Redesign

I love rearranging furniture. I suppose this is one girly thing about me, not that there are many more. I do love wearing the color pink, and I adore having long hair. But that's about it, I think.

Anyway, yesterday was a big day for sprucing up the apartment. J. figured out how to pick up a good signal for network HDTV, which is cool, I guess. Now I can watch the Superbowl in highest quality!! Said discovery led to a mass redecoration, as J.'s computer formerly occupied the bedroom, and mine was in the living room.

So we switched everything up. We exchanged the locations of the computer first and foremost, and then I placed myself in charge of creating the rooms around the functionality of the PCs. For example, the couch in the living room was relocated to face the windows, and the computer is directly in front of the couch. The bedroom was rearranged big time, and now my computer has morphed into a stereo, as I usurped the nice speakers and the receiver for ultimate stereo-ization.

A strange side effect of the bedroom is that it now feels like *my* room, because my computer is here. So I feel like a teenager again, and have been feeling really compelled to listen to the greatest hits of my teenage years. I've already listened to Abbey Road, which was practically the soundtrack to the Day and AFK years, and now I am listening to Nirvana Unplugged.

With these thoughts, the food is now ready and I am off to indulge in some Indian food without bothering to edit this post! So you have been treated to pure stream-of-conscious writing, and I will most likely be embarrassed by typos, or run-on sentences. So is life, I guess.

Also, as a bonus, pictures to come, since the camera FINALLY has batteries, as I guess J. decided to relent on his rechargeables-only stance, which I agree with in principle, though I wish they were easier to find because I have been feeling very compelled to take pictures lately.

The End.

Saturdays

I had forgotten how much I love to have weekends off. Ever since I graduated from Western, I've worked in environments that required me to work at least one day of every weekend. The only exceptions were those weekends I played with the TSO and spent that time in a resort town in Northern Michigan. Those were the days.

Anyway, today is my first Saturday off during which I am gainfully employed. The options are endless! I can actually make plans to go out on Friday and Saturday nights like a "regular" person!

Besides this, I am so far enjoying my new job. It's easy thus far, as I'm mainly responsible for getting library parts and scores ready for shipping, which requires little more than taking sets of the shelves and making sure that every part is accounted for, and then placing them on the shelf to be boxed and shipped.

I'm starting to think that many jobs require preparation and education (I wouldn't be there unless I had extensive experience in an orchestra, I think), but once you get there, it turns out that the job requirements are such that, really, anyone could do it. Kind of like playing fourth horn in an opera orchestra. :)

In any case, I feel much more calm and settled than I have in a long, long time, which is a welcome feeling to be sure. I have big plans for my salary, which include a membership at the Y, taking horn lessons here and there, attending the occasional concert and starting a decent savings account.

I'm also very, very happy that my life in New York is shaping up to be tolerable, at long last.

Nerd Confession

I am a huge nerd for the subway system here in NYC. I am obsessed with learning about the history and the initial design of the system, and I am still on a quest to find out just what happened to the 9-train.

On my way to the city yesterday, I made a last minute decision at Queensboro Plaza to take the N-train to Union Square instead of staying on the 7 and transferring to the 4 or 5 trains.

I am so glad I did.

As is customary whilst waiting on the platform, I peeked my head out over the track in order to ascertain the arrival time of the next train. What I saw heading my way was nothing short of magnificent: a brand new subway car design!

I was so geeky and giddy for the rest of the ride to Union Square. I basked in the new and improved features that were evidently premiered on this edition of the subway car du jour:

• A rotating digitized listing of the stops. This display actually highlights the next station, so one can appropriately zone out while en route. It also lists stops that are farther along, AND tells you how many stops are left before your destination. Pure genius, I'd say.
• A sleek black "engine" with an illuminated display of the letter or number of the train.
• Lots and lots of windows. While this train is essentially in the lineage of the 1963 model, it has about twice the window space.
  
• As with the 4, 5, 6 and 2 trains, the new model has those comfy light blue bench type seats, with the safety bars on the ends near the doors.
• Also as with the 4, 5, 6 and 2 trains, the doors are staggered. This in essence provides a better flow, so that a group of people don't lodge themselves between the two doors, making it impossible for new passengers to enter onto the train.

I've been keeping my eye out for any signs of the new subway cars, but as of yet have not seen any. But, I hope they produce lots and lots of them, because I am really tired of that 1963 model; it has bench-like seats that are oddly pitched, so you slide all over the place when the train changes velocity. And I am growing weary of the other newer design, which has the seating area pre-segmented into spots for individual butts. Not a whole lot of New Yorkers are proportioned so as to fit comfortably side by side in them, and it is painful to sit between two seats. I much prefer those new light-blue benches, in which you can decide how close to your neighbor you'd like to be.

Alright, that's about all the waxing nerdlike I can manage for the day. Peace out.

As Lorn Would Say, Huzzah!

I am officially making my first step in re-entering middle class America.

That's right people. As of this morning, I am in official possession of a full-time salaried job with benefits! I could not be happier and more relieved. Or more excited to plan a trip to the doctor.

In interest of that whole employees who blog=dangerous debate, I won't link to the company here. Suffice it to say that my employers are one of the largest music publishing companies, and my job is to be a part of the team that provides those hard-to-find scores to symphonies and universities... well, music programs in general. You know, those parts you're supposed to erase before you turn them in.

So, as of this moment, I have two mornings to get my sleep schedule back on track. Such is the life of the 9-to-5.

Superbowl Shuffle

I'm not a huge sports fan. I do love watching professional golf and I might take the occasional nap while baseball soothingly plays in the background.

Despite this, I am psyched and ready to go for the NFC championship this afternoon. In a bizarre twist of fate, my home team is playing J.'s home team for the rights to go into the Super bowl. The Saints have never advanced this far, apparently, and it's been since the mid-80's that the Bears have turned in a decent season. The stakes are high!

Because we've been watching on my ancient 20-inch teevee with built in VCR, J. is working on getting a connection on his flat screen monitor. There's nothing worse than watching sports on the smallest teevee known to man kind. It's far better to watch it in high def, with surround sound and in wide screen to boot.

Countdown to pre-game is one hour. I'm on my way out for some snackies and maybe a pint of Ben and Jerry's. Nothing says football like laziness and gluttony.

Snowflakes

I saw flurries of snow for what is recorded to be the second snowfall of the season, but I consider it the first. Because the previous sighting of snow occurred in Brooklyn, I don't think it counts.

The temperature is also beginning to represent winter-like conditions, which makes me happy. I like the four seasons, and was not necessarily happy with the extended fall. It doesn't allow for the cozy winter wear.

Before you express surprise that I actually left my apartment today, I should let you know that I had a job interview. It sure would be nice if I actually secured said job, because that would be a nice and tidy end to my procrastination in finding a salaried full-time job.

Otherwise, I've been avoiding thinking about getting a job, wishing that I had a degree that helped me in this regard, and racking up the community orchestra gigs. I've had too many offers for a short period of time, which is a surprise to me! Taking orchestra gigs, though, interrupts what is at the moment my favorite outlet for making music, which comes in the form of the newly formed horn quartet of which I am a part.

Sharing the Love

There's a meme going around. I haven't been tagged, exactly, but I'm out of content for this a-here blog, so I'm doing it anyway.

5 Things You Probably Don't Know About Me:

1. I notice a direct correlation between the time I spend blogging and my typing skills in general. Which means, during times like this, when the blog is quiet, I can't type worth a shit.

2. Yesterday I played my scales in the circle of fifths for the first time in about a year. I promptly decided that I should do so far more often.

3. I hate bananas, but I force myself to eat them. I think, unless they are at THE PERFECT age, which is measured within minutes, that the texture is disgusting and the taste isn't great either. But I still make myself eat bananas because they are extremely healthy and filling.

4. I am obsessed with having clean ears. In fact, I may have crossed the line and am now OCD about it. I seriously Q-tip at least once a day. And I'm well aware that this may not be the healthiest thing.

5. I have a standing goal, now that I am unemployed, to take daily walking tours of Manhattan so that I can know the city as well as possible. I have lots and lots of exploring to do, and I am excited about this!

Since this is a meme, I hereby tag everyone on my link list to the right to carry on this trend.

Lazy

Lately, I've had this mental image of myself that reminds me of Mojo, Homer's helper monkey. Whilst lounging carelessly on the floor, I languidly raise my arm up from the floor and wave questions off with a resounding "meh."

Perhaps this is a portent of days to come. I am now (as of the past 1.5 hours) without employment, and my calendar is blissfully uninhabited at the moment. After five months of silliness and undue stress, I am relishing the fact that I can indulge thoroughly and without remorse in some overdue extreme laziness.

I just need to buy some TV dinners and some Ben and Jerry's, and I'll be all set to go.

Reading List

A few books that I recently completed:

• The Known World by Edward P. Jones
• The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Books I am in the middle of:

• The Tao De Ching, a New Version by Stephen Mitchell
• The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the World's Most Astonishing Number by Mario Livio
• Moral Disorder by Margaret Atwood
• The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene
• Best American Short Stories 2006, edited by Ann Patchett
• How to Make a Good Brain Great by Daniel G. Amen
  

My growing pile of books to read:

• Beyond Talent: Creating a Successful Career in Music
• Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe
• The Art of Practicing by Madeline Bruser
• The Well of Lost Plots (A Thursday Next Novel) by Jasper Fforde
• Intelligent Thought: Science Versus the Intelligent Design Movement, edited by John Brockman

Wow. Looks like I've got lots of reading to do!

Despite the non-fiction tendencies of this list, I'm still looking for a really great novel to delve into. Any suggestions?

Embracing Uncertainty

The other day I did something that I've never done ever before in my whole entire life: I quit my job without having anything else lined up.

After a day or two of panicking, I have come to realize that this is the right thing to do, and for a variety of reasons. For one, I cannot stand my manager, and for another (a more positive reason) I want to have as many experiences as I can and meet as many people as I can while I'm here in New York. After all, I am not certain how long I'll be here. And if that means working at Macy's, I'll do it.

So it's done. I wonder what I'll get myself into next.