I Wear My Sunglasses At Night*

So now to continue about my life.

Yesterday I went down to NYU to pick up chords for two of the gospel songs, which an NYU student agreed to transcribe for me for $10 each, which is a great deal. I'm hoping that the choir will reimburse me those expenses - I emailed them asking them to, but haven't heard back yet (of course, I haven't received the check for the first job with them either... that's going to be the initial topic of discussion at the rehearsal next week....) - but even if they don't, that's a $20 expense for what will probably be a $200 job, so I'm ok with it (assuming they ever pay me at all...). (It is not their fault. It is the fault of the NYU Budget Office. But I need the choir to be hassling the budget office about it for me, because I want my money.)

But the surprise exciting part of the journey was this: I wore a t-shirt and no sweater! Heck, I was even prepared to buy ice cream from the ice cream truck I saw once before at the Astor Place 6 stop! Unfortunately, it was not there, but I was eating ice cream in spirit! It was beautiful out yesterday! So beautiful! Wow! It was like a summer day.

And then yesterday evening, Tom, who had learned to make duck confi (is that how you spell it?) and also the Five Mother Sauces in his recent classes (have I talked about him starting culinary school? He started culinary school. It is an excellent development), and who was allowed to bring three duck legs and over a quart of duck fat home with him, made us all duck confi sandwiches with mushrooms a la something-French-I-don't-remember and Bernaise (sp?) sauce, and they were so delicious I practically passed out on the spot. I love having a chef as a roommate.

In other news, the music director of Pied Piper Players, after I emailed him the other day reminding him that I'm around and looking for work, invited me to play the piano for a rehearsal and recital for eight teens next week. So that will be fun. I also emailed the director at Theatre Resources Unlimited again, reminding them of the same thing, and he emailed me back apologizing for forgetting about me when hiring pianists for their upcoming auditions and offering me a free slot in their accompanist listings, which was very kind of him. I also have a few more transcriptions to do for the journalism student from Columbia, and I'm waiting on the next big batch of interviews from the professor at CCNY. If those start coming in, I'll be good with income for a while; if they don't, I won't. So we'll see how that goes.

It is supposed to be 70 degrees out today, Friday, and Saturday! Maybe I'll go to the beach! I have been missing the beach. Although it might not feel the same without Mexican food. I realized that the three things I miss most about the West Coast are all food: Mexican food, sourdough bread, and In 'n' Out. I didn't go to In 'n' Out that often, and Petey's is a reasonable substitute, but I was hitting up Mexican food at least once a week for the last couple years (Lissa! I miss our Arriba dates!), and good sourdough bread is just heaven. I fully intend to make sourdough starter and then make some sourdough myself, but it will have to wait until June, as the starter has to stay quite warm for about a week.

But the beach will still be great. When I went to Brighton Beach when I was here on the program, I ate the hot dogs and ice cream they sold there. Are hot dogs and ice cream what New Yorkers eat on the beach instead of burritos?

And then on Sunday (it's supposed to cool back down and rain on Sunday, which I am also comfortable with :)) I'm going to a seder! I'm very excited; Ruthy's friend Marie invited me, and it should be secular and fun. Also, I'm planning to make a seder for my roommates, which I did last year too (no, wait, the year before last; last year I went home for Passover). When I made it before, I made smoked salmon with dill sauce and deviled eggs and sauteed veggies and flourless chocolate torte, plus the whole seder plate. So much fun! I can't wait!

Soon I will start wearing my sunglasses outside, as it will be spring (actually, it might be spring now, in spirit). I look hot in my sunglasses.

I look hot in my sunglasses...

...as do we all.

These are not my sunglasses, but I wish they were.

*Well, it is night in one of these pictures, anyway.