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Today we crossed another item off my list!
As far as museums go, not bad! Small and inexpensive - which is how I prefer my museums. This museum is just two rooms. Totally manageable: the exhibits right now are a room full of really old family bibles and an art exhibit of paintings of Jerusalem by Ludwig Blum.
Since the museum is small, I saw everything and didn't feel overwhelmed.
Hey! Do you remember when I posted a picture of a "missed connection" sign at my subway station?
Well, my friend Ruth (who I just met thru blogging, but shows such a deep soul in her writing that I immediately fell in love with her and oh-yeah-she-likes-cats-too) was like,
"Wow, I'm going to email them. I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED."
Apparently, she wasn't the only person who contacted FindAlex1, because yesterday she received this group email update:
First off, I would like to thank everyone for their support! I'm sure none of this would've been possible if it wasn't for everyone that helped spread the word. How exactly did it happen, you ask? Well, somehow, AM NEW YORK got a hold of the flyer and printed it in yesterday's paper and made me sound crazy :(
Alex saw the article and luckily knew I wasn't crazy and emailed us back! Our jaws hit the floor when we read the email. Here it is:
Subject: 8TH STREET AND BROADWAY, THE ITEM IS YOUR EARING
Hello, this is the Alex you have been searching for :-)... I do not usually take the N train so I did not see your post but I saw an article about it in the am newspaper... If I found the right person email me back and let me know.
Regards,
Alex
What are the chances, right?!?! We will definitely be going on a date soon and I am going to ask him if we can take a picture so we could mail everyone. But once again, I just want to thank everyone for their love and support, this has been quite an adventure, I really didn't expect it getting as big as it did. AM NEW YORK has also contacted me and I will be following up with them, I will keep everyone posted. :)
Much Love
~The Find Alex Duo
(isn't that great?)
Union Square Holiday Fair:
I just love this time of year. Don't you?
This morning I ran in a NYRR race.
Couple of interesting things happened:
1. I forgot to click the stop watch on my phone when I crossed the start line. I didn't even realize it until I was 1.5 miles into the race. Usually, I use my stop watch to check my pace and know immediately at the end of the race "How I Did"...well, I botched that, so clearly this wasn't going to be a performance driven race.
2. About halfway thru the race I thought: "Hmm, I am so unfocused right now." I am pretty good about checking in with myself that way. I would normally man up in this situation. I'd say to myself, "Hey Slacker, kick it into gear"...and I would! But, this morning I just didn't care enough. I even stopped halfway thru the race to use the bathroom. That took 3 minutes of race time. I don't normally do that.
As I just wrote -- I am really good at checking in with myself and recognizing how I am feeling in a given moment. However, I am not good at following thru with changing my behavior once I know. Like, I've known for about 2 weeks now that I have not been getting enough sleep and that I need to drink more water. But have I made changes in my life to get more sleep and more hydration?
Oh, NO.
What good is it to KNOW how you are doing if you won't DO anything about it?
This is something I need to work on.
Obviously, with the known lack of sleep and water in my system, it doesn't surprise me that I was not doing my best today. And - the fact that I didn't care is totally related to me not taking care of myself. Sleep is paramount for me. It has a huge influence on my attitude. I know this. I can take on a lot, so long as I can keep my mind clear. Sleep does that for me.
Lately, I've been only getting 5 or 6 hours a night. I feel like I am behind the 8 ball in almost every area of my life. This is not good.
When I am getting enough sleep, my mind feels clear. I get philosophical about stuff that doesn't get done:
"Oh well, I'm doing my best and that stuff will get done when it gets done."
When I don't get enough sleep, everything slides downhill and I feel edgy. I feel like I'm playing a never-ending game of Tetris and the stuff in my life starts piling up in unmanageable way. I say "I feel overwhelmed" and then I hide myself away.
I feel crowded beyond what I can handle.
I often blame it on city life, but it's really all about me and how I am responding to it.
Given what I know and how I been doing lately, it doesn't really surprise me that I was hit with a headache, chills/sweating, a racing heart and dizziness this afternoon. Is that a panic attack? I don't know. I've never been diagnosed, but if those are the symptoms, then, yeah, I go there when I don't take care of myself.
I immediately cancelled my afternoon plans and went to bed. I woke up 3 hours later. I drank 2 big bottles of water. I feel so much better now.
Sleep is magic. When I get enough of it, I can manage my life like a rock star. When I don't, everything feels like it's falling apart and I am such a mess.
This week, I am vowing to myself to get those 8 or 9 hours every night.
This morning I renewed my CPR certification.
As I chugged up the steps at the class location, the instructor stepped out of the narthex to greet me and it was like,
"Oh HEEEEY!"
...because it was the exact same instructor that I had last year.
What are the odds?
NYC is weird like that. I ran into my friend Erica three times last week on the subway. We weren't even trying to meet up. It just HAPPENED that we got on the same train at the same time - nay, same car of the train - three times in one week.
What are the odds?
At the Halloween parade (by the way: I just typo'd that as "Halloweed" -- which is entirely accurate for this event) - ANYWAY - I was walking thru the crowd on West 12th with my friend Mary and it was dark and we were in costume and we heard,
"MAAAAARY! ERIIIIIN!"
...from across the street. It was our friend Clint. We weren't planning to meet up with him. We had no idea he'd be there.
How did he find us?
In the dark?
In our costumes?
-------------------------------
On the other side of it, a majority of my old boyfriends live here and I've only run into one by surprise...once...in the entire 16 years I've lived here! This makes no sense to me: they are actors. When I friended each one of them on Facebook, it was like
"You have 72 mutual friends"
Shouldn't we be running into each other at auditions, readings, parties and stuff?
WHAT. ARE. THE ODDS.
Crazy.
---------------------------------------
On a CPR note: 30/2
That's all you need to know these days.
30 chest pumps and then 2 breaths for anyone over the age of one.
You're welcome.
It's been a long week,
And I can't afford the time,
But I crossed two rivers to see you tonight.
That's how much I love you.
Posted at every entrance to my subway stop this morning.
I thought it would be nice to make a pumpkin pie for Fred, since he is only visiting for a week and he likes pumpkin pie. Boy, did I muck this one up.
I was planning to make a blog entry out of it, so I gathered all my ingredients and took a picture.
Right after I took the picture, I realized that BUTTER is NOT in this recipe!
(FAIL #1)
Then, I mixed up all the ingredients (minus the butter!) and put them into the pie shell.
NOW, you tell me:
"Pie & Quiche Shell" -- Doesn't that indicate that it's ONE shell? To be used for either pie or quiche?
....Because when I pulled the pie out of the oven an hour later, it wasn't cooked enough and that's when I noticed THIS:
(FAIL #2)
It was TWO pie crusts STACKED. Thanks, Fresh Direct. You made that SO very clear in the packaging.
Of course, I waited for the pie to cool and then I tried to separate the crusts, but it wasn't possible. It was a huge mess.
I planned to post the pie recipe but I won't even do that because when all was said and done, Fred was like,
"I don't care. Pie is pie! Put some ice cream on the side. It'll be fine!"
Except it WASN'T.
Y'all, this pie tasted HORRIBLE.
I followed the directions. I have no idea why it tasted so bad.
(FAIL #3)
Have you ever had a triple disaster in the kitchen?
Today, Fred ran his third marathon!
He didn't "best" his previous times - but, HELLO, he just did the Berlin Marathon six weeks ago! Ambitious, much? I think the most important thing is that he finished.
The NYC marathon is mentally grueling because there are a handful of steady inclines (going over bridges, for example) and it just buuuuurns. I was super proud of him for finishing. He did not feel as "on his game" as usual. When I met him at mile 14.5 he admitted that he was in pain and I said,
"Well, just do the best you can do today..."
...and, really, don't you wish everyone in the world did the best they could do today?
Go, Fred!
For me, I started a new acting class today. I know! As if I need another thing on my plate! I love taking class at Primary Stages, though. I've met a lot of really wonderful artists through the community associated there. Today's class was brilliant. It was our first class, so it was more of a meet-n-greet than anything else. The teacher was all,
"Oh, just show me a little something. You can read your piece - you don't have to perform. No big deal."
But every single person in the class was like,
"Uh, no. I prepared my piece and I'm performing it."
And after everyone had been up once, the teacher was all,
"Okay, does anyone have a contrasting piece they'd like for me to see?"
And every single person in the class got up and performed a second piece.
Yes!
I love that!
There was very little of that "insecure actor" kvetching. It's harsh for me to say it, but that stuff drives me bananas. Mostly because I am learning to keep myself from doing it. So maybe that's why I am sensitive to it. I am in the process of learning to not comment on my own work or belittle it in front of others. Who knows what they think? Maybe they think it's great....until I say something to undercut it. So now I am just trying to keep my mouth shut.
This class is very professional. People just got up and worked. A few people expressed some worry, but they didn't need to -- everyone is talented in this group. I am going to enjoy this class very much. I really like being around actors who like to get up and work, rather than complain or act shy in class.
How do you get better unless you try?
Too loud and crowded.
He begs. I sigh and endure.
Marriage is team work.
