Weird, steamy things in NYC

Steam seems to billow out of weird places in New York, including the hole in this strange installation at Union Square that Google tells me is called Metronome. It was installed in 1999. This isn't a great picture, but if you look to the left you see the perhaps-more-famous huge digits that seem to tick both backwards and forwards. Here is an explanation.

I was there meeting up with my former boyfriend and current friend Alex, who last week moved from Fort Worth to New York. He lived here for several years before and is thrilled to be back, ready to dance and go to yoga and wait tables and to that whole New York thing people do.

Speaking of Fort Worth, bad news from my former place of employment, the Star-Telegram, as about 15 or so layoffs came down this weekend, affecting a couple people I was friendly with. The papers need to get leaner to survive, but that's of little consolation to those who get thrown out on the street. I've read studies, or stories about studies, that suggest that people are better off after they've been laid off. They have free time and find something more fulfilling. Maybe. I'd still rather make my own choice about when it's time to go, though.

As for my current job, we the interns are meeting with the CEO this week to talk about what we've been working on this summer. It doesn't sound as official as a "presentation," but we're going to find out a little more tomorrow about the format. I'm excited to get the chance to hear what everyone else has been doing in more detail. I feel good about my output this summer. And there are still two weeks to go!