Gorgeous Aurora Borealis

 Thanks to Andrew Sullivan, we can experience this amazing sight without having to shlep to Alaska.

Mental Health Break - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

Snow fell at the Met last Saturday night

Act 3 of La Boheme at the Met.

The fabulous (and free) Juilliard Orchestra

We are huge fans of the Juilliard Orchestra. They regularly perform at beautiful Alice Tully Hall. There are advance tickets, but you can always get in by showing up between 7:30 PM and 8 PM.

Santacon 2010

We bumped into the annual Santa pub crawl.

Proud Juilliard parents

We attended a Juilliard orchestral concert this week. The conductor was a young Chinese woman and one of the works was a Mozart piece with violin and viola soloists. The viola soloist was a strapping young woman who looked like she could've come from Minnesota. She towered above the violin soloist, a very gifted young Korean-American. They were both terrific - as was the whole orchestra. At the end of the piece we noticed two people wildly applauding and nearly exploding with pride. They just had to be parents of the violinist. It was a joy to share in their pride and delight, if only for a moment or two.

A lovely Hanukkah sight

Last night I was walking past the Brookdale dormitory for Stern College, a college for Orthodox Jewish women. It was obviously the time to light Hanukkah candles, for there must've been forty women lighting their menorahs. The room was totally filled with light - it was a beautiful sight on a cold evening in New York.