Congratulations Steven and Daniela

Last night Jon and I were guests at the rehearsal dinner for his youngest cousin Daniela. She's a very nice woman who is getting married to the nicest young man. It was the most elaborate rehearsal dinner I've attended to date. There were a lot of great speeches, fantastic food, and the party ended with a video presentation.

The video was comprised of photos of the both of them, including a couple with Jon and me which we were very surprised and pleased to see.

Tonight we're attending their wedding. It's a black tie affair. Jon has a tux and I have a beautiful cocktail length dress that I can't wait to show off. This afternoon I'm getting my hair and makeup done.

It promises to be a beautiful affair. I can't wait to see the bride's dress.

With their permission, I'll post photos this weekend.

Opening The Sky

In the wee hours of the morning, a great cracking sound woke me up. The most amazing thunderstorm I've seen in years happened just outside our bedroom window - yours too I imagine, if you live near us. I looked out the window and it appeared as if great streaks of lightning were striking the Triborough Bridge (now the RFK Bridge). Very exciting.

World Quizzing Championships

Yesterday, I participated in the World Quizzing Championships. Basically, it was 220 question test given in two parts over several hours. I'm not sure where I placed in the world wide standings but I do know that I finished in the bottom of the pack of New Yorkers who participated at Shades of Green.

That test was harder than the SAT's. It is the hardest test I've ever taken. I know that I am not a stupid person but this test really makes you struggle with you think you are. There was stuff on there I'd never even heard of. And that's okay. Because I don't study. If I were a more studious person, perhaps I would know more things. Also, if I had better retention, that would probably help also.

Congratulations to all the people who participated. And continue to believe in yourselves.

Napping is the new black

Two days in a row, I have taken amazing naps. It's probably the weather. Cool, rainy weather is perfect for napping.

I had a job interview this morning. I allowed an hour but I should have allowed an hour and a half. I showed up about 12 minutes late (not without calling first) but it didn't make a difference because I had to wait to be interviewed anyway. The guy I was meeting with was also running behind schedule.

I would be the assistant to a guy who runs one of the garages for an impressive NYC hospital on the East side of Manhattan. The job would be temp to perm which means I wouldn't get the full salary or benefits until I've worked for 65 days. It's full time - Tuesday through Saturday. I've thought a lot about the pros and cons of going back to work full time. The best pro is that I'd be bringing in more money than I am currently. The best con is that I will most likely gain weight which I do not look forward to. Hopefully I can avoid that. I have the tools to maintain my weight, I just have to use them.

The best part of my day had to be that nap. It's been a long time since I've napped like that - so deep that it was almost impossible to get out of the bed. If I hadn't set the alarm clock, I'd still be sleeping.

Happy June 1!

It's June 1st and the weather is perfect. Jon and I just did our first laundry since returning from our trip.

This weekend we did some gardening which left me with some very distinctive bug bites. Gardening at this point still means pulling weeds. Oh joy. We pulled out and hacked down the 3 foot tall mugwort that took over the backyard lawn while we were away. The lawn still needs a good mowing but it looks a lot more manageable now. And a lot of the old weeds returned although not as many as I was expecting. It's possible that the Preen I put down actually had some effect. Gardening might just mean reclaiming the garden from the weeds this summer. I might wait until next season to plant vegetables. This season is going to be flowers when we're up to it.

We also played some miniature golf on Randalls Island. That was fun although I was expecting the type of miniature golf that comes with wind mills and clown faces. They were just miniature greens. After playing golf we shared some Hoegaarden at the Beer Garden down the block from us. The weather turned out quite nice last night.

Have I recovered yet from our travels? Not quite yet. It takes me a good week, usually, to get back on a regular sleeping schedule. But I'm almost there. I am sleeping the required 8 hours. But I'm still going to bed very early and waking up very early.

We are back

So. We're back.

We spent a couple of days in Paris. We spent one week visiting my family.

It's always good to see family.

My grandmother was glad to see us. She really likes Jon who learned to speak quite a bit more French than the first and second times we visited.

I already miss them. They are the nicest people you could want for family.

I always hate leaving them yet I always find it comforting to be home; to be back in our own bed.

Pictures will follow, most likely on Facebook.

We Are in Paris

We arrived yesterday in Paris. We saw the Luxembourg Gardens. We're staying right near by. I took pictures but accidentally erased all of them this morning.

Today we went to the Musee D'Orsay. And I got my fill of great art. Tonight, we're going to see the Eiffel Tower. And then tomrrow, we're headed up north to see my family.

Star Trek

Jon took me to see the new Star Trek film.

It did not disappoint. JJ Abrams seemed to go out of his way to get the Star Trek lore accurate and what wasn't could be explained away by one of the premises of the film.

I'll wait until more people have seen it before I start in on the spoilers. It's still a little too new.

I will say this. The casting is great - especially for McCoy. The story is great. The Leonard Nimoy cameo was well thought out and worked well within the context of the story. The special effects are terrific.

Look for the guy in the red shirt.

Ha Ha

Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

A Change

I've been playing with the idea of changing the blog around. You may have noticed it looks a little different. I guess I'm sick of all the searches for Willie Aames; the book cover for the first Tarzan book; Superman and Lois and all the searches for any TV show I've written about particularly the episode of the Sopranos where Tony kills Christopher. Those four subjects are what brings the most people to this site.

Now if you come here, I'm pretty sure you're coming here because you know me and you are interested in seeing what I'm up to.

Here's what I've been up to.

Sunday
Jon and I went to my parents' house. My parents were watching my niece and nephew for my brother and his wife who are renovating their new house. It was a fun day. My niece is just the cutest two year old ever. My nephew is five years old now and he speaks in complete sentences. He's even reading already. So smart.

My nephew and I spent some nice time together. We watched Feivel Goes West on VHS. I noticed for the first time that voices were provided by Dom Deluise and Jimmy Stewart. Of course I haven't seen the movie in forever. We also worked together in the garden. I taught him how to identify and pull wild onions out of the ground.

My niece adores Jon and pronounces his name perfectly. My name has always been challenging for little children. She pronounces it Va-ee.

Later in the day, my brother and sister-in-law met us at my parents' house and we all had dinner together.

Monday
Jon and I spent a good day together doing lots of things we enjoy. First we went bike riding. Then we went for a walk. Then we worked in the garden (which at this means pulling weeds still) and then we attended a Monday night trivia game at Shades of Green. Our team won (as if you had to ask).

Tuesday
Last night I worked at a show which will remain nameless for now. I handed out a whole lot of headsets. Only two people complained. They sat in the only two seats where the headsets weren't working. Those two people were offered a solution by the house manager who gave them different seats but they chose to leave anyway. The play ran longer than advertised and even though it started at 7pm, I didn't get home until after 11. It was a long night.

Today we are planning on getting a product called Preen which stops new plants from germinating and should take care of our reoccurring weed problem. Once we put that into the ground, we won't be able to grow plants from seed but we will be able to put in plants that have already been established.

Have a nice day.

Happy Mother's Day

For my mother, mother-in-law, my aunts and aunts-in-law, my grandma in France, my cousins and cousins-in-law and my sister-in-law.

For all the mothers celebrating their first mother's days.

To all the women who wish to be mothers.

To all the women who have been adopted as mothers by younger friends.

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

Phillip Seymour Hoffman

I just saw Phillip Seymour Hoffman - the second time this month. He was trying to get a taxi in midtown and he wasn't having any luck. That makes me feel a little better knowing that even celebrities have trouble getting cabs. The first time I saw him was at West Side Story. He asked me where his seat was and I told him as much as I loved to help him, I didn't know where his seat was.

He seemed like a good guy. I don't think people realize what a big star he is because he was incredibly unencumbered by fans. I understand if people don't recognize him from his theater work or the smaller films he's done but he was Mission Impossible III, which I've never seen, but that was a huge movie.

Spring Cold or Swine Flue

I managed to remain cold free the entire winter so it makes sense that as soon as the weather started turning nice, I would catch a cold. A week ago Sunday night, I developed a tickle in my throat and the rest is history. I was congested all last week.

This week the congestion is coming and going but now I'm coughing. For me, coughing signals a cold on its way out. So hopefully, I won't have this cold too much longer.

Today is a congested day.

Moderated Comments

Has anyone else been getting excessively spammed in their comment section?

I was. So now, I'm using Blogger's Comment Moderation function.

I apologize for this because I know it kills the spontaneity of leaving comments but I was getting really tired of the spam.

West Side Story

This week I'm working at West Side Story. Last night was my first night there.

It's very good.

The Spanish speaking characters speak Spanish to each other. This is difficult to understand but makes perfect sense, that when alone, people who speak Spanish would not speak English with an accent but acutally converse in their native tongue.

Karen Olivo plays Anita. I am a big fan of hers. She dances great. She has a great sense of humor. And she's really good at combining acting with singing. She's the whole package and she's a lot of fun to watch. She originated the role of Vanessa in "In the Heights" where I first saw her.

Last night's show featured the understudies in the leading roles but if I hadn't known that I wouldn't have been disappointed. But I am looking forward to seeing the regular leads.

The dancing is spectacular. The sets are minimal. The performances are consistently great. The music is tremendous and the orchestrations are emotionally charged.

My only point of reference is a performance of West Side Story at Hofstra University, that I saw many, many years ago, by the Grey Wig theater group. As enjoyable as that was, it was not a Broadway production. It wouldn't be fair to compare.

If you were to ask me if this production was worth the full ticket price, I would have to advise you that West Side Story is definitely worth it.

Note: My favorite number in West Side Story is the "A Boy Like That" duet with Anita and Maria. Last night, I cried because it was so moving. The actresses were that good.

Home At Last

It's nice to finally feel at home in my home.

It's so quiet in here right now. All I hear is the hum of my computer's harddrive, reminding me that I should probably blow some air in there to make sure the fans don't get clogged up.

Normally, this time of day in our last apartment, the children's grandmother from upstairs would be returning with her charges in a flurry of noisy activity. Today, at the same time, I heard the guy upstairs walk on a squeaky floor board. The floor board squeaked once. Maybe, I heard him talking on his phone but that was so faint, I can't even be sure the noise came from him. Maybe it was television.

I've been sleeping later and later every day - except for Sunday to Monday. In the wee hours of Monday, I woke up and had to lull myself back to sleep on the couch with the help of the distracting television. The brief attack of insomnia could have been brought on by the impending interview I had later in the morning - or it could have just been a random attack as happens when you have problems with sleep.

The interview went so well that I came across as overqualified for the position. No need spending the energy on describing to you this job which I wasn't sure about anyway because I'm not getting it.

Besides, tomorrow I have a second interview for a job I'm seriously considering. It's a phone interview. I have to call in at 2pm. It makes sense, since most of the job will be spent talking on the phone.

Weekending - April 10, 2009

This was a somewhat busy week.

Monday night, as I mentioned before, Jon hosted a trivia game. I played on a team with my friend Kory and his girlfriend. We came in third place out of four teams. Not my best showing at trivia, but then again my most knowlegeable teammate was hosting the game and couldn't play with me.

The rest of the week:
Tuesday, I ran errands in Astoria, using the bus system which takes a lot of time but does get you where you need to go. One of those errands was finding a hand rake so I could do some gardening in the front yard. At this point, gardening involved cleaning up leaf litter. Tuesday I spent an hour gathering my third bag. The front yard is starting to look better but still needs a lot of cleanup.

Wednesday I dedicated to Passover at my parents' house in Long Beach. I got there early in the day so I could help my mother and we worked together to create a successful Seder. For me, the preparation is the best part - especially when you have somebody with you.

Thursday, my mother dedicated to helping Jon and me with our window treatments. This involved a lot of driving around. My mom and I went to Home Depot, spent some time getting blinds for our windows. She and I hung the blinds, then we hung a curtain, then we went to Staples so I could print out multiple copies of my resume for Friday's interview. She was with me the whole day. She's a good mom.

Friday, I dedicated to my job interview. Even though it was at 11:30, I left the whole day open for it because you never know if you're going to get that second interview on the same day. But it wasn't necessary because the interview went quickly. And I still got the second interview. Yay! That is scheduled for this coming Wednesday. After the interview, I came home just in time for Time Warner Cable's 5th visit to our house. Jon and the technician finally found a solution for frequent and annoying internet outages. Last night, I was incredibly bored which coincided with being incredibly tired so. It worked out.

Today, I've already done laundry. I woke up at 7 to do it and wouldn't you know it? By 7:30 the laundry was already crowded. Amazing since it opens at 7.

And now I've blogged.

Next on the list is ironing, Facebook and a shift of work tonight.

Shades of Green - Monday Night Trivia

Jon led one of 5 rounds at Shades of Green's Monday night trivia. Tony Hightower led the other four.

Both men did a great job.

My team came in third place. Our team name was "Birthday of a Nation" because one of our team members was celebrating his birthday.

Fun was had by all.

Creativity Returns

Moving out of our old apartment has improved my spirits. Improved spirits means writing on a regular basis can resume!! Depression can be so pervasive. I was depressed living in that old apartment. And when I am depressed I cease participating in activities that I find enjoyable. I should have known I was that depressed but I didn't until now. I just didn't feel like writing because all I could think of writing about was how unhappy I was. Of course, now I seem to be devoting hundreds of words, blogpost after blogpost, to my previous sadness.

But it's therapeutic.

And I might write a few more posts about it.

And I might write a few preachy posts about taking responsibility for your happiness, because Jon and I did that when we moved.

If you are unhappy in a situation - truly, deeply unhappy - to the point where it is effecting your life in a negative way, you are responsible to get yourself out of it or to change things. It's hard but that's what it means to take care of yourself, to work on yourself.

Shades of Green - Monday Night Trivia

Our friend Tony started a new pub quiz at Shades of Green in New York City. It's on 15th Street and Irving Place.

Jon is hosting with Tony and it should be good. Although I know Jon's category, he's not telling me what he's doing so I'm completely in the dark. Meaning, I can play on your team but you won't have an advantage. It's not cheating. Or if I play on your team, I could sit out Jon's round.

Anyway, just go and have some fun.

Shades of Green - 9 p.m.

There's No Place Like Home

I'm finally starting to feel comfortable in our new place. The old apartment is becoming a distant memory. Sleeping late is not coming naturally yet. I'm still on the schedule kept by the children of our previous upstairs neighbours. I wake up one minute before they do, expecting to hear the two year old falling down and crying or the four year old running and then jumping into his parents' bed. I'm conditioned in the same way I used to be when the alarm clock woke me every morning for my office job. One minute before the alarm clock would go off, I would wake up expecting it to ring.

There's nothing to wake me now except the expectation of something that is no longer going to happen, so hopefully, I'll make the appropriate adjustments and learn to sleep late once again.

With that said, I feel more relaxed than I have since before we moved into the "nightmare apartment". We only lived there 10 months but they were 10 long months, the last five of which were particularly hard.

Every day at 1 p.m., our downstairs neighbour would come home and start shouting at his wife or into his cell phone. Every morning, I could hear the two of them starting there day off on the wrong foot, always angry words and doors slamming. And when they had company, it used to sound like they were visiting in our living room, they were so loud. They also had an obnoxious habit of watching the same homemade video at the same time every day, loud enough that I could hear their recorded family members talking in a language that sounded like Greek. And they hated us. They were always banging on their ceiling because we walked too loudly. I'm still walking toe-heel, toe-heel to keep my footsteps quiet.

Every night, our first next door neighbour would have people over to watch her very sophisticated HD television with those speakers that can be placed anywhere but hers were placed against our shared wall. When her and her friends cranked that thing up, it sounded like they were watching TV in our apartment. And I would complain like the nerd that I am. But hey, we weren't living in a college dorm. It was an apartment building with rules about not make loud noises after 11 p.m. She ended up moving back to Chicago because she lost her job. She also ended up being the least of our problems in the end. She ended up spending a lot of time at her boyfriend's house. The noises that used to eminate from her place, disappeared.

Every day, our other next door neighbour would smoke copious amounts of pot - enough to stink up the entrance way to our apartment. Because of the stink, every night at 1 a.m., he would turn on his air conditioner which made sleeping in our former bedroom like sitting on the wing of an airplane. It woke me up every time it came on. I don't think I've had a decent night's sleep in months and months and months.

Now I'm sleeping deeply. I just have to work on sleeping past 7 a.m.

It's So Quiet In Here

It's so freakin' quiet in here. It's wonderfully quiet, like a hotel. You know how hotel rooms are really, really quiet? Well it's quiet like that. I'm having trouble getting used to it.

We Have Moved

On Monday, the move went smoothly the most part. With the blessed help of two friends, we were able to return the moving van by 3. The most stressful part of the move was moving the couch.

The mover's friend with the truck did not show up on Monday which was very scary. But the mover assured us that the couch would be moved the next day. When we double checked with him on the phone on Monday night, he did not sound 100% confident that his friend with the truck was reliable. So on Tuesday morning, as soon as the internet was enabled, I found four movers who could perform the task should we need it.

But it turned out not to be necessary.

We thought it had to be carried up and down 10 flights of steps and across the roof of our former building. Our movers managed to get the couch into the elevator. At first, I thought that we were overpaying because the move ended up being easier. But then the movers got to our new place. And guess what. The couch didn't fit through the front door.

The mover took our window apart and that is how our 85 inch long couch was transferred from the great outdoors to the cozy interiour of our new home.

It is now enjoying the same new quiet life we are.

Moving Day Monday

Monday is moving day and I'm a nervous wreck.

I'm not sure why really.

All that is getting moved tomorrow is the furniture. Everything else is already at the new place.

My parents came by today and helped us move every little thing that isn't furniture.

It's all set. We have plenty of help. We hired someone to move our couch. The U-haul is rented.

The new place is an absolute disaster. I started setting up the kitchen tonight but started to get overwhelmed. Hopefully, I'll have mostly everything put away and organized by the end of the week.

Social Saturday

Jon and I took a break from our monotonous moving schedule and spent the day with family and friends.

In the morning, we went to a Bar-Mitzvah at an Orthodox temple, where the women sat two stories above the men. That was the first time I attended a service like this. Much to my annoyance there was no ladies room up there on the third floor where the ladies were sitting. Our synogogue was conservative when I was growing up. Everyone prayed together and the bathrooms were on the same level.

The Bar-Mitzvah boy read his portion well and gave a lovely speech. The affair afterwards was at the Regency hotel on Park Avenue. The food was scrumptious but the affair was chaotic and crowded with people talking everywhere and children running around. It was possibly the most hectic Bar-Mitzvah I've been to. But it was great fun. We saw a lot our family which is very important.

Then in the afternoon we celebrated with our good friend on the occasion of her birthday. This party was at another hotel - the Algonquin - on 44th St between 5th & 6th avenues. I had two fabulous martinis and participated in several amazing conversations. It felt like a real good old-fashioned New York literary party. I remember attending one of those in the early 90's. What I mean by this is that most of the guests were writers and the discussions were superbly intelligent and challenging and friendly and all those other good things that make getting to know people interesting.

I was pretty wiped out when we got home last night. And it was absolutely fabulous not to think about moving once the whole day.

My parents are coming today. They have a car and I'm hoping that in three trips we'll be able to move our remaining boxes and our clothing. Maybe even our computers.

Tomorrow, ideally, Jon and his friends will only be moving our furniture.

Progress Apartment

Just about everything we own is packed into boxes. And a lot of what we own has already been moved over to the new place.

Before Jon and I rode our bikes over there yesterday, I thought we were walking half a mile, maybe 3/4 of a mile with our shopping carts to get there. But according to the reading on Jon's mile-o-meter, it is a fraction more than a mile.

Which explains why these little walks have been wearing me out. I thought I was walking 1 mile total round trip. Turns out every back and forth excursion is over two miles. That is why I decided yesterday, after my third trip, to just pack up what we had left and leave the moving for Sunday and Monday.

Today, Jon and I won't get much moving done. We received a rare invitation to a family event which we didn't want to turn down.

But tomorrow, my parents are coming - with a car. We plan to move the rest of our boxes and hopefully most to all of our clothing.

Imagine that. A car. We really should get one of those.

Monday we have an actual moving truck. We don't think moving our furniture will take that long.

You might think it's crazy that we've been making these trips all week. But I've moved enough in my life to know that any steps you can take to minimize your stress on "moving day" should be taken by the people who wish to have a quick move.

I have a headache.

A Suprising Number of Hits

I haven't been paying much attention to this blog, as you know. I hardly ever check the stats anymore. But last night, out of boredom, I decided to check how many readers have been coming here lately.

Yesterday, I had nearly 1,000 hits - all interested in a post from 2005 about Willie Aames. In June or July of 2005 I wrote about hearing his name mentioned in conjuction with Celebrity Fit Club and I posted a picture of him dressed like Tarzan.

He's in the news lately because he's fallen on hard times.

I'm sure whoever is finding me in their Google searches is greatly disappointed by the 5 or 6 lines I wrote that day.

Anyway, I thought you'd like to know that.

Monday

Good Monday to you all!!

I write this post as two little children run around upstairs creating the noises equivalent to that of two baby elephants.

I spoke with our new landlord. She is really, really nice. I had to ask her to move out a couple of items from the apartment.

Jon went back and forth all day yesterday bringing our stuff over but I haven't gotten up the motivation yet. But I did do our laundry which was really piling up.

My goal today is to clean the floors and measure the windows. I also have to figure out how we're going to get all our stuff into our smaller but much, much quieter apartment.

Saturday in the City

It's a long Saturday. That means I'm working two shifts at Blithe Spirit. HooorrraayyyY!!! But it's still a long, long day.

Our day got off to an early start when we went to pick up the lease for our new place. Jon and I tried out the new keys, took a look around and then swiftly walked back to our current apartment so we could go to work.

It's hard to believe that we are moving again, only 10 months after our last move. We really hope it will be for the best. We worked really hard to find this place.

We looked at a lot of apartments that we found on Craig's List. At first, we looked at as many apartments as we could listed under NO BROKER's FEE. We found decent apartments but none of them were quite right. If Jon and I were two friends looking for an apartment to share than any of the places we found under NO BROKER would have been find. But they weren't good enough for grown up married people of advancing years.

Once we decided to go with a broker, a whole new world opened up to us. We started seeing better quality apartments. We found a great broker and we decided on the one we'll be moving into slowly, starting tomorrow.

I took care of the utilities - we are keeping the same phone number. I still have to fill out my change of address info for the post office. We hired someone to move our incredibly large and impossible couch. And we have several friends helping us with the big move a week from Monday.

I wish I could fast forward to the part where we've been living there comfortably for a few months already. But that is the light at the end of the tunnel, isn't it. It's getting through the tunnel that's tough. Right?

Blithe Spirit

Work is picking up for me. This week I'm working 8 shifts at the Shubert Theater and I'm delighted that Blithe Spirit is playing - a positively delightful Noel Coward play. It stars Christine Ebersole and Angela Lansbury.

I've been looking forward to this show since I heard that Lansbury and Ebersole were going to be doing a show together.

Angela Lansbury is really great to watch on stage. She's amazing. It's hard to believe she's in her 80's. And Christine Ebersole is just delightful.

Well. Everybody in the play is great, to tell you the truth but I'm particularly fond of those two actresses.

Go see it.

The Dollhouse

I've been watching the Dollhouse - the new show by Joss Whedon. It's good. It stars Eliza Dushku who plays a blank woman who gets a new personality on every show.

It kind of follows the same model as Quantum Leap or Sliders but Joss Whedon has put his mark on the genre.

There is a lot intrigue but already the writers are going to the same old TV show plotlines that other cop/adventure shows follow. For example the last show took place at a Branch Dividian type cult compound.

As much as I like the show, I don't think it's going to live past one season.

Blogging - What's That?

It's amazing how much I've lost interest in maintaining this blog. I was so good for so long, blogging every day for years but I've lost interest in it lately. A lot of that could be because I've been a little down about not finding more work and living in this apartment. We liked the apartment at first, but grew to dislike it because of the neighbors. And regarding work, I was hoping to find a something that paid a little better when I first started looking in September, but my job search coincided with the start of the Second Great Depression.

But we are turning things around. Jon and I found a new apartment that will give us more privacy for less money. It's a little further away from the subway, grocery store and laundromat, but I'm willing to make that compromise for peace of mind and a better quality of life.

The apartment is pretty nice. It's the main floor of a three family house. Everything is new with the exception of the floors - fridge, fixtures, etc. And it's near Astoria Park which brings us a little closer to nature.

The best part is we won't have to listen to our downstairs neighbour coughing up his lung every morning or yelling at his wife. We won't have to listen to the little boys upstairs (as cute and sweet as they are) falling down and crying and running and riding their bicycles (not kidding). We won't have to smell our neighbors whacky tabacky or here his air conditioner coming on at one in the morning even in the winter time (I hate when he does that. It always wakes me up).

I'm glad to get out of here. It's a shame too. Because the apartment could have been nice had it not been for the shoddy construction that allows everyone to hear what everybody else is doing.

Maybe a new environment will be more conducive to writing.

And if you haven't checked out my sock monsters in a while, do. I've added a whole bunch. Vexillia Sock Monsters

Watchmen is coming

Las Vegas

Leaving New York on Sunday for Las Vegas. I'm really looking forward to the trip.

I may or may not post pictures.

December Post

It's been while since I've written a blog post.

Since we've been back from Italy, we have made a trip to Cortland, NY and a trip to Atlantic City.

I've made a lot of new monsters which I've been posting on both my monster blog and my etsy site.

I'm working this week at In The Heights.

And I've sold four sock monsters in the last two weeks.

Okay. That should catch us up.

Italy Pictures

I pretty much gave up on making a Flickr album for our Italy trip. I was able to make an album on Shutterfly.

If you are interested in our vacation photos, you can see them here.
http://italytripjonandval.shutterfly.com/

Meanwhile Back at the Ranch . . .

We arrived late Monday night after a spectacularly long day of travel about which I have no right to complain. But it was a long, long day.

Our connecting flight from London was great because we had a row of five seats to ourselves.

Anyway, we're back and it's 5 in the morning and I've been up for an hour. I'm obsessed with getting every single last one of our vacation photos uploaded to Shutterfly, so I can share our pictures with my in-laws later today when we get up to Cortland.

Did I mention we are going upstate for the holiday weekend? We are leaving the house at 6 am, so we can be at our bus at 6:30 - a full hour before departure. We were advised that today is a big travel day and that the buses would be crowded. Hopefully, an hour will be enough time to get us on that early bus.

It's taken me hours to get the photos loaded - all 818 of them, but I'm almost finished.

I tried loading them up to Flickr, but Flickr kept telling me that my photos weren't loading and I kept having to reload my batches, so I only got so far. Eventually I'll get the photos onto my Flickr page but that's going to involve some more serious editing than I was capable of doing on Tuesday.

Anyway, I'll post some pictures as soon as I can. There are some really great shots and then there are some really incredibly average touristy shots.

Our Final Days in Florence

Yesterday morning, after my early rise due to insomnia, I got Jon up and we started out on a long day of walking and exploring. The first thing we did Saturday morning was walk up a hill side, past the Ponte Vecchio to the Piazzale Michelangelo where we (and many other tourists) took in the most spectacular view of Florence you can imagine. We then walked further up the hill to the San Miniato church. It is a 10th century church with old frescoes and wonderful old statues and great murals - you know, the usual.

We then walked to the Basilica of Santa Croce which had even more amazing, wonderful religious art and the tombs of Michelangelo, Dante and Galileo to name a few. Within the church was an amazing museum with lots of frescoes and DellaRobias. There is so much in that church, I had trouble absorbing it all, which is probably why I took so many pictures. I will have to go back and look over everything.

Then, as if that was not enough, we went to the museum that houses the great works from the Duomo. There were works by DellaRobia, Donatello among others. But the best piece has to be Michelangelo's last sculpture, The Pieta which he sculpted for his tomb but then destroyed because he didn't think it was good enough. Fortunately for all of us, one his students put it back together. His face is on one of the figures holding up Christ. It's moving.

That was a lot for one day and we had a nice rest before going to dinner. We wanted to be well rested for our final push today. We saved the best for last. Today we went to the Uffizi gallery and I am glad we were well rested. They have the absolute best examples of Renaissance artwork in the world. The Botticellis were breathtaking. Michelangelo's only free standing painting was there. Leonardo da Vinci's Annunciation was beautiful. There was a whole exhibit dedicated to Giotto and his followers. The Metropolitan Museum of Art would love to have any of the pieces we saw today. Caravaggio, Hans Holbein, Memling, Raphael, Titian. A super collection.

This trip has been great, just superb.

Tomorrow morning it is finished. We start our long trek back. Florence to Rome by train. Then Rome to the airport by train. Rome to London and then London to New York.

I will be sad to leave. But when I get back, I'll start the daunting task of editing the hundreds and hundreds of photos we took this week so I can share our trip with you. But be warned. There is going to be a lot of art.

Florence is Lovely

Friday morning Jon and I hopped a train for Florence. It was a quick ride. But a long walk to the hotel when we got out. But that's okay because it was a long walk in Florence. We walked past the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore with the landmark dome for which Florence is famous, mostly.

Our hotel is great, even nicer than the one we stayed in Rome. Every room has a computer. There is a jacuzzi and a sauna. And it's right around the block from the Dome.

We hit the ground running. The first site we saw was the Basilica. That Dome is remarkable. The painting on the underside is almost as amazing as Michelangelo's Last Judgement at the Sistine Chapel. The scene is also of the Last Judgement by two painters named Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari. You ever hear of them? Me neither. But Vasari did a lot of work here. And I'm sure I'll always know his name now - I might even be able to recognize his work after our visit to the Uffizi gallery. I tried to take pictures in the Basilica but it was next to impossible. My flash renders everything reddish brown in a dimly lit room and I had trouble capturing non-blurry images in that light.

After we saw the interior of the main building, we visited the separate and totally amazing baptistry building. I was able to make many pictures in there. The baptistry also has a dome with scenes from the bible and scenes from Christ's life. Among those scenes is another amazing Last Judgement on the main panel. Those painting were remarkable.

After being awed by the Baptistry, we walked over the Academy Gallery. Their most famous piece of art is the Statue of David by Michelangelo. It is as amazing as you think. Taking pictures is forbidden in that museum, yet quite a few people were able to get off a shot. There were two guards watching the statue, but they were engaged in quite a lively discussion. I also took advantage of the situation.

But the Academy had other great pieces as well. Mostly altar pieces from the 14th to 16th centuries and quite a few amazing paintings. The subjects of most of the artwork are Saints and the lives of Saints. I saw more than one painting and/or altar piece that depicted the Coronation of Mary. For the first time, I am seeing Christ represented as the Man of Sorrows. Those paintings are interesting because they show the tools the Romans used to torture him.

There was also a special exhibit on a 14th century painter whose name escapes me now. His work was remarkably well preserved considering most of it was oil on wood. Wood doesn't always keep that well.

We didn't stop at the Academy. We continued our stroll through Florence. Jon took me to the Ponte Vecchio - a beautiful bridge. It was romantic. It was raining. The cobble street was slick and shiny. The Arno river provided beautiful photographs. But the rain started to fall too hard yesterday and the temperature was dropping so we headed back to the hotel where we watched a movie before we went out to dinner.

Today, we're going to hit the free churches. I specifically used the word free because some of the churches here are also museums and they are not all free. And Florence really seems to want our money.

Tomorrow, we'll visit the Uffizi gallery and then Monday we come home. Sigh.

Rome Today

This morning we took an early morning stroll around the Forum. Then we went to the Basilica of St. Peter in Chains and saw Michelangelo's statue of Moses with horns. I have learned that when you are presented with a FREE opportunity to see great works of art, you should go see them. That is the case here because churches are FREEEEEEEE!!!!

Then later in the day, we saw the Piazza Navona. The great Bernini fountain that we went to see was blocked off for restoration. Still a beautiful place to visit.

Then we saw the Pantheon. That was super, duper amazing.

I left Jon while he went to the Capitolene museum and took a nice long nap. I definitely have to go there tomorrow because it has really amazing pieces that must be seen.

We did our laundry and while it was washing we went to see the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, where we finally got to see Bernini's extremely modest tomb.

Now we are contemplating dinner.

The Vatican Museum

Jon and I just finished our four and a half hour exploration of the Vatican museum. They have the most spectacular collection of art - seriously.

All the art was incredible but there were some standout pieces.

There was the Transfiguration by Raphael. This was his last painting before he died at the tragically young age of 37.

There was the Entombment of Christ by Caravaggio - which is masterful, brilliant and genius.

There was the School of Athens also by Raphael.

Finally, the exclamation point to the whole collection was the Sistine Chapel - which was mostly painted by Michelangelo but also featured paintings by great masters like Botticelli and Perugino.

I am resting now, drinking a Coke and typing this account. I am trying to gather the intellectual energy to see St. Peter's Basilica. We were already in St. Peter's square earlier this morning, before we went into the Vatican museum. And now it's time to see Michelangelo's Pieta.

Rome never ceases to be interesting.

Valerie Does Rome

Jon and I arrived in Rome on Saturday morning and we have been on the go seeing all that we can see. The first thing we did was walk over to see the Coliseum although we did not go inside until today. Then we walked over and saw the church where Bernini the sculptor is buried. And Saturday night, we walked all the way to the Trevi fountain. I must be a big wuss, but I got a little weepy looking at the fountain. It is a lot bigger than I thought it would be and there were all these people there enjoying the fountain. It was a completely uncynical experience.

Yesterday morning, we had a scheduled visit for the Galleria Borghese. That collection was breathtaking. They boast 5 Caravaggio paintings and lots of Bernini sculptures. Oh and then there were the two Rubens. But the Caravaggio. He was a really, really good painter and I got to see a painting I had only before seen in books which is of St. Jerome writing at a table next to a skull. It was lovely.

In the afternoon, we visited something I never even knew existed - the Basilica of St. John Lateran. That is by far the most amazing religious structure that I have seen - to date. Seriously Rome is lousy with art. Last night, we took the metro to the Spanish steps which was another nice communal experience.

Today, we visited the Forum which covers the Sacred Way and the Palatine. That took about three hours. Then we visited the Coliseum. The Coliseum might be the least interesting thing in Rome. And now we are feeling a little beat up.

So tonight we are resting because tomorrow we are visiting the Vatican and we want to be fully rested to see one of the world's best art collections and who knows - maybe we'll get to meet the Pope.

Atlantic City

Jon and I went to Atlantic City this past weekend. We found a great deal at Resorts Int'l. When we got there we signed up for a TRUMP ONE card and each received a free night's stay at the Taj Mahal for doing so. I also signed up for a comp card at Resorts.

I did not know about these comp cards. I told some ushers at the Barrymore theater where I was working last week that I was going to Atlantic City and they taught me a lot. You see, this trip was only my third one there, so I have a lot to learn. Apparently, when you sign up for a comp card, you get all sorts of offers in the mail from the hotel/casinos enticing you to come down. They also told me that they serve free booze and other drinks while you are gambling. This might seem like something I should have know - but I had no idea. Sunday night, I had two free apple martinis that practically knocked me out. They were good. Monday night, I drank free soda and water.

I played the slot machines. I LOVE SLOT MACHINES. Oh my gosh!! They are so much fun. Well. They were so much fun on Monday night when I won back the money I lost on Sunday night and then some. Did you know there were slot machines that offer bonuses if you get the right combinations of stuff and junk. So, I played this one slot machine where I got 100 free spins and ended up winning oodles of money as a result.

I still don't have the guts to play Black Jack even though we found $5.00 tables at the Showboat hotel and casino on Monday night. I'm pretty good at Black Jack but I still feel a little intimidated. Next time, I'm going to play Black Jack.

The other thing we discovered were the outlet stores. There were stores selling clothes at deep, deep discounts and by deep I mean 70%. That is probably the most fun I've ever had buying clothes.

I hate spending money but I LOVE GAMBLING AND I LOVE DISCOUNTED CLOTHING!!!!

We had a great time. We took the 8:30 bus back up on Tuesday morning and I was sad to say good bye to Atlantic City.

Why didn't anyone ever tell me before how much fun drinking and gambling could be? I spent so much of my life being a goody two shoes. But that's it. I'm cutting loose now.

I've made a decision to have as much fun as I possibly can.

Congratulations President Obama

Central Casting

Central Casting now has an office in New York City. I registered with them today. I am non-union. We'll see if I can get any work. I'm kind of sort of doubtful. Several people referred to me as ma'am which I found distancing and made me feel old.

I arrived 20 minutes early which worked to my advantage. I was in the first group of four to be register. It also helped that I had already filled out my paperwork.

Three out of four of my group had headshots. I was not one of them. Also, I dressed in office attire because those are the best clothes I have. The two other women in the room were wearing dresses and they were younger than me. One was short and fat. The other was tall and lean and showing lots of cleavage.

We all had our photos taken. I went last to see what the other people did. The girl showing the cleavage managed to get one more shot than the rest of us.

I left feeling that I would never get called.

We'll see.

Who Wants to Be a Millonaire - 3rd time's a charm

Standing On Line
October 23rd, I stood on line outside of the ABC studio where Who Wants to a Millionaire is taped. Frustrated by my last audition experience, I had immediately signed up for another day of testing and taping. Standing outside yesterday with the 200 or so similarly minded people, I listened to many conversations. This time they didn't annoy me. This time, the people were normal and were discussing the fun things they would do if they won a million dollars. Standing with all those people, listening to them dream out loud, I was filled with an overwhelming sense of help. Being raised Jewish, my parents never took me to stand in line to see Santa Claus at the mall but I imagine it must have felt a lot like the line I was standing in yesterday. The line to audition for Millionaire is the most hopeful place on earth.

Testing
Inside the studio, we all had a chance to warm up while everybody got settled and once we did, the test was administered. Production assistants handed out #2 pencils, Scantron sheets, and closed envelopes containing the multiple choice test that would determine who moved on. We had 10 minutes to complete 30 questions. I finished in about 6 minutes and looked over my answers twice. Because I hadn't passed two times before I was expecting not to do so well and I felt ambivalent about how I did. I didn't expect to pass.

Taping
After the tests were collected, the rest of the studio audience was shown to their seats. Paul Mecurio warmed up the crowd and explained what was expected of us as a Millionaire audience. He's quite funny and very handsome. He's good with the crowd. He is a professional comedian and has won awards for his writing the Daily Show. I advise you check out his website. Anyway, he got us in the mood to cheer and clap and behave as if the Who Wants to be a Millionaire studio was the most exciting place on earth. This week was Movie week so all of the questions were about movie trivia and all of the contestants were movie geeks. Because it was movie week, we were given a free subscription to Netflix. Yee hooo. Three months. Nothing to sneeze at.

Some of the questions were ridiculously easy and it was frustrating to see people miss them. However, there were some real doozies. I don't want to give anything away. You'll have to wait until March to see those shows. But we did get to see one guy walk away with $250,000. He was a nice guy and everybody was rooting for him.

Results
Paul Mecurio did not announce who passed the test until the third taping. At the first commercial break, he announced the first three contestants moving and I was the third one. When he called my name I wooted and almost choked on the butterscotch candy they handed out before the third taping. After the taping was finished, I was interviewed in the same studio by a production assistant. She liked the fact that I was smiling and she liked the fact that I met my husband playing bar trivia. She liked me enough to recommend me for the on camera interview.

I kind of remember what I said. But I was so excited, I can't remember how it all came out. And on top of that I was slighly hungover from the night before and I wasn't wearing any makeup (because I didn't think I would pass) and my skin was breaking out a little bit. Ack.

Hopefully, in two or three weeks I'll receive a post card telling me they want me for the show. But it could go the other way.

Everyone I know, has their fingers crossed.

Who Wants to be a Millionaire - 2nd Audition

I woke up early this morning so I could get to my 10:15 am audition on time. When I got there I stood on line for an hour. While I was standing on line, I started imagining what it would be like to touch the big hair of the woman standing in front of me. I could see myself reaching out and patting it like a fluffy fur coat but I resisted the temptation.

Standing on line, I heard several conversations. There were some women talking about their families and their home towns. And then there were three whackadoo guys talking about the weirdest shit. The weirdest of them all was wearing a dirty old blazer covered with his dandruff and he sounded like a complete nut. Guess who I ended up sitting next to in the studio. That's right. Dandruff guy. That's right. He's pretty bright but like many super bright people, his social skills are severely lacking.

Today was his 60th time auditioning. He's passed the Millionaire test 23 times including today but still hasn't made past the interview stage. Hmmmmmm. Could be the dandruff. He was nice enough - just severely lacking in the social filter department.

I did not pass the test. Again. But I sat through three shows full of contestants who could not have possibly done better than me on the test. It was very frustrating to watch people blow big bucks on easy questions. Jon was with me and I feel bad that I dragged him along. Not only did I not pass the test but the three tapings took WAY longer than I thought they would.

My tickets called for the audition at 10:30 and for the tapings to begin at 11:30. The test was administered at 11:10 and the tapings didn't begin until noon. We stopped taping at 3. That was a lot of sitting around but they get you to do it by announcing who passed the test during the third taping. Actually, I didn't find out that I didn't pass the test until the last commercial break of the third show.

My butt still hurts from sitting.

Dress Shopping

Jon and I went to the Carousel Mall in Syracuse so I could buy a dress for a wedding we're attending this coming Saturday.

Around this time last year, I went on a similar shopping trip. It was a much different experience.

Last year, I tried on dresses that were size 18 or size 20. Today, I bought a dress that is size 12.

Yeah. It was that kind of day. I also bought a pair of size 12 pants and a vest in size 12.

It was a good day.

Cortland

Jon and I are up in Cortland visiting with my in-laws. Last night we celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary at a lovely little Italian restaurant favored by the locals. I think I ate more last night than I have in a week. I'm scared to get back on the scale.

Their guests were interesting. The couple sitting across from us has been married since 1943 - that's 65 years in case your brain isn't working yet this morning. (I know mine isn't.) The husband is from New York City and he served during WWII as a dentist for the armed for the armed forces. He's 93 years old. His wife is from Vienna and her family came to the States before everything got crazy for Jewish families in Europe - most likely saved her life. She was a model and is still gorgeous at 86. I'm hoping to visit with them some more tomorrow - they live down the block from my in-laws. It was hard to speak A -- because he wears double hearing aids. Because we were in a restaurant he had trouble differentiating our voices from the general hubbub around us.

There was another holocaust escapee sitting next to me. Gosh, she is lovely. Another stunning woman and not even for her age. She is just beautiful. At 82 years of age, she keeps current by reading New York and New Yorker Magazines and she's sees a new movie once a week at the theater. Also from Vienna, she was married to a man who survived the Holocaust thanks to the Kindertransport. The Kindertransport was a British program where English families hosted Jewish children that were in danger during WWII. That story had a happy ending in that he was reunited with his family.

It was nice to be able to celebrate a happy occassion with people we love.

Jon and I should be married for 40 years.

Looking for Work

I've come to the point where I am bored witless with my job on Broadway. But not only am I bored with it, it's making incredibly nervous.

For example tonight, I am working at August Osage County. It starts at 7:30 which means people will be coming to get headsets at 8:oo after the show has started. People always come late to a show with an unusual start time. Not only that, it's a play that attracts old people. Actually, all long and drawn out plays attract older people. So, theyll be a large demand for my headset product.

I've done busy shows before but they always make me nervous. It's the possiblities of confrontations that make me more nervous than anything. More demand means more people to argue about leaving their licenses behind in place of headsets. Some older people are convinced that leaving your license anywhere automatically leads to identity theft. If they thought it through, they would figure out that the theaters where I work could find me if they thought I was guilty of a crime.

Anyway, I am now interested in finding a new job. But who is going to hire me? I've been out of the full-time, day time workaday world for so long, I'm afraid I've become completely unhirable.

I had enough problems finding the last two office jobs I had.

I was so obsessed with finding a new job this morning, that I was up at 5:30 reconfiguring my NY Times/Monster.com profile.

Ack

Shock to Noone

Clay Aiken is gay.

Something I Can Relate To

Tonight on my way to work, a woman started yelling to no one in particular. When our train pulled into 57th Street she looked out across the platform to find no Q train waiting for her. She shouted out, "This is the last stop. There should be two trains here at all times." Just as she finished that sentence, a Q train pulled in.

I totally related to her frustration about the train.

Another Birthday

Remember last year how excited I was when I turned 40? That didn't happen this past Saturday when I celebrated my 41st birthday.

It's not like I had a bad day. It was a quiet birthday which is what I like. My mom took me out to brunch, then we drove out to my brother's house where we had birthday cake. I received plenty of warm wishes and nice birthday cards.

But 41 is turning out to be a really depressing birthday. I'm doing that thing people do when they compare themselves to others and I know I shouldn't be doing that. It's self-defeating.

I'm not wriing this to get a pep talk. I'm posting because I wanted to share my feelings. Feel free to express your similar feelings in the comment section.

September 11

I send out blessings to all the people who lost loved ones during the attacks on September 11, 2001. In my family, we are blessed because we didn't lose anyone close to us.

September

September is here, which means back to school for everybody who has children. That is not us yet, but hopefully will be one day.

As a kid, September used to fill me with dread. Not that I hated school. I loved school actually. But I was terrified of other children. I was never one of those kids who looked forward to going back to school and seeing all her friends. At some point in high school, I finally started to feel comfortable in my own skin, but to this day I get that sinking feeling in my stomach when the calendar pages change from August to September. A lot of that has to do with having been bullied. I never quite learned how to NOT get bullied.

Anyway. September is here and it's my birthday month. In a little more than a week, I will be celebrating end of my 41st year on this planet. You may remember how non-chalant I was about turning 40. 41 is really bothering me. 41 is making me feel old. Blah.

Yesterday, I spent the entire day out of our apartment because the building shut down our water to work on the pipes. Yes. That meant no toilets. So I made plans to be out of the house all day. First I went to see my doctor because of a problem with my hip which turns out is a result of all the new exercise I've been doing this past year on my bike. Then Jon and I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We saw the special Turner exhibit and the Koons sculptures on the roof.

When Jon had to go to work, I decided to treat myself to Hamlet 2 which I saw at the AMC theater on 42nd Street. That was a super fun movie.

I took myself to dinner at Red Lobster (an idea put into my head by Hamlet 2) and had a salad which was neither diet friendly or delicious. I'm kind of sorry I went to Red Lobster for dinner actually.

I finished the day by working a shift at Xanadu where I saw Project Runway winner, Christian Siriano, Mario Cantone and Elisabeth Hasselbeck. I took a chance and spoke to Elisabeth Hasselbeck who as it turns out is really, really nice. I was so happy I spoke with her. At the end of the conversation, she shook my hand and introduced me to her husband. She was friendly, warm and down to earth.

I told an usher that I had met her and she was surprised to hear how nice she was. This person had assumed that she was a BI**H simply because she is a Republican. How narrow minded is that??!! Republicans are people too!! And I'm always impressed with Hasselbeck when she holds her own against Whoopi Goldberg and Barbara Walters. Can you imagine standing up to Barbara Walters?!?!? Especially as such a young woman? I may not agree with everything she believes but I sure do admire her. Talking to her was the highlight of my day.

When I got home last night, my toilet was in constant flush mode. But the super came up and fixed a washer that had gotten ruined when the contractors fixed the pipes.

It was A+ day!!

Atlantic City, New Jersey

Jon and I spent a couple of days in Atlantic City and boy was it fun!!! We got back last night and I'm still working on the pictures. I'll replace this post with a summary of our trip, later - after I upload our pictures to Flickr.

Gosh. Blogging is a lot of work.

Etsy Treasury

Etsy gives members opportunities to show off their favorite items in their treasury. I made one yesterday. This is it. Please visit my treasury and support the great artists who made the great pocket mirrors that are featured. Stuff and Things

Senator Joe Biden

So. What do you think? Will Joe Biden be our next Vice President?

Saturday Morning

It's early Saturday morning. I'm fooling around on the Internet. The blue sky is dotted with cottony white clouds. I hear birds singing. And I also hear an intermittent beeping sound that's been going on since last night. Every thirty seconds - beep. I'm sure the whole neighborhood can hear it. I wish it would stop.

In the last two weeks, I've discovered Facebook. I know I'm the last one to the party on this one. Facebook is great. It's better than MySpace and it's way better than Friendster. But the novelty is finally starting to wear off.

I've been keeping up with my diet. I'm not journaling every day but every other day and that seems to be working. My nutritionist offered that up as one of the solutions to my problem of having stopped keeping track of my diet altogether. But I'm still having trouble breaking the 35 pound barrier. Sometimes, I'm down 40 pounds but then the next day I'm back to being down 35 pounds. It's annoying.

I sent my grandmother in France a rabbit like monster that I named Louis Lapin (pictured right). I received word through my mother that Grandma really liked him. And that she was laughing when she was describing it to my mother.

I sold three more monsters last week, Which prompted me to call my accountant to make sure I'm doing everything right. I honestly don't know what I expected when I started my Etsy site. I certainly never thought that I would sell anything. Mostly, I thought I would just showcase my work. I'm surprised anyone has bought anything but totally pleased.

Olympic Judging

I'm disappointed with the Olympic judging in gymnastics.

If a gymnast deserves a high score then they should get one, but when a gymnast makes obvious mistakes that even a lay person like me can recognize, they should not receive a high score.

This is what seems to be happening with the Chinese gymnasts. Again, I don't want to begrudge anybody who is actually performing well but in the case of the women's vault and the uneven bars, there was a clear bias toward the Chinese gold medalists.

Not fair.

Five Years Old

This blog is five years old.

Can you believe it?

Three Monsters in Two Days

I sold three sock monsters in two days. Scary.

Central Park - Very Hilly

Jon and I rode our bikes in Central Park yesterday. We had to carry our bikes up two flights of steps to the subway platform at 30th Avenue and then up and out of the station at 60th St. and 5th Ave.

I completely forgot how hilly Central Park is and I struggled through the entire 7 mile bike ride. We stopped and rested at this lovely pond at 100th Street on the west side of the park as evidenced by this photograph.

I am feeling the after effects today mostly in my right knee.

I figured a hot shower would set me right, but today the boiler is working in improperly, meaning no hot shower. I just took shower and the water did warm up after five minutes but by then I was already finished. The water wasn't freezing, just a little cool to start. Not the hot shower experience I was seeking.

Tonight, I'm working at Gypsy again. That show is sooooo long. Go see it, but don't go see it that often. If you see it too many times you won't like the show anymore.

Nutritionist

Good news from the nutritionist. I'm down another five pounds since my last visit two months ago. Now that I've lost a decent amount I'm ready to tell you what my starting weight was.

When I first saw the nutritionist October 18, 2007, I weighed 195.6 pounds. Two weeks before that, I was a couple of pounds more. I had also attended a friend's wedding and looked heavy in the photos. At my checkup, shortly after the wedding, I had my yearly checkup. My doctor told me I was obese. And when I told him I wanted to lose weight, he told me about my current nutrionist.

Today I weighed in at 159.6 pounds. That's 36 pounds that I've lost since October. My body fat percentage is down to 36.4% from 43.9%. And BMI is now 26.6, down from 32.5.

My weight loss has slowed down but the nutritionist wasn't concerned because I'm still losing weight. We discussed why my weight loss is slowing down. Basically, I've gotten lazy about keeping track of my food and to tell you the truth, I'm not eating enough. When I don't eat enough, my rate of weight loss slows down. I asked her to remind me of all that I'm accomplishing health wise by losing weight. And she did.

The risk that concerned me the most, my chance of contracting diabetes is now greatly decreased. My resting blood sugar was very high at my last checkup and could have been considered pre-diabetic by some doctors. There are other health benefits as well that I won't bore you with. Diabetes was my concern because that's in my family health history.

I don't underestimate the value of the vanity benefits. Generally I feel better about myself. Physically, I'm in the best shape I've been in since I finished college and I like the way I look now.

I feel good because my weight was a problem that bothered me for a long time but I took responsibilty for myself and found a way to solve the problem. It gives me the confidence to tackle other ongoing problems. Yay me!!

In The Heights

This week, I'm back at In The Heights at the Richard Rodgers theater. The show has been out a while, so I wasn't expecting to see any celebrities this week. But I saw a couple of big time celebrities on Tuesday night and one amazing pair of shoes.

John Lithgow - who I just love. He's really talented and he's incredibly hard to miss because he is a very tall man. He looks good for his age but his age is showing. He won a Tony for his lead role in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Funny, funny, show. And of course he was in Third Rock From The Sun, in which everybody remembers him. Speaking with people that night, I pointed out to several of them that John Lithgow was there. When they asked me what he was in, I offered the movie with which I thought they would be most familiar - The World According to Garp. Alas, most people only remembered him from Third Rock. I'm not sure if that's sad or not. But I do know that he deserves remembered for his greater body of work. He's a good actor.

Isabella Rosselini - She's just lovely in person. I saw her on a talk show the other day talking about a project she's done recently where she had herself filmed dressed up like bugs. I'm not sure what the film was about honestly because I was distracted by the fact that she felt like she had to explain to the host and TV land that her mother is Ingrid Bergman. I guess I could let her get away with that because it's possible not everyone follows the famous children of famous people. What was truly amazing is how she explained that her mother was in Casablanca. To me that was completely unnecessary. But she was very nice and unassuming and down to earth and like I said earlier, just lovely. Sure enough, I was working with people who didn't even know who she was when I pointed out to them that she was there.

A pair of Christian Louboutin shoes - I suspect that most people know about this designer and his shoes. The only reason I know about them is because one day I watched Oprah Winfrey give away a pair of his shoes on her talk show. Did she interview him that day? My mind is never fully on these shows when I have them on the boob tube. Usually they just provide background noise when I'm doing other things. But I remember that they are expensive and that the shoes are unique and easily identifiable as Louboutin. All his shoes have bright red soles and incredibly high heels. They are the kind of shoes starlets like to wear on the red carpet because they are very distinctive. The signature red soles came about because Mr. Louboutin ran out of the necessary materials for the bottom of a pair he was making. The rest is history.

Anyway, I saw the shoes on a tall, impossibly thin woman. The heels were four inches high and the bottoms were distinctively red. Somehow she was walking around in those shoes like they were sneakers. Amazing. Actually, I didn't like them because they were made from leather with an animal print. If they had been solid colored I probably would have loved them.

Subway Spider

One of the absolutely coolest things we saw yesterday was a spider making a web in the subway. Jon got this picture. I tried to get a better one but that was just the competitor in me trying to show him up. He definitely got the best shot.

Coney Island

Jon and I went to Coney Island yesterday. We saw many cool things. For a New Yorker, it's inexecusable that I haven't been to the boardwalk in 18 years. We were there last year for a baseball game but that was not quite the same because we didn't walk around.

The weather was perfect and the clouds contributed to some great photo captures. To look at the whole set of photos check out my Flickr set. But here are a couple of shots to get you started.

The Beach

I shot this a week ago Friday - the day I came down with the flu. It's also the day that someone drowned in Long Beach. Sad. It was blamed on rip currents and I can attest to the fact that the currents were very strong that day. Anyway. Here's a moment of relaxation for you.

Cirque Dreams

With all my whining about my cold, I forgot to tell you about the show I'm working on this week. Cirque Dreams is playing at the Broadway Theater. If you've got kids who can sit still for two hours, then definitely take them to see this show. With the exception of the music which is geared towards children, Cirque Dreams is a wonderful experience. If you throw out the cheezy costumes and turn off the sound track, what you have left is a good old fashioned circus.

The acts include contortionists, aerial artists, trapeze artists, clowns, balance artists, etc. And everybody is phenomenal (with the exception of the singer whose maple sweet voice is hard to swallow and meant for children, but even she is well trained singer).

My favorite act is the Froggler - a juggler dressed up like a frog.

Slowly Feeling Better

Today I felt better than yesterday. My cough has been deep enough to give me a back spasm. Oy. But I had a little more energy today. I almost went bike riding, but I'm still having some trouble getting air. Monday. I'll go out on Monday.

Water on Mars

Hey. There's water on Mars. Great news.

Now I can continue living the rest of my life knowing that there is water on Mars.

Worse Than Before

The doctor was right. I do feel worse than I did yesterday. I'm coughing like crazy, breaking through the effects of my cough medicine.

I just don't feel good. Ach!!!!!

Hopefully this is the worst and I can start biking again tomorrow. I miss biking.

The Doctor

I went to see the doctor, because that is what you do when you don't feel good. Turns out I have a flu-like virus. Anti-biotics are not recommended or required because they don't do anything for viruses.

He said to continue resting and that I would get worse before I got better.

Dr. E had never heard before the complaint of someone's scalp hurting. I didn't realize how unusual that was. Because my mother also complains sometimes of her hair hurting or her scalp hurting. Dr. E. said that my tender skin was a reaction to this virus and recommended anti-inflamatory medicine like Advil, which I'd already been taking.

He didn't really help me much but I'm sure glad I went to see him.

Dark Knight

Staying home to take care of yourself when you're sick is boring. And yesterday I was getting really bored. Jon and I went to see a movie to break the tedium. See. Jon had already gone on a great bike ride, one that I would love to have done myself so his need to get out of the house was not as great as mine.

In the late afternoon, we decided to go see the Dark Knight. Not the best movie ever made. I can't strongly recommend that you see it.

I will say that Heath Ledger delivers a top caliber performance as the Joker. He was a tremendous actor. He's unrecognizable as Heath Ledger. He changed everything about himself to play the Joker - his posture, his voice, his mannerisms. He gave the Joker life.

Regarding the movie, it felt like it went on for four hours. Just when I thought the movie was going to end, the filmmakers tacked on another ending. This is not my favorite film making technique. And whether or not it's intentional I couldn't tell you. But if it is CUT IT OUT film makers. I don't like fake endings.

Feeling Better?

I'm not really feeling better, but I'm not feeling any worse. My temperature never goes above 99.5. I've started a mildly productive cough. My ears hurt but I don't think they're infected. And I'm tired. Really tired. I slept pretty well last night. I was asleep by 10.

I called my doctor just to be safe. I'm waiting to hear from him about whether or not he thinks I should come in for a visit. You don't always have to see your doctor when you have a problem. From what I know about the flu, it doesn't last more than a week. And my flu is right on schedule in terms of symptoms.

The only thing that doesn't make sense is the sore skin. I still don't get that.

Dream Omelet

Chef Cooks 'Dream Omelet' From Recipe That Came To Him In A Dream

Summer Flu (con't)

Did I mention the part about my skin hurting? That is probably the weirdest symptom I've experienced during an illness. I've had the sensation before when you're hair hurts but not the skin.

My fever went up since this morning and I started aching all over the place. My skin started to really, really hurt so I took four Advil. Then Jon and I went for a walk around Astoria. We must have been gone an hour. My legs were really weak. But when we got home, my fever was gone. And I felt good for having walked even though it tired me out a bit.

Hopefully, my skin will stop hurting soon. If not, I'm going to the doctor.

Summer Flu

I have the flu. Can you believe it? Jon and I went to the beach on Friday morning. When I woke up super early for the trip, I wasn't feeling quite right, but I attributed that to waking up too early. I figured I would sleep on the beach. We got to the beach okay. I was still fatigued, but not so bad that I couldn't enjoy myself. We frollicked and rambled and had a good time. Then we left so Jon and I could have a final lunch with my relatives from France. They were leaving that night.

At lunch, I started feeling light headed. I reasoned that I got too much sun, not realizing yet that I was coming down with something. We finished lunch. My mom and I took Jon to the train so he could go to work. I drove both ways. I have to practice when I can. While I was driving, I wasn't paying attention to how I was feeling. It was nice to drive in my bathing suit and flip flops because I haven't done that in a long time.

When I got back to my mom's, I went next to door to hang out with her neighbor and my friend. She has a pool and two kids. My cousin's kid was one of the visitors. So I went into L's pool, with my cousin's kid and her two kids and we splashed around a bit. We made a human whirlpool, which is something I hadn't ever done before. L understood that because I grew up on the beach, I never played in pools as a kid.

Anyway, a "whirlpool" is when everyone in the pool walks in a circle until you build up enough momentum that you can float in a circle. But we didn't do that. Instead we changed directions and walked against the current we had created. It was fun but it wiped me out. I was exhausted after that. I had to get out of the pool. I sat with L for half an hour on her screened terrace discussing life and movies. And I started getting really, really sleepy and achy. I had to leave.

I got back to my mother's and that was it. I knew I was sick. Once my neck and shoulders start to get a specific kind of achy I know I have a fever and I was that kind of achy. I took a shower and took a nap. The aspirin helped me feel good enough to go with my parents to the airport to send my family on its way.

The airport was nightmarish. For a variety of reasons, most attributable to the fact that the check-in agent was brand new and unsupervised, check-in took an hour. But my family eventually made it on to their flight.

I stayed at my parents. I wasn't feeling well enough to go home.

I took the train yesterday afternoon to come back to the Astoria. That 50 minute train ride felt like an eternity. After I walked through the door, I took my temperature. 99.9 degrees. I know that's not very high but it was high enough to make me uncomfortable. Two hours later, my temperature was 100.5. I took some tylenol. I slept. I watched some TV. I went to dinner with Jon and had some Japanese soup. Yum. And then I went to sleep.

This morning. Not a smidge of fever. I looked up the symptoms for summer flu. And sure enough, the discription matches what's happening to me.

Two days of fever followed by upper respiratory complaints -sore throat, congestion, coughing, etc., which is what I am now experiencing. This is the second time in my life, I've had the flu. So while this story may seem unremarkable to you, it's pretty remarkable to me. Summer flu. Whodathunkit? Not me. I've had summer colds but never a summer flu.

There Will Be Yawning

Jon and I just watched There Will Be Blood. He really liked it. I really did not like it.

I thought it was long and boring. It's like the director Paul Thomas Anderson was trying to channel Orson Welles via Citizen Kane and anything by Kubrick.

Visually, it was stunning, but between the script and the overacting . . .

If you liked it, then that's great. I'm glad you found a film you like.

But I think it was a little overrated.

Perez Hilton

AOL Entertainment News is all over Perez Hilton this morning. I have completely missed the boat on the Perez Hilton phenomenon. Maybe someone could explain it to me.

Here is what I know of him. His website is unreadable. In interviews, he comes off as the bitchiest man. And his speaking voice - och - it's like listening to nails on a chalk board.

From what I can tell, he aspires to be like Matt Drudge, if Matt Drudge were a horrible little troll.

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Wall-E

Jon and I saw Wall-E this afternoon and it was great!!

Go see it! Now!!

Statue of Liberty

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Crinkle Fries
Yesterday, Jon and I took my visiting French relatives to the Statue of Liberty. We left early enough in the morning so we could meet them at 9:30 at Penn Station. I was smart. I made reservations for the boat via the interweb, so we had tickets for an 11:15 ferry to Liberty Island.

It was on the subway down to Battery Park when I discovered that I didn't have my camera. Later in the day, I found it in on our coffee table where I'd placed it so I wouldn't forget it. So, sadly I don't have any pictures to illustrate are fun outing.

It's been a while since I've been to Liberty Island. That security check really dampened the fun atmosphere. But once we got through the security check the ride over was quite nice. We all sat together on the top level of the ferry. It rained ever so slightly. Aside from that bit of drizzle the day was rain free.

Liberty Island didn't seem terribly crowded. We were able to see that great view of downtown Manhattan, even through the haze. But we didn't go into the monument itself. Turns out you have to buy the tickets for that in advance because the security check they perform in Battery Park, to get onto the island is also the security check for entering the Statue. This was not a tragedy. I've been in there plenty of times, Jon's been in there also. And my relatives, with the exception of the 10 year old, have also seen the inside. The 10 year old is not really the museum, plaque reading type and it turned out to be a good thing.

We had lunch there which was eh, but my relatives were hungry. The mediocre food filled the void.

Then we had to get off of Liberty Island which took a little over an hour. (It felt more like ESCAPE FROM LIBERTY ISLAND because it seemed so difficult). Who knew there were so people on the island with is. All of a sudden it seemed like there were thousands of people standing on line with us. We got on line and at 2 and disembarked at Battery Park around 3:15. That time includes missing the ferry we got on line for and then waiting for another one. This time, I was feeling a little sea sick and sat below with my aunt.

It wasn't until we arrived at Battery Park that we discovered the 10 year-old lost his bag with money and a disposable camera he'd bought for the adventure. I felt so bad for him. He was very upset.

Transition
Everyone was hot so I took them into the Museum of the Native American at Bowling Green. If you haven't been there you should go. It is also the Alexander Hamilton US Custom House. And the building is beautiful. You've never seen a rotunda like the one build into this building. It was free and it was cool inside. But guess what we had to do before we could enjoy what the museum had to offer? That's right. We had to go through another security check. Belts, keys - everything.
I guess I can't blame them.

I sat with my aunt in the rotunda, while the others checked out the museum. The 10 year old calmed down. It was a nice transitional activity.

After the museum we took the 4 train at Bowling Green up to 42nd Street and we did an abbreviated tour of mid-town. I showed them Grand Central station. Then we walked across 42nd to Broadway.

The Surge
Just before we got to 5th Avenue, walking west, we spotted a bunch of police cars. Walking further we saw a bunch of cops standing together in a clump. They kindly posed for my uncle when he said CHEESE and took their picture. Then they got in their cars and drove off together toward the West Side Highway. The police do this all the time. They pick an area, gather together and then drive off together. It's usually about the same time every day, around 4:30. My friend Sam called it "a surge" once and I'm not sure if that's officially what it's called but I liked that description. (I just did a quick search and found this.)

We walked past the library and then at 6th Avenue we started walking up town. The goal was to show the 10 year old Toys R Us because he'd actually heard of the four story toy store in New York City. It's entirely possible he'd heard of FAO Schwartz but Toys R Us was closer. Besides I think Toys R Us is way neater. That's at 44th Street and Broadway if you're wondering. So, we showed them Times Square and Toys R Us. They saw Grand Centra Station, the NYP library from the distance, the Chrysler building behind them. Not bad for a one hour tour.

Getting to Penn Station
We walked down 7th Avenue to get to Penn Station, so my relatives could take the train back to my parent's house. That was difficult. I never knew before how crowded 7th avenue is during rush hour. But we managed to stay together and they made a 6:00 train home. Jon and I stood on the platform until we saw that everyone was seated. And then we went home and vegged out.
We watched the All Star Homerun contest on ESPN. After Hamilton hit 28 homeruns, I started falling asleep so I went to bed. (I don't know who won, so don't tell me.) I was pretty tired.

Worry

Worry is a worrisome thing. I am worried about something, probably not worth mentioning, so I'm not mentioning it. But my mind is seized on this one thing and won't let it go.

I hate when I get like this. It's always about the stupidest things.

Argh.

Celebrity Spottings

This week at Gypsy, I've seen
Robert Townsend (looking very sexy)
Valerie Bertinelli (absolutely stunning in person)
Doris Roberts (asked me for directions to the stage door)
Clarke Peters (going into a restaurant next to the St. James theater)

Engaged

My friend just got engaged. I'm so happy for her. People deserve the happy moments they get in life. And that's all people. But especially my friend, because she is a very special person who deserved everything good thing that comes her way.

I'm also happy for me because reading about her engagement, reminded me of Jon's proposal. That was certainly a happy, happy day. I remember smiling so hard, I thought my face was going to break. And I couldn't stop smiling.

Jon started the proposal by presenting me with a Valentine's Day card that he made. Inside was a poem, that described the trajectory of our relationship. The poem ended with a proposal. I still have the card. I'll probably keep the card forever.

It was romantic.

Bullets on a Fifth of July

* Tuesday, in addition to the Millionaire debaucle, Jon and I helped a couple of friends move in together. In spite of the hard work, it felt good to help them.

* Jon and I went on several challenging bikerides this week. They were challenging because it was both hot and windy.

* I am sunburnt.

* There is a new X-Files movie coming soon to a theater near me. WAHOOOO!!!!!

* Yesterday was the 4th of July. It rained on my plans of going to my friends rooftop to watch Macy's fireworks display in the east river.

* Today I'm working at Passing Strange at the Belasco theater. I've been invited to the staff's 4th of July BBQ which will take place between shows. I may or may not go. Everybody, including the stars of the show, will be at the BBQ. I'm too shy for that.

Cloud Formation

Jon and I went on another bike ride to the Flushing Bay Promenade. I took a picture of this amazing cloud formation. If you look closely you can also see the new Shea Stadium under construction.

Who Wants to be a Milllionaire?

I do. But unfortunately, I did not pass the test or so they say. Who knows what a passing score is? The most I got wrong was two questions on a 30 question multiple choice test. Seriously. I am so Disappointed (notice the capital D).

I really thought I'd passed.

They suck.