Linking up with Kelly.

—1—

I’ve gone to a few shows/concerts over the past few weeks, beginning with a ballet performance of The Golden Cockerel put on by the American Ballet Theatre. I’d never been to the ballet in New York before so I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect, but it was very entertaining! I was sitting high enough to be able to look down into the pit orchestra, which I enjoyed—I like listening for the flute and piccolo parts. The staging was beautiful, and the dancing was fascinating to watch.

I also saw a performance of The Jeweler’s Shop last week, and it was very well done. It made me want to read the text now—the play was full of deep, philosophical lines that would lend themselves well to deeper reflection. It was written by Karol Wojtyla (aka Pope St. John Paul II, before he was pope), and it’s a drama involving three different couples, focusing on ideas of human love and marriage.

And then on Tuesday night, I went to a Florence + the Machine concert, which was great—Shake It Out is one of my favorite songs, and it was so cool to see it performed live!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGriE9jRIVI/

—2—

I made multiple visits to Astoria Park over the weekend, the last of which involved a spontaneous outdoor piano karaoke session with a piano that was donated by Hugh Jackman.

And then on Wednesday I had a picnic dinner with friends in Central Park, and it ended with a fireworks display.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGuKJk4xIbB/

—3—

My parish had a Rosary procession through the streets of my neighborhood on Saturday; they walked from my church to a nearby church to visit its Door of Mercy. They were expecting 50–100 people to attend, but they ended up getting a turnout of 800! I had forgotten about the procession but stumbled upon it as I walked to the park, so I joined in. It was a nice surprise!

—4—

I watched the Tonys on Sunday night, and I’ve been rewatching clips of it since! All of the Hamilton performances were amazing. And for the record, I can rap Guns and Ships just as fast as James Corden can. ;) It pops into my head every time I pass Lafayette Street, which is at least twice a day.

—5—

I went to the Ham4Ham show (aka the Hamilton lottery) for the first time on Wednesday. When we arrived, the line for the lottery was so long that it wrapped all the way around the block, so we decided to skip the lottery and come earlier next time. (There were so many people; our odds weren’t too great anyway!) We got a great spot to watch the show, though.

—6—

I wrote a post for Ignitum Today last week about what I’m learning from commuting in NYC:

Here is what it’s like to live in New York City: Every day I walk a maze of sidewalks and dodge a never-ending stream of people, cars, bicycles, scooters, dogs, strollers, and pigeons. I navigate subway transfers with efficiency and precision, knowing the exact spot to stand on each platform to minimize my time in transit. I step quickly, weaving around mailboxes, trees, and, on one especially trying morning, a whole class of students with rolling suitcases on their way to LaGuardia.

Every day I am tempted to ruminate on how the people around me are continually inconveniencing me, and not only that—they fail to realize the extent to which they are inconveniencing me.

You can read the post here.

—7—

I’m going to Philly tonight to visit a friend and then home to NJ on Saturday. I’ll be there for a few weeks because I’m having minor surgery on Tuesday—I would appreciate your prayers! I’m actually kind of looking forward to getting out of the city for a while.