I Shall Be Released

Yesterday I had a day chock full of things that made me remember I was living in New Yok now. I know it seems like such an obvious thing--the city where a person lives-- but I am in and out of places so often, and often times not necessarily quickly, I guess it is taking me a little while to get the hang of things and settle into a routine that's going to last more than a month or so. Also, I've been waiting fo rthis for so long that it just needs to sink in. Also, I haven't gotten my diploma yet from UA and I sort of feel like it's all going to be yanked out from under me any minute like a huge concrete rug.
But yesterday was great. It was just my third Monday in town, so really just any other Monday, and this is what I did.
I took the metro into Manhattan where I stopped at Union Square to take care of some stuff at the New School, went through Penn Station to catch the train to midtown, where I strolled Madison Avenue to visit a subsidiary of the credit union (I bank here now.), and then went to grab a prime spot in line for the afternoon taping of The Daily Show!!!. (By the way, Jon Stewart was amazing, Jeff Garlin was hillarious and is making a movie about cheese {can we say soulmate?} and Rob Cordury was there!) After the show, Glen and I went to dinner with his girlfriend Michelle near Times Square before heading downtown to the South Street Seaport to see Old Springs Pike at Spiegelworld Tent, a very cool venue on Pier 17. I hope I'll get to see shows there pretty regularly. The tent itself is awesome, and not just because it was home to my very first NYC celebrity sighting: Joseph Gordon Levitt was the opening act! I'm not sure if JoGo is going to be the next J T-lake (I'm not positive he wasn't the next Britney Spears comeback.), but the crowd seemed into it, and he seemed like a cool guy. (I'm a HUGE fan of Manic, Brick, Angels in the Outfield, etc., but even I found it hard to focus on the serious stuff from the guy who logs deposits in his Spank Bank thanks to Alex Mack.)
But, yeah, it was an awesome day that turned into an awesome night. And while it wasn't the first I've had in New York, it was a nice change of pace from last week and a great way to start this week. The concert ended with the band covering Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released". The four singers harmonized the chorus in a way that made me realize I'd be humming that song the next day my life as a native doesn't go down quite as well as this one.


Seriously, the only thing better than a great show out of the blue like this is heading the right way (or left, if that is correct) out of a subway station or being able to give directions when someone asks me on the street.

OK, so neither of those things has happened yet, so the OSP show is the best thing around right now.