Looking Up

Hello dear friends and family

I had intended to send out a post every couple of weeks - in the hopes of keeping you guys updated as to what I have been up to. You guys probably all know that I am not the best at staying in touch, but I really do NOT want you guys to forget about me, so here I am.

My first couple days here were disorentating exciting and oooh so weird. I went to the diner with Ivy, Gabe (Ivy's boyfriend); and uncle Oliver, My mums brother, who (along with his wife, aunt Louisa) is putting me up for the time being.

Far as I can tell, the diner is the closest I am going to get to the pub while I am out here. Dive bars exist, and fun as they are, they play loud music, are way dark and not very cozy, and, it would be totally inapropriate to wear pyjamas there. Diners are cozy, well lit, there's always at least one dude there in a dressing gown at all times.

After we went out for dinner we wondered around the west end and I felt VERY spooked and excited and I could not help but look up. Manhattan is (obviously) tall in a way that I have never known. I heard that they recognise tourists in the city by their craned necks; desperately trying to understand what is going on above them. When you are in a city this high, you can't help but be looking up.

I have been running a lot (check out my strava and give me them tasty kudos please) - which is a great thing to do when you are in a new place, seeing so much so quickly. And, doing my yoga on the little balcony we have in the flat.

Doing healthy things has been nice and I think it has kept my mood fairly stable, But I do miss doing them with my friends (i.e football and running with my homies is a lot more fun than doing it on my own). No doubt soon I will make some friends to do these things with, though they will be a faint shadow of my lovely london/glasgow lot.

Work has been not too bad all things considered - it is tough going, busy and the standards are high; waitering here is much more of a career than I'm used to. But, I am appreciating working somewhere so well run, many congratulations to ivy I suppose. Everyone is awesome, and I have made a few new friends! Obviously Gabe - Ivy's boyfriend and CMT head chef, has been lovely and funny and scary and welcoming, but also a few others - it is weird meeting so many people so quickly, and constantly trying to figure out weather we will be friends or just colleagues or perhaps mortal enemies; it is weird being on such unsteady social ground with nearly everyone I know. Weird but exciting.

Last week I went to Metropolitan Museum of Art with Oliver. I think it might be biggest gallery of all time in the world any where. It seems to be skyscraper tall and greek temple wide. It is filled with such hilarious quantities of staggeringly famous art it is nausating and tiring. We enjoyed Rodin's sculptures, who is maybe my favourite artist of all time, as well as some pretty 19th century paintings and lots of Byzantine and Muslim art. After about 4 hours perusing we decided we had seen about 4 percent of the art. We will have to go back for another 96 hours.

In particular the two clay sculptures above are awesome: Rodin's study of ancient and rennaissance statues. The statue on the right, the Artist's take on the posture of ancient Greek and Roman sculptures demonstrate contrapposto: all the figure's weight is on one straight leg, the other buckled. This gives the statues a lifelike energy, and a relaxed elegance, compared to a statue with both legs equally straight and stiff. The statue on the left, Rodin's impression of a rennaissance or baroque sculpture, has taken contropposto to the extreme, the body seems to writhe inwards, under some great external pressure. The statue is less lifelike and certainly less elegant, but incredibly emotive. So cool!! I think Rodin's sculptures fall somewhere inbetween the two, and I love seeing what his hand actually touched, as opposed to sculptures from casts he made.

Hopefully new york stays fun and exciting, and things - and I - continue looking up.

Unfortunately that is all have time/space for at the moment! Sorry this blog took a bit longer than I was hoping. I will send them out more regularly from now on I think. Lots of love to all my friends and family back home u guys are the bomb don't forget about me.