Monday, December 20, 2010

A Guggenheim Walk

Last night I was at the Guggenheim for about two hours for a free concert. The line was long. But the wait was worth it.

I was wearing blue jeans.

There was this newly retired Chicago couple - college sweethearts - right in front of me. We chatted. I ended up talking about ethnic prejudice in Nepal.

I was one of the top Obama volunteers in the city, friends with the founders of Manhattan For Obama, Brooklyn For Barack and so on. When they finally published the names and profiles of the prominent Nepali Obama supporters in the city in the Nepali newspaper in Queens, I was not on the list. That is ethnic prejudice for you. (Am I Smart?, Larry Ellison)

"I don't think I will see you ever again. It was nice talking," I said as we entered the hall.

Nepalis hate your guts. Indians think you are not even a Punjabi. Main Laloo ka aadmi. White people think you are Indian. ("Are you a doctor?" "No, I am not, but I am very smart.") People like me belong in New York. There is no other place.






The concert ended at around eight. And I decided to walk. First I thought I would walk to the southern edge of Central Park, then I thought Grand Central, then Union Square. I ended up on Canal Street. That was more than 100 blocks covered. I took a left on Canal and walked over to Essex to my currently second favorite dumplings place. It was closed. So I walked over to my favorite one: Lam Zhou on East Broadway. It was open. I had an order of fried dumplings. (My Secret Sauce)

Manhattan felt so unusually desolate. Was it the winter? Was it because this was a Sunday night? Was it because it was getting late? It was 10:30 when I left the dumplings place. Was it the Holiday season? All of the above?

Looks like I have yet another Holiday Party to go to tonight. And another tomorrow night. And then Thursday.

Holiday Parties Most Days
Digital Dumbo Holiday Party
NYTM After Party: Is It A Holiday Parteeeey!
Blip.TV: How Do They Ever Get Anything Done?
A Mind Blowing Party

I stayed offline from Saturday evening to Monday afternoon. That made room Sunday for a long walk, some freehand exercise - your stomach muscles are the most crucial - and some cooking. (Freehand Exercise: 1000 Push-Ups, 1000 Squats, 1000 Crunches)

I dipped into the Apple store at the southeast corner of Central Park during the walk. I wanted to check out the Macbook Air I have been reading so much about. It is too small, I think.

I checked my email. I had good news. An engineer in India who had been working on a project for me emailed saying it was done. That was such relief. I was hoping to get it done by December 1, then December 10, and now December 20 had been the new deadline and it had been met. I fired two teams in the process. The third team got it done. Made my day.

Other than that I stayed offline.
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