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This is the category of stuff that doesn't fit into any of the other categories.
Church Hopping (even though I’ve found my church)
Sunday, August 22, 2004
I’ve discovered that, at least for now, church hopping is my form of being social.
Almost all the people I’ve met here so far are church goer. They’re not necessarily SDA, and so they have lots of options when it comes to which church they want to attend. As for me, I’ve got my church – it’s the SDA church called Advent Hope. I’ve been there once, but I think I’ve already joined the choir. I’m pretty excited about that.
In any case, I checked out this Bible study for the church Redeemer which is apparently really big and wonderful. Their pastor is famous and preaches very well. He, however, is gone til September, so I won’t be heading there until he is back.
Today, I went with Joe, Jen, and Norm to Times Square Church (TSC). Now that is a church. It meets at a theater and packs in about 8000 people. There are annexes just to house those who can’t actually obtain a seat. I’ve included a picture of the stage so you can get an idea of what it was like.
The choir was huge, their voices were wonderful, and the place was buzzing with energy! Everyone was into it, clapping, swaying, singing. The word “vibrant” comes to mind. The pastor, who I suppose is also famous, was David Wilkerson. He had a powerful talk about not compromising the Bible principles just because we’re afraid of offending someone. “Don’t spread a watered-down Gospel!” he boomed. I really appreciated his message. It’s funny because he used the same verse that the Redeemer Bible study group discussed on Friday night (Gal. 2:11-14).
In any case, after the service, the newcomers were herded into a smaller room where we were greeted by the church’s Hospitality Team who fed us refreshments, small talked, and prayed with us. I asked them how one finds one’s niche in such a large church. Hilory, our Hospitality Team member told us that we could join a ministry, but that one could not join until we had been attending church for about 6 months. I later found out more details from Jen who goes to TSC regularly. Not only must you wait for 6 months, but you also have to apply to be a part of a ministry team. That involves a filled form and an interview to see if you are fit to serve. THEN you can begin to find your niche. I have no idea what happens if they find that you are NOT fit to serve.
I really had beef with that concept, and I think I might have laid into Jen a little much considering I just met her this morning. :S I think she might have been offended. But really, come one, you have to QUALIFY to serve God? Gimme a break! So needless to say, if I want a high energy, Broadway-production-like service, I’ll go there, but for actual fellowship, I’m glad I have my small cozy church.
My First Pair of New York Shoes!
Friday, August 20, 2004
I felt it my duty as a “real” New Yorker (ala Sarah Jessica Parker’s character on Sex & the City) to buy a pair of expensive shoes!
Yesterday, Joe and I went to the Barney’s Warehouse sale. It was a mad house in the women’s deparment. The aisles were strewn with the torn remains of bargain items while piles of rejected pieces litted the floor. Women snarled at each other in primal rage over the bargain bin. The prices ranged from about $125 and up. In other words, i didn’t really shop that much. Then we headed downstairs to the mens stuff.
Surprisingly, the guys section was much more robust. Lines of suit coats and pants, sport coats and outerwear stood in organized racks in the basement. Not only was it in better shape, ther was so much more of it than the women’s section! That’s the first time i’ve seen more of a selection for men than women!
In any case, while Joe was plundering the guys section, I went to look for black shoes. Wouldn’t you know it? They only had one pair of closed-toe black shoes in the 8.5 section. So I bought them! Hehehe I really don’t like shoe shopping, so i’ll do anything to get it done quickly. They were originally $220, but i got them for $50. Not bad, i think. I felt like a real New Yorker all of a sudden - buying exorbitantly priced (but nicely discounted) footwear. They ain’t no Manolos, but hey, it’s a start!
What do you think of t hem?
My Block
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Welcome to the upper west side near Harlem - care to take a tour?
I figured *everyone* would be DYING to see where i live. ;) So i’ve posted a couple pics of my surroundings. So far, it’s pretty nice. I’ve got an interesting cultural mix going - lots of black and hispanic (aaah, reminds me of home), a bit white, a bit asian, and a couple of other as yet unidentified peoples. There are just so many ethnicities that i have no idea about here! I’m so fascinated! I hear all different languages around me, and i can’t even begin to guess what they’re speaking! doh! I really like the mix here, though. It makes me feel more at home.
In the afternoon, there’s a lot of people out. People sit on the stairs in front of their houses, teens playing baseball in the street, kids biking and running around, everyone playing basketball at the nearby school courtyard. Apparently there are a lot of construction workers around here too - she calls the way to the subway station “The Walk of Shame” because they always yell lewd and suggestive things at her. I’m beginning to realize that that’s just normal NYC fare.
So i’m trying to make a habit of running in Central Park everyday. This is difficult because 1) it’s running - that’s *hard*, 2) the park is soooo big i get lost every time! and 3) it’s bloody humid out here! Oh yeah, then there’s the problem of getting abducted or mugged, but whatever. It’s a beautiful park. I just went to a concert there tonight. It was actually a pay-for concert, but we just camped out behind the last row of the stadium on the woodchip covered terrain and got a free ride! Woot! We heard Patty Griffin, Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings. I’ve never heard of any of these guys before, but they’re great. I really enjoyed the folk music.
Ok, enough gabbing for now. Here are the pictures I promised of my neighborhood and of my apartment in its various stages.
The entrance to my apartment
My street
People ballin’ in the school courtyard
The first day in my bedroom
The kitchen/livingroom/hallway table - it’s so versatile!
The living room
The SURPRISE waiting for me in the living room...
The development of my room - part 1
The development of my room - part 2
The shelf that exploded in the corner of my room...
I’d like to mention that if anyone ever wanted to lose weight, they should move to NYC. There are SO MANY FREAKIN’ STAIR EVERYWHERE! I’ve felt my quads cramp up and my calves turn rock hard from the four flights of narrow stairs that i travel up and down to my apartment w/ no elevator. As you can imagine, the moving of boxes and suitcases up all of that was not fun. Yeah, work out and lose weight! Move to NYC!
Anyway, i’m still trying to get a beat on this place. I’ll write more about it when i figure it all out...which should be any minute now. ;)
Bondage
Monday, August 16, 2004
My last memorable day in Cali was memorable for a very unforeseen reason…
Weeping, tearing of hair, gnashing of teeth…is that what you expected me to say about my last day? Ah, if only it were that.
Let me start from the beginning. Taylor and Carrie from across the street made me a little box in which they stuffed various articles of randomness including pens, flowers, and a glass star. Pasted on the outside were letters from them both. Carrie had glued a 2nd grade picture of herself onto it as an accent. Touched but unable to take the whole box with me, I looted it for its contents and peeled Carrie’s picture off of the side, intending to keep it in my wallet. The problem: the back was all sticky from the glue. What to do, what to do.
So after a teary goodbye at the curbside, I went to my parents’ house, photograph in hand, to finalize the departure to the airport. I thought, “If I can just stick some paper on the back of this, it’ll take care of the whole thing.” Problem again: the glue had dried out just the precise amount to be annoyingly not sticky enough to append to paper.
Determined, I hunted the house for some kind of glue. In the darkness of the downstairs kitchen I found a tube which I thought was a glue stick. Wrong. Very very wrong. I opened it and a smaller tube dropped out. I couldn’t really make it out since the lights weren’t on so I touched the top of it. Bad decision number one. Then I realized it was glue. Krazy glue. And the cap of the tube was not coming off my finger. Then my fourth digit touched the third digit and promptly stuck.
I ran to the bathroom and tried to wash it off. I mean, I had my doubts about how strong Krazy Glue actually was. Make no mistake - it’s really really strong. I this point I had to talk myself out of a panic. Nothing like leaving home with your fingers glued together with a push-pin like cap stuck to one of them!
My dad had this glue solvent that we tried first. It did nothing. Then I read the outside of the Krazy Glue container. It said, “In case of skin bonding, use Acetone based nail polish remover.” Hallelujah! For some reason I had nail polish remover! I don’t think I even *own* nail polish! I was saved!
Although I gottta say, this would have been a lot MORE memorable (and this post a lot harder to write) if I had to go to NY with a gimpy left hand that was stuck in that position forever…
The food dilemma
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
Leaving Cali means that i get to catch up with everyone before i leave, BUT that also means a lot of “lets go out to eat...”
No usually this is the best kind of news, but for some reason or another, (I actually think it’s due to anxiety and stress), my stomach has just been unhappy. It always feels like i’m ravenously hungry or seriously over-gorged. Either way, it feels the same - painful. Bleah.
So what do i do?
I’ve thought of several solutions -
1) There’s what David calls the “G-tube” which is basically a tube that is directly linked to the stomach and can be used to suction out unwanted masses of food. His vision is that it will be installed into bodies of the rich and famous, making the cap for it jewel-encrusted in order to keep it a status symbol. Basically it’s bulimia without the side effects of acid corroded teeth and nails.
2) I could take a product that my company used to sell called Diet Lean which i’m sure is positively the WORST thing you could possibly take. It allows food to pass through your system undigested. I dunno, it just sounds like a shoddy deal to me. Warnings like, “You may experience explosive diarrea or severe gas or anal leakage” make me a little wary.
or
3) Simply don’t eat. Boooooo.
So many choices, so little sense. What’s a girl to do? I’m thinking the G-tube is the most favorable option…
And now i will post a completely unrelated picture just for fun!
Weeeeeee! I’m freeeeeeeee!
Finally freaking out
Friday, July 30, 2004
With my move to NY only 2 weeks away, I’m beginning to feel a little scared…
Despite all of the Sex & the City hype, all the things you see if every romantic movie, and the fact that it’s a totally happening place, etc., i’m facing displacement fears. This doesn’t mean that I’m not going to move, of course, but it just makes these last couple of days in Cali a little more heart-racing/floor-pacing than i had anticipated.
I haven’t even begun to pack. How do you move your whole life 3000 miles away with just 3 suitcases and a box? I guess that’s more than a lot of people have. I believe it’s best to live light - possessions seem to slow you down and make it difficult to make drastic decisions in time of need.
In any case, the end of this chapter of life draws to a close soon. A new chapter is about to begin.