Sense and Sensibility

Needless to say, the elder one picked out the lollipops for both.

More Highlights

Why bother with furniture?
Climbing up:
And climbing down:
Mountain laurel:

The Long and Short of It

Playing tough (but you're not fooling anyone, you love the attention):
Safe and secure:
Showing off:
When you really master meditation, you set your inner child free:
A long way to go on the monkey bars:

New Horizons in Lilac Appreciation

First lilac of the day:

A flower in the hand is worth 10,000 in the bush:

Dance of the clouds:
My favorite variety was called "sensation" - I love the crisp white border on each petal:

New Horizons in Scientific Understanding

Independent experts agree that breakfast is one of the three best meals of the day:

Umbrellas - the new full-body exercise toy (dry weather only):

Finally, a solution to America's dependence on oil:

Entire State Building (Kroy Wen)

Historians have never satisfactorily explained why this building is known as the "Entire State Building." In fact, to my knowledge they have never even considered the issue. To fill this much-needed gap in our state's proud history, pseudo-historians have speculated that to alleviate the great sense of depression that he felt coming on, former governor Alfred Smith may have joined forces with the architectural firm of Shreve, Lamb and Harmon to create a building that would house and employ the entire state in the 1930's.

Alas, this noble dream was doomed to failure. The Entire State Building employed only 3,400 workers during its construction (out of a population of approx. 13,000,000 at the time).

Even now, the space appears to be underutilized, with a mere 21,000 transients occupying approximately 2,768,591 square feet on a part-time basis.

Rumor has it that these 21,000 transients host a truly staggering number of paying guests every day - apparently entertaining dozens at a time on an hourly basis, many of them getting quite high in the process - but it would be more proper and respectful, I believe, not to dwell on such regrettable activities.

Saturday: A Day in the Sun

We started out with brunch at a ramen noodle place, although I don't know if the characters behind us have any meaning.

On the way to Union Square, we admired the architecture on the roofs:

And even noticed new details on Union Square West:


We wandered among the stalls at the market, including this one which featured items carved out of Tibetan salt slabs (if memory serves):

A butterfly posed for us incongruously amidst the bustling merchants and shoppers:


We went to a chocolate shop (of course!), a travel boutique, vintage jewelry shop, and the City Bakery ... and then RunnerNYC had to split off for Mass. U-chan and I went shopping the rest of the afternoon (grand total: $20 for a fabulous set of supersized bling earrings) then caught a meal at the Galaxy Diner. I had thought it was only 5 p.m. because it was so bright out, but it was already 7 p.m. What can I say? Sunshine makes me so happy.

The Northwest Passage

I am proud to report that I have single-handedly re-discovered the Northwest Passage. It is not quite as arduous as the history books would have us believe; Roald Amundsen is guilty, I fear, of some unwarranted exaggerations. The passage is, in fact, rather well-marked and freely accessible -- although perhaps (to give Mr. Amundsen the benefit of the doubt) this may be the result of global warming.

Run Away!!! Er, I mean Retreat...

This weekend, 40-50 of us retreated to the Poconos. The theme was "an ancient faith in a post-modern world" - an interesting topic, and one that could have been approached from quite a number of angles. There was clearly not enough time to cover all of them -- or at least, not without depriving people of the opportunity to relax, unwind and socialize.

Among the angles that Rev. Rock did explore involved showing a Black Eyed Peas video and then impressing FOCUS into service as (basically) a bunch of focus groups on how to make FAPC more relevant/popular in NYC. Unlike most focus groups, I suppose you could say we actually paid for the privilege of offering our insights ... but then again we got a lot out of it as well, I think. We tried putting together all the kinds of things we had brainstormed about in our focus groups for the self-organized worship service on Sunday morning. It was really moving, and also very funny at times. (We can't help it; we all have a strong humor/sarcasm/irony circuit in our wiring.) It was nice holding hands for prayer - that seemed to amplify something for me. A lot of us got really emotional when R described how he'd started getting involved in the church three years ago. It seems that early on he told some folks that he did not in any way believe what they believed. At many churches, people would have shunned him. Or they would have openly prayed for him to see the light. Or they would have tried to win him over through argument and convince him that he was wrong. He was prepared for any of those responses. Instead, he got the first of several great shocks on his faith journey when he realized that he was still entirely welcome to continue hanging out with this group and wrestling with sticky moral and theological issues as a confessed atheist/agnostic. And I gather that he started to see, over time, that perhaps the god in which he disbelieved was too small. Another very powerful part of the retreat was the music. Singing reaches me as few other things do. We had at least three professionally-trained musicians in our midst, and a number of very strong amateurs. We sang sacred and profane songs, sometimes in parts with harmony, sometimes a capella, sometimes accompanied by guitar, keyboard or even (around the bonfire) sound effects.

We also enjoyed nature walks and played games such as Scattergories and Apples to Apples (both new to me) and foosball with an electronic scoreboard. Very fun. For pictures from the retreat, try this link.

On my return to the city, I went rollerblading around the park (overcoming my dread of the hills, little by little). And then tonight, I caught up a bit with some old friends. It feels good.

Ce Mois de Mai

April was busy - looks like May will be as well. Just played Scrabble with some folks who get together for this purpose every other week (once a month will probably be as much as I can manage) and did pretty well. I definitely got a lot of cool words, including ORIOLE, GAMINE and EXTOLLS. If I may put in a request or two: More S's, please! And no more of this AAAIIEE or HNCVMJT nonsense!!

Geoffrey Chaucer (approx. 1343-1400) in the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales puts a bit of a spin on the old saying that April showers bring May flowers:

Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,And bathed every veyne in swich licourOf which vertu engendred is the flour;Whan Zephirus eek with his sweethe breethInspired hath in every holt and heethThe tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halve cours yronne,And smale foweles maken melodye,That slepen al the nyght with open ye
(So priketh hem nature in hir corages);
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages....*
Antoine de Févin (approx. 1470 - 1512) (first verse) picks up the notion that songbirds get busy all night long in the month of May:

Il fait bon aimer l’oiselet
Qui chante par nature
Ce mois de mai comment qu’il soit
Tant comme la nuit dure.

And then Clément Janequin (approx. 1485 - 1558) takes the theme a little further, suggesting that maybe songbirds aren't the only ones itching to be frisky:

Ce mois de mai, ma verte cotte je vêtirai.
De bon matin me lèverai, ce joli mois de mai :
Un saut, deux sauts, trois sauts, en rue, je ferai,
Pour voir si mon ami verrai.
Je lui dirai qu’il me décotte!;
Me décottant, le baiserai."

(Attempt at semi-literal translation: This month of May, I will put on my green petticoat. /Early in the morning I will get up, this beautiful month of May: /I will make one jump, two jumps, three jumps, in the street, /To see if my friend will see. /I will tell him that he de-petticoats me!; /De-petticoated, I will kiss him.)

(Attempt at a more modern alternative: I will wear my green dress this May. I will get up early, this lovely May: I will jump once, twice, thrice in the street, to see if my friend will see.... I will tell him he un-dresses me!; Undressing [me], I will kiss him.)

[Comment Feb. 2, 2014: I'm pretty sure that the verb baiser had primarily the meaning of kissing in medieval French - see Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330-1500), available at http://www.atilf.fr/dmf if that link doesn't work.   Nowadays, of course, although the noun form (un baiser) remains standard usage, it's probably better to use the verb embrasser to avoid confusion with the "vulgar slang term."]

Footnote *:

When April with its sweet showersHas pierced the drought of March to the root,And bathed every vein in that liquorWhich causes the flower to be generated;When [the wind] Zephirus also with his sweet breath,Has in every wood and field inspiredThe tender shoots, and the young sunIs halfway through the Ram [zodiac period - i.e., Aries],And small birds singAll night as they "sleep" with open eyes(So nature creates this urge in their hearts); --
THAT'S when people long to go on religious pilgrimages!