So it’s back in a deep freeze, after being very very warm this weekend (was it 35 degrees? Or did the sunshine fool me?). When we went to the museum we also walked around the upper west side a bit, and it was so nice and warm. It was a lot of fun to hang out with the girls and schlep around the city a bit. It was also extremely exhausting.
I watched the pirate (super) bowl on Sunday in Williamsburg and almost won 100 bucks! Oh, easy come, easy go. It was a big surprise to leave during half time and to find a snow storm in progress. Actually, Sunday was a day-o-sports for me, Michelle and I went to a knicks game that afternoon (her dad had some spare tickets) and then we went straight to the superbowl. Whoo. We are sporty chicks. Athletes, really.
Speaking of Athletes, here’s a funny story: I fell down in the street last Wednesday. I just fell right over, there was a hole in the pavement and I have trick ankles so I fell onto my tookas on the ground. So many people yelled “oh no!†and ran over and pulled me up by my armpits (I hate that. I hate people, esp. strangers, putting their hands in my pits. Plus, it’s HARD to get up like that! The moment of inertia is all wrong!). I smiled, and said I was ok, and thanked everyone graciously. And then this guy came over to me and said “Are you an athlete?†I wasn’t sure if he was making fun of me, so I said “what?†and he said “an athlete, you know, do you do sports?†so I said I did do tae kwon do, and he said to me:
“I could tell by the way you fell.â€
What? I still don’t know what that means. Did I fall like athletes would fall, in that they have trick ankles too, and are prone to falling? Or did I fall in a carefully controlled, secret athlete move wherein I minimized the potential damage to my person? I laughed at the guy and walked into the subway. ‘Cause I’m an athlete.
Monday morning was a big shock to me, because even though I knew it was snowing Sunday night, I just didn’t expect it to be so darn cold the next day. I was lulled into complacency by those two warm days this weekend. When I woke up and the guy on the radio told me it was 8 degrees, I was surprised. When I stepped outside and felt my cheeks go icy stiff, I was still surprised.
It’s harder this week to appreciate the adventure that a deep freeze, a cold snap, an artic blast is. I’m tireder, or colder, and I have to wash my laundry. And I think it’s COLDER this week than it was last week. When I get home late I’m really really cold, instead of just kind of maybe cold.
Last night I went to a book lecture with an old professor and another school buddy, and then we had dinner, and then my professor gave me a lift home. I had to move my car but my tires were both flat in the front, so I had to (at nearly midnight) find an air pump – I drove slowly from 109th and 3rd to 106th and 1st, but that gas station had a broken air pump. The attendant directed me to the carwash on 109th and 1st, but their pump was broken too! Luckily, there was another one of those really kind souls working in the ‘garage’ that night, and he filled up my tires for me using the “indoor†pump. There are so many kind people around. Really. But speaking of cold, I was the most cold ever once I finally made it home. I hear the temperature last night was like 10 degrees, and with a wind-chill of below zero – well, I was very very cold. It pains me to admit this, but my mittens are just not warm enough for this kind of weather. I really need to line them if I want to wander around in subzero temperatures in the middle of the night!
And speaking of things that I’m making, I’m nearly done with my cool aviators hat/swim cap, and I really just want to knit, all the time. All knit, all night. Well, I did knit last night in the bar where we got dinner after the lecture, and I did actually pull the knitting out during the lecture. I’m turning into that weird knitting lady! Also, on the things I’m making list, grad school applications. They’re, well, going. I need to crack the whip and write some personal essays tonight, b/c the whole thing is zipping in the mail Thursday noonish from la alma mater.
At least it’s so cold I’m not tempted to go on any moonlight picnics to avoid my work!
