A Dish of Lime-Vanilla Ice

S just emailed me, Ray Bradbury died yesterday.  So sad.  What creative minds we seem to be losing lately.  I know he’s most famous for his sci-fi, but I loved his stories of normal life with just a hint of magic.  Like "Dandelion Wine," I re-read it every summer.  The way he captures summertime, memories, and just life in general is so true and beautiful.  His world is not perfect, but it’s exhilarating.  S knows how much I love these stories and broke the news to me perfectly, "Just read that Ray Bradbury passed away today.  Hopefully he’ll be sharing a dish of lime-vanilla ice with someone in the near future."  I have tears in my eyes but replied back with a line from another favorite story, "Two thousand miles away, the closing of a window."

Other than that, what is going on?  We did the Wall Street Run again last week, the best weather and my slowest time out of the six years I’ve done this race.  Oh well.  I love this one so much, careening through the narrow streets of downtown, an area that means so much to me, the oldest part of New York City.  And the walk home, between the Hudson River and the West Side Highway.  So beautiful, the water and the sky.  I should take some photos there, the way I take pictures on vacation.  The things I see every day are the most special, the most beautiful.

I had a work event on Friday, but came home around 7pm and took the L train out to Williamsburg for my sister’s birthday.  Sometimes I think I’d like to live there for a few years, the feeling to me is like the East Village of my early twenties.  Had a great night, hit a couple of different spots then parted ways around 1am – S and I got caught in the rain again walking to the subway, so we ducked into an adorable bar for an hour until it let up a bit.  French class on Saturday, it was good to be back.  After class I walked across the bottom of Central Park.  It was kind of spectacular, the Park itself, tons of people out, the beautiful horses and carriages.  Again, worth taking photographs of the same things other people come from all over the world to see.  I took the train up to West Harlem/Hamilton Heights to look for an apartment for A, my best friend from college who is finally moving back to the city from Philadelphia.  The apartment was beautiful, a stately, well-constructed building, right on the water, a block from the train, spacious, quiet, and clean. And inexpensive! We walked in Riverside Park for a while and then she dropped me off on her way home.  S had just gotten home and we were both starving so we went out for margaritas and an early dinner of fish tacos and guacamole.  Yum.  Took a walk around the neighborhood then had a nice quiet night at home together.  Lay around all day on Sunday…such a luxury to do absolutely nothing.

This week has been pretty quiet, we started a boot camp training program two mornings a week and on Tuesday we had our fitness test.  I am out of shape, horribly uncoordinated, and have poor balance.  A lot of the activities involved squats, and I have never been so sore.  S and I were laughing…we’ve run marathons, an Ironman, Kili, even ran 86 flights up the frigging Empire State Building, and never felt like this!  I went swimming this morning hoping to stretch everything out and it completely didn’t work.  After swimming I went home, cuddled with S before he had to get in the shower, then totally conked out and didn’t wake up until 8:15.  I wish I could have slept until noon!  The second day after whatever is making you sore tends to be worst for me, so I’m kind of nervous for tomorrow, with the added bonus of another boot camp in the morning.

Let’s change the subject and end this entry on a high note – I am so excited for the Baz Luhrmann version of "The Great Gatsby."  <span style="font-family: 'Bookman Old Style’; “>Even the trailer is epic – sweeping shots of the city…fireworks, music, everything technicolor.  Flying across the Brooklyn Bridge, dancing the Charleston in a speeding roadster, girls on swings, zebras in the pool…gotta love it. My Christmas wish, if I am in the country, is for the movie to open at the Ziegfeld Theater and enjoy the Baz magic in the red velvet darkness.