still here

Yes, I am still alive, and no, I have not forgotten this site. I've been super busy the past couple of weeks. Several of the things I've done really merit their own posts, but here's a short list:

+ My parents came down for a visit. We celebrated my dad's birthday, went to a great event put on by the War Resisters League, and went to the Art Under the Bridge Festival in DUMBO.
+/- At the Arts Festival, we saw some really really bad art and some good art. Performance art is frequently very stupid, in my experience.
- I had to go down to Washington, DC, for a last-minute business trip.
+ But I got to eat another wonderful meal cooked by Frank, see Kristen and Frank's new house, and stay with Hilary, so it wasn't so bad.
- I went to a going-away party for Eric.
+ I went to a welcome-to-NYC-for-the-weekend party for Bahar and Satish.
+ Jenn and I hosted a very fun barbeque, and we ended up with twice as much beer as we started with.
+ My old friend Dave came to NYC and took me out for dinner at Daniel, an extremely fancypants restaurant, and we had a fantastic meal.
+ That meal was so good it deserves a second plus.
+ I took a yoga class and a pilates class at my gym.
- I had to take those classes because I seem to have injured my IT band again so I need to cut back on running.
+ I saw a fantastic show: M. Ward at Wall Street Rising (a free show downtown, outside!)
+ I saw another fantastic show: S PRCSS, Parts & Labor, and Les Savy Fav, at Bowery Ballroom. And that show was free too, because my brother won a pair of tickets and gave one to me.
+ Both those shows had female drummers (M. Ward and S PRCSS).
+ I ran the Liz Padilla 5k, therefore crossing one item off my to-do list.
+ I've read (The Namesake) and re-read (A Wrinkle in Time; A Wind in the Door; A Swiftly Tilting Planet; Many Waters) some really great books.

So, overall, it's been a pretty good few weeks. Pictures of M. Ward, the Bowery Ballroom show, and my parents' visit are all on Flickr.