2 posts tagged “weekends”
Somehow, in the last hour or so, when I was trying unsuccessfully to get to sleep, a wee bit of snow came down. Which, by the end of January in New York city shouldn't be remarkable enough to note, but it is. Alas, just now I tried to take a picture of it - when it's fresh and unspoiled by the many feet that will soon trample it and turn it into dirty grey slush - my efforts failed miserably. Must study use of camera. I'm quite sure that with all the bells and whistles on it, there is a way to take good night pictures, but I'm not quite up to figuring it all out right now. Besides which, I'd then have to hook it up and transfer ... which I've been meaning to do because there are other photos on there to post, at least to flickr if not here.
And really I ought to be sleeping, even though I suspect I won't. I'm thinking maybe it's all-nighter time, and perversely I'm a little thrilled by that, since I can't remember the last. Besides which, it might not even count, because I did sleep a good deal of Friday away, including one "nap" from five to a bit after ten, which stretches the definition. I was supposed to do something tonight too - go to the sort of girlie cocktail party that people who don't really know me seem to think that my life frequently consists of, because they've seen such things on tv, or read about them in chick lit novels. The reality is so far from that. And today, I feel like I'm on the edge of sickness - there's definitely something going around, in the circles I sometimes travel in - and sleep was oh so enticing.
Thus, my day off was a lot of sleep and a bit of tv, and finally finishing up The End of Mr. Y, which I pretty much loved, except for the ending. Like the Bookslut reviewer, I'm going to pretend like the epilogue doesn't exist. Also I cleaned, although not enough. Tomorrow, or rather today, in a few hours, I'm supposed to work. Which is why the all-nighter thing is probably not the greatest idea. Saturdays are always so slow though. Because I'm not at my regular location, I never know what to do with the hours that I'm not on the reference desk. Even if I bring some work with me, it feels like I can't really accomplish anything and frankly I'd rather be on the desk the whole time, except for maybe a few breaks. Otherwise I feel like I'm just killing time and pretending to do stuff, which then makes me feel a bit dodgy and guilty. Also, working with a different group of people seems to take interpersonal communication skills that I don't necessarily want to bother with. Oh well; maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.
Usually - and I hate to admit it, but it's true - I'm pretty bad at maximizing my weekends and/or days off of work. Take today, for instance. I didn't sleep the entire morning away (somewhat of a rarity) and upon waking I had definite ideas as to what I might do. The two leading contenders are/were laundry, which I need desperately to do and visiting the American Museum of Natural History, which I've been meaning to do for awhile. Thus far I have done neither, although I've consumed a lot of coffee, caught up on internet stories and written at length about periodicals. And, it's not like I've given up. I'm quite convinced that by the end of the day, I will either have clean clothes to wear to work tomorrow or a newfound appreciation for the wonders of nature. But it sort of bothers me that it takes me so long to get in motion.
And, too often, my days off are spent not being well-utilized at all. I sleep and putter and tidy a bit and before I know it, it'll be early evening and, hey, maybe I haven't seen that episode of the Simpsons that comes on in fifteen minutes (not likely).
But, did you ever see that episode that begins with all of Springfield going to the botanical gardens to see the Sumatran Century flower? Because this past Sunday, I did make myself utilize the day off, and I did exactly that. Well, the botanic garden I went to was in Brooklyn and it's actually called the titan arum or, commonly, the corpse flower. And, unfortunately, by the time I got there it didn't smell like rotting death. It was, however, a really gigantic flower and pretty fascinating to hear about.
As you can see, my camera lens was a little dirty, which is why it's kind of blurry. But, those are normal-sized people walking around, and the corpse flower dwarves them. It's a shame I'll probably never be walking through the wilds of Sumatra and see the plant in it's natural habitat, because I bet that's pretty awe-inspiring. Apparantly it was a lot more open on Friday, when it first bloomed - also the time when it smelled like a corpse. Maybe in four years, when it will hopefully bloom again.
In any case, that was the first time I'd been to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, and it's really a pretty cool place, so I'm glad for the opportunity to have checked it out. And only five dollars to get in, so I think I'll be going back. It's huge, and on the edge of Prospect Park, which I've always been fond of. I didn't linger too much, because I was supposed to be meeting people afterwards, but I walked around enough to know that I want to explore it more. I especially liked the Shakespeare Garden and the lily ponds.
Afterwards, I caught the bus to go to McCarren Pool, where I was meeting D. and her fiance, to see one of the free shows their putting on there this summer. The bus ride was direct, but extended, and looking out at Brooklyn as it passed by gave me the opportunity to do some Borough pondering. When I first thought about moving to New York, I was pretty convinced that I was going to live in Brooklyn. With my job being where it was, I ended up in Queens, somewhat reluctantly. I've grown to appreciate Queens and do feel that it's really pretty underrated (as probably are the other boroughs, but I don't know Staten Island and the Bronx enough to speak of them). And I love my apartment and my neighborhood.
But, there's still just something about Brooklyn. I was theorizing about it with D., and I think it stems from the fact that, prior to becoming part of New York City, Brooklyn was it's own city, and a pretty substantial one at that. Because of that, it has a coherence, a history, and a collective identity that Queens lacks, perhaps because Queens was just a bunch of towns strung together. I like how the result of that is that in Queens, your neighborhood is very much your link and on my mail I get to write Kew Gardens, NY instead of Queens, NY. I miss the history and the urban quality of Brooklyn though. Or, I guess, miss the idea of it. Another comment I made when D. and I were talking is that (generalization alert) Brooklyn is for people who would like to be living in Manhattan and Queens is for people who would like to be living on Long Island. I know it's not true across the board; I for one would opt for Manhattan over Massapequa any day of the week, but it is the feeling that one gets.
Back to Sunday, though. I actually only stayed a little while. I really like the McCarren facility and am glad that it's suddenly getting so much use, despite the controversy. It's unlike any other space I've ever been to and I'd like to go to some of the not-free shows, but they're way too expensive. It was incredibly crowded and I was starting to feel achey. If I had been more into the bands, I might've stuck around, but it was difficult to maintain enthusiasm for groups I wanted to check out, but didn't already love. Here, I will avoid making snarky comments about hipsters, because that is just so easy and such a cliche, but will comment that there are some sartorial choices that just shouldn't be made, no matter how clever or edgy you think that it is.
Thus, with a slight headache, I made my way back down to Grand Avenue and hopped on the bus back home. The ride was nice, and I got a lot of reading done. At the store I stopped for popcicles and Vitamin Water, because I'm all about popcicles and Vitamin Water right now. The evening was, I think, just like any other and thus beyond much comment. I don't know that the overall utilization will inspire me to make the most, from here on out, of my not-working days. And besides, sometimes you really just need those days where you never change out of your pajamas. It did make for a nice Sunday though, and that's enough for now.
