Hello Broadway!

I love this photo! Chloe looks as cute as can be with her eyes squeezed shut.

Excursions in NYC with friends are delightful. We ate lots of good food and last night went and saw a hysterical Off-Broadway show called "Altar Boyz"-- Boy Band meets Evangelical Christianity in a satirical little show. I honestly expected it to be much more critical in its social commentary. It was hysterical and surprisingly generous! The characters were really lovingly written.

Three days ago it was 60 degrees. Today it is 22 degrees.... ?!?! Weird.

I am supposed to meet some friends for dinner. Taxi please!

Wishing you well no matter what madness the weather has brought you today! :-) Cheers from New York!

SNOW DAY!

My toes are cold and my cheeks are rosy red. I am quite satisfied with the last two hours of my life. My friends Tina and Chloe got snowed in here in New York, so we took a long meander through Central Park. They fly out later tonight and then I suppose I should do some work. Sidestepping some crazy sledders and avoiding the wind tunnel that is 5th avenue, we found our way into the heart of this winter wonderland. Took some photos of these funny looking statues adorned in white. I should have a name for this series. Wait... I am not feeling creative. If YOU are feeling creative you can name the series instead.

This was all very ironic because 2 days ago it was 60 degrees and I was taking pictures of the first signs of spring (daffodils and crocuses beginning to bloom in the park!!). And now? COLD. At least it was a snow day and snow days are good.

TIMES SQUARE

There are some hilarious things about this city. Times Square tends to be a place for tourists and usually I don't spend much time where Broadway meets advertising and electricity in a sea of wonderful people from all over the world. But today I was with two friends visiting from Seattle and I was reminded again why people come to visit this particular part of the city. It is full of bizarre and wonderful sights and sounds. Waiting in line for tickets gives you a chance to study the visitors, camera-clad and full of wonder (and fatigue?), and I was delighted with what I saw. Hands in mittens holding hands in mittens as young lovers leaned in close. Aspiring actors passing out flyers and dancers stretching unknowingly on street corners while waiting for the light to change.

Times Square gets its name from the "New York Times" building that was erected just after the turn of the 20th century. I believe this is also the origin of the famous New Year's Eve celebration-- the newspaper threw a huge New Year's party and the tradition has continued every year for over a century now! Pretty impressive.




We ate lunch in Grand Central Station, which is a marvelous place, but also full of sadness. We sat next to a homeless man who slowly sipped an orange soda and struggled to pull up the sleeve his coat while some nasty tourists nearby chuckled uncomfortably.



He seemed especially lonely at that moment as dozens of people looked on as he struggled with his coat. If I was a better person would I have stood to help him? Or would I have shamed him? Insert a long sigh here.

CAUTION?

Anyone else have the February blues? I am so tired of Winter. I bundled up and hurried out of work today to try to get a few minutes of fresh air, but of course the wind was blowing and three layers of clothing didn't cut it. I made it three blocks and then had to turn around and come home.

I am dying for Spring. Trying to be as chipper as possible, but just not feeling it at the moment.

Here is a lesson I want to learn in the coming weeks: I need to loosen my grip on life a bit. As my yoga instructor suggests, I really need to lead with my heart and less with my head. This seems like a very good idea. But it is tough to teach an old dog new tricks. Especially when the arctic freeze is chilling my bones! :-)

Here's wishing you a day full of adventure and glimpses of Spring!

A long weekend

Did you know you can buy a time machine online?! I accidentally came across a website advertising one when I typed a web address incorrectly. The internet is weird. But it also is quite the gem. You can share your world with people ALL over the world and that is what I will do in this blog posting. This is a summary of my long, wonderful weekend thru pictures:



















Visitors are the perfect excuse to explore and play!

































And there are very few cities as cool as New York for exploring.



















It was cold and windy, but we had lots of blue sky. I felt like NYC was on its best behavior for Udo, my friend visiting from Germany. Between the cupcakes, Valentine's chocolates, cappuccinos, and my favorite tea shop, there were plenty of sweets to keep us going.

We went to Grimaldi's pizza under the Brooklyn Bridge, went to Speed the Plow (broadway show about Hollywood-- go figure), and ate lots of good food.

I love this city.

a day in the village

I am in a coffee shop in Greenwich Village drinking a mocha with a million books around me (very few things more soothing than this) where the sales support an organization that improves housing opportunities for at-risk individuals in New York City. This is an excellent income generator, but I feel slightly bourgeois sitting here sipping my beverage. Maybe I don't know what bourgeois means. Anyway, I brought two things to read with me: a commentary on Isaiah 40 and some documents I picked up from the Presbyterian UN office that articulate strategies for implementing the Millennium Development Goals, but neither are drawing me in. Instead I am eyeing some short stories on a shelf near me.

I like this place. I like what people are wearing. Funky glasses and wool hats. Corinthian columns hold up high ceilings and patrons look on with envy as two oblivious lovers sit enrapt with one another, palpable electricity igniting the air around them.

Isaiah 40 is a beautiful passage that begins, "Comfort, O comfort my people" and I can hear my Old Testament professor Dr. Miller speaking these words in only the way he could.... with that subtle southern drawl that cradles the words and the air that holds them. His musical intonation helped me discover the poetry of this passage in a new way and as I read it again I am reminded of how fresh these words of promise are for every generation. For our Zimbabwean neighbors, for the women in the Congo, for our new president, for me.

I walked thru the Union Square market and was amused by this gentlemen who earnestly gave free advice to those interested. I followed one kid who enthusiastically said, "He gave great advice. Really. That guy is smart." The smell of hot apple cider filled the air and despite the chilly temperatures, I was delighted to be out and about with my fellow New Yorkers.

It's a gray sweater day

Some of you will understand this and some of you won't, but it is a gray sweater today. Yes. No doubt about it.

In my junior year of college I lived in a dingy, musty house that had been converted into apartments in the University district a short walk from campus. I have great memories of this place. It was the year I got in about 600 trillion hours of Yahtzee. And it was also the year of the gray sweater. I don't know how it happened exactly. It just slowly came on and before I knew it, I was wearing this sweater almost every day of the week. I'd get dressed in the morning and would think to myself, "What would make this outfit complete? The gray sweater of course." It was a misshapen wool cardigan that eventually needed to be patched at the elbows, but this did not matter. I wore it over pajamas. I wore it over dresses. If I had a date (did I date back then?!) no doubt I would have worn it. And today, I woke up thinking, "I need to wear a gray sweater." And so I did.

Today was an exceptionally long day and after agonizingly long church meetings that started at 8 and did not end until midnight it dawned on me, "Yep Carmen, you are now a professional religious person." No way getting around it. They even gave me a clergy card today at the Presbytery meeting. Hmmm. Clergy card.

My friend Ross from the drama department at the University of Washington used to wear a purple sweatshirt almost every day. It was one that he had worn since the 6th grade and he said it was a magic sweatshirt. He said it could actually give him the power to fly if it ever became necessary. I am pretty certain that Ross is about 60% crazy. And I love this about him.

On my way home in a taxi tonight the driver, who was from Yemen, told me that the world would be a safer, happier place if there were more strict rules. For example, he told me that in Yemen adulterers are stoned to death if they are caught in the act by at least two witnesses. He says this rarely happens in actuality, but the threat keeps people in line (or at least hiding really well). I pondered this for a bit, but quickly wrinkled my nose in disdain, paid the fare and slid out onto the sidewalk.

More happiness and peace in the world? Today I just needed a gray sweater.

Here are a couple pictures from Sunday. Some of my fav Princeton friends (aren't they good looking?!?!) came to hear me present on Zambia. Thanks Emily for the beautiful gift!

O-O-Obama

I'm barely showered, spent the day in my sweats preparing for a class I am teaching at church on Sunday, and I finally decided to emerge from my apartment tonight to walk to a local pizza joint for a slice. I was bundled up, but didn't feel quite like a typical Madison Ave resident as I strutted down the street behind a rinky dink wiener dog wearing a cashmere sweater. But then again, the longer I live here the more I realize that even on the Upper East Side you can find every kind of person imaginable. I need to wear the sweats with pride.


It's been a big week people. I hosted an inauguration lunch gathering at my apartment on Tuesday and wept with a zillion others as the new guy got sworn in. If you haven't read/heard Lowry's benediction, please do. It is theologically rich and he prays a prayer that begins, "God of our weary years, God of our silent tears..." Doesn't get better than that. This guy had me at hello. By the way, I have been keeping track, and tonight marks the first time in over a week that I have opened the New York Times website to see a front-page article/picture dedicated to a story from OUTSIDE the U.S. Sheesh. I get tired of us!!

By the way, tis the season of fertility. Babies, babies everywhere. Babies in some bellies, babies at the breast, babies in the hearts and minds of barren women, and sometimes two at once. Twins are quite in fashion it seems and it is a gift to be witness to what truly is strangely mundane and miraculous. They cause problems, these little ones. They reveal much about us, they sap our energy, and divide the attention of lovers-now-parents. But as my friend Micke says, they have much to teach us if we would simply pay attention.

I'm waxing poetic about nothing right now, so I will quit. Wish I had some achingly beautiful pictures to share-- they seemed a dime a dozen in Zambia, but my eye feels hazy of late.

A Cold Day in Philly

It is freezing in this part of the world and everyone around me is abuzz with the upcoming inauguration. Obama left Philadelphia this morning about the time I arrived, so many twittering passengers joked about catching a glimpse of our next president. We’ll see if Barak will live up to all the hype, eh? I spent the day with my friends Becky and Andy who are expecting a little baby any time.

Lately it has taken me a long time to find inspiration for a blog posting, but today provided at least 20 interactions that I found delightfully share-worthy. Taught an older gentlemen all about the free use of computers and internet at the public library a little after 7 this morning as a golden sunrise and a cup of coffee thawed my hands. Passing along info about newfangled technology felt pretty good. Then I sat on the bus next to a girl that is studying to be a Rabbi and we were fast friends by the end of the ride. I think we are going to try to get together in the next couple of weeks to drink coffee and read Torah together. How cool is this!?

And then there was brunch at a Jewish-Southern diner in West Philly and rich conversation with dear chums. There is very little in life that is better than good food with good friends. By the way, I still don't know what a Jewish-Southern diner is exactly.... kosher BIG breakfasts that include potato latke and pancakes the size of the moon?!

A Typical Friday Night...

I've been slumming in my pajamas all day while working on a presentation I will give on Sunday. It has been fun to review video footage of life in Zambia and I was particularly caught off guard as I watched little old mamas make charcoal outside a shanty compound near my house. It has been months since I had seen these women and to be honest I had forgotten about them. Most of them are widows in their seventies who use the bark dumped by a local wood mill to make chunks of charcoal to sell in the market. I have to remind myself over and over again, "Work on the presentation Carmen" because I find myself enrapt in the material.

I went to the grocery store tonight and it dawned on me around 74th and Park Avenue that I was still wearing my sweats and tennis shoes and only looked slightly more put together because of a matching scarf and hat. I literally started laughing as I absorbed the world around me-- handsome men in wool suits and women in mink. I am such an NYC fraud... at times anyway. Actually, I love that people don't seem to be bothered about this one way or another. As I walked I came up with a story to tell if I was cued by a random pedestrian. "Why is a 30 year old single woman, barely showered, on her way to the grocery store in her sweats on a Friday night? Glad you asked. I am very important and cannot even spare a Friday night away from my important work." Erh... no one is going to buy this. :-)

I uploaded a video clip to Youtube... some images from a day in the life of Carmen in Zambia, but my stupid Mac is pretending like links don't exist. So, if you want to watch it, copy and paste people. Sorry!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b62VANDfSDg