First Friday

It's turning out to be a very full weekend! I've been doing full days at work, plus trying to squeeze in schoolwork. Then at night I've been going out and doing fun stuff. Like last night when I met up with Erin at the Guggenheim for their First Friday. It was wild. The first friday of every month the contemporary art museum opens from 9 pm to 1 am with live music and drinks, drawing tremendous crowds despite the high admission price. We'd heard that the lines can be dreadful, so I got there early and waited "on line" as they say in New York. It was a cold, wet, and windy night, but I was dressed for it in my winter hat and coat, ready to shed layers and transform into a glamorous creature once I got inside. It wasn't necessary. It was the wierdest thing, and this has never happened before in my life, but last night I seemed to be a guy magnet. Men standing in line all around me were introducing themselves and talking to me. Maybe I should go to the Guggenheim more often!
So I met three very interesting guys who are all bankers from different countries. The Romanian guy was the most talkative, but the one from Canada was funny, and he made an effort to talk to me about the featured art installation inside the museum, Cai Guo-qiang's exploding cars, which were amazing. The third guy lives in London, and he kissed me on both cheeks when we were introduced. Erin and I met up with Kate, Liz and her friend Annika, and we had a good time seeing the exhibit and talking to our new friends and other people. We were smart to have come early because after a certain number of people are admitted, they stop letting people in until other people leave. All evening the line outside the door was huge! But, while I enjoyed the novelty of the exhibition and the event, I didn't really understand the appeal. Once you get inside, the place is so packed you can't move around. You have to wait in line to buy drink tickets, and then you have to wait in line to get drinks, which I heard weren't even that good. The music was too loud, and not wonderful. And I kept wishing they'd dim the lights so the exploding cars would make even more of a dramatic statement. Oh well--I had a great time. Except I feel bad--Erin and Liz wanted to leave and go downtown, so we left without even saying goodbye to the nice guys we'd met.

Downtown in the village, we found ourselves at some artsy speakeasy that Liz likes, where they serve drinks in oversized teacups with saucers. It was very cute, and I tried it out with a diet coke. Met some more guys: two Seans and a Josh. I might see them again tonight, because I've got another evening out on the town ahead of me! Liz is having a Kentucky Derby party, and there's a birthday celebration in Brooklyn for a friend from work. Who knew I'd become such a social butterfly? Anyway, it's got to stop, because I've been spending more money... and I don't even drink! How do people do it?