Soothing the savage beast

Believe it or not, this little blog turned 3 months old yesterday, and right now you're reading the 104th story I've posted.  No prizes for guessing why I've been so tired lately, huh?  I gave myself Tuesday night off and slept for 11 hours straight - it was blissful.

A taste of home at Pie Face

Waking up to a cool but clear Wednesday I walked up the sunny side of West 23rd Street and into Pie Face for a tasty coffee to get my heart properly started.  Buoyed by the caffeine, I rode the #1 subway to Times Square, where I switched over to the #7 train to take me to the office.  A fairly normal Wednesday, as far as these things go.

Little did I know that my routine commute was about to become something special, because waiting for me on the platform at Times Square was the limited-edition Seinfeld Subway, a special promotion by the MTA and local TV station WPIX.  The Seinfeld Subway has been decorated to look like Monk's Cafe, the fictional diner from the Seinfeld TV show, and they've done a really great job of it.  The promotion has only been going since Monday (May 12th) to signal the start of nightly Seinfeld re-runs at 11pm, but it also marks the commencement of the baseball season (because once the #7 train drops me off at work, it continues up to the Citi Field ballpark in Queens).  The promotion only lasts for a month, and even though the train was typically crowded this morning, I could tell the new decor was lifting our collective mood.

Delicious coffee at Cafe Grumpy

A few hours into the work day, it was time for another coffee hit and I was so pleased to discover that Cafe Grumpy has opened across the street, next door to the Grand Central Market.  If you watch the TV series "Girls", you might recognise the Cafe Grumpy store in Greenpoint, Brooklyn as the place where Lena Dunham's character "works".  Anyway, the Grand Central location is the cafe's sixth store in New York and I'm glad it's there, especially because it is open from 6am to 9pm each weekdays, and from 7am to 8pm on weekends.  I love it when Midtown presents me with great coffee options - cause we've already discussed the coffee drought in this hood! 

So my commute pleased me, and my coffee excursions made me happy, and I was very eager that my day continue in that vein.  Tonight after work, we hosted a reception for the Australian delegates to the UN's Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which runs to the 23rd of May.  It's great when Australians come to visit New York because so many are here for the first time, and it's great to hear them gush about their first impressions of this big city.  In the case of some of tonight's delegates, their towns only have two coffee shops, so they're totally overwhelmed in a place like this.

"Black Cockatoo" at the
Australian Consulate, NY

Aside from the good company and delicious Australian wines and beers, we were treated to a wonderful performance by the Indigenous Australian dance troupe called "Black Cockatoo".  The haunting song they performed tonight was just a taste of their upcoming shows at the Asia Society New York (which I'll attend on Friday), The Museum of Natural History, and a cultural show up in the Bronx.  All this and getting around at the UN for the Permanent Forum means they'll definitely be sleeping well on the plane home!

Brick Church

But my wonderful day wasn't quite over yet, and I headed to the Upper East Side to the Brick Presbyterian Church on Park Avenue to hear my friend perform in her choir.  The Dalton Chorale is a very different ensemble to the Melodia Women's Choir I heard a few weekends ago.  For one thing, the Dalton Chorale has been around for about 22 years and the material they chose to sing tonight was decidedly more sacred than Melodia's (though they do sing secular songs too).  Their concert tonight was entitled, Music from the English Choral Tradition.

Listening to my friend's choir tonight, I still found it hard to accept that they are a bunch of amateurs.  Their voices melded beautifully and the acoustics in the church were (are) incredible.  I'll admit I got quite engrossed in the music and even though the guy in front of me was following along with the singing in the program, I gave up on understanding all the words and just listened to the sounds instead.

The interior of the Church is beautiful too.  As you can see, the ceiling just soars and there are beautiful gold accents everywhere.  The Church was founded in 1767 but has only been in this Upper East Side location since 1940.  The Sanctuary Organ is designated a City Landmark- the majestic sound of it easily fills the whole space, and tonight's program included a couple of organ solos to show it off to full effect.

Unlike the Melodians, the Dalton Chorale is a mixed choir that specialises in works dating from the 17th the 21st Centuries.  Dalton's season is also at an end now, and they're also taking a break for a few months.  Their next performance is not until December.

When I read back over this 104th blog post, I get the sense that my Wednesday was a terribly full day - but it didn't feel so crazy.  Maybe today was so good because of my great sleep last night, or perhaps it was the delicious coffees I had, or the rousing musical performances I was fortunate to enjoy.  Or perhaps, as I'd like to think, it was a mix of all of these things that combined to make a great Wednesday in the Big Apple.