low cost, high activity (lyn)

I meet Penny wearing my Fitbit (well actually, I always wear it now; it’s tiny, easy to clip on, and totally forgettable once it is on).  We walk through the park (as in Central) to MOMA.  I’m glad I have friends who know the NY art scene, appreciate it, and have free entry to all the museums.  Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t go.

We get in without paying the $20 fee.  Penny has specifically chosen the 1:30 tour of Contemporary Art because Agnes is giving it.  Agnes, a wisp of a woman, is a PHD lecturer of the museum, and Penny says she’s great.  By the time we leave, I have a girl-crush on Agnes.    She has very short dark gray hair, is wearing a black dress over black pants and bright orange-red shoes (few people can carry this look, especially while being well over 40).  But Agnes can.  She is naturally and effortlessly cool.  Agnes has a heavy Hungarian accent, but her English is flawless, and she uses it brilliantly.  She is passionate, animated, and knowledgeable.  She is tiny and projects big.  She describes the pieces we see with a historical and sociological perspective.  Even when she uses the C word to describe a piece of art by Hannah Wilke, she says the word in a way that is not objectionable or even shocking.

I walk home, and have a few hours before I have to leave again.  The ever-thoughtful Robyn calls.  “Hey, I know you’re going to theater tonight, and I’m not using my metro card so I’ll drop it over.”  By using Robyn’s card, I save $4.50 in subway fare and it doesn’t cost her anything because she’s paid for an unlimited monthly card.  But really?  I don’t know anyone except Robyn who thinks this unselfishly.

I go to my $4 play.  The ticket sells for $65 but I buy it through Robyn’s Play-by-Play membership. The Judy Show is a one-woman biographical comedy about a 6’3” Jewish-lesbian- mother-of-two seen “ through the lens of the sitcoms of her youth.”  It is nostalgic (her youth is the same time as mine), hysterically funny, and deeply moving.  

I consider walking home from 14^th Street, but the rain quickly erases that thought. 

I get home.  Take off my Fitbit, and look at today’s activity.  9.36 miles. 

A visit to MOMA.  Great off-Broadway entertainment.  A combined cost of $4.00.  Lots of walking.  Seeing friends.  New York in the fall.  Perfect.