A great workout for the mind

Marla and I spent Fri., Sat., Sun. in NYC for Valentine's Day/holiday, staying with our close friends Dave and Mona. We really enjoyed the weekend and the time together. Had some great times, and meals. Friday night we had dinner and a show at Caroline's Comedy Club. We saw Tracy Morgan of SNL and 30 Rock fame. He was hilarious, but this is not your grandmother's comedian. He was downright crude, rude and borderline gross. Having grown up the son of a comedian, weaned in the Catskills during the 50's and 60's and having attended 100's if not thousands of shows by comics, I've been amazed and somewhat surprised that comics still have to resort to shock jock type gutter humor to make their points. He's better than that, and didn't have to be so dirty...a very different but entertaining evening.

Sat. after a breakfast at Barney Greengrass's we headed down to the Village and Soho for some shopping and walking...it was a cold but beautiful day. The City was vibrant with people everywhere, and all kinds of action. Had an incredible lunch at Blue Ribbon Bakery, in the Village. I would highly recommend it, great selection and all healthy foods. We visited The New York Earth Room, circa 1977, one of the very different "sculptures" of Walter DeMaria. We made our way back to the apartment for a 90 minute rest...and then out again, this time for some crazy Japanese food at Soba Totto...a really great little spot on East 43rd.

Then, this morning, it was off to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to primarily see the new Babylon exhibit which is really good, and educational. Incredible to see how advanced mankind was 14th and 15th century B.C. And the extraordinary art created as a result of a sophisticated network of interaction that developed among kings, diplomats, merchants, and others in the Near East during the second millennium B.C. Before leaving we also took in some Monet's, Rousseau's, Degas and Rodan's, the Asian art wing, and the Greek and Roman Art...this is one of the world's all time great museums. And it's 90 minutes away.

So, I ended up not working out physically for 2 days, weekend days to boot which are usually long workout days. Years ago, I might have paniced, but I've discovered, albeit late, that I have to have a balance in my life. Balance between the mind and the body. These past 2 days, aired out the body, and gave the mind the workout. I highly recommend this a couple times a year. It puts it all in perspective. Not only am I anxious to get back into a routine, but I'll be going there with a clearer more focused attitude. For me, this is extremely important. Have a great week.