Happy Halloween (late)! I hope everyone had a great time, however you celebrated.
So in case you didn't notice (and if that's the case, I think it might be time to see a specialist), I've made a few changes around the old blog here. At first I was just trying to keep up with the blogging Joneses as it seems like everyone has one of those fancy pictures at the top of their blog, but it could be a fun project to keep tweeking as time goes on. Without school, I find myself with a lot of not-ready-filled free time. Without homework, group projects, rehearsals, and practicing, a nine-to-fiveish schedule leaves a lot of free time that I suddenly have to fill all by myself (amazingly, there's not much to do at 7 o' clock on a Thursday). In addition to this blog, I've been reading a lot without having to worry about remembering uninteresting details for my next test. Anyway, for now the pictures are not mine, but my next project will be to change that so you'll be able to see pictures even when I don't have time to add any to a specific post. And remember to feed the fish!!
Speaking of not having pictures on a post, I don't have any for this one. I went to the Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village, which is the biggest public Halloween display in the country (and since no one celebrates Halloween like the USA, the world by default). Unfortunately, Saturday evening brought rather persistent rain, which does not make for happy parade watching. The parade includes floats, giant puppets (like, the Lion King on Broadway sized puppets), and...anyone else who might want to join in. So it's a little random. Just seeing the costumes of the other spectators (a bunch of lifeguards complete with whistles that they were not afraid to blow, Tin Man complete with silver paint, and innumerable Lady GaGas) was fun, but the hundreds (or so it seemed) zombies doing the Thriller dance complete with several Michael Jacksons definitely took the cake. I couldn't find a video that included that, but this one has a dance of "Single Ladies" that I missed and a lot of the stuff that I did catch (for fair warning, I didn't watch all the way through, so I make no guarantees as to content after the first few minutes or so. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hra_tanxOdc). After waiting for what seemed like an eternity for the parade to get started, I had to give up pretty quickly on the outside as I was not only getting rained on but also dripped on by other people's umbrellas, which was probably worse. Once the rain stopped, walking around and seeing all the costumes of the locals and NYU students in the Village area. The next day, I caught a little of the New York City Marathon, which goes up First Ave and right through my neighborhood. Seeing the runners, especially the ones with prosthetic legs or who were juggling as they ran, definitely makes the rest of us mere mortals seem quite inferior. I watched for a few minutes in the early afternoon, so most of the runners I saw had been going for a while and had quite a ways to go, but they were running in a MARATHON! Who cares how long it takes? I probably haven't run 26.2 miles in my whole life, unless running around Wartburg campus trying not to be late counts.
This week marked the second week of the socialization group I'm helping with on Mondays. A lot of the families in this neighborhood live in crowded apartments where kids don't have the space to explore and might not be encouraged to practice talking much. Also, the parents can sometimes be cut off support systems that would help them handle the difficulties kids present. We start with a music therapy-type session. So far the kids haven't been very involved, but the goal is for them to get used to the process and slowly participate more. We act out songs as we sing them, bang on simple percussion instruments, and make the kids clean up after us (it's a life lesson! cooperation!). After that, the kids get a simple parenting lesson while the kids have free time to play. The kids usually don't have much experience being away from their moms, so this is a chance to get them used to spending time with people outside their family. So far, I've had mixed results in that department (one kid seemed to do fine, even when we were playing slightly out of eyesight of her mom, but another was wholly uncooperative with the big wooden puzzle thing).
Well, that's probably about it for now. Stay tuned for more updates to the format of the blog (especially getting the picture slideshow to include my own pictures). Also, I'm hoping to have a chance to take my own pictures of autumn in New York this weekend now that I have my own camera again.
May you live every day of your life. - Jonathon Swift
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