the quiet middle period

During the last two weeks, I've felt much more like I've settled into a routine than the first month, and hence haven't been moved to write about any exciting activities! I'm right in the middle of my current New York stay, so it feels much closer to living a regular life here. Days working in the library, yoga three evenings a week, and even cooking some meals at home. Last week, everybody was either out of town, busy or had gone back to Sydney, so I took the opportunity to have early nights in and focus on meeting a rapidly approaching writing deadline. One night, on the spur of the moment, I took myself to see some contemporary dance. One of the things I love about New York is being able to choose from a whole range of great things to see any night of the week. I had seen the Stephen Petronio Company in Sydney a few years ago, and once again they were fantastic. For $40, I had a great seat watching a superb dance performance which would have cost twice as much in Sydney and would probably only be a festival event. One of the pieces was set to music by Rufus Wainwright and another to songs by Antony.

Then last weekend, my quiet nights in ended abruptly with the arrival of more Australians. Straight Pete got in touch with me via our mutual friends Andrew and Steve, and what I thought would be one Saturday night out in Hell's Kitchen turned into a really fun string of nights out as the boys worked through a list of most of the gay bars and clubs in New York, area by area, collecting random people and hilarious stories along the way. By Monday night we were discovering the low-key appeal of the neighbourhood bar in Park Slope, Brooklyn, by which time my liver was longing for a break, but I pushed through into a pretty huge Tuesday night to celebrate their last night in town.



Meanwhile, spring seems finally to be arriving properly so the trees are starting to blossom and scarves and hats and heavy coats can be left inside. And in seeing people dressed down, I'm reminded that I'm the only person in Williamsburg without a tattoo.