Change Of Plans

I have to move. And moving(especially in New York City) takes a lot of time and money. Money that, in an ideal world, I’d be spending on a violin and registering for violin lessons.

I’m not sure why I want to learn to play the violin;I did play for a year when I was in elementary school, but I hardly remember anything(other than being thrilled during my first and only concert, my mother and grandmother watching from three rows away). Classical, Jazz, Country and other music that a violinist/fiddelist(?) would feature heavy in don’t come up a lot in my iPod playlists, so it’s not wanting to play music I’ve “appreciated”. If that was the case, I’d be asking Dan Smith to teach me guitar1.

I want a new avenue to express myself creatively, and a musical instrument certainly fills that need. Plus, the violin is not something commonly taken up at my age, so that does appeal to my vain sense of wanting to be “unique”. Plus, the romantic idea of playing rich-sounding music, standing in a warmly lit apartment while letting my thoughts drift from the banal day-to-day problems to the questions of life, the universe, and everything; that also appeals to that same, damningly vain desire that started this entire project. Plus, violins are beautiful to look at.

All of that will have to wait, however, as in the name of personal responsibility I have to forgo spending money on luxuries until I move into a new apartment. My move-in date is May 1st, so I plan to start the violin the week after I move in.

And when I say I have to move, the “have” part is key: my current residence has lost power every day, for at least fifteen minutes but sometimes all night, for the last two weeks. Maybe longer. Sadly, I love the neighborhood; I’m a regular at a pool hall, a cafe, and a pizza place that are all within a five minute walk. There is a Redskins bar nearby as well2.

Anyway, because of this, I’m going to try and tackle inexpensive, smaller projects in the meantime. The first is going to be not eating out.

Eating out in New York is a way of life. There are so many options, abundantly available, at all hours3. I’ve been very guilty of eating out too much. In fact, I’m writing this from a restaurant right now, eating lunch. Clearly, I have money I can save.

So, next week, I will not eat out. And by eating out, I mean eating a meal. Getting a coffee or tea won’t count. Why? This is my goal, my rules, so I make them up.

Monday through Friday, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I’ll be making something. It’s going to be interesting. For one thing, since I lose power at random times and for intervals lasting ten minutes to ten hours, I can’t really get anything that requires refrigeration. My plan is to fix some things and freeze the leftovers, working with the theory that frozen things will last longer if the electricity craps out again.

If by Saturday I’ve met my goal, I think I’ll get myself a (relatively)inexpensive steak dinner. Hopefully, when I’m eating my steak, I’ll do it knowing where I’ll be living next month.


1Anyone whose spent more than five seconds on a New York City street will understand this.
2Although this past season, it was tough to keep going and wallow with my fellow fans each week.
3This cliche is mostly true, and totally annoying to anyone who is unfortunate enough not to live in Manhattan. At some point, everyone who lives here finds themselves bragging about how late the city stays open despite that fact that said person rarely stays up past one in the morning. But it’s there if you need it!