First of all, I must apologize for the extended lack of blog updates – this has been a rather crazy week. My Thanksgiving was quite wonderful, and almost completely (though unintentionally) devoid of piano. My life since returning last Monday has consisted of maniacal catch-up practice and other work necessary to be fully prepared for final exams, which start a week from now.

Yesterday I had a fleeting moment of self-doubt; my lesson last week did not go so well (I’ve been struggling with the same memorization issues that have been plaguing me for as long as I can remember) and all the assignments due were beginning to weigh on my mind.
However, the last 24 hours have been a sort of ‘perfect storm’ of all possible morale boosts: yesterday night I was invited to what turned out to be – though I did not realize it beforehand – a fancy, invitation-only (read: for wealthy donors) Mannes festival concert at Carnegie Hall (one major benefit to being part of the social group anchored by graduate students who get to play in such prestigious events); today I had an absolutely fabulous last piano lesson of the semester (I believe I finally understand the concept of proper memorization, which pleases me more than I can put in words); and the last English essay of the term, which is a research paper and something I fully expected to almost completely ruin my week, has turned out to be enormously satisfying, not least because it gives me an excuse to spend time in the big NYPL Research Library near Times Square.
Expending my life in practice rooms, I sometimes forget that I am in NYC. Being able to visit a place such as this library, which is like walking into a cathedral or something from Classic Rome, reminds me that there is still culture in the world. Then walking through Grand Central Station on the way home, in all its holiday regalia, was just the icing on my cake. The fairy-tale version of New York City does still exist, at least in my own mind.