day for the past week. It's an omelette with chili & bell peppers, scallions, turmeric, cumin and coriander. Then add some chopped cilantro and drip some Jamaican Pick-a-Pepper sauce, which is sort of like Worcestire sauce and I bought by accident at the store because that's what I thought it was. Finally, roll it up the omelette in a piece of whole wheat lavash bread and eat like a wrap. So good.)

Books

A couple weekends ago, I went to the Great Read In The Park event at Bryant Park. More than 150 authors were doing panel discussions, signings and talks to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of The New York Times Best Sellers List. The event also featured a temporary branch of Barnes & Noble, an appraisals table by Bauman Rare Books and a Used Book Sale. I've been looking for a particular book for the past year, and so I decided to stop by and check out the Used Book Sale here. The book is called Familes: A Memoir and is by Wyatt Cooper, Anderson Cooper's father. I read an interview with Anderson Cooper where he talked about his father's book. It's about his father's upbringing in rural Mississippi and then his subsequent marriage to Gloria Vanderbilt and raising of Anderson and his brother. In his interview with Oprah, Anderson said he really cherished this book because it's like a letter to him from his dad. It's a reminder to him of what his dad was like before he died when Anderson was 10 years old.

I was really touched by this and have been wanting to read this book. I wish I had something like that that would make me feel close to my parents because I'm not close with them at all. My parents were very typical asian parents and made competition an aspect of every part of my life. And although I appreciate what my parents did for me, I still resent to this day the single-minded competitive childhood that my parents instilled in me. There was actually an interesting article in the NY Times about two Korean women who wrote a book advocating this method of raising children that definitely raised my eyebrow, mostly because I don't agree with preaching this child-raising doctrine.

At any rate, I think it would be really great to have something like this to remind you of someone important in your life. Anything written like emails, letters, even text messages often serves that purpose. A simple three word text message can mean so much because it's permanent and pre-meditated and thus is always there to make you feel better if you want to smile.

So I went to the Bryant Park Book Fair hoping to find this book. I've looked everywhere--Strand, used bookstores around the city, online, etc. But I can only find first editions that cost $200+ dollars, and I don't want the book that much. Alas, I couldn't even look for it. The book sale was retarded--you had to buy a tote bag for $25 before being allowed to enter the book sale.

Oh well. I'll keep searching.

James Bond

Today, I was watching Best Week Ever and the topic of discussion was doctors' reports that Hollywood promotes unprotected sex. In particular, the doctor's used James Bond as an example of irresponsible behavior.

In response to this, Sherrod Small said "How are you going to have a responsible James Bond? What? So Dr. No becomes 'Dr. No Means No'?"

I was dying with laughter.

Only The Best

Last night around 9PM, I decided to head out and get a couple of bagels at H&H and pick up some lox and cream cheese at Citarella. I don't know what possessed me to go out last night other than my craving for a yummy H&H bagel because it was MONSOONING last night. It was the type of night where you're like "Screw it. My feet are gonna be soaked, and so who gives a shit." My umbrella kept the top of my head dry, but that's about it. When I got home, I literally could wring the water out of the bottoms of my designer Helmut Lang jeans (my favorite jeans).

Boy do I miss my old umbrella. Right now, I have a cheapie umbrella that I bought at Rite-Aid. It's so cheesy. One of the umbrella panes has the "I Heart NY" logo. I used to have an umbrella that I loved. I bought it at Hammacher Schlemmer. It had lots of features that made it the best umbrella. I loved the shape of it: it had a nice dome shape versus the spread out shape that most umbrellas have. Also, the handle was this nice wooden hook shape, so I could hang it off my arm when I didn't need it, leaving my hands free to hold my magazine and blackberry or just free in general to wave around. But the best part was the little lever that opened and closed the umbrella as opposed to the traditional blade-like thing on most umbrellas.

Over the years, I would come to lose my precious umbrella, but would always promptly buy a replacement. But a year ago, I left the last one of these (my fifth) that I owned on the BART train when going back to SF after visiting my friend in San Mateo. As soon as I got back to my hotel, I realized what I had done. Well, not to worry. I'll just order another one. Or so I thought.

When I got back to my hotel room, I turned on my laptop and went to Hammacher Schlemmer's site (via MPOnline Mall because I'm a frequent-flyer miles junkie) and went to the umbrellas section. It was gone! I searched frantically for my umbrella, but Hammacher decided to stop selling it. Oh my god. I couldn't believe it. What was I going to do? I then started to search Google for my umbrella and found something similar, but it was something like $100. No way was I gonna pay that. I then wrote an email to Hammacher and BEGGED them to bring my umbrella back or tell me the supplier for that umbrella. Well, of course they didn't tell me the supplier, since most stores won't reveal that. But they did tell me of "another" umbrella they sell. I promptly replied, "If I wanted that umbrella, I would have asked about it."

I eventually came to terms with my loss and accepted that I would never find this umbrella again. It was a one-of-a-kind, I figured. Everytime I thought about losing this umbrella, I'd lament its loss. And last night, in that torrential rain (first rain here in NY in a while), I thought about it again. When I got home, I thought to myself "That's it. I've mourned long enough. I need to replace my old umbrella (too bad I never gave my umbrellas names)." After searching and searching, I found it! Well, it wasn't exactly the same, but very close. Neiman Marcus has a version that's very similar called the Gustbuster Classic. Yay! I'm so happy! I'll have to buy a whole case of Gustbusters.

Airplane Seats

Right before I left for San Francisco, I was talking with someone at work about my upcoming flight. I was so happy to be flying United where I'm a Premier Executive member. United is my favorite airline, especially the United P.S. service. The seats are great and you get your own individual personal Panasonic DVD player. Panasonic and the airlines were smart and configured the players to only play specially formatted DVDs so you won't have any real motivation to steal a DVD or the player.

So I was telling my friend all about my upcoming flight and mentioned that I hoped to get a window seat. My friend asked me how I could like window seats. "Because I like to sleep and rest my head against the cabin," I replied. My friend then asked "But don't you get cramped and feel restricted because you can't get out?". I said, "Absolutely not. If I need to get up, I'm getting up." Then I declared, "You know what I would say to that person in the aisle if he has a problem? Next time, get a window seat."

Hmmpf.

Tibetan Stool

Last night, I went to the movies with a friend and saw Just Like Heaven because my friend is head over heels in love with Mark Ruffalo. Unfortunately, Mark Ruffalo doesn't really do anything for me, but the movie was sweet and fun anyway. And I always like Reese Witherspoon.

After the movie, I went over to my friend's place for a slice of carrot cake. Her mom had baked a carrot cake and my friend took some home with her. So we were eating cake and just hanging out and chatting when my friend took out a chair. I looked at it and gave a surprised look of recognition. Oh my god, it's my Tibetan Stool! I bought my Tibetan Stool three years ago at Pottery Barn, and I love it. Granted, I don't use it for really anything, least of all sitting on it, but I think it looks so cool. I wish I could find a picture of it, but apparently Pottery Barn doesn't sell this item anymore.

I had never known anyone else who also had the Tibetan Stool, but it was nice to see that someone else shared my taste. Not that no one else ever shops at Pottery Barn. Although, I have to say that I prefer Crate & Barrel, and my apartment looks like p. 17 of the catalog. One time, I was walking with another friend when I was out in California. We passed a Tibetan store, and I saw an exact "replica" of my stool! Wow, there it is! I told my friend, "Well, mine is much better and more authentic. It's the real thing. It's from Pottery Barn."

Saks

I went to Saks during my lunch break because I wanted to pick up something at the Kiehl's counter. I also wanted to check out the Fall Collections of some of my favorite designers.

Well, they've really spruced up Saks. My preferred store is Barneys. I always thought Saks was a distant also-ran and held no flame against either Barneys or Bergdorfs. But when I walked into Saks today, I was thoroughly impressed. The store seemed organized and the store management definitely upped the ante in the calibre of their brands. And overall the store seemed much more cohesive and logical in its presentation. They got rid of all the haphazard displays and put different brands together that made sense.

I saw a green zip-up cashmere pullover from Tse that I was itching to buy. It was so nice. It was a nice deep green color with a little bit of cable pattern. But I've really been trying to cut back on my spending.

I left the store with no purchases, not even anything from Kiehls. Wow, leaving Saks with no shopping bags in hand. How strong am I?

I'll be back...

I've been feeling so blah for the past week or so, and I can't seem to shake it. I promise I'll be back soon with some more fun blog entries.

No Broken Arm, No Opinion

Tomorrow, I have another X-ray scheduled for my arm. I hope I can finally stop wearing my splint and can start lifting weights again. My range of motion has improved a lot, but the bone is still broken.

Of the many comments of sympathy and amazement people said to me, the most irritating had to have been "I don't think you needed surgery. You should have gotten a second opinion." I'm thinking, "Hey. You weren't there!"

At least now I'm part of the broken bone club, and won't say stupid things like that.

Too Bad I Can't Get Paid To Do This

I'm back at work now, having missed the last two days due to my throat infection. It's very disturbing to me how good I am at doing absolutely nothing. My two days off consisted of sleeping, chatting online with a few friends, getting the mail (but only on one day), and watching Food Network and the National Geographic Channel. I did step out to see my doctor on Monday, so I at least got a little bit of light. It takes great skill to do nothing with so much purpose.

This reminds me of the weekend I spent a couple of weeks ago before I headed up to San Francisco with a friend of mine from college out in San Mateo where he lives. Except that weekend, we had xBox. I'm honestly too scared to get one on my own because it'll make me even more of a social hermit than I am now. Although, for a while, I was trying to think of a way I could pass off an xBox as physical therapy so I could spend my FlexSpend dollars on it. At any rate, doses of xBox are just fine, but my friend and I played Xbox ALL weekend. Well, we did get a chance to visit the Stanford Mall, and while it's a very nice mall, their Neiman Marcus, at least the Mens section, is a sorry excuse for a Neiman Marcus. It reminded of the Neiman Marcus in Tampa, which I've been to many times on my tennis training trips down there. We also spent a very boring hour at Jiffy Lube and then the Infiniti dealership trying in vain to figure out why a light was flashing in his dashboard. Turned out my friend left his gas cap off, which by the way though led us to a discussion of whether someone had clandestinely siphoned his gas because my friend swore he would never leave the gas cap off.

But the rest of the time, we played xBox. It's so much fun to play against someone else. And me and my friend played TopSpin for hours. Well, I, at least, at one point, went out for a run, while my friend napped.

So I guess looking back, me and my friend actually did do a fair amount compared to my last two days home sick from work. Wow, I guess really doing nothing can actually be challenging. It's an art.

There's a What In Your Mouth?!?

To add to my health maladies this year, I am now suffering from both a sinus infection and a throat infection. My head feels so congested and I can barely talk or swallow because my throat hurts so much.

I went to an Ear, Nose & Throat doctor today, and she told me some interesting things: a) I have a deviated septum, which apparently is very common, but I got all freaked out about this; and b) I have a tongue that's slightly disproportionately large for the size of my mouth. With my broken arm and rheumatic fever this year, I'm just a mess, healthwise.

Just when I was thinking I was the poster child for health deformities, my friend revealed something even more bizarre. She told me about a time in college when she and her friends were playing a drinking game. The game involved rolling back their tongues towards their throats (she told me not to even "ask".) My friend piped up and asked, "Should your tongue be behind the hole?". Her friends were like "What HOLE?". Apparently, my friend has a weird hole in the roof of her mouth and thought it was normal all this time.

When I heard this, I thought, "Whoa. That definitely beats my big tongue."

Rite of Spring

Last week, in San Francisco, I was hanging out at The Bar in the Castro. I got into a conversation with a guy whose name was Matt about classical music. Now, I am not a classical music buff. I mean, I know a lot of composers and a lot of styles, but that's just a relic of my Jeopardy/Academic Team days from high school. I don't really follow the scene or attend performances all that much. So I immediately felt at a little unease in this conversation compounded by the fact that I'm not a very good "small talker" in bar situations. I've always hated that about myself. I tend to clam up for some reason and can't think of anything to say.

I was racking my brain, trying to think of something interesting to say, when Matt asked me to name a piece of music that I really like. For some reason, the first piece I thought of was The Rite of Spring by Stravinsky. Matt gave me a surprised look. He said that he was surprised that someone with my limited classical music listening experience would name a modern piece like that. He expected me to name Bach or Beethoven or one of the more popular artists. Not to say that Stravisnky, particularly The Rite of Spring, isn't famous. It's one of the most famous symphonies ever composed. But I think most will agree that it's just not as "listening-friendly" as other pieces because of the seemingly dissonant, jarring and irregular sounds in the piece.

Matt asked me to think about why I chose that piece because he believed it reflected a lot about my personality. Well, that's a given, I thought. Everyone’s personal tastes echo elements of their personalities. So I didn’t take this too seriously. But this was probably the first semi-intellectual conversation that I’ve had in a while at a bar, and as I went back to my hotel that night, I did think about it.

I suppose the most popular use of The Rite of Spring is in Disney’s Fantasia. Supposedly when the symphony debuted, it caused riots in the Paris theater because the crowd was so discontented with the primitive raw sounds they were not accustomed to hearing. At first listen, it sounds discordant. The sounds are visceral, strong and contrasting. Not really what you expect to hear from a piece titled “The Rite of Spring.” It sounds like a swirl of different sounds and noises and you almost get the impression that Stravinksy stops when he finds a sound that he likes, but then leaves, giving fleeting glimpses of monstrous activities, instead of extended sequences.

When I thought about why I like this piece so much, I thought about the inaccessibility of it. The Rite of Spring keeps its listeners at a distance for two reasons. First, as I’ve said, it’s harsh-sounding. Secondly, it’s cerebral. I’m sure understanding this piece when it premiered took a bit of work. And that subtle intellect is almost a limitation for the piece, as it is for me sometimes. Now I’m not saying that I’m supremely intellectual or even smart. I’m really an idiot when it comes to a lot of things. But I do feel that I keep people at a distance. I suppose a large part of that is shyness. But sometimes I feel like the reason I can be so anti-social (note: I won’t go so as far as to say “single”) is that I can sometimes lack emotion or enthusiasm. I suppose my tastes and habits border on the ordinary. I like quiet nights out. I like playing sports. I like staying at home to watch tv. I like going to the gym and the grocery store. Even in the sports I play, I rarely play any sports that are in a team environment because I almost have a fear of relating and being accessible to my teammates.

At the same time, my interests and actions also used belie my age (I’m 28 now), similar to the forward-thinking of The Rite of Spring. My interests in clothes, for example, go beyond following the latest fashions and who’s wearing what. I like to explore brands and thoroughly research the history and legacy of brands. My passion for food indicates a pretty sophisticated and well-researched palate. As I entered my 20s, it was hard for me to find other people who shared the same interests. I often felt alone and not able to relate. I know a large part of this had to do with the fact that I didn’t come out that I was gay until I turned 25. Putting that aside, though, I felt and still do feel that it takes a lot to get to know me, mostly because I just may not be the warmest person or “funnest” person around at first.

Finally, I can also be very serious. At work or even social situations, I often zero in on getting stuff done and don’t partake in the joking around or more emotional situations that arise. This happened in college when I was a member of the Model UN club. I rarely attended the social events, but still rose rapidly through the ranks of the club and became well-known and respected because of that ability to focus on the work. When I worked at my old job, I managed a large number of people. But this time I used this intensity to my advantage and was able to separate myself from the drama that often took place, and I know people appreciated that. The Rite of Spring, I feel, can sound like that--intense, serious, and even despondent.

I think all of this can be traced to a self-fear of obsolescence. I’m terrified that I’ll be alone for the rest of my life and not feel "relevant." I don’t really feel that I’m weird or socially withdrawn. I go out once in a while and I have my circle of friends. At the same time, when I am in a situation where I’m meeting new people and not feeling totally confident, my mind sometimes almost races to think of something trendy or funny to say, like I almost have to justify why I’m there. As a consequence, I can come off as arrogant, which couldn’t be farther from the truth. I think anyone who knows me would learn that I have a strong personality that’s both familiar and unique; down to earth and quirky. Most people do, and if you make the effort, it’s usually worth it to find that out.

On a less personal note, and before this sounds like a Personal Ads profile, if you ever have the opportunity to see The Rite of Spring performed by a full orchestra, take it. The shivers that ripple out of the orchestra will blow you away.

It's Soul Train

Today I was watching some cartoons. I haven't done that in so long. Saturday morning cartoons were the best, especially because I didn't have cable growing up. But then Soul Train would come on and it'd be all over.

Wouldn't you know, Soul Train came on today at 1:00PM. Once again, I cried "ARGH." Some things don't change.

High School Horror

I went to a kind of snooty high school, and like most prep schools, our school has an alumni magazine. Back in May, I attended my 10th year high school reunion. It was actually a pretty pitiful showing. Only six of us out of a class of 65 kids showed up and we were one of the honored classes. All in all, I had a good time. I hadn't been back to Virginia in a while, and it was nice to see everyone, even though I was bored out of my mind after a day. I feel like I've changed a lot since high school, and I was eager to see how everyone else had.

So I left Virginia with all sorts of feelings of nostalgia. When I got back to New York though, Virginia and my high school years were quickly forgotten as I adjusted myself back to the pressure cooker of a city that I live in. Then one day I got my high alumni magazine in the mail. I flipped through it wondering if any of the pictures taken of me at the reunion were in this issue. Towards, the end, I finally come across a picture of me with the other members of my class. My eyes are CLOSED! I was horrified. I could not believe they used that picture!

I think my high school needs to recall every single issue of that magazine with that picture. I simply cannot have that picture floating around. It's too embarrassing.

On second though, nah, it can stay. I guess it gets people talking about me.

I'm back!

I'm back from San Francisco! I had a good trip this time and experienced lots of "firsts." Drove over the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time. Visited many cool restaurants including Bouchon, Chez Panisse and Domaine Chandon and got to visit Napa Valley for the first time.

All in all, I had a very nice week in SF, despite being shipped off there for work. I'll have some posts later this week about my trip!

Jury Reunion

Last week, in front of Fairway, I saw someone who looked vaguely familiar. Then I realized, it was Helen from my jury group! Not that Helen and I ended up being great friends or even exchanged any sort of contact info after our jury stint, but it was nice to reminisce. It was a little reunion on the street with one of my old jury buddies.

I had jury duty in December 2004, and I had the best time. After my experience, I urge everyone to do their civic duty and get on a jury! I told some people at work that jury duty was the best vacation I ever had. I only had to go in for about 4 hours a day, was out by 2PM, and then got to have the rest of the day to myself. Being near Chinatown, I also got to have dim sum every day. And the best part was that I was still getting paid my salary (I realize that not everyone on jury duty is this lucky.) I must have garnered a few strange looks as I cheerfully whistled while walking into the jury room. The sun was shining. I was on jury duty!

During my jury stint, I was interviewed for two trials. The first trial was a robbery with a judge who was the funniest guy ever. I actually later found out that he wrote the book, Carlito's Way. This guy was like that eccentric judge played by Paul Dooley on The Practice. Does anyone remember him? He was that crazy judge who was disillusioned by the judicial system and who would turn his court into a kangaroo court sometimes.

Anyway, Judge Torres was so funny. He'd interrupt everyone and always had some quippy remark to our answers to his background questions (i.e., our jobs, age, hobbies--I have no idea why he asked that.) He'd wave his hands in the air and chastise the lawyers for asking us "ridiculous" questions. He was hilarious.

The next judge I encountered was this quiet older woman and she was presiding over a drug-trafficking case. But the lawyers provided some more caricatures. The prosecutor was this mousy brown-haired white guy who just had no charisma whatsoever. I felt so bad for him.

The defense attorney, on the other hand, was like Johnnie Cochran. He'd wave his arms everywhere, screaming and yelling what he had to say. At one point, he rolled his pen off of the jury box ledge and onto the floor to demonstrate how without reasonable doubt, the prosecution's argument just "falls to the floor." Upon saying "floor" he stamped his foot to the ground like some televangelist.

During the jury interviews, we encountered some strange characters. One was this hippie woman who was a sculptor. Well she immediately got dismissed when she said she believed that all drugs should be legalized. But no way was I gonna say something like that. Jury duty was my ticket for a paid vacation from work and lawyers and documents that I had to deal with at the law firm. Probably the most provocative thing I said during the entire experience I said was that I did not believe a police officer to be any more of a credible witness than anyone else just because he was a member of the force. If anything, I really dislike the police because I think a lot abuse their power. The latest anecdote was how I heard a cop was caught looting TVs from a store devestated by Katrina. Um...where's he gonna plug it in? And dude, TVs don't float well.

We also had a trapeze artist in our jury pool. The judge asked him where he lived. "A tent," he said. "I travel with the circus." The judge had this quizzical look of disbelief on her face. "What?," she asked. The guy answered "Oh that address is just an office. I travel in a trailer with the Big Top Circus [which happened to be performing at Lincoln Center at the time]." The entire room, including the bailiff and lawyers were laughing. The judge was just dumbfounded. This had to be the most bizarre thing she had ever heard.

Well, in the end, I got picked. It was like my own Sally Field "You Like me, You really like me" moment. Hooray. Since I worked for a law firm, my managers just had to grin and bear it since obviously it'd be pretty embarrassing if they weren't supportive of me fulfilling my civic duty.

The trial was BOOORRING. The arresting officer gave the longest testimony and his examination went on for two days. The rest of the witnesses were short and quick and then it was time for the fun part: deliberation. The judge read us the charges again and gave us standard rules for jury conduct and then we were sequestered and left to our own devices.

I won't go into the complex legal nature of overcoming any burden of proof and finding someone guilty except to say that it is very difficult to say with any certainty that someone is guilty. Doubts gnaw at you and you try to be objective and not bring in any of your own personal views or experiences into the mix. But that's what makes jury duty so interesting. Juries, by nature and necessity, are random. Our two lawyers had done a very good job of selecting a diverse group of people, people who I probably would have never met otherwise. Our group included an inner-city high school teacher, a publisher, a corporate headhunter, a nurse, a doctor at St. Vincents, a couple of IT professionals, a PR guru for Crobar nightclub, and a legal case manager (me).

Our group deliberated for about a day and a half. Throughout it all, we got along very well. There were no jury power struggles and everyone listened to one another. We all had this bond and could make fun of everything in the courtroom and laugh conspiratorially. We took our job seriously and it was a bit unnerving to realize that you could send this person to jail. Although, I didn't let this my jury duty take over my life. On our second day of deliberation, one girl announced to us that she had been "haunted" by this whole experience and then started sobbing, almost uncontrollably. I was like "Whoa. I didn't take it THAT seriously."

In the end, we found the defendant "Not Guilty." Having rendered our verdict, we were done. The judge thanked us and dismissed out and I left the courtroom wondering whether I would see any of my jury buddies again.

Well, it happened last week, and I felt like I was seeing someone I went to high school with. Ah, jury buddies. Everybody should get one.

Free Chapstick!

Woo-hoo! I went to a company benefits presentation today and one of our insurance carriers gave us free chapstick. Yay! I'm a total lip balm/chapstick person. I have around 10 tubes of them at any one time to go in my coat pockets, backpack, work bag and on my desks at home and work.

I sometimes tell people how I think I'm a very boring person. Case in point here. Free chapstick tubes are the type of things that excite me.