notes from a slow week

Oy vey, has it been quiet around here. I've been able to spend quality time with my Xbox 360 this week as well as watch all the sports I could want to see. Orchestra rehearsals resume next Thursday, so I'll have at least one night a week when I'm busy.

There's a new subway entrance at the corner of Broadway and Cortlandt Streets, on the same side of the street as my office building. One of the small ways the average subway commuter can game the system is to get in the right train car so that when you get to your destination, you're close to the station exit. When I lived in the Village I got on the front end of the E train in the morning, so I was close to the World Trade Center station exit and didn't have to walk down the platform. In the evenings, I'd get on the back of the train and get off close to the exit at West 3rd St. But that all changed when I moved to the Upper East Side. The 4/5 trains are so crowded in the mornings, and the station exits on either end no more or less convenient for me, that it didn't matter which car I used. I'd always get stuck in an uncomfortable spot and have to walk to the station exit. Now, with this new entrance on my block, I can get in the front car of the train and be only a few steps from the exit at work. I still have to cross Broadway to get on the train to go home, but I can save a little time on my morning commute. It's the small things in life, my friends.

I took a bit of a gamble last week and bought a subscription to the New York Philharmonic. They had a sale on all concerts so I picked out four that I really liked and got two tickets to each one. The catch is that I don't have any idea who will want to come to these concerts with me, but I have until January to find someone for the first concert. The real test is in June: Mahler's Ninth Symphony on June 7, and Bruckner's Eighth Symphony on June 21. Those are two gargantuan works, so whoever comes along is either in for a treat or should bring a pillow for a nap.