As fun as it was to travel, see family and friends, and get away for a bit, it’s nice to be back in California after a week on the east coast, where it’s definitely still winter, or merely early spring. I’ve been assimilated, finally, I guess. Anyway, last Friday night, Aimee and I took off on the red-eye to Boston, and hung out with her family for the weekend, playing with the kids, celebrating Easter with family, and relaxing with a little Lego Star Wars (I’m not good enough to play with Jack) and some Wii.



On Monday, I drove out to Amherst to meet with folks at the Archives & Special Collections, check out the DEFA Film Archive at UMass, and engage in some serious food nostalgia: Black Sheep for breakfast, Antonio’s for lunch, and a shake from Bart’s for the road on the way home. It was a gorgeous, crisp day, and I enjoyed wandering campus, taking photos, and catching up with my advisor, Prof. Cameron, whom I caught after his 2:00-3:20 class in Johnson Chapel. It’s like I never left…

More photos of Amherst here.

On Tuesday, I took the Acela (thanks, quiet car) into New York, and after a wander around midtown and the New York Public Library (where I taught myself a little more about low-light photography with my new camera) while George finished up his work day, headed back to his place to meet the newest Royle, little Alexander, who’s totally awesome. We hung out and played for a bit, and then George and Anne and I had dinner and watched The Big Lebowski (an impulse view, thanks to hulu.com) over a few bottles of wine. Shomer shabbos, indeed.



The Orphan Film Symposium started on Wednesday night, and it was great to see friends from all over the country all in one place, gathering to watch and talk about interesting films. The days were pretty long – 9:15 am to 11:00 or so in the evening, with a few 15 minute breaks and an hour or so for lunch and dinner – but worth it. I skipped out on a few sessions to go for walks, stopping at the Shake Shack for a malt, Tekserve for a look around, and Character for some Tintin goodies. I also went for a few runs, including a nice 12-miler from Washington Square, up 6th Ave. to Central Park, around a loop of the Park, and back down 8th to my hotel.



I didn’t have a chance to head to Grey Dog on Carmine as we always did when we went to the City, but lucky for me, Grey Dog came to me instead, with an uncannily similar, only slightly larger second location a few blocks north of Washington Square Park, which I stopped in a few times during the week, and was happy to see it was still frequented by people with dogs:



More pictures of New York City here.

Orphans was great, as usual, with fascinating films, interesting speakers, and lots of friends. It didn’t quite have the communal atmosphere of South Carolina, which they’ll have to work on for next time – a lounge where we could chat after the movies instead of just splintering off into the City would be nice – but all in all, it was a great event.

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More Orphans photos here .