Um....Winter?

Dec. 25th, 2005
High 54
Low 40

Jan. 5th, 2006
High 50
Low 38

Jan. 9th, 2006
High 60
Low 43

Jan. 21st, 2006
High 63
Low 37

Jan. 28th, 2006 (Predicted*)
High 53
Low 38

*From the Weather Underground (www.wunderground.com) website.

Doesn't this seem a little warm to you? Normal high temperatures for New York this time of year are in the mid or low 30's. I feel like I'm in an animated in-between scene from Monty Python.

"And autumn gave winter and spring a miss and went straight back into summer. And there was much rejoicing. Yay."

A Random Walk

Looks like I've yet again let this thing sit for a while without posting. Ah well. I'd like to say that I try, but the truth is, it's still just a diversion from work. So on the rare occasion that I am actually working, it doesn't get updated.

So, since the last post, I've gone skiing at Killington, had Christmas in Michigan, New Years in NYC, gone observing at Kitt Peak, and ran a 420-couple ballroom dance competition--in which I also competed. How's that for a run-on sentence, eh?

The ski trip was wonderful, the perfect end to a semester. Granted more time was spent being lazy by fire (and not being lazy by the fire) than actually skiing, but that was fine with me. I needed to relax and unwind, and I couldn't have asked for a better time.

After that, it was a whirlwind 4-day trip to Michigan and back for Christmas. Not much to report there, beside the usual huge Italian family craziness.

Back in NYC, I met up with a friend from swing dancing to go to a New Year's party not far from Times Square. (No, I did not actually go to Times Square, that would be silly.) It was a nice party, sort of low key, but lots of good people. For the actual count-down to the new year, we went up on the roof to see/hear the Times Square crowd. They fired off fireworks in the square. I couldn't believe it; fireworks being shot off between skyscrapers, exploding next to windows, and raining ash down on the crowd. No kiss on the dawn of the new year, though, as the only one I would have was far, far away.

Then it was off to Arizona for an observing run on a 1.3-meter telescope partially owned by Columbia. For the most part, we had perfect weather, and got lots of good data. As usual, I met some great people there, as well. I love meeting people on observing runs, it's one of my favorite things about what I do.

When I returned, I had only three short days to finish the preparations for the Manhattan Amateur Classic 2006 ballroom competition. I've been on the organizing committee for this since last spring, and preparations began back in June. While there were, of course, major crises every ten minutes, we were able to quell most of the problems and work out reasonable solutions. It was a lot of work, a lot of effort, and long hours. But in the end, the event came off well, and we received a lot of positive feedback from competitors and audience members. When the competition ended, the other members of the organizing committee took me out to nice dinner. Then we went to the hotel room of one of the organizers for an after-party. Oh, and in the competition, my partner and I placed 5th in Silver, which is the highest we've achieved thus far. Good times.

And now it's back to the grind. Today is the first day of class (I like to emphasize that I'm only taking one--and it's the last class I will ever have to take!). Though my class actually starts tomorrow. Nonetheless, there's much work to be done on my research. Data from the observing run to analyze. Officemates with whom to catch up on things. And of course, all my webcomics to read!

My "Big Screen" Debut

So a few says ago, I received a fairly random phone call from a swing dancer friend of mine. Apparently, she was invited by a friend of hers (a break dancer) who used to work for MTV to do a holiday spot for them that involved dancing. She, needing a partner for swing, called me.

Yesterday we went down to MTV Studios in Times Square. We were there with hip-hop, salsa, bhangra, and break dancers. The spot is to celebrate the holiday season with all different kinds dancing, and will show on MTV's giant video screen in Times Square. When it was our turn to shoot, they took us into a studio and decorated us with tinsel and Santa hats (which quickly came off). They did some lighting and sounds tests, and one guy showed us on the ground where we could move to and still be in the camera's view. When I asked him how high vertically we could go, he looked at me funny, and we had to run a few of our aerials to make sure we'd still be in the shot. We put on a song and just danced for about four minutes. They'll edit it, pull out what they like, and put together the piece. It'll be on the screen by next week.

Oh, and one of the break dancers, who went in the studio after us, said that we were the crew's favorites so far.

I also "met" another celebrity at MTV. Ludacris was there for the Total Request Live (TRL) show. I ran into him in the men's room, thinking to myself "I think that's Ludacris, but I can't say anything now, we're...." Well, you get the idea. So as we both went to the sink to wash our hands (yes, men do that), he looked over and said "Yo, yo." I, drawing on my adept command of the spoken word, replied with, "Hey."

I do so love this city.

An American Tragedy

What do you do if you are truly a creature of circumstance? How do you not let things spiral out of control? How do you respond when they do regardless?

At what point do you assume responsibility?

If It Ain't Baroque....

Last night I went to a Baroque ensemble concert to hear a close friend sing on stage for the very first time in the nearly three years of our friendship. There is something absolutely amazing about watching someone you care about do something they love--and do it incredibly well. Even though I knew the song, having heard it practiced once or twice before the concert, I was on edge every second waiting for the next note. It was lovely.

What could have possibly made the evening any better? A pleasant dinner, friends coming to the concert, and other recent acquaintances performing as well.

A White Tie Affair

Every January, the Viennese Opera Ball is held in the grand ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria here in New York. It is a charity ball to celebrate opera and the arts related to the Vienna Opera Ball in Austria, and is attended by dignitaries, ambassadors, and lots of incredibly wealthy people. Tickets start at $750 per person, but if you want to sit at a table and eat dinner, that jumps to $2,500 per couple, or as high as $25,000 for a table. Of course, you get a seven course meal and performances from opera soloists from the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Symphony Orchestra, and a group of professional Viennese Waltz dancers. Cocktails are at 8pm, dinner at 9pm. Dancing goes until 1am when the ballroom closes and the attendees retire to three salons--each with its own string quartet, naturally--to spend the rest of the night socializing until around 4am. Dress is strictly white tie and decorations for men and long ball gowns for women.

On Saturday, my ballroom partner and I auditioned for a spot with the V-Waltz group and were accepted! She will be provided with a ball gown, and I a proper white tie and tuxedo with coat-tails. (It has always been a dream of mine to dance in a fancy ballroom to a live orchestra in tails.) We get dinner, dancing, and all of this for a mere three-minute performance. Can it truly be real? I'm still trying to convince myself that it's actually true.

Oh, and per years of tradition, there will be a parade of debutantes making their societal debut and dancing the Polonaise. In other words, lots of very wealthy girls my age....

Obituary

Tyche, beloved laptop, was pronounced dead at 1:04pm Monday October 24th after a four-day struggle to recover her memory. Late in the evening on the previous Wednesday, Tyche slipped in unconsciousness for reasons not readily apparent. Upon arrival home, her caretaker Andrew found her sitting on the desk in an endless loop of trying to revive herself. He tried everything he knew, but in the end he had to just let her to sleep.

She lay there on the desk, in a coma, until Friday when a doctor was able to come to her home and see her. He tried to revive her with Knoppix, no success. He tried to revive her with his laptop, no success. He finally performed open-brain surgery and removed her hard drive. Connecting her brain to his computer, he found her completely unable to awaken. Finally, he suggested taking her drive back to his lab, to employ more serious resources.

After more than eighteen hours of work, and as her body lay brainless at home,he had results. Her drive was unalterably corrupted, she was going to die. But as she lay in her death throes on the lab bench, he was able to recover her memories, all 30GB of it, and burn it to nine DVD's. At 1:04pm this afternoon, her memories and her still and silent brain were returned to the care of Andrew. She was pronounced officially dead at that time.

Tyche is survived by Andrew, her grieving caretaker, and by her older brother Nemesis, an aging PC who, growing senile and feeble, has retired to the Catskill mountains to live out his days. She will be sorely missed by many for the seemingly infinite supply of music she was always willing to share. Fortunately, her memories remain and can be transplanted into future laptops. In a way, she will live forever.

Blue Skies

An old friend came to visit last weekend. We met at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle way back in January 2003. I was the only student from MTU there, and didn't know anyone else. She was visiting from Sweden, and hadn't really met anyone else. We hung out together at the conference, and went out around Seattle exploring in the evenings. It was a great trip, and meeting such a good friend made it that much more enjoyable.

Last weekend, she, and two other friends (both Canadian) came to stay at my apartment. They were here for the U2 concert on Monday night, but they came for the whole weekend to see New York. We did the tourist thing, walking around the Battery and up through Chinatown and Little Italy. We went dancing, we went to the Met (the museum, not the opera), we walked through Central Park. It was raining most of the time, and a little cold, but such a wonderful weekend. I so love this city, and to run around with people who haven't spent much time here is fantastic. They were the perfect guests, (which simply means they didn't get me up too early in the mornings!) and we all had a great time. I feel like I've grown much closer to one friend, and made two more.

For your viewing pleasure, I refer you to their pictures of the weekend here, here, and here.

When they left, it rained for eight continuous days.

But since then, everything has looked up. The weather has been beautiful, in the 60's and sunny. I wrote a telescope proposal to get back to the mountains (it's been far too long). I've just been smiling a whole lot more lately. Someone's been helping with that.

"Great day in the morning....

....what once was lost, now is found."

Kudos to you if you remember that commercial. Congratulations on having a life if you don't.

So, yes, I'm alive. Yes, I've been busy. Yes, I've been watching the comments on my last post. Yes, I think you're both silly. Did I miss anything? Oh, yes, I'm wearing new socks today.

Busy, busy, busy. My first year research project is finished. [/begin stuff you probably don't care to know] What was originally pegged as a pulsar candidate from coincident radio and x-ray detections turned out to be a high-mass x-ray binary similar to Cygnus X-3. That is, my object is actually a binary system consisting of a compact object (black hole or neutron star) and a Wolf-Rayet star. This is only the second such system (Cygnus X-3 being the first) to be identified. [/end stuff you probably don't care to know] I presented at Astrofest 2005, and had quite the time at Astrofeast 2005. I wrote up a paper on the research. Tomorrow I meet with my committee. They will tell me everything I did wrong, and I will drop to my knees pleading that I have only completed one year of grad school, am young and naive, and will never let it happen again. They will have mercy, or at least pity, and I'll get to start my next project.

Classes have started. I'm taking two, and teaching one. This semester is all about cosmology and extrasolar planets. As for the class I teach, I think I've got a pretty good group this year. (Or am I just saying that in case one of them finds this blog?)

I'll try and update more. I have some new ideas for more Modern-Day Etiquette, and have received some great suggestions from people as well. Lots of things are going on, and since you've nothing better to do, I'm sure you'll read all about them here.

By the way, I just think it's hilarious that this blog comes with a spell checker....a spell checker in which "blog" is not recognized as a word. That delights me to no end.

(And in case you were wondering, it was a VW commercial, circa 1999-2000. The thing that was once lost was a full-size spare tire. And here you thought it went the way of the coelacanth, didn't you?)

(Ha! It didn't recognize coelacanth either.)

(What? Coelacanth? It's a prehistoric fish, thought to be extinct....until they caught one off the coast of Madagascar. Ah, that commercial was so funny at the time....)

For those of you wondering....

....I am still very much alive.

Just exceedingly busy.

Sorry to disappoint.

"Well, we can't all come and go by bubble!"

Broadway. The glitz, the glamour, the incredibly expensive tickets. But not for the more enterprising, or at least the more flexible. For cheap tickets, people flock to the TKTS stand in Times Square, or sit by box office windows early in the morning, or drop their names in hats just before showtime. Recently, a friend and I entered the lottery to see Wicked, and won! For just $25 each, we had front-row seats to a great show.

I'm not going to review, critique, or even describe. The music, acting, costumes, and all those exquisite little details were simply wonderful. Go see it for yourself, you won't be disappointed.

I still have the songs in my head.

Andrew vs. His Computer - Round 37

This will be my third attempt at writing this post. You see, the last two times I've tried to write, they've been lost to the vastness of the internet. Twice have I written witty, and I daresay moving, posts that would enlighten this otherwise dark world with their insight. Twice have I hit the wrong button in the browser window and sent these jewels of wisdom careening off into nothingness. Such is life.

The first, as I'm sure you're curious to know, was a profoundly deep and inspired look at the human relationship between New York City and the rest of the country. In it, were examined the outlooks of several people who have grown up in NYC, moved here, or have simply visited here. Against these were pitted the perceptions of the city of various people who had never been here, but had rather only seen most of the city through movies. The intricate research conducted for this study was unparalleled, taking the better part of the hour I spent sitting in Detroit Metro Airport waiting to board my plane back to New York. I interviewed two people at the gate extensively, or at least listened to them complain about how much the taxi ride from LaGuardia to their hotel was likely to cost.

The second piece was a much more personal account of alienation from a place I used to know incredibly well. With a bit of dry humor, it was related how I was stopped and asked for directions in Novi, a small Michigan town where I spent a great deal of my adolescence. (Hey, that's where the mall was.) I won't spell out the obvious parallel here with my constantly being stopped in NYC. The poignant bit of this story, however, was that I didn't know where to send the poor fellow who asked for directions in Novi. And so followed a heartfelt discussion on what it means to move on from a place and time that no longer belong to you.

Brilliant bits of writing, both of them. Perhaps someday I'll take the time and care to write them again. But probably not.

Movin' East, Movin' In, and Movin' On

How much further east can you go from New York City? Well, Long Island is around 100 miles long. This past weekend was spent way out in Greenport, on the North Fork of the island. It's a beautiful small town with beaches on both the north (Long Island Sound) and the south (Shelter Island Sound). The chair of my department has a house in this little town, and he invited all the grad students and faculty members to come out for the weekend for a retreat. It was a great weekend. We spent most of the time on the beach, swimming and playing volleyball. Dinners were multi-course feasts that included roast duck and swordfish. Cocktails were served an hour before dinner, and a great deal of wine was provided for the rest of the evening. On Saturday night, a few of us even went out to the bar after the dinner conversation had died down. (You know you're back in a small town when the bartender recognizes that you're not from there, and a fight breaks out at some point in the evening.) But all in all, it was just a fun time with some good people. I'm very happy to be in this department.

Yes, it's August now, and the neighborhood is starting to fill up with moving vans. New grad students are starting to arrive, and even some undergrads are poking around the area again. It's been very peaceful here, while school's been out, so I'm not sure how much I'm looking forward to the neighborhood being full of undergrads again. The good side, though, is that a very good friend of mine is, as I write this, on her way here. I'll be helping move her in tomorrow morning. Looking forward to it.

In other news, someone has moved on. And so shall I. And that's all I've got to say about that.

A letter

Dear oppressive heat and humidity,

Please go away.

Thank you,
Andrew

Anatomy of a Night Out

2000 hours: Watch the Yankees and the Mets losing. Begin strategy session to determine what to do for the night.

2100: Two girls and one guy show up at apartment with bottle of wine. Calls are made to invite others.

2200: Several more people show up.

2230: Apartment reaches capacity, everyone moves to nearby bar.

2400: More people show up at bar. Friend who has been chatting up a girl all evening is invited by said girl to a bar in the Village. He is requested to bring at least two other guy friends.

2410: Cab ride to the Village.

2450: Arrive at Asylum on Bleeker St.

0130: Go next door to see live band.

0135: Live band sucks, return to Asylum. Dancing ensues.

0230: Meet man outside of Asylum with 125lb python. Pictures taken with python around necks.

0400: Asylum closes.

0405: Seeing a limousine in the street, pretty girl in our group goes to convince the driver to take us home. He agrees.

0406: Limo ride through Manhattan.

0500: As dawn breaks, breakfast at Tom's Diner.

0600: Stumble home, fall into bed (yes, alone).

Excuse me, where is Times Square?

If you've ever lived in a place that has a tourist season, surely you know how annoying they can be. They don't know where they're going, they mess up traffic, they crowd your favorite spots, and oh yeah, they pump money into your local economy.

Back in the UP, where gun control means putting your beer down before you aim, the saying is; "If it's tourist season, why can't we shoot 'em?" And who can blame them? All those outsiders invading their paradise.

Here in New York, it's usually a long string of expletives with the word "tourists!!" at the end. And who can blame them? All those outsiders making their already crowded streets nearly impossible to walk down.

Last weekend my mom came to visit, and I got to play tour guide. It was kind of fun to show someone around the city again. Seeing the little bits of New York that made me fall in love with it all over again. There's so much history here, so much culture. It's almost too easy, when you live here, to forget how beautiful it is. How incredible a feat of architecture, art, planning, and surviving went into making this city what it is today.

I am curious about one thing, though. Every time I leave my neighborhood, some tourist asks me for directions. Whether it's Central Park, the Village, or anywhere else, I am always, without fail, stopped to give someone directions. Not only that, but now that it's summer, I'm that guy who takes pictures of all the cute couples. Maybe I should rub the "I live here, but I won't kill you" sign off my forehead. Or maybe I should pull out that "Polite New Yorker" pin I was given and wear it with pride.

Modern-Day Etiquette - Part II: The Umbrella

Umbrellas have been around for more than four thousand years. Art and artifacts from ancient Egypt, Assyria, Greece, and China have all shown umbrellas in common use. Originally used as simple parasols to keep away the Sun, the Chinese were the first to wax and lacquer their paper parasols for use against rain. They were popularized in Europe around the 16th century, and came to be known as umbrellas, from the Latin root word 'umbra,' meaning shade or shadow. At that time, umbrellas were strictly an accessory only for women. Around 1750 (or so), the famous traveler and writer Jonas Hanway began using an umbrella publicly in England and around Europe. This popularized umbrella use for men, who still nonetheless referred to them not as umbrellas, but as "Hanways." Clearly, with a rich, four thousand year history, umbrellas are one of the most commonplace objects all across the world.

So why is there absolute umbrella chaos every time it rains?

Ladies and gentlemen, umbrellas and Hanways, I give you:

Modern-Day Etiquette - Part II: The Umbrella

There are several easy things to remember that will avoid collisions, eye injuries, and getting wet, when using an umbrella while walking down the street.

1) You are now wider. With the umbrella open, you take up more space, and this needs to be taken into account as you walk by buildings, signs, and most importantly, other people. Be aware of how large your umbrella is, and thus how much you must account for its size in your movements.

2) When passing close to someone, there are two factors that go into account for who ought to raise their umbrella to let the other pass. If one person is noticeably taller, that person ought to raise their umbrella as they pass to avoid a collision. (The shorter person, however, must be extremely careful to make sure his or her umbrella does not impale the taller person as they pass. Be especially mindful of that person's face and eyes.) If there is no considerable height difference, the larger of the two umbrellas should be lifted above to allow the smaller to pass underneath.

3) On crowded sidewalks, larger umbrellas should always be lifted above smaller umbrellas. Further, just as one drives only on side of a two-way street, foot traffic should be confined to one side of the walkway. Fighting against a current of people is difficult enough without the burden of an umbrella!

4) Finally, entering or exiting buildings. It is absolutely reasonable to not wish to get wet just before entering, or just after exiting, a building. However, congestion at the entranceway is the primary cause of most umbrella-related accidents. Be mindful of those around you. Do not block the doors. If necessary, it is better to get a little bit rained on than it is to hit someone accidentally with your umbrella.

No one wants to get wet when it is raining. No one wants to lost an eye to some stranger's ill-controlled umbrella. Simply be mindful of each other, and your day, though rainy, will be the better for it.

A Real New York Treasure

Madeleine. Perhaps you've heard of her? For the last four years, Madeleine has been making crepes in the little hut near the Columbus Circle entrance to Central Park. Most people know her as 'The Crepe Lady,' and some would even go so far as to call her 'The Famous Crepe Lady.' Yet Madeleine does more than just make crepes for park wanderers. She talks to people, exchanges stories, and yes, even exchanges recipes. She's known throughout the city for her wonderful conversation, and of course, her incredible deserts.

With the weather cooling off to a decent temperature, I went off in search of Madeleine to Central Park yesterday. When I got to her little green crepe-shack, though, I was startled to find just another soda and candy vendor. Tragedy! Where is Madeleine? I asked the lady selling these pre-packaged sweets. Where is her wonderful crepe grill? The gave me a flier. She's moved.

Once I found her, in her new trendy cyber cafe location, I was a little put off by the place. But Madeleine is still the same. She made some delicious crepes, and sat down to chat all about the move from Central Park to this new cafe. She even brought a slice of lemon meringue pie, on the house. A hopeful quest for a crepe resulted in an hour and a half of fantastic food, wonderful conversation, and that warm-hearted good feeling you get when everything just works out.

It's almost like being in a small town again.

If you're in New York, or ever come to the city, go to the Cyber Cafe on 49th Street between Broadway and 8th Ave. Ask for Madeleine. Bring an empty stomach. Leave yourself plenty of time.

Col tempo la foglia di gelso diventa seta

I've started this post several times these last couple of weeks. I just can't seem to figure out what to say. Sure, there's quite a bit going on, but I'm not one of those people who will pour their hearts out randomly to anyone who may read this. (I will offer suggestions on etiquette, though, that's different.)

For those of you wondering about all the gory details behind the last post--forget it. Anyone I'd be likely to tell wouldn't think twice about asking in person.

What else is new?

This past weekend was another friend's wedding. I know, I know, I'm at the age where all my friends are getting married. Still, I think I'm actually losing count of just how many weddings I've gone to in the last two years. And there are more on the horizon, I'm already counting one for next summer.

This last one was a blast. My hat's off to the groom, who's been a good friend since high school, he found the perfect match. The wedding was a lot of fun, some good food, some good dancing, and a periodic table of the elements dragging behind the car as the bride and groom whisked off to their honeymoon. What could be better?

Since returning to the city, I've been watching a lot of Sopranos episodes. And reading Mario Puzo's "The Godfather." The answer to your first question is yes. The answer to your second question is no.

Heartbroken

"All relationships begin in Passion and end at the Breakfast Table."
--Dorothy Parker