When East Meets (mid)West

The Gang Takes New York or "It Sucks To Be Us. . ."

continuing with my streak of non-productivity the proverbial 'gang' from msp came out to the east coast last weekend. it was a 4+ day whirlwind of non-stop excitement.

thanks to some very clever marketing and carefully plotted sightseeing, new haven (or 'new heaven' as the founders of the city liked to think of it) was deemed to be quite the charming city. i really do dig the place & hope that my enthusiasm for it was passed on to others.

the beinecke library was quite the popular place. not totally impressed by the Gutenberg Bible or other priceless artifacts housed in the marble cube, one of my guests (it isn't polite to name names) took it upon herself to sit in every surprisingly comfortable modern leather chair with the hopes that a mr bill clinton had once rested his backside upon that same spot. it was, ummm, charming?

other new haven highlights included a trip to the top of my rock, checking out the Yale Cabaret for a bizarre performance about cloning, dinner at modern apizza (which, in all honesty, was sadly underwhelming this time), and trying to sleep several people in by not-so-huge apartment. my oversized kitchen made a handy bedroom.

saturday/sunday we took a bite out of the big apple. Avenue Q was perhaps the perfect show for us all to see together. as we stare-down our own individual quarter-life crises, it was kind of surreal to see them all be played out before our very eyes in the form of 'adult' muppets. of course, the escapades and suggestions of the 'bad idea bears' brought back memories that hit, for some, a bit, ahem, too close to home. . . good times all around.

it was cool having familiar faces out in this neck of the woods. while it is always a bit odd at first when your different worlds collide, it is pretty sweet when it does happen. long running conversations and, more importantly perhaps, inside jokes and lingo pick right up, shrinking the distance of miles and months between us. friends, old and new, are a very good thing.