NYC Week Two

I've been sleeping a lot lately. Excessively. On Monday, I thought I was tired from being so social over the weekend. But then I felt fairly low-energy the rest of the week, and each night slept closer to 9 or 10 hours than 8. Maybe I'm fighting off a virus. Maybe I was wrong about the city giving me energy; maybe it giveth and taketh away.

Sunday Spanish wine and tapas with Ajeet!

I spent most of the week working on my Health:Further podcast project, a Local Table piece I have due Monday, Robertson Alumni Council business, and The ENCIP. I also interviewed for a restaurant job that starts tonight — everyone keep your fingers crossed for me. I know the NYC restaurant scene can be intense.

Happily, I've gotten back into swimming: a goal I've had for the last few years and am finally making happen. Having a YMCA a mile away helps. I signed up for my Y membership yesterday, woo! My plan is to swim a couple times a week, do yoga and weight training a couple times a week, and run on the other days.

This week I also attended the NYC Radio Club meeting and the NYC Slow Food meeting. Both were really cool: At Radio Club I met some neat audio folks, including a guy who went to Duke and several people who work dream jobs in the radio/podcasting world. After about an hour of mingling, the group sat down to critique a few pieces. Listening to the projects and to other people's feedback was really valuable for me. I know that a major area I can grow in as a podcaster is creating scene with sound, something that I always appreciate when I hear it. My past podcast projects have been mostly narrative, weaving together interviews with scripted commentary, strong on the verbal storytelling side but weak on the audio scene-setting side.

The  Slow Food meeting was truly energizing. Being around creative people is fun for me, but I especially love being around passionate people who take initiative to be the change they want to see. Especially when it has to do with food. I met the current chapter board members, a couple of people who are running for board (like me...) and a few other volunteers. I learned about the chapter's programs and annual events, I ate some fantastic cheese, and I drank some fantastic wine.

At both events I pushed away my self-consciousness and got contact information for the people I thought seemed interesting or fun. Someone from Slow Food invited me to run with her, since we're in the same neighborhood, and I invited someone from Radio Club to a Harry Potter-themed trivia night this weekend. In Nashville I thought that since I was new, people would automatically think to be extra inclusive and welcoming to me, but I learned that if you want new friends you have to just reach out to other people— regardless of whether you think it's their prerogative. So I'm being intentionally aggressive in my friending techniques. We'll see how it works...

took a photo of the cracker box from the SF meeting because I want to replicate that cheese board...

other exciting NYC food things