I wish I was the moon tonight

new york has been great. so good to see old friends and pick up as if we saw each other last week instead of 9 years ago. and there is something refreshing about the attitude the people in this city have, there's an abrasiveness about it that is both comforting and annoying. there is certainly nothing like nyc in the world that i've ever experienced. it feels as if the city has become more cosmopolitan, however. the abundance of young, beautiful people with 'attitude' is plainly obvious. not that i am complaining at looking at beautiful people, but the "i'm too cool for even myself-ness" about many of them is both alluring and obnoxious. in others, there is a tangible honesty in just being who they are. one thing is for sure, there are lots of people in this city and i haven't yet tired of observing them all.

on friday night we went to see Neko Case at webster hall in the village. girls got a voice. it was a great show and i was very impressed with the sound at the venue, its not often you can see a show these days in a smallish venue where the voice and band are crystal clear and mixed perfectly. her voice seems to convey a distinct personality, one that is lonely and pained yet strong willed and defiant. it made me a little sad to listen to her - mostly because i was introduced to her music via ami singing to me in the car. there's still a lot of heartache there for me.

saturday night i decided to head down to the south street seaport museum to see "Bodies: The Exhibition." i'd heard about this exhibit for awhile and was going to go see it in san francisco until i found out that the one in san francisco was a different show called 'the universe within' and that it didn't hold a candle to the one here in NY. the wait was well worth it. amazing. the exhibit begins gently with the skeletal system. the bodies have been plasticized and displayed in various forms, either whole bodies or segments of. from skeletons, you move into the muscular system and are able to view multiple layers of muscle and tendon throughout the body. from there, the nervous system - where they have somehow been able to remove the entire nervous system from the body and lay it out in a case. the same for the vascular system, where there are full body exhibits of just veins and arteries as well as highlights of various body segments. and on to the organs, the reproductive system ...

it's a profound experience and i'm not sure that i can really describe how it has impacted me. to see, so clearly, the utter complexity and delicacy of our bodies and yet to know how resilient we are. having the opportunity to take this knowledge and be able to visualize it, to see how masterfully we are put together, how all of our systems are physically related in three dimensions, to see the effects on the body of disease and aging, the various forms of human development in utero ... it's a wonder we are able to survive the way we do. i highly recommend checking it out and add the disclaimer that it may make you a little nauseous at first.

in other news, i got up at the butt-crack of dawn this morning and went to the airport for my 9am flight ... only to learn that my 9am flight is tomorrow morning. whoops. but at least that left me with this beautiful, sunny extra day in NY. i spent a lot of it just walking around, checking people out, clearing my head for the final push for my graduate school career. i feel like i have been gone for so long in many respects, and yet so much of what was going on for me when i left is still so present.

i look forward to my bed. i look forward to reconnecting with friends. i look forward to getting my head back into LIT and putting into practice all that i am learning right now.


"How will you know if you found me at last
'Cause i'll be the one, be the one, be the one
With my heart in my lap
I'm so tired, I'm so tired
I wish I was the moon tonight" ~neko case