orchid show

Today Amanda and Lauren (two girls in my math and science classes) went with me to the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden. I had seen an advertisement for the show while riding the subway back from the Elephant Parade, and I looked up the garden online, where I discovered the Orchid Show is an annual occurrence. We arrived shortly after the garden opened, toured the conservatory housing the orchids, visited the Children's Garden, and stopped in the Garden Shop. According to the website, we visited an exotic world where we delighted in the mesmerizing and seductive wonder of the nation’s premier orchid exhibition, overflowing with the dazzling shapes and breathtaking colors of the world’s most coveted plant. We were surrounded by thousands of orchids of every description—delicate, elegant, intriguing, bizarre—from all over the world. It was magnificent! After touring, we took the D train to Columbus Circle, where we had lunch at a bakery. We all ordered sandwiches served open faced on small stone cutting boards.

After lunch, I came home to do schoolwork (though I haven't actually accomplished much), and at 10:00 tonight Seana, Alison, Jen, and I are going to see Gutenberg! The Musical! In this two-man musical, a pair of aspiring playwrights perform an audition for their new project - a big musical about printing press inventor Johann Gutenberg. They hope one of the producers in the audience will give them a Broadway contract. The pair of actors will sing all the songs and play all the parts, using only baseball caps to differentiate between the show's 30 characters. Gutenberg! The Musical! was the winner of the 2006 New York Musical Theatre Festival Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre Writing. It's billed as "hilarious," and I'm looking forward to it!

UPDATE: It really was hilarious! When we left my cheeks hurt from laughing so much!

elephants

Yesterday was a beautiful day in the city! We finally reached a high of 78 degrees, so I headed to Central Park. I grabbed an ice cream bar, spread out my towel on the side of a hill next to a tree, and reveled in the warmth of the sunshine and the sweet sounds of chirping birds. The park was alive - dads and kids playing Frisbee after school, grandparents out for a stroll with baby in the carriage, toddlers digging in the dirt, young professionals enjoying the fresh air on their way home from work... I spent a couple of hours enjoying spring, watching people, and reading (a textbook, of course).

After class in the evening, from 7 to 9, and a brief rest in my room, I went back out for an annual unique New York event I had heard about and didn't want to miss. Last night the Ringling Brothers Circus came to town! The elephants are too big to truck or train onto the island, so every year they have to walk across the Queens Midtown Bridge, down 34th Street, past Macy's, all the way to Madison Square Garden. They began their journey across the bridge at 11:59 last night, as I and hundreds of others waited in anticipation along 34th Street. I found a spot near Lexington Avenue, and the elephants reached me at about 12:25. I took pictures as they passed, and then I joined the crowd in running to catch up with and get ahead of the elephants for more pictures. Plenty of news crew photographers and animal rights activist protesters were in the mix, but, overall, there was a festive spirit in the air as everyone ran along snapping pictures and laughing at the sheer silliness of our actions. If you happen to be in New York when the circus comes to town next year, be sure to stay up late for the elephant parade!

cafeteria

Today's not so exciting (aerobics, Target, shower, group meeting for a class project...) so I'll tell you about Saturday night instead.

Carol, Jen, Alison, Victoria, and I went to Cafeteria for dinner. Cafeteria has been around since the late 90's, and they have a location here in Chelsea and one in Miami. In an episode of Sex and the City, the girls visit cafeteria for brunch. Apparently it's a popular celebrity hang-out, though we didn't see anyone famous. Cafeteria's concept is home-style comfort food in a modern, stylish setting. I think they get a check-plus-plus in both areas! The decor was brown, baby blue, and white in leather, plastic, metal, and fabric. Jen and I sat on white foot stools that looked like big eggs. Quite fun and comfortable! And the food. Oh the food. Jen and I shared an appetizer of lightly breaded cornmeal calamari with roasted tomato sauce. Then we had the macaroni and cheese with cheddar and fontina. Mmm-mmm, good! A little bit of heaven baked and served in a casserole dish! Carol tried the grilled chicken, and Alison and Victoria had hamburgers and fries. After dinner we moved from our white leather banquet to a little table with the big white eggs, where I sipped coffee (trying to get warm - our only complaint was that the air conditioning was on) and where three of the girls shared a chocolate cake dessert. Others have posted online that they had difficulty getting a table, but it seems we had the appropriate image, and we were able to get in right away. The waiters were all very good looking, but definitely not interested in any of us - if you know what I mean.

After we finished at Cafeteria, we headed over to Union Square to find a lounge where Carol was supposed to meet up with some French guys she knows because of teaching English at Berlitz. The decor was cute, and you can't go wrong with a glass of wine. But the music was atrociously loud so we couldn't talk at all, and the couches were so deep that our knees ended up next to our chins. That makes it hard to sit like a lady! We ended up leaving fairly early, and we took a cab back home. In spite of our disappointment with the lounge, it was a fun night out on the town! Gotta take advantage of all New York has to offer before I leave here in eight weeks!

orbit

Tonight at church Tim Keller spoke on Mark 15:33-39. He started by explaining the darkness that came over the whole land at the time of Jesus' death. He then talked about the darkness that we are in, the darkness that Jesus took upon Himself, and the way in which Jesus' darkness overcomes our darkness. A few of Tim's points stood out to me:

* Who or what do you orbit around? Where does the warmth in your life come from? (You can extend this metaphor for yourself by thinking about the sun/Son.)
* The worst thing that can happen for someone who centers her life on something other than God is for her to reach her goals. Because then she has nothing to live for.
* If ministry or teaching or work is the most important thing in your life, when you are criticized you will be destroyed. If God is the center of your life then you will just be momentarily discouraged. God is what holds the pieces together.
* On the cross Jesus cried out, "My God, My God..." He didn't cry out "My friends!" or "My rights!"
* Jesus began to experience a separation from God's presence and love. It's said that the worst sadness a human can ever experience is the loss of love through death or divorce, and that the longer that love had been in existence the more the loss will hurt. Jesus had been in the presence of God's love for eternity! He lost that love out of His love for us, so that we will not have to experience that separation. Thank God for His love!

Things about church tonight:
1. Jen joined me. Yay! It's so much more fun to go with a friend.
2. I sat next a guy who is an opera singer. It was nice to be next to a guy who isn't afraid to sing! (Though he had a bit of trouble getting the feel of the more swingin' songs; he likes vibrato.)
3. I ran into Megan at the subway stop after church. I haven't seen her since before Thanksgiving when she left on tour with Beauty and the Beast. She went to the earlier service and then to dinner, so it was God-timing that we happened to end up waiting for the train at the same time. She's a beautiful, sweet girl, and I wish I could have spent more time with her this year.

use the fundamental theorem of arithmetic...

...to justify the following statement for whole numbers a and b greater than 1. If p is prime and plab, then pla or plb. How's that for bringing back terrifying old memories? It's number thirty on my math homework this week. If you can explain it, please do so in the comments section before Thursday at 7:00 eastern time!