Bollywood!!

Even though this happened on Monday night, I have been thinking about it ever since, so I have to blog about it despite lack of recentness (invented word). I went to a Bollywood dance class at a studio on the west side and had the best time! Finally got to live out my fantasy of taking part in a decadent Indian wedding, as we learned the dance to a song that the instructor said is really popular to play at weddings. Well, kind of...considering that I was surrounded by sweaty, middle-aged women in work-out gear, rather than glamorous, good-looking movie stars decked out in vibrant wedding finery. Regardless, I had so much fun, and had to look up the song when I got home so I could practice my moves. Check out this video that shows the song being performed in the movie of the same name: Om Shanti Om.

Things I have Done

The internet is working! Who knows how long it will last- must write quickly! Here is a list of things I have done in the past few days:
- Got new haircut! Really more of a trim, but big improvement. Would like to post pictures, but I haven't even brushed my teeth yet this morning, and feel it would take an inordinate amount of effort to get myself photo-ready. (Lazy.)

- Went to MOMA and finally saw the Matisse exhibit, as well as an exhibit of student work made in a class taught by our friend Gina Llerena, which was awesome!

- Voyaged across the East River to Governor's Island for Free Bike Friday, but was immensely disappointed when they cut off the line right ahead of me and I couldn't get a bike. Walked around dejectedly and glowered at everyone having the time of their lives riding their bikes around in the beautiful sunshine until I could catch the next ferry back.

- Found my new favorite TV show- "La Rosa de Guadalupe" on Univision.

- Went to Boca Juniors Argentine steakhouse in Queens, to watch the Boca Juniors game (appropriately). Ate entirely too much red meat.

- Stopped by a weird magic shop on the way back to the subway. Fer and I feared the proprietors would use their skills of redirection and illusion to relieve us of all our valuables, but we managed to escape only a few dollars lighter and bought a pretty cool trick deck for one of Fers students. I was entertained with card tricks the whole train ride home.

- Made an awesome peach/mango/banana smoothie. (An attempt to balance out my carnivorous luncheon.)

- Sent my mom a fantastic ABBA e-card for her birthday- TODAY August 15th!

Movie Review

Fer and I went to see a late showing of Dinner for Schmucks last night, which I went into with fairly low expectations based on reviews and reactions from friends. My expectations were not exceeded. While I find Steve Carrell and Zach Galifinakis pretty consistently hilarious, I think I would have better satisfied my comedy cravings by watching reruns of the Office and "Between Two Ferns". Which isn't to say the movie was completely charmless- there were some funny one liners, and the "mousterpieces" really cracked me up. Final verdict- a good choice for a late night vacation flick, but not worth the $12 NYC ticket price. Now tell me that isn't more useful than some silly star rating system.

Cannonball!!!

Lemme tell you, I love vacation, and I really love vacation here in Charlotte. I have no complaints about a day like yesterday, when we spent the whole afternoon at the pool with our good friends the Eddes. Although we were defeated in pool volleyball, I was on the victorious team in the salad bowl game!
We've also been eating some good food, which of course is a crucial component of any successful vacation in my book. On Tuesday night we went to New South Kitchen, where I had fried green tomatoes for the first time, followed by low country crab cakes, as well as some fantastic pecan pie. Mmm Southern cuisine- I could get used to this.

Chillin in the Queen City

We're on vacation in Charlotte, North Carolina! Had a bit of a fracas involving missing our flight yesterday, but after a long, pleasant (not so much) conversation with our friendly Delta representative, and a short trip from JFK to LaGuardia airport, we found our way here late last night. Highlight of the day was getting a dinner of 2 sizeable pizzas and two beers for $15. Our NYC-wired brains almost short-circuited when we saw the check.
Had a relaxing day here so far- necessary to recover from the stresses of travel yesterday (life is so hard). Went to the pool, which is lovely lovely and we plan to return every day. Only exception to the relaxation agenda was this morning when I dragged Fer with me on a seemingly endless trek to find a drugstore, oops. Umm, I didn't bring a camera on vacation (gasp!) so sadly I can't provide any fantastic pictures of our fun, unless I somehow figure out how to transfer pictures from the Blackberry to the computer (i.e. don't hold your breath).

MOMA!

I went to the MOMA (which receives my vote for cutest art museum name) today because I get free admission with my school ID and wanted to see the new Matisse exhibit. By the time I got there they didn't have any more timed admission tickets to the exhibit, which is apparently very popular, judging by this lack of tickets and abundance of Frenchies wandering around looking bemused. But it was ok because there are lots of other amazing things to see there- which some other museum patrons seemed to fail to understand as they stormed away from the ticket counter in outrage. I really liked an exhibit of works by female photographers and a "sound sculpture" called Days.