atoms for peace

tonight chris and i went to see thom yorke's new band, atoms for peace, play in new york.  a few years ago, thom yorke wrote a solo album called the eraser which consists of 10 songs with low-key beats, minimalist techno influences, and of course his hauntingly beautiful voice.  as radiohead is inbetween albums right now, thom decided to go on a small tour and play theses songs live for the first time.  he recruited flea from the red hot chili peppers (my favorite band) to be his bassist and nigel godrich (radiohead's producer) to play keyboards and guitar.  he played the entire album and then followed it up with a few random songs, including everything in its right place by radiohead.  it was a great show (although it only lasted an hour and a half) and awesome to see such a unique lineup perform an album that many thought they would never hear live.

thom yorke + flea (with blue hair)

dinner with NYU President John Sexton

back in october, I entered a lottery to attend a special group dinner with the president of my university.  a few days ago, while in class, I received an email letting me know that i had been chosen to attend.  I didn't even remember that I had signed up for the lottery since it was so long ago but I was really excited.

The event took place in the university penthouse, located on the 18th and 19th floors of 37 washington square west.  john sexton doesn't even live there so they just use the space for special events.  the views from up there were unlike any other I've seen in new york so far.  since greenwich village is in a relatively "short" part of manhattan, you could see all of midtown (empire state building included) in one direction and all of downtown in the other.  

john sexton spoke to the group of 20 undergraduates for nearly 4 hours.  the dinner was scheduled to be from 6:30-8:30 but didn't end until 10:30.  john began by telling us pretty much his entire life story all the way from his childhood in brooklyn to being the current president and everything in between.  throughout his storytelling, he would pause and use the events of his life to illustrate an important lesson he wanted us to remember.  by the end of the night, i was incredibly proud of what he had accomplished not only for himself but also for nyu.  and yes, he gave me one of his famous hugs.

no big deal.

the view of midtown

downtown 

a few pictures from the metropolitan museum of art

one of monet's water lilies

wheat field with cypresses by van gogh 

self portrait + flowers

i don't remember