Change for the Better

It's been a while, again. I find myself not with less time to write, but less drive to do so. It's not for lack of material, because it seems there's never a dull moment in life, but just part of my natural growth as a "New Yorker." Believe me when I say that after living (surviving) here for a few years the novelty of many things wears off. Places, people, or situations that I may have been inspired to write about in the past just feel more normal. They are no less interesting or entertaining but just harder to compose a post around.

So with time comes change to RexrodeAndTheCity. Positive change. :)

For one, I recently added a link to my Flikr account so you can view all the NYC pics taken from my new(ish) Canon Rebel. We recently went to Rockefeller Center to see the big tree. We saw a guy propose to his girlfriend on the ice-skating rink there. Below is a slideshow of the pics straight from Flikr.

Before visiting the Tree we had a belated anniversary dinner at Becco, our favorite restaurant in the city. The food was soooo delicious and filling. We tried to work off some of the carbs by walking to see the department store windows but it got too cold so fast. Pardon any of the pictures that look blurry. In low light situations it's important to keep the camera steady (since the shutter is open longer to let in more light it also picks up more movement), a task that's not easy while shivering with numb fingers.

Anyway, my favorite addition to the blog is my personal Twitter feed, @MattRexrode. You may have heard of Twitter but what exactly is it you ask? Well, at the heart of Twitter are small texts called Tweets. Each Tweet is 140 characters or less which you can do a surprising amount with. You can see photos, videos and conversations and get a whole story at a glance. It's a fast way for me to keep up with people I "follow" and keep you all connected at the same time.

So, although less posts may be composed each month, you'll be much more informed on my day-to-day life through my Twitter feed. It's always at the top of the homepage!

Enjoy.

MoMa

A few months ago I blogged that I was going to visit more museums and galleries on my days off. I visited The American Museum of Natural History, really enjoyed it, and then forgot about my goal until Jen mentioned it recently. Well, this week I followed up on my previous statement by visiting The Museum of Modern Art (MoMa). In Midtown, not far from our apartment, it offers amazing collections of contemporary architecture, design, drawings, paintings, sculpture, photography, books, and film. I entered into its vast lobby, headed to the information desk, and found out I get in for free because I’m a student at a city college. I like this place already! Some of the highlights for me were the collections of wild midcentury-modern furniture, evolving NYC urban design, and the outdoor garden that the museum surrounds (pic). After feeling like I got my money’s worth in the museum, ha, I headed to the design store which had really cool modern gifts. You can visit the store anytime without paying admission and I’ll probably be going back to show Jen. I could have easily spent a lot of money in there. I’ve always liked modern art but enjoyed the museum even more than I thought I would. This is usually the case with me and museums and the reason I want to continue exploring the ones NYC has to offer.

Around the time I was leaving Jen was getting off work so we decided to meet at Herald Square to do some (more) Christmas shopping. With the combination of holiday shoppers, heavy security due to the President being on the move somewhere close to MoMa, and people heading to the Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting, the sidewalks were packed! Once I finally made it we started at Macy’s which was just slightly less crazy. As frustrating as it all can be, the stores, and really the city in whole looks best this time of year. Entire buildings in the major shopping districts are dripping with lights or wrapped in ribbon like big packages.

I’m working tonight but Jen and I have all day tomorrow (Friday) off and might go to a taping of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tomorrow evening if we can get standby tickets. Hope so!