Hoarse and sore...

...is what I am from cheering on the New York City Marathon runners outside my apartment this morning.

It was a great way to start the day, standing on the sidelines, cheering on all of the athletes who have worked so hard to run this marathon.
My favorite parts:
-Shouting out encouragement to individual runners by name (many had written their names on their shirts for this purpose).
-Sticking out my left palm to receive high fives from runners as they passed.

Pretty awesome, feel good stuff.

New Skill

So I'm learning how to play bridge.

My boss hosts a weekly bridge gathering at her apartment near Washington Square Park. She and her friends have been meeting there for a year and a half. They have three regular players, but they are always struggling to secure a steady fourth player...this is problematic, as bridge requires exactly four players to play a game.

Anyway, my boss has been encouraging me to come and check it out for some time, partly because she has some sort of idea that I might be good at bridge. She knows that my brother is a world class bridge player - guess she's hoping it runs in the genes!

I had no idea at all how to play bridge before going to check it out for the first time last week. I've now gone to bridge night twice - the first time just to observe and ask questions, and the second time to sit in and play (and, of course, ask more questions).

I was amazed at how quickly time passed while I played. At one point I looked up to check the clock and noticed that three hours had passed almost imperceptibly. Who knew bridge could be so much fun?

I think perhaps I will stick with this bridge thing, continue to attend bridge night at my boss's apartment when I can. It's a tremendously complicated game - there's so much to learn, and it feels good to stretch my brain in a completely new direction. Plus, there's the added bonus of the possibility that maybe, just maybe, I can hope to understand my brother a tiny bit more.