Haiku #95 & 96 - New Year's Eve

the past is too big

for my carry-on and too

heavy to be checked

moment of panic 

'til i decide to leave it

back where it belongs

Haiku #94 - The Nutcracker

the hall is filled with
girls who dream one day to be
sugar plum fairies

Haiku #93 - Lower East Side Tenement Museum

Beer: Making life tolerable for generations of immigrants
(across the street from the museum)

escaping hardship
maybe wishing to sow a 
pocketful of dreams


Mom really wanted to go to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum.  I offered to show her around my building for free, but apparently she wanted to see a "real" tenement, so she booked us tickets on the tour of garment workers' apartments. Longtime readers will know of my tenuous relationship with museums, but I'm happy to report that this one was really fascinating, and our tour guide was great.  Also interesting to note how some things (housing and labor laws, immigrants' countries of origin) have changed, and how other things (human nature, corruption, hope of a better life for one's children) haven't.  


And they had a good gift shop!

Haiku #92 - New York Philharmonic

in lieu of applause
please cough between movements - it's
sophisticated


Took Mom & Dad to the NY Phil tonight - Haydn, Schubert, Ravel.  The first movement of the Haydn was rather long, and the classical music fans knew it was a faux pas to clap between movements.  Yearning to show their appreciation, however, the audience erupted into a cacophony of midwinter hacking instead.  

A blurry ovation.

My favorite was the Ravel Valse, which closed the concert. I commented to my parents that both halves ended with the opposite of a musical theater button: the first half ended with Schubert's Erlkönig (part of a set orchestrated by Britten and Reger, performed by Anne-Sofie von Otter), in which the last word is "dead."  Dad said both halves ended with death - the Erlkönig literally and the Ravel metaphorically.  Happy new year?  Maybe Alan Gilbert goes by the Mayan calendar.  Anyway, it was a lovely evening, metaphorical death notwithstanding.

Haiku #91 - Trinity Church(yard)

ancient trees stand guard
over graves whose owners' names
time has long erased

Haiku #90 - Tourist Attractions

tourist attractions:
parks, bridges, concerts, shopping, 
emergency rooms


Everyone's fine now, but we did have an episode last night and had to pay an (as it turned out) overnight visit to that darkest horse of New York attractions, a major hospital's ER.  It's kinda like Times Square at New Year's - you do it once to say you did it, then you hope never to have to return.  

Haiku #88, 89 - Christmas Dinner

there is something to

be said for sticking to your
core competencies:


mom and dad and i
had a sumptuous dinner
cooked by fresh direct


I hate cooking, a trait I inherited from my mom.  Dad likes cooking holiday dinner, but he's a pain in the ass in a kitchen he's familiar with, so imagine a miniature kitchen he doesn't know.  So... I consider it money well-spent to have gotten a heat-and-eat turkey dinner delivered straight to my door on Christmas Eve.  It was yummy, and super-easy to prepare.  We hung out and relaxed and enjoyed the day in each other's company.  And Mom cleaned up (I did not inherit her affinity for cleaning.)


Merry Christmas, everyone!

Haiku #87 - Christmas Eve

Diesel guards the Christmas piano
(in lieu of Christmas tree)

the stockings are stuffed
so am I, with tamales -
must be Christmas Eve

Haiku #86 - Diminished

G#dim7! Take that, you grumpy neighborhood fart, you!

does this old geezer
know he's messing with the wrong
music theory nerd?


Spanish Harlem, December 23: an anecdote


My parents are staying in a studio sublet about a 15-minute walk from my apartment.  I just got an acoustic guitar, and decided to take my new toy with me when I went over this afternoon.  It's light, so I completely forgot I had it strapped to my back as I strolled down 2nd Avenue.  


Thus, I was completely taken aback when I passed a guy, probably in his 50s, who took a good hard look at me and said, "You probably don't even know what a diminished chord is."  What??  Pause to regain my wits.  I hollered ineffectually at him as he continued walking the other direction, "Actually, yes I do!"  How does he know?? I thought.  About two blocks later, I remembered - ohhhh, the guitarrrrr.  


Hah.  Well, he picked the wrong snowflake to start a music theory brawl with!  As soon as I got to the sublet and related my tale of indignation, I set about figuring out a diminished chord (see pic).  I am not a hipster poser!

Haiku #85 - UES Grocery Shopping

moms with law degrees 
play chicken with strollers in
the produce section

Haiku #84 - Visitors

Mom and Dad are here
Nestled in at their sublet
Close but not too close!

Haiku #83 - Love (1)

This is one from the archives of my haiku-writing past...


love knocks on your door
it isn't what you ordered
still you let it in

Haiku #82 - New York (3)

fifteen til showtime
Broadway and forty-fourth street
I'm swimming upstream

Haiku #81 - Sick

three hours in the cold
was the proverbial straw
slept all night and day

Haiku #80 - Humdrum

the humdrum becomes
singular when it's a lack
of toilet paper

Haiku #79 - My Nephew's Nostrils

my nephew's nostrils
in Japan and also my
computer screen: Skype.


I finally got to skype (ah, the joy of turning nouns into verbs) with my sister and her family tonight!  It was Saturday midday for her, and the boys entertained me while she was hanging laundry.  My younger nephew was bouncing off the walls, so most of what I got was him either a blur in the background or VERY CLOSE to the camera.  They thought it was hilarious when I zoomed my (newly pierced!) nose up to my webcam in response. 


And here is my nose, which I got pierced by Colby at Adorned in the East Village: 

My dad will say, "Just what you needed -
another hole in your head."

Haiku #78 - New York (2)

Today's route, abridged:

Bushwick grit, East Village show

beer in Hell's Kitchen

I feel most concepts can be explained elegantly in seventeen syllables; lists of a day's activity in New York City, not so much.  

I've been running around a lot since I got back last week - seeing friends, seeing shows, even working a tiny bit.  Today was no different - I played with the Story Pirates at a school in Brooklyn, had an appointment, and came home for a pit stop before going to Kurt's show downtown, and finally, to a meet-up event in midtown.  Fun was had by all, and now it's time to crash for a New York minute... zzzzz...

Haiku #77 - Cat-in-a-Box

Diesel's new toy, which contained my new toy

much fun to be found 
like a cat or a guitar
in a cardboard box

Haiku #76 - New York City

Broadway glistens bright
just above the homeless man
sleeping on the train

Haiku #75 - Crazy Cat Lady

This is basically a transcription of an exchange my roommate and I had last night:


"So then what's your plan 
to meet someone?  Move back home?"
"I'll just get more cats."

Diesel now knows what suitcases mean, and he gets real needy when he sees them come out.  He did this a lot when I was packing for tour.


And thank you, Modern Family, for making me feel validated:
Q: So dumb guys go for dumb girls, and smart guys go for dumb girls - what do smart girls get? A: Cats, usually.    

Haiku #74 - Busy

Version 1:
there's so much to do
in the city - I resent 
the hours I must sleep



Version 2:
there's so much to do
in this lifetime - I resent 
the hours I must sleep

Haiku #73 - Music's Secrets

wish I could download
all music's secrets - instead, 
they seep in slowly

Haiku #72 - Friday night, East Village

Old roomie Kate & me

bass booms in the bar

friends catch up hearing only

ev'ry other word

Haiku #71 - Reunion!

skype-ing with Cherie
Kurt and Parker sing Barbra
while the cupcakes cool

from left: Cherie in CA, me, Kurt & Parker in my kitchen in NYC

Tonight, Kurt and Parker came over for a little baking party.  We made Earl Grey-poached pear cupcakes, and played and sang standards. Cherie joined us via skype from California.  The evening ended in the wee hours with Kurt, Parker, my roommate Seth and me geeking out on youtube videos, drinking Earl-Grey-pear juice with Jameson.  


It seems so strange that I've only known these people for three months. 

Haiku #70 - Big, Soggy Apple

New York "wintry mix"
Wish I had brought extra socks
Big Soggy Apple

Haiku #69 - How 'bout them Apple(product)s!?

i have crossed over

no time for anything but

playing with my phone

Yup, I got an iphone.  I had a bunch of things on my to-do list for today, but most of them went by the wayside when I got my phone and discovered the app store.  Guess I'll get back to business tomorrow... maybe...

Haiku #68 - One-nighters

hotel one-nighters
illustrate well the concept 
of "this too shall pass"


Whether it's a mysterious smell reminiscent of a floral crime scene cover-up, or crisp 1000-count sheets, it's over quickly.  


But never mind that - I'm back in the city, and looking forward to sleeping in the same place for 35 nights in a row!  35 nights that will still pass quickly...

Haiku #67 - Many the Miles

have you ever gone
fifteen hundred miles by bus
in one week? I have.

Haiku #66 - Blue Bell Ice Cream

Blue Bell ice cream scoop
Long day's journey refreshment
This must be Texas.

Haiku #65 -

From my roommate Alex as she was getting dressed in our hotel room:


Quotable Al: "You're
harshing my mellow, black pants."
They must be shrinking.  


(I should mention, she's still skinny.)  

Haiku #64 - Shreveport, LA

shiny gold windows
skyscraper called the horseshoe
casino skyline

Haiku #63 - NYC Haiku!?

New York city stole
my concept, but that's ok:
Great minds think alike.