A Promise of Things to Come

I apologize for not being the most diligent blogger lately, but I have been distracted by school, and as a result my life has been rather boring of late. The one bright point was Sara's recent visit, during which we visited innumerable bars and went to a show at Lincoln Centre, which was amazing. It featured two opera singers and the Orchestra of St. Luke's. The audience was unbelievably enthusiastic. I have never seen so many standing ovations during a single show; my skirt had a crazy case of static cling by the end of it. All that friction! Anyway, I will have better material for you in a couple of days, because it is American Thanksgiving, which seems to be an epic holiday around these parts. People take practically the whole week off. Tomorrow evening I am going to a party at my friend Zoe's house. She is in my program at U of T, but she is a born-and-bred New Yorker and her mom lives on the Upper West Side, across from the American Natural History Museum, which is where Macy's blows up their enormous Thanksgiving parade balloons. I don't know if you have ever heard of these balloons but they are supposed to be pretty serious. They are character balloons - so just picture ginormous Kermit the Frogs and Alice in Wonderlands. They are the centrepoint of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Because of these balloons, Macy's is the world's second-largest consumer of helium. Crazy, eh? Here are some more fun balloon facts: http://www.wm.edu/amst/370/2005F/sp4/home_paradefeatures_balloons_info.htm

Anyway, the reason for the party is to watch the inflation, so I'll have more exciting details tomorrow! In the meantime, here are some pictures of some cool murals/graffiti around my neighbourhood.