April 3, 2005

• Topic: blogs

  
  

  Well…i’ve been starting blogs up all over the place.  I have a blog for Wash U, I just started one for Outward Bound, and I recently discovered an Outward Bound community on LiveJournal, so at some point I’m going to look more into that.

  
  

  I’ve gone through several phases on this blog.  In my personal life…i’ve been reflecting on many things that I’d normally share, but have chosen to keep in my private journals.  I’ve been experiencing a bit of uncertainty about my path in life (not just professionally, but as a person/personality), and I guess I’ve grown a bit self-conscious about revealing it all.

  
  

  So…what to write about?

  
  

  My sister is considering teaching abroad, looking for some adventure.  The idea just came upon her last night…I tend to have a bad influence on people when it comes to wanderlust.  Anyways…if anyone knows of any good programs, teaching or otherwise (her background is in food, nutrition, fitness), any advice would be great.

  
  

  The next 2-days are prep days for a course I’ll be assisting on starting on Wednesday.  I think getting back on course will bring me back to life a bit, since I’ve been thinking and writing about education extensively for about a year now, so it’s about time to get some practice in.

  
  

  alright…i’m gonna do some “creative” non-fiction to get that out of my system:

  
  

  On Friday…I wandered the Lower East to the Lower West side of Manhattan.  I passed by a Jewish bakery, and picked up some small challah rolls for lunch.  I continue to walk until I found some free benches in Washington Square Park, by NYU.  I cracked open my jar of peanut butter, and with my finger, smeared some of the chunky deliciousness onto my two rolls. 

  
  

  I put on a cd of Rachel Yamagata, who I lack the creativity to describe, but whose cd I own only because I saw her play as an opening acts to some more well known bands.  About an hour passed, the big fast crazy world moving around me, without me.  When the cd ended and I was whipped back into the immediacy of the moment, I went crusing along the city some more.  

  
  

  I passed by a funky building covered with old bike tires and old toys.  A note on the door said, “free exhibit, please knock.”  I knocked, and was led into a two-room art gallery, walls full of not-quite paintings, not-quite collages, not-quite a display of old toys.  The woman described it as “fusion art,” then flipped a switch and a large robot named “Dick” began to dance, next to another robot, whose name I think was “boobs.”  I was smiling at the idea of this hidden funhouse.  For all I know…Willy Wanka’s Chocolate Factory actually exhists somewhere in New York City. 

  
  

  After snapping some photos, two young kids (it feels wrong to describe them as so, but they were two young black kids) came in, with grins as big as mine.  The art director commented, “you guys back again?” to which the kids replied, “This place if fun.”  I realized I was right to trust my instincts about this place being about fun as much as being about art.  Apparenlty it’s the only fusion art gallery in NYC (if i couldn’t find a link…i couldn’t believe i saw it myself)

  
  

  

  
  

  Walking around w/ my hiking backback on, I picked up some Italian bread for dinner that night which I stuck on top of my back.   It stook out, making me look like a Frenchman.  Picked up some wine as well, South African to remind me of my time there, from the Stellenbosch region.

  
  

  Before dinner that Friday, I took in some religion, or rather, some Jewish culture.  The synagogue is called BJ’s, and is actually in a church.  Next to the Jewish prayer book, was a Christian book of hymns.  The fact that the 86th st. synagogue was an “event to see,” grabbed my interest.  Why was it such an event?  Maybe it was the band, that played beautiful tunes that filled the chuch like a symphony hall.  Maybe it was the spontaneous dancing in the aisles, or the rabbis calls for “more energy,” like Ben Stiller in Keeping the Faith.  It was an interesting experience, which didn’t capture me spiritually, but captured my appetite and made the wait for dinner that much more spiritual.

  
  

  Sat. evening was spent w/ my other sister.  It was her treat for dinner, which is something I’ve grown used to being both the youngest and poorest in the family.  I had swallowed a few pints of AbitaTurbo dog brew at a bar called the Dive Bar beforehand, so all my mouth was watering for was pizza.  My sister got some sushi first, brought it to the Famiglia pizzaria on 95th, and I decided to have some fine dining of spinach pizza.  Healthy and greasy…the perfect combination.

  
  

  And that my friends…is a short chapter from my weekend.  This morning was spent getting a few hairs cut for a whopping $17 (that’s NYC currency), subway to Time Square, walk to Port Authority, 1:30 Greyhound to Baltimore, arrived 5:30, read a chunk of the Kite Runner, which came highly recommend from my sister’s book club, and after flying through the first 100pages I’d agree with the recommendation, walked 30minutes to Camden Yards, caught the light rail to Saratoga St., waited 15min. for the number 15 bus to Security Square Mall, rode the bus 40min. and got off at Leakin’ Park, home to the Crimea, which is the Outward Bound staff house in Baltimore. 

  
  

  now a g’night to all

  
  

  -Dan

  • 10:53 pm
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