Jono and the Giant Apple: Stents, stints and stunts

It's been a while since the last post. (Definitionally, let alone figuratively) New York is feeling increasingly normal, although the sense of dislocation of not being at home has also kicked in substantially in the last few days.

Some things that have been going on lately (non chronological, I'm afraid, but more of a stream-of-consciousness thing as I'm typing):

Stents
1. Dad's heart

Stints
2. Jo being a bridesmaid
3. Valentine's Day
4. Big blizzard in the North-Eastern US

Stunts
5. Vinyl
6. Midterms and assignments
7. Lobster. Lots of lobster
8. Cluster bonding
9. Apparent pandemonium in South Africa
10. Art and business
11. Maintenance

Let's run through them, shall we?

1. Dad's heart

Gratitude for his health can't be captured on a blog. Love you Dad.

2. Jo being a bridesmaid

Jo has been an incredible friend and bridesmaid lately, between Jeanne and Kate's weddings. She has organised hen parties, outfits, ribbons, gifts, dresses and a million other things. She's currently at Kate's wedding in Kasouga - it looks beautiful. I wish I was able to be there, alas, there's no rest for the wicked (or the budget-constrained, it seems).

3. Valentine's Day

Jo's awesome present to me was postponed (she organised a brilliant treasure-hunt/mystery thing at the Met), so this will be revisited at a later date. Jo - I hope you enjoyed your flowers, sorry the delivery was such a shambles.

4. Big blizzard in the North-Eastern US

There was quite a ruckus (possibly a rumpus, and quite likely a brouhaha as well) about the blizzard hitting the North East. In New York, it was wildly exaggerated, while Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts were rather badly affected (700 000 homes without power). In New York, it manifested as a foot of snow, which led to the overly litigation-conscious University to cancel classes in the evening. Practically, it meant a combination of awesome snow-based events and some minor inconvenience through delayed trains and getting soaked en route home.

The coverage of the blizzard made out that it would decimate New York (an unfortunate term, I suppose, given the origins), but it was nowhere near as severe as initially thought. I remember seeing a headline from a UK tabloid in the aftermath of the murder of Eugene Terre'blanche to the tune of "Race War Breaks Out in South Africa", and this was somewhat similar to that. I suppose it leads us to two conclusions:

If a story about another country seems really sensational, it's probably overblown
Never trust a meteorologist

The second truism in the list joins other greats such as James Crumley's:

"Son, never trust a man who doesn't drink because he's probably a self-righteous sort, a man who thinks he knows right from wrong all the time. Some of them are good men, but in the name of goodness, they cause most of the suffering in the world. They're the judges, the meddlers."

or my own new addition:

"Never trust a man who believes he knows the world so absolutely as to be able to start a sentence with 'Never trust a man who...' "

On Saturday (the blizzard hit on Friday night) we headed to the park for a Business School vs SIPA snowball fight - my first such! It was great, and we ended up playing like small children for about three hours. We then headed to brunch (at 4pm) and then out for drinks.

5. Vinyl

Last weekend I joined Clint and Rachel in the West Village for brunch (thank you Jo for introducing me to the joys of chevre), along with Clint's writing partner, Greg. We meandered up and down Bleecker Street and then to SoHo, visiting weird little antique stores and clothing places. I've been frugal for the last few weeks, avoiding big parties or excessively expensive dinners, so I got overexcited in this awesome music store called Rebel Rebel and spent way too much on records. Some great purchases were:
- High Violet, by The National
- For Emma, Forever Ago, by Bon Iver
- Cannonball, by The Boss
- A five album set of the greatest live recordings of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
- Hatful of Hollow, by The Smiths
- The Best of The James Gang (the side-project of Joe Walsh of The Eagles)
- A collection of tracks by Hugh Masekela

Uzayr and I then ordered a turntable from Audio Technica, which has been entertaining us lately. As much as listening to records may seem somewhat anachronistic or ridiculously pretentious, I really enjoy the fact tha music is now something that requires thought and consideration rather than simply pressing "Shuffle". It has made me appreciate each song more, since I know that I have, in some small way, worked to hear it.

It now seems to me that the essential virtue of older technology is the very lack of convenience that has driven it to obsolescence - a book, like a record, or theatre, or traveling slowly rather than by express aircraft takes more of one's life to consume, and thus becomes correspondingly more valuable, because we've traded more for each quantum of experience. (At least, this is the excuse I'm going to give when I'm late for things or when my work projects aren't turned in on time).

6. Midterms and assignments

Statistics? Check. Accounting? Check. So far things are going well academically, and I'm on track to do better than I thought I would. At least some of my concern about failing has been assuaged, but not enough that I feel that I can now coast (that last bit is just some reassurance for you, Mom).

7. Lobster. Lots of lobster

A few days ago we went to eat dinner at Sarabeth's a few blocks away for their Prix Fixe lobster dinner. $32 (very cheap for dinner in New York) bought us each a 750g lobster, a starter salad and dessert. It got messy, as we had to do the cracking of the claws ourselves. It was delicious, and completely decadent, but I'll rather take kreef from Die Strandloper any day.

8. Cluster bonding

We've had two major bonding events recently: CBS Matters and Cluster Basketball. CBS Matters is an initiative begun by a student where each cluster gets together for about two hours on campus with food and drinks, and one or two students share about what matters to them. Each presenter uses a slideshow or pictures, as well as physical things that mean a lot to them. They then facilitate some Q&A from the rest of the cluster. It's an incredibly useful thing for helping everyone grow closer - the combination of the group-therapy dynamic and the catharsis that comes from sharing something personal with relative strangers is the single most effective method I've seen for accelerating emotional bonding.

This week two guys from our cluster shared, mostly about their fathers. One's father had passed away, leaving him an antique ventriloquist's dummy, which he used a vehicle for explaining what he's learned from his father's death. After the week's stress around Dad's heart, it was a bit close to home, and was something I found extremely compelling. The second presenter is in my learning team, and shared about how his father came out a few years ago, and has left the family to live in Phoenix with his partner. It took incredible courage for this student to share this with us; I think the most amazing part of his talk was how he explained how he reconciled himself to the new family situation by realising that despite all the pain and frustration he had experienced, he still had a father, which so many don't. I think that simple perspective is something so few are able to cultivate, and it shed new light on him as a person.

I'm signing up to do CBS Matters soon - I'll be sharing a bit about the family, about Jo, about friends, about beautiful South Africa and about what makes South Africa the most challenging and flawed and exhilirating country around. I'm pretty sure I'll also work in something about failing maths, and Dyl hitting me with a golf club.

Cluster Cup Basketball was this past week, and what a crazy time it was. Our team came third overall, leading to us being in first position going into the last Cluster Cup event (Cluster Cup is a series of sporting and cultural challenges, similar to an inter-house competition). After the basketball we headed to the Gin Mill for a Beer Olympics, where I was instrumental in bringing home gold for Cluster Z. I earned the (albeit shortlived) nickname of "The Closer", for my incredibly lucky closing throws in Beer Pong, where despite massive pressure in the form of a bar-wide chant I managed to win the game for Z. I now know just how small my horizons have become - I felt like I had won the real Olympics when the cheer erupted. I tripped up the stairs to my apartment the next day, so I feel like there is a concerted divine programme to keep me humble.

9. Apparent pandemonium in South Africa

It seems that there has been absolute chaos there at the moment. Between Oscar Pistorius, the Proteas and Mamphela Ramphele I'm amazed at the international coverage of SA right now. The Oscar thing is huge here, made more so by the fact that Jo teaches at his former school and Uzayr was at Boys High one year ahead of him. About Mamphela and Agang - her Chief of Staff is Tim Knapp, who mentored me at McKinsey, and led by Botswana project for seven months. I cannot neglect, of course, to mention the Proteas. I went to a South Asian Business Association dinner last night, because both Uzayr and Nisha are of Indian descent, and because I was craving naan. (Side note: I'm now the only white member of SABA, affectionately known as "That token white guy") At the dinner were a number of Pakistani students, who were roundly mocked by everyone there because of the South African cricketing dominance.

Before the cricket, however, was the AFCON tournament. Jo showed me some photos of the games she went to, that looked incredible. I wish I had been there for it. I went up into Harlem for the final, to a West African bar called Shrine. It was more-or-less evenly split between Nigerian and Burkinabe expats who were going mad. After the game, I enjoyed the sun outside, while surreptitiously watching the Burkinabe fans, some of whom were crying. I'm impressed with the passion; next time around it will be South Africa in the final, hopefully.

10. Art and business

I've been spending a fair bit of time lately with Clint and Rachel. Clint is a very talented writer and producer, who is currently making a feature film. As a result, I've been thinking quite a lot about art and business and the intersection of the two. For one thing, I'm glad I'm at business school, as it is definitely the right thing for me. Conversely, I'm somewhat wistful that I'm not a more talented artist (in any dimension) - I think the satisfaction of making or crafting something on that scale must be phenomenal. I've also been forced to realise that I'm a business type - my creativity is limited to appreciation rather than creation (barring, of course, stick figures doodled to avoid doing actual work). The decision to go into an artistic pursuit full time is a very brave one - it requires a single-minded conviction in one's artistic vision, and a willingness to ignore the self-doubt that in other careers helps provide rigour in one's thinking. Perhaps one day they will determine that starting things and not finishing them, or brunch-eating are forms of art. If that day comes, the Met will be forced to offer a retrospective of my formative years where astonished critics will gather to laud my sloth. Until then, alas, I will have to stick to my day job (or lack thereof).

11. Maintenance

Haircut and laundry done. I may now look like a hipster with poor judgment, but at least I have clean underwear.

The next few weeks are very exciting. More assignments, more dinners, more late nights and late mornings, more galleries, exhibitions, spreadsheets and corporate finance. Perhaps most exciting: Jo arrives on the 22nd of March. I can't wait.

Until next time, you stay classy South Africa. (i.e. no more high-profile shootings, political partisanship or inequality if you don't mind. If you can't manage that, at least keep winning at cricket).

Good work Emmett