everybody dance now!
so the weekend was great. only slightly crazed, i saw and began the catching-up process with a whole lotta people. some are people i've been staying in touch with over the year, others are people i haven't seen since sophomore year of college. and the spectrum between is well-represented too.
Emily's farewell party was nice - i was overdressed (my never-very-adept-but-now-pretty-much-defunct NY fashion sensors are all off), but it was good to see people, even if i couldn't really hear them over the din of music and other minglers. still, hugs and snippets of conversation were exchanged, and it was nice. nice nice.
and nicole's couch was exTREMEly comfortable.
next morning, a nice stroll across town to Penn station gave me a chance to look around at my city. i missed it. i really did. it's much easier to take things in, i'm finding, at a walking pace rather than a driving one. so i looked at all the people waking up on saturday morning and starting their days. some were going to the gym, some were coming back, TONS were waiting outside the doors of stores, lining up (or should i say clustering haphazardly) for opening so they could go in and get first dibs on that new blouse or whatever. strange.
train ride was good - i chatted with people sitting nearby. a woman who is a union rep for a bunch of companies who is going to a conference in Hawaii in a few days, a father and daughter pair going to Philly for a Nine Inch Nails concert... good times.
i felt like i had progressed leaps and bounds in the "small talk with strangers" area.
Paul picked me up at Union station in DC. drove us in his hybrid-gps-mobile to Cara's parents' old house. there proceeded some blowing off of amy's head with overwhelming amounds of signing, to which she eventually adapted. for a while, i provided one word answers to questions, preferring instead to sit on my hands or fidget with something. i just couldn't get 'em oiled and ready to go. the movements felt foreign, even though i've been practicing by teaching Nabia... anyway, eventually i got going and it was better. i still can't wait to get back to where it feels natural to express myself that way though. so we caught up a bit and then got ready for the wedding - i donned one of my vietnamese creations - a purple cotton ao dai (the long thing with the high collar and trailing tails over brown linen pants - and put a chopstick in my hair.
once at the temple, i was welcomed by suzanne's parents - especially her mom (hi beverly), who treated me somewhat like a celebrity at first (i have to take a picture!), and suzanne and jacob themselves, as well as some college people i haven't seen or heard from since... college. suzanne and jacob both looked great and happy and only a little nervous :)
the ceremony that followed was one of the most creative and meaningful i can imagine, and certainly the most interesting i've attended (in my short-as-of-yet wedding experience). each word and action was exactly as it should have been. if it wasn't fully supported by both of them because of some ancient meaning or possible interpretation, it was altered or replaced with something that held to the ideals of equality and balance they both endorse. their ketubah (jewish wedding contract) was hand painted with fall leaves and warm colors and printed with their own words. the chuppah (the little canopy they stand under for the ceremony) was also painted with concentric rings of color, burning orange and yellow at the center and rich with blues and purples at the outer edge. really lovely.
the reception was fun - the band played jewish music as well as american rock as well as, and this surprised us all - a live version of "everybody dance now," sung in a falsetto by one of the guys. fun. salsa, swing, neil diamond, israeli folk dance. speeches were good. food was middle eastern (good). dancing was fun. Paul loves to tear up the dance floor and be the center of attention. i was lucky enough to get to follow his talented lead for a few songs. tiring, but tons of fun. i haven't danced in so long... and there was catching up with people from my past and enjoying people of my present. not much chance to chat with jacob or suzanne, whose hands had stopped shaking altogether by then, but a pretty good time, even if i didn't get to exercise my small talk with strangers cuz they were all too busy chanting prayers i didn't know. but it was a beautiful evening and i was honored to share it with everybody there.
late night chat with cara back at her house covered all sorts of topics, from possible business ventures to talk of travel to what we've each been doing and thinking since we were last together chatting. it's exciting to watch friends change and grow. it's even clearer after having been away for a year - easier to come back and see the leaps and bounds people by which have grown up - easier to see because of the absence.
next morning was brunch and held more nice chatting and a little small talk with strangers and petting the horse (Hank) and eating some bagels and kugel and finally getting to actually talk to suzanne and jacob...
then i nearly missed my train back to New York because of a beautiful walk with Suzanne and Paul through the colorfully autumnal neighborhood, but Paul drove quickly and then we ran and i made it. i was only in DC for 27 hours...
the train ride back was extended due to some sort of engine failure and the woman sitting next to me was elderly and seemed to speak no english (german, maybe?), so my chatting plans were well and truly foiled, but i read and wrote and made some phone calls and stared out the window. travel's the same everywhere. nothing beats staring out the window. except after it gets dark. then it's a bit boring.
ok. so this is my 100th blog entry. i think i'm gonna keep it at that beautifully round number and finish this blog right here. i very well may start another blog to continue on into my future, but i think this one's run its course. it served its purpose beautifully and i once again truly thank all you readers, avid or sporatic, friends, acquaintances, or strangers (though not anymore, i guess), and especially you commenters who let me know there were still actually people reading. i've really appreciated the thoughtful and/or silly and/or interesting and/or caring comments you sent.
so here i am. back home. and here we all are. curious to see what happens next. feeling optimistic it's gonna be something good. wanting to help it along but not wanting to rush it or force it. feeling like i'm standing on the edge of something. enjoying the people and the places i've missed and the new ones i'm discovering. excited for tomorrow and all the tomorrows thereafter. amazed at my yesterdays and the yesterdays preceding. attempting to appreciate and live the now.
so yeah. the journey continues, right?
:)
amy
email me
Emily's farewell party was nice - i was overdressed (my never-very-adept-but-now-pretty-much-defunct NY fashion sensors are all off), but it was good to see people, even if i couldn't really hear them over the din of music and other minglers. still, hugs and snippets of conversation were exchanged, and it was nice. nice nice.
and nicole's couch was exTREMEly comfortable.
next morning, a nice stroll across town to Penn station gave me a chance to look around at my city. i missed it. i really did. it's much easier to take things in, i'm finding, at a walking pace rather than a driving one. so i looked at all the people waking up on saturday morning and starting their days. some were going to the gym, some were coming back, TONS were waiting outside the doors of stores, lining up (or should i say clustering haphazardly) for opening so they could go in and get first dibs on that new blouse or whatever. strange.
train ride was good - i chatted with people sitting nearby. a woman who is a union rep for a bunch of companies who is going to a conference in Hawaii in a few days, a father and daughter pair going to Philly for a Nine Inch Nails concert... good times.
i felt like i had progressed leaps and bounds in the "small talk with strangers" area.
Paul picked me up at Union station in DC. drove us in his hybrid-gps-mobile to Cara's parents' old house. there proceeded some blowing off of amy's head with overwhelming amounds of signing, to which she eventually adapted. for a while, i provided one word answers to questions, preferring instead to sit on my hands or fidget with something. i just couldn't get 'em oiled and ready to go. the movements felt foreign, even though i've been practicing by teaching Nabia... anyway, eventually i got going and it was better. i still can't wait to get back to where it feels natural to express myself that way though. so we caught up a bit and then got ready for the wedding - i donned one of my vietnamese creations - a purple cotton ao dai (the long thing with the high collar and trailing tails over brown linen pants - and put a chopstick in my hair.
once at the temple, i was welcomed by suzanne's parents - especially her mom (hi beverly), who treated me somewhat like a celebrity at first (i have to take a picture!), and suzanne and jacob themselves, as well as some college people i haven't seen or heard from since... college. suzanne and jacob both looked great and happy and only a little nervous :)
the ceremony that followed was one of the most creative and meaningful i can imagine, and certainly the most interesting i've attended (in my short-as-of-yet wedding experience). each word and action was exactly as it should have been. if it wasn't fully supported by both of them because of some ancient meaning or possible interpretation, it was altered or replaced with something that held to the ideals of equality and balance they both endorse. their ketubah (jewish wedding contract) was hand painted with fall leaves and warm colors and printed with their own words. the chuppah (the little canopy they stand under for the ceremony) was also painted with concentric rings of color, burning orange and yellow at the center and rich with blues and purples at the outer edge. really lovely.
the reception was fun - the band played jewish music as well as american rock as well as, and this surprised us all - a live version of "everybody dance now," sung in a falsetto by one of the guys. fun. salsa, swing, neil diamond, israeli folk dance. speeches were good. food was middle eastern (good). dancing was fun. Paul loves to tear up the dance floor and be the center of attention. i was lucky enough to get to follow his talented lead for a few songs. tiring, but tons of fun. i haven't danced in so long... and there was catching up with people from my past and enjoying people of my present. not much chance to chat with jacob or suzanne, whose hands had stopped shaking altogether by then, but a pretty good time, even if i didn't get to exercise my small talk with strangers cuz they were all too busy chanting prayers i didn't know. but it was a beautiful evening and i was honored to share it with everybody there.
late night chat with cara back at her house covered all sorts of topics, from possible business ventures to talk of travel to what we've each been doing and thinking since we were last together chatting. it's exciting to watch friends change and grow. it's even clearer after having been away for a year - easier to come back and see the leaps and bounds people by which have grown up - easier to see because of the absence.
next morning was brunch and held more nice chatting and a little small talk with strangers and petting the horse (Hank) and eating some bagels and kugel and finally getting to actually talk to suzanne and jacob...
then i nearly missed my train back to New York because of a beautiful walk with Suzanne and Paul through the colorfully autumnal neighborhood, but Paul drove quickly and then we ran and i made it. i was only in DC for 27 hours...
the train ride back was extended due to some sort of engine failure and the woman sitting next to me was elderly and seemed to speak no english (german, maybe?), so my chatting plans were well and truly foiled, but i read and wrote and made some phone calls and stared out the window. travel's the same everywhere. nothing beats staring out the window. except after it gets dark. then it's a bit boring.
ok. so this is my 100th blog entry. i think i'm gonna keep it at that beautifully round number and finish this blog right here. i very well may start another blog to continue on into my future, but i think this one's run its course. it served its purpose beautifully and i once again truly thank all you readers, avid or sporatic, friends, acquaintances, or strangers (though not anymore, i guess), and especially you commenters who let me know there were still actually people reading. i've really appreciated the thoughtful and/or silly and/or interesting and/or caring comments you sent.
so here i am. back home. and here we all are. curious to see what happens next. feeling optimistic it's gonna be something good. wanting to help it along but not wanting to rush it or force it. feeling like i'm standing on the edge of something. enjoying the people and the places i've missed and the new ones i'm discovering. excited for tomorrow and all the tomorrows thereafter. amazed at my yesterdays and the yesterdays preceding. attempting to appreciate and live the now.
so yeah. the journey continues, right?
:)
amy
email me
posted by theonetheycallamy at 11/07/2005 05:00:00 PM
3 Comments:
I know, I know, I can say this right to your face, but just for the record, your blog was again insightful and interesting.....especially your last paragraph. Very amazing. You are.
Love, mom
I'm glad to see you at a happy hopeful place, rather than, as you were, so anxious about the trip home, being home, or not being on the trip. I'll certainly miss reading your wonderfully humorous and perceptive take on life's adventures, so I too hope to read you again.
But I'm also so glad that I'll be able to enjoy some of that chatting, and talking, face to face, love, Barbara
You should start updating this again sometime?
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