Day 3 in NYC

Today was great! Our opening keynote speaker was very interesting. He was talking about right brain thinking. He's written a book about the subject but I am more interested in his business comic book -- that I have got to see! The rest of the sessions ranged from good to fair. The highlight was seeing the girl from my church and the special treatment we got at the Empire State Building. I wish I had a better camera because these pictures do not do it any justice but here they are anyway...




We ate dinner at a great place but I can't for the life of me remember the name! It was several blocks from the ESB and I had a wonderful NY Steak (what else should you have when you are in NY?) -- although I must say I have yet to see one head of any kind of livestock so I'm not sure if the donor was actually from NY.

That brings me to some other things you hardly see in this city. A smile, a child playing, bright colors (other than the neon lights of Times Square), or clean streets. It amazes me how gray all the people look. I wonder if living so close to each other with so much car exhaust has altered their appearances or if it is the lack of sunshine or maybe both. A large majority tends to wear black so it's almost like a funeral march everywhere. People will not meet your eye when they pass you on the street and ignore you when you try to greet them. I wonder if they notice this absence of community or if it is just because it is so foreign to me, that I notice it so pointedly. There is much about this city that awes me and saddens me at the same time. I am confused with how I feel about this place. I will continue to write about it while I am here and see if I can figure it out.

Tomorrow is the last day of the conference and we are going out to Lombardi's for pizza tomorrow night.