Spiritually Inclined... sort of

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Spirituality

It just so happened that the day I ventured into new areas of Manhattan for me (read: above 110St Upper West Side), I managed to document both a church (St. John the Divine Cathedral) and The Cloisters museum in the same day... hence the religious-themed pictures.

The Cloisters was able to sort of satisfy my morbid curiosity by introducing me to reliquaries. Some are thoughtfully shaped to reflect what exactly it is they're holding and they were worth more than precious jewels and more "esteemed than gold". I would have touched one of them in the Cloisters to transfer any healing power that remained in them, but I'm sure I would have set off the sensor alarms. It would have been a great way to embark on the path to become spiritually inclined.

Gluttony

In my eager discovery that admission to the cloisters included the Met as well, I was determined to cross the streets between 190St and 86 St to take advantage of this. To my delight, Amy Ruth's on 116 St was a perfect breakpoint on the traverse and had fantastic soul food. My fascination with soul food perhaps originated from my experience with chicken fried steak in Missoula and I was determined to get more. The server was slightly disappointed when I ended up leaving part of the cornbread, mac & cheese and hamburger bun on the plate. Do you develop an increasing appetite with soul food?

pop art

My visit to NY was capped off with the Pop Rally party hosted by MoMa. Their attempt to attract young New Yorkers was certainly successful that Saturday night. Some complained it reminded them of a high school dance party, but I think those didn't quite embrace the color theme of the night, the retro-electronic music pumped out on the dance floor or the gigantic twister game offered on the second floor. Indeed, this may the only time I would ever have imagined to put together the color combo of a green sweater dress, electric blue tights and purple leg warmers.... and didn't create too many stares on the subway.

Musings...
Jaywalking or crossing against the light seems to be an essential New York activity that separates locals from the tourists. One night we were about to cross against the light when we noticed two NYPD officers next to us. We hesitated but then noticed they were jaywalking. We shrugged our shoulders and crossed with them. On the other side of the street, they went one way, we went another without any discussion on the illegality of our actions.

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Photos

leading the way to the dance floor
MoMa