Alle wollen in den Himmel, aber niemand will sterben.

I saw that quote today on the Facebook profile of one of my old ballet teachers. It means (roughly, with the help of Google Translate) "Everyone wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die." I think that German is a beautiful language. I'm jealous that one of my friends is becoming downright bilingual while I am perfecting my knowlege of a language I cannot speak - although there is a spoken Latin program at the University of Kentucky this summer that I could go to. I think German is the language I want to learn next. If I ever were to go back to school for classical studies I would need to know German. If I ever were to travel to Germany it would be nice to know German.

Anyway, I won't be able to do anything about this desire to learn another language for about four more months. Then it will be summer, and I will have a nice long time to do whatever I want. I'm not really sure everything that will involve. I need to figure it out soon.

I guess the theme of this post, if there is one, is that there are things I wish I could do; problem is, they take doing.

Which Boots Do You Like?

Made Me Laugh

This just needed to be shared. Found on the blog of a fellow Hillsdale alumn, I present...

Star Wars as told by someone who hasn't seen it!


Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

There's A Place For Us...

Ha!

While visiting Heather a couple weeks ago, I noticed a peculiar thing. Each time the subway trains approached and left a station, the screeching of the wheels seemed to play the first three notes of "Somewhere" from West Side Story. You know, "There's...a...place...(for us....somewhere a place for us...etc.)" Heather just thought I was imagining things because I was just excited to be in New York. But I kept hearing it. So I went home and looked up the song on YouTube and the similarities in pitch were undeniable. Then I turned to my other favorite website, Google, to do a little research. Turns out that I am not the only one to have been hearing things.

The Gothamist answers an inquiry on the subject.
The aptly-named blog "Lulled by the Train" discusses it.
Even the New York Times had an article on it.

I'm not insane! And just so you can experience it for yourself, here are Maria and Tony to sing for you. Unfortunately, the opening note is kind of inaudible...you have to wait until Maria starts singing to hear all thee notes together.



I feel like I need to apologize to Emily for the theme of this post. But what do you think, all you NYC travellers? Have you heard this before?

I'm Baaaaack!

I am now back in Maryland. Unfortunately, however, both of my winter coats are in Tennessee. 7 and 1/2 hours away. I am kind of looking forward to experimenting with my wardrobe to compensate.

Speaking of warmth, I'm planning on buying a space heater soon, since the house where I live is primarily heated with a wood stove, the heat from which is quite pleasant but does not circulate to my bedroom. Any suggestions on brand or type or size? (You shoudn't even need a Blogger profile to comment, dear non-blogging friends!)

The last few days I have been feeling kind of gloomy about leaving my family and heading back for two more trimesters worth of planning and grading and report cards (but not the teaching - still love the teaching), but as I got ready to leave this morning, I started feeling motivated again. Praise God! It was really quite pleasant to come back to my little room and hang up the gorgeous 2009 calendar that Laura got me for Christmas (see below) and light my little tea candles and unpack my wonderful shoes. It's enough to make up for a cold room and missing coats. (Boy, did that sound dismal. I promise I'm really quite content!)

Tired and Happy

Traipsed around Manhattan all day today in the freezingly blustering weather.

• Saw Ground Zero and went shopping in the Gap in the World Financial Center building.
• Took numerous pictures in Trinity Church.
• Saw Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange.
• Rode the Staten Island Ferry and saw the Statue of Liberty.
• Watched a Steps on Broadway class taught by GELSEY KIRKLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Went to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and watched archival dance videos of Gelsey Kirkland (this one was planned but the last one was not).
• Am now physically and emotionally exhausted.
  
  It was good.

If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere...

Greetings from New York City and the borough of Brooklyn! I'm sitting in one of those circle chairs in the loft of Heather's lovely apartment. From the window that is right beside me I can see the rooftops of nearby buildings (she lives on the top floor of hers - and gets a stair workout every day, let me tell you), the Williamsburg bridge, and the skyline of lower Manhattan. I also see a lot of dripping. It has been snowing for the past week or so, but last night the temperature must have risen above freezing because I think it's actually raining. Despite the constant complaining of Sarah and Heather, and the fact that I almost slipped and died several times yesterday, I liked the snow. I felt like I was getting an authentic New York experience.

And an authentic experience I am getting! The title of this post refers to my survival of the NY transit system. It also refers to several conversations we've had about Heather actually living here. We both feel that after dealing with what this city has to offer, we can handle pretty much any other city in the United States. Maybe even world? I'm sure each metropolis presents its own challenges, but just listen to this tale of woe. Friday night I arrived pretty late, due to traffic right outside of DC. The bus, DC2NY, was GREAT, by the way: clean, friendly staff, safe-looking passengers, in-flight movie (I can't help but call it that), footrests, and a free bottle of water.

So arriving at Penn Station around midnight, I piled out of the bus with the rest of the passengers and followed the crowd down into the subway. And it was very different from the bus, let me tell you. After following the very confusing signs to the E train, I had to get a metro card. I already had figured out what type I was getting: 7-day unlimited. I tried to pay with my my debit/credit card, but it kept asking for a New York zip code and then wouldn't process the order. I finally figured out I should press the "ATM card" option and I got my card. I got on the right train, but then missed my stop to switch over to the L train. Once I figured that out, I got off, hopped across the platform and got on a train going back. At the 14th St/8th Ave metro station there was a little hike to get to the train I wanted. But what should I find after lugging my heavy bags all that way? That the L train has no service to this stop on late nights during the holiday. Instead, we were given a pass for the bus outside which would take us all the way over to 1st Ave where the train resumed service to Brooklyn. It was one crowded bus. Having reached said station, I got on a train which went backwards to 3rd Ave, then turned around and took us to the Bedford stop across the river, at which point I had to get off that train and get on another one which took me all the way to Heather's neighborhood. Hooray! I have marks on my shoulders from where my bags were digging into my skin. I guess I should have packed more efficiently? A rolling suitcase probably would have helped a lot.

Anyway, the rest of the trip has more than made up for it, and I'm less than halfway through my stay here. Yesterday, Saturday we just slept in. Sleep, glorious sleep. I had gotten about an hour's rest the night before, and Heather had had a stressful week, so we all just voted for a relaxing day. Around 2pm, she, her sister Sarah, and I all went to Bedford to eat at the vegetarian cafe Bliss. I had the soup of the day (guaranteed vegan - that day it was split pea) with a warm wheat roll. Heather had the same. Sarah even mangaged to find something she could tolerate, French toast with amazing looking blackberries and bananas on top. Then we came home to meet the locksmith for the mailbox, clean the living room, and chill out for the rest of the afternoon. Heather made some delicious salad while we were waiting. I also got to take short nap to refill my sleep reserves. Then, around seven o'clock we headed out to see...the Nutcracker!

It was such a thrill to see the Lincoln Center, after reading and hearing so much about it. So many famous people - dancers, choreographers, and everyone else who has touched the world of dance in America - have come through that building. I remember reading a book when I was younger about a little girl who got to dance the role of Clara in NYCB's Nutcracker, and this was just like I remembered. Balanchine's version is quite distinctive. It's very fairy tale and child-centered. The costumes and sets are brilliant. The choreography was all speedy and neoclassical and, well, Balanchine. It was very interesting to see that after being around so much classical Russian Vaganova stuff. I got to see the famous Dewdrop costume which I had read about and seen once in Pointe Magazine. The girl who danced Dewdrop was amazing, by the way. Let me go find out what her name was. Oh yes, Sara Mearns. I think that was my favorite part. Some of the costumes were a little too gaudy and colorful for me, some of Blanchine's tweaks were just a little too weird (extra music added in the middle of Act I?), but Dewdrop was amazing and the peformance as a whole was spectacular. It hardly felt like two hours before it was over. I definitely need to go back - and in fact I am planning to go back to Lincoln Center on Monday to visit the New York Public Library for the Peforming Arts.

On the way home we were going to stop for sushi, but since it was closed we went to a Thai restuarant across the street. I got crispy tofu in red curry sauce with brown rice. Mmm. And there were leftovers...yes! We put in The Santa Clause (in order that my Christmas movie education might be furthered) and I fell asleep halfway through. Which brings us to now.

Today we're planning to go to 12 o'clock mass at Saint Patrick's Cathedral (if Heather and Sarah ever wake up) and then see a lot of the famous sights in midtown. If it keeps raining, our experience should be very...authentic...but fun nonetheless. Well, off to start the day!