volleyball — Blog — Lostinthewoodz

I’m laying in bed in my tiny Airbnb typing away listening to old Kpop.

I’m feeling great these days. I’ve fallen into a steady rhythm of work, volleyball, music, and seeing friends.

Things are far from perfect but I’m certain I’ll look back at this time as a peaceful, free time.

I must have stopped myself at least five times this week to marvel at the fact that I’m back in New York, living in the beautiful Upper West Side, able to see close friends every week.

why don’t more people like UWS? It’s so nice up here

Volleyball

I’m getting the most physical activity I’ve had in years. Started going to volleyball last week with the theory that I needed one artistic activity (music), one physical activity (volleyball), and one social/(spiritual) thing (church) to round out my life/meet new people.

We meet Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday at the courts in Riverside park. It’s a large group of randos (20-40 people) centered around a core group of regulars.

First time I went I was kinda nervous. I had a vague notion of wanting to play volleyball because of Haikyuu but the doubts lingered. Would I be athletic/tall/fast enough blah blah blah. Would I fit in.

People were pretty accommodating and those doubts, like usual, turned out to be dumb.

I was trash the first few games I played. After having gone almost every day last week I think I’ve gone from 4 —> 6 out of 10?

I’m getting the most sun I’ve had in years. Playing till dusk next to the Hudson watching the sun go down. Diving for the ball into the sand. Walking to the upper part of the park to doze off under the trees, exhausted from hours of playing. Getting aloe vera to slather on my sunburnt face. Wrapping my bleeding body (thumbs, random scratches, scraped knee) in bandaids. The thirty minute walks back and forth across Upper West Side. Looking at the beautiful buildings on the way listening to Korean city pop feeling simultaneously jealous and blessed to see them.

Pretty fun.

I think this was one of the best decisions I’ve made since coming back. Why didn’t I do something like this sooner?

Friends

Caught up with a number of friends that have either completely moved here or are visiting.

Rupert hosted a Baklava/Turkish Delight tasting party. This was the first time I’d seen him since the pandemic.
- Met a bunch of his friends, ate a ton of Baklava.
Dinner with Peter at Soba Noodle Azuma. Also the first time seeing him since our Thailand/Korea trip Winter 2019.
- Was sleep deprived but had fun

Watched Shang Chi at a company hosted event with Rupert. Afterwards Rupert snuck into the Saks Fifth fashion week show
- Was also sleep deprived. Movie was gooood. Thought it was a little overhyped.
- I admire that about Rupert. Always finding his way into hard places.
  - I want to get better at that. Get out of my comfort zone. Go to places I can’t normally get into.
Hung out with Kelvin and Will! The old trio back again. Got dinner at Kaoru
- At Kelvin’s suggestion I went to New York Acupuncture and Chiropractic before dinner and had the best massage of my life (this was after hours of weekend volleyball).
- Kaoru was pretty cool. Felt very japanese. Low tables. Buncha Japanese businessmen(?) drinking their heart outs after a long day of work.

Music

I’ve somewhat consistently (4 to 5 days a week) been getting ~an hour of music practice in each day. I’ve been going to Kaufman Music Center and booking piano rooms so I can sing my heart out without bothering the neighbors.

Still practicing for Japanese Denim. Michelle wants me to customize the song with my own phrasings, pitch, etc. to make it more “mine.”

Besides that I’ve been prepping for an open mic I’ve signed up for this Friday!

Between work, music, volleyball, and friends I feel like I’m running all over the place and it’s simultaneously exhausting and pretty fun. Would love to have my own place instead of this little fifth floor walkup Airbnb (appreciate u tho for real) but that’ll have to wait.

I talked to Harry the other day and it seems like we’re both in really great places. Back in the city, everything building up to a crescendo. Finding new places, new friends, new activities. Not a care in the world. What a great time to be alive.

On the not so great side my sleep schedule and dating life could use some work but I ain’t complaining.

Also my diet is all over the place. I’m usually too lazy to cook or get anything so I usually skip lunch and eat a bigger dinner later. I’ve inadvertently started losing weight because of this (and the exercise) which is great. But I also wanna cut down on the edibles/eating junk food.

I’m sipping cold brew and writing from Irving Farm. For the last ten minutes I’ve been zoning out and inadvertently listening to the girl at the window talk about some drama that happened at a wedding she went to recently. She went with a date who was more of a friend and he was acting like a lil bitch is what I’ve gleaned so far.

I’ve been entertained by her tale so far but at this point too many people have entered and her story’s been drowned out by the ambient noise. Sorry for eavesdropping, window girl. You just speak so loud.

Been recovering from last night. In a larger sense recovering from my first week back in New York.

I was so amped up to do stuff now that I’m back in the city and I think I went a little too far. Trying to strike that delicate balance of alone time, loneliness, sociability, social fatigue. Balancing work, music, making new friends, tending old friends. The never ending balancing act.

All things considered not a bad slate of things to worry about.

Will I look back on this period as an easygoing, mostly carefree time? I think so.

It’s 72 on 72. Took a few minutes to get this rare shot

Back at it

Korean Meetup
Joined a Korean meetup to 1. Meet new people and 2. Get better at Korean. I joined the zoom chat (Hurricane Ida forced us to go online) for the week. A surprisingly diverse crowd of Koreans, non Koreans.

The format was to split up into small groups, spend ten minutes speaking in Korean, ten minutes speaking in English.

My first group consisted of a middle aged Korean man from Canada and a black woman in her 30s from the DMV area. The middle aged Korean man was an archetypal middle aged Korean man. Very heavy handed in steering the conversation. Kinda cheesy with a lot of dad humor. Got the idea that he probably went to Korean church. I accidentally cut him off in conversation at one point and felt simultaneously sorry and victorious.

The black woman was cool. She’d gotten into Korean through the usual route—K Dramas—and was planning on going to Korea at some point. We made small talk and taught the Korean dude some American slang (dead ass, ain’t, etc.).

My second pairing was with a Korean college student based in SoCal. We also made small talk (she’s studying nursing, her favorite gopchang restaurant in LA is Ahgassi Gopchang) until the time ran out.

I don’t know how much I’ll improve my Korean with this group but I’ll go again next week

Volleyball
Joined a volleyball meetup. This was my first time playing volleyball in years. I think I annoyed some teammates by not knowing any strategy but I had fun. I’ll watch some volleyball clips and be more prepared the next time I go.

Friends

Got soba and matcha beer with Frank at Cocoron. Got rice pudding at Rice to Riches. Cocoron had an interesting menu. Will go back again. Frank’s been working hard on some music. I want to keep up with him
Went to a picnic with Kelvin and his friends at Central Park. Met up with them again later at Kelvin’s place and drank a lil.
My dating life is picking up again

Music Update

Continuing Japanese Denim. Michelle says I need to enunciate my words more. Mom said the same thing to me before I left California…

I’ve started practicing out of Kaufman Music Center. I also bought a new mic (SM7B) and will start recording there.

Also wrapped up this demo song. Not planning on doing anything with it anytime soon but I’m glad I wrapped it up for now.