Category Archives: Summer

Summer for the City 2026 – Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center: A Mother’s Love

Posted on by
Reply

For the last three years, I’ve been able to enjoy at least one pay-what-you-wish performance at the Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City arts series. The performances I’ve seen have ranged from orchestral performances to modern opera, but they’ve all been a little escape from my day to day life and a way to appreciate the arts scene at an affordable price just steps away from my apartment. Whenever I have gone, I feel very lucky that I can walk five minutes to David Geffen Hall and five minutes back. Ever since we moved to this part of the city, I always consider it a privilege that we live so close to a global performing arts space.

Tonight, my friend and I had dinner to celebrate her belated 40th birthday, and to see the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center perform “A Mother’s Love,” a series of mother-child inspired orchestral performances. What I had forgotten about and was reminded of was that there was a guest performance by Abel Selaocoe, a famous South African cellist/vocalist tonight. As soon as I heard his voice over the cello, there were goosebumps all along my arms. I could tell my friend was called to attention because her eyes immediately widened, and we were trying to see Abel’s mouth move from our far right seats. He was singing in his native language over his cello, but he also did quite a bit of throat singing, which I am not used to hearing. He used this deep, guttural voice that seemed to bring out more than a single pitch at the same time. It was such a strange and ear-catching thing to be able to listen to in person, and in a performance hall as renowned as David Geffen Hall.

My friend went a little nuts after, especially since she loves to sing and sang with a group at her high school. She could not stop talking about this cellist’s throat singing. And all I could hear was the sound of his voice in my head after. I immediately made a mental note to look this performer up on Spotify and ‘favorite’ his available music so I could listen to it in the background while working.

My friend and I don’t get out at night that often, but this was a great reason to be out. Every time I walk home from these performances, I feel thankful to live in this great, diverse, art-filled city, and to live so freaking close to the Lincoln Center.

Indoor time versus outdoor time

Posted on by
Reply

I had plans to catch up with a friend this afternoon. The weather was looking to be quite sunny and hot, and so she suggested we find a place that had outdoor seating to take advantage of this great summer weather. We were aiming to meet at around 3pm, so a lot of restaurants with outdoor patios/gardens would unfortunately not be open since it wasn’t quite lunch or dinner time in the middle of the afternoon. So I suggested we meet at Pier I, which is one of Chris’s favorite places to meet his neighborhood friend for afternoon beers in the summer time. It’s right at Riverside Park at around 70th Street and sits directly with a view of the Hudson River and New Jersey. While it’s a very nice outdoor space that is well laid out, has decent food and drink options, and even has a public restroom, I have actually spent very little time there. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve sat and enjoyed the outdoor time there.

When I was sitting out there with my friend this afternoon, this made me think about how much time in our lifetimes we spend indoors versus out. The stat that I found, according to the Building Green blog (not sure how reputable this is, but hey, it’s what first came up!) says that the average person spends about 90 percent of their entire life indoors. This number breaks down to about 87 percent of time spent inside buildings, and an additional 6 percent inside enclosed vehicles (this could be cars, buses, trains, or planes). This leaves only about 7 percent, or less than two hours a day, spent completely outdoors.

I don’t know why, but this sounded like a sad statistic to me. I realize that is weird given I have willingly chosen to live in a concrete jungle my entire adult life, but even major cities like New York have great outdoor spaces. And the restaurants and cafes that have outdoor gardens, patios, and seatings always feel like such a treat. It made me realize that I definitely do not spend enough time outdoors, and I personally should be seeking it out more — very intentionally, especially when the weather is good. That time is NOW since it’s summer! I am especially spoiled because we have an open air rooftop deck in our apartment building, so I have very easy access to “the outdoors” that is physically on top of my building. Chris reminds me that I don’t use it enough (well, no one who lives here takes advantage of that amenity enough!), and so I did spend some time up there reading before I went to see my friend.

So there’s a little goal on top of my body recomposition goal I have this summer: to spend more time outdoors, even when I do not *have to* (like walking to get groceries).