Green Goblin in Gotham

My friend Mali came into town this weekend with her brother and sister-in-law. We went to see the Pixar exhibit at the MoMa, and then strolled the streets for awhile. I like having out-of-town guests come - showing them around reminds me that I'm a New Yorker now and I know where I'm going. Kind of.

After seeing some sights, we went back to their hotel to rest before dinner. Spider-Man was on TV, so we absent-mindedly watched Toby McGuire (Spidey) battle Willem Dafoe (the Green Goblin).

Then it was time to meet Mali's cousin for dinner. This cousin, as it turns out, lives about 6 blocks away from me. He took the 4 of us to one of his favorite restaurants, Quartino, in NoHo. It's a cozy little place. As we started on our appetizer, Willem Dafoe and party were seated at the table right next to us!

This was my first celebrity-sighting since moving to NYC. I hold to a certain theory that there are 2 types of people: those that see famous people, and those that do not. I fall into the latter category (excepting that brief encounter 10 yrs ago with Wallace Shawn in a Charlottesville copy shop).

I believe Mali's cousin is of the former category, and since we were dining with him, we had the fortune to catch a glimpse of the Green Goblin himself. Mr. Dafoe, by the way, dined on fettucini with pesto. Not that I was watching him or anything...

When a Broadway Baby Says Goodnight...

...it's early in the morning.

Started my weekend on Friday night with a lovely Shabbat dinner at the Newlywed's home in Brooklyn, which involved the very traditional Shabbat Reading Aloud from The Onion.

Saturday found me standing in the rain for an hour, the fruits of which were half-price tickets for a friend and I to see A Light in the Piazza. The music was fine, sets and costumes great, the story was questionable (Clara is an emotionally-handicapped American who doesn't speak any Italian, and Fabrizio is a young Italian who doesn't speak any English, but why should any of that matter if they are in love? Right?) Saturday night, looking fancy, at Lincoln Center: priceless. Afterwards we met up with some friends of my friend for dinner and drinks on the Upper West Side. One of these friends (let's call him "R") asked if we had been to the Bryant Park skating rink yet, as it is closing January 16th. I hadn't been yet, so I resolved to go the very next day.

Which was today (Sunday). So I went skating, along with many, many other people. Including a nun in full-on habit with dangling rosary, old-fashioned ice skates and cape! You don't see that every day. And who should I run into, but my new friend "R"? So we skated and discussed the nuances of hockey (he) versus figure (me) skates, the difficulty of finding a church and meeting people in NYC, and if that nun was really a nun or just some crazy person dressed as a nun.

All in all, a good weekend. Though one without much sleeping. I better get to bed, as my racist employer isn't letting us celebrate MLK day tomorrow. :) Just kidding, employer! You probably aren't racist. Happy MLK day, everyone! May your wildest dreams come true.

Mine Came Back

The past four years have been some of my most difficult: my brother joined the Army in January, 2002. In January, 2003 he was deployed to Kuwait/Iraq for the first 7 months of the war. In July, 2003, when I didn't think I could take one more day of crippling anxiety, he came home. In January, 2005, he deployed again to Iraq. In January, 2006, he came home again. If all goes according to plan, he should be getting out of the army in the next 90 days. No more trips to Iraq (!?!?)

Throughout these past years I made a habit of scanning CNN articles to make sure the casualties mentioned couldn't be my brother. I cringed when the phone rang; worried it was my parents calling with bad news. I sat at a Peter, Paul, and Mary concert, biting my tongue to keep from sobbing through "Where Have All the Flowers Gone." And I have stiffled and choked on rage at the President for getting us all into this mess.

I made a pattern out of the following 3 emotions: fear, relief, guilt. Afraid for my brother's safety, then relieved when he was ok, then guilt when I remembered that someone's brother was not ok. That casualty mentioned on CNN wasn't my brother, but it was someone's brother, someone's son, someone's husband.

The NY Times today reports U.S. casualties in Iraq at 2,207 thus far. (And let us always remember and grieve the untold numbers of Iraqi civilian deaths.) Thank You, God, that my brother came back safely. Father, please bless the soldiers who haven't come back yet, and give comfort to their families who are still waiting.

Where have all the young men gone? Long time passing
Where have all the young men gone? Long time ago
Where have all the young men gone? Gone for soldiers every one
When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?

Where have all the soldiers gone? Long time passing
Where have all the soldiers gone? Long time ago
Where have all the soldiers gone? Gone to graveyards every one
When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?

Where have all the graveyards gone? Long time passing
Where have all the graveyards gone? Long time ago
Where have all the graveyards gone? Covered with flowers every one
When will we ever learn? When will we ever learn?

Who am I?

Today I had to be at Corporate at 9am to talk about my stock options. Wait...who just said that? How is this my life? "Corporate"? "Stock options"? However I may have pictured my life at age 28, I'm pretty sure this scenario never entered my mind.

I have, at various stages, imagined myself to be a writer, an archeologist, a social worker, (briefly) a nutritionist, back to social services, back to a writer, an actress, a dancer, a figure skater - no wait, an ice dancer....I never envisioned myself working for The Man, talking stock, caring about the bottom line. Eek.

I'm not so sure how comfortable I am "in this skin" (shout-out to my girl J.Simp!). But I know that I am learning stuff during this corporate dalliance, and I'm sure there is a purpose and plan to me being here, doing what I'm doing, at this point in my life. It's just a bit weird to step back, look at my life, and accept that stock options (and caring about them) are part of it.

I just hope Peter, Paul, and Mary don't think any less of me for it. :)

On Sleeping & Screaming
1) Sleeping: If you have 5 minutes, I highly recommend you check out this article by one of my favorite (non-fiction) writers, Lauren Winner. Entitled "Sleep Therapy," the article explores sleep as a counter-cultural discipline, and theorizes what a lack of sleep means for society, in general, and the Christian, in particular.

Those of you who know me know of my perennial struggle with the Snooze button - the temptation of which magically decreases in proportion to the amount of sleep I get. The more I sleep at night, the less I need to snooze in the morning. I know this, but I don't live it. And thus I am late to work, less productive, and on and on. So 2006: hear me now! I am resolving to sleep through you. Because as Lauren writes, "to sleep, long and soundly, is to place our trust not in our own strength and hard work, but in Him without whom we labor in vain."

2) Screaming: Speaking of trusting in our own strength, I wanted to share a point from the sermon this morning at the Village Church. Rev. Sam spoke on chapter 8 of the Gospel of Mark. I often quote Mark 8:33 ("Get behind me, Satan!") in semi-jest, such as when certain nay-sayers belittle my professional figure-skating aspirations. But taken in context, Jesus' words to his disciple, Simon Peter, are rather harsh and shocking. What was so upsetting to Jesus that it caused him to liken his friend to "Satan"?

Jesus had just revealed to his disciples that the "Son of Man must suffer....be killed and...rise again." And hearing this, Peter began to rebuke Jesus. His words aren't recorded in Mark, but the Gospel of Matthew tells us that what Peter said was essentially, "No way, man! That's not going to happen to you!" (free translation :)

Why was Peter's attitude so troubling to Jesus? Maybe because he was trusting in chariots and horses (Psalm 20:7), trusting in his own strength. This is the same Peter who will pull a sword to try to prevent Jesus' arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. Did he think that by might, he could prevent the inevitable Passion? In Mark 8, Jesus accuses him of not having "in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

This idea of human sufficiency and self-reliance must certainly be a very bad, no good thing, to warrant such harsh words from Jesus. Why? Because those who are self-reliant have a hard time recognizing their need for a savior. Thus human self-sufficiency is a useful tool for Satan, because it can keep us from Jesus like nothing else.

"And yet," Rev. Sam asked, "Wasn't self-sufficiency and 'believing in yourself' the message of the last heart-warming Disney movie you saw?" Aren't these ideas valued by our society? Aren't they the stuff of the American dream?

Like getting enough sleep, the decision to not rely on your own strength is indeed counter-cultural. If we're watching a movie that encourages us to believe in ourselves, because the key to success lies within each and every one of us, well, Rev. Sam said, "We ought to be running from the theater, screaming in terror." (that's a funny mental image, eh?) The trap of self-reliance should terrify us, because it keeps us from daily declaring our need for Jesus.

Personally, I rely on my own strength at work every day. I have trouble admitting weaknesses, and I don't ask for God's wisdom and strength as often or as urgently as I should. I try to do it all on my own. So tomorrow, when I start to feel myself fall into the trap, I'm going to run screaming from my office. Or......maybe I'll just go to the bathroom and pray. :)