Having lunch w/ Drew - fellow Cal Bear, 2000 NYC missions teammate, and Canaan's young adult retreat speaker for this year. Hadn't seen him in a few years, and it was kinda surreal getting together in the city where we had spent so much time ministering with and to each other.
Seeing my first opera ever - it was a good idea to read the wiki entry beforehand because I then had an idea of what the plot was. 'Twas actually kind of dark - adultery, suicide, all set to huge voices and elaborate sets.
Two speeches at the NYU Law graduation
1) A pair of law students gave a joint speech. One was a former member of the Israeli Army, the other was a member of a Lebanonese village that the former's company had attacked. They had both lost friends to the other side, but said that through their education they were able to learn how to respect each other enough to try to find common ground. Very cool.
2) Keynote speech by Newark, NJ mayor Cory Booker, who we thought was an odd choice - no connection with NYU, no name recognition. He ended up weaving an inspiring tale of battling against social injustice in the projects of Newark while he was just a councilman, camping out in protest against crack houses and drug dealers while getting pelted by garbage and feces, and being able to make a difference. He exhorted the soon-to-be powerful and rich lawyer class to stand up for what is right, exuding an Obama-like charisma. Keep an eye out - we may see him more on the national stage depending on where he wants to take his career.
Shake Shack - Home of New York's best burger. In the picture, you can see one of their trademarks: a portabello mushroom, stuffed with cheese, breaded, and deep fried, then placed on top of the burger patty - awesomeness.
The peace and quiet of Fort Tryon Park
The view from the top of Rockefeller Center
Lion King Musical - innovative use of puppets, props, and lights to simulate the animals. Solid entertainment.
Seeing the prayer table at Washington Square Park - reminded me of the missions trip. You'd be surprised how many people are willing to accept free prayer.
One particular almost "Far Side"-ish comic wall at MOMA - some guy basically drew a bunch of "then and now" commentaries on today's world, compared to before, that were clever, funny, and kinda sad at the same time. Some examples:
Symphony at Carnegie Hall, playing Mendelssohn, Elliott Carter, and Mozart's 41st Symphony - spent most of the time listening to the percussionists.
The best highlight of all...
Seeing my little bro get hooded - congrats, buddy. For most of your life I've known you as a student, so it's kinda neat to think of you as a working man - well, after all that "bar" stuff and the subsequent 2-month celebration. [Morpheus voice]Welcome to the real world[/Morpheus voice].
1 comment:
looking good!
lion king was quite fantastic, glad you were able to see it too.
-jkat8
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