Connect-icuting

Every now and again I get to experience a great New York moment. It gives me a little bounce in my step, clouds over the smell of sewage in the streets and makes even the men fighting in the street somewhat familiar and unthreatening. I had a great day today, my second day of training at my new job and already big things are happening. After work I headed downtown to Greenwich Village to meet up with an old friend and I found everything was bright and cheerful. 2 kids were blowing bubbles, and as I passed them I let my finger pop a bubble just at my eye height, I turned to see the boy who had sent the bubble my way grinning, and I grinned back. After a really nice vegan dinner with my commune-loving, but not freegan, friend Orly, I sat next to a very nice, very deaf, architect and we chatted about the kinds of things that you talk about on the slow 1 train home.

It's always easier to appreciate NY when you've been away for a bit. I felt downright nostalgic when I came back from Israel almost a month ago, which is slowly fading. For Labor Day weekend I was able to have a wonderful weekend in Connecticut thanks to my wonderful friends Anmol and Roberto. The weekend was more or less planned by Roberto and I in order to trick Anmol into the great outdoors, but it ended up being wonderful for all of us. We stayed with Roberto in his huge apartment which is nestled into the dorms of the private boarding school where he works. The architecture of the school itself is a mix of Hogwarts and every boys boarding school you have ever seen in any film. This lent it a fascinating but also eerie atmosphere that sheltered Anmol and I took full advantage of scaring ourselves over.

We did lovely little Connecticut things. We went to see a film in a local barn-turned-artsy theater. The film was Elegy, which was good but has a surprise sad ending (don't they all) and an unqualified amount of time looking at Penelope Cruze's breasts, though even the gay men seemed to find it tasteful. We ate at local diner with placards on the wall reminding us to treat our servers with respect and to take our goshdarned hurry elsewhere. My waffle was drowned in strawberry preserves fresh from the fields. We drove on hilly back streets surrounded by farm houses which would have been really scary had we been in West Virginia. We walked on grass so green and soft that the neighbor's lawn looked sad in comparison.

We also took two trips to New Haven to visit the excellent museum and van Goghs at Yales art museum as well as my old childhood friend Aaron Feinstein, who is now president of Yale Medical School's student body. I have to say all my old guy friends from South Bend have turned out to be incredibly accomplished, smart and kind young men. Why did I ever leave???