Bongos

So. Jon and I have been living in this much better apartment for several months now. We are very happy with the apartment.

Everything is working out great. For a long time, the building across the street had a noisy garage door that squeeked every time it opened and closed but they fixed it and now it's like there is no garage door. It makes no more noise.

But just this week, a new problem has arisen. There is a neighbor in that same building, who has decided to start playing the bongos.

It's very annoying. Now. The building across the street is a co-op. I can't believe the co-op board approved a friggin' bongo player. I wonder if I can use that to my advantage. There is no way, people in that building will put up with a bongo player much longer.

And who the hell plays the bongos anyway?!?! It's the 21st freakin' century. He should be playing virtual bongos that no one can hear.

Beautiful Weather

Yesterday was a beautiful day. I spent the latter part of the afternoon, working in the garden. What a great way to spend time outdoors.

Here are some pictures I took a few days ago.

My tomato plants are doing okay but I'm getting impatient. They take forever to produce fruit and then it takes more time for that fruit to ripen.


My jalapeno pepper plants on the other hand are thriving. They have blossomed and now are producing many fruits. It shouldn't be too much longer before I'm adding fresh jalapeno peppers to my dishes.


I've also planted sweet basil. I'm not sure how it's doing. It is growing but some of the leaves are turning shades of yellow.


The other pepper plants I put in are the Cubanelle variety. I bought those at the farmer's market in Union Square. They weren't as mature as the jalapeno plants that I bought, so they will take a little longer to produce fruit. But so far they seem to be doing okay.

Gardening is fun. I just got a couple of flower catalogs which are really exciting me right now. Flowers. I actually get to grow my own flowers. Life is good.

Garden Life

CPDO

Last night, I had a dream that I was diagnosed with a fatal disease and given a week to live. My imagination picked Chronic Pulmonary Disorder, aka Emphysema. In the dream, I asked the doctor how he came up with that diagnosis and he clammed up - claiming that I was getting confrontational. The dream ended when I realized that this guy wasn't really my doctor and that I had to set up an appoinment with my own.

Weird, huh?

The Wedding of the Decade

Jon and I went to a beautiful wedding on July 2. It was held at the Capitale - formerly a bank located on Grand and Bowery. It's the most remarkable site - the type of place that makes you wish your job title were Location Scout. The interior was grand to the max. The main room was full of columns; the ceiling is made of stained glass; the vault is still in tact and used by the waiters as a changing room. It's beautiful.

Anyway, here are some pictures.
The first person to come up and introduce herself to me was this woman, wearing the same dress. I probably shouldn't really point that out. It was embarrassing but at the same time, it's funny. Right? I guess that's what happens when dresses are bought in department stores.


The ceremony was incredible. The bridesmaids looked stunning. And the maids of honor looked stunninger. The bride had her sisters and brother standing with her under the chupah which I thought was really beautiful. There were actually quite a few people standing up there. Two rabbis, four parents, three siblings - it was crowded under there. But that should tell you how loved the bride and groom are. The Rabbi that married them also married the bride's parents. (I know the below picture is small but if you click on it, you can see the larger version on Flickr.)


I know you're all wondering what the dress looked like. It was hard for me to get a photo of the bride standing alone in her beautiful dress but here is my best effort. This is Jon standing with his beautiful cousin Daniela.


People are also usually curious about the wedding cake. The wedding itself was so extravagent that I was surprised to see this simple cake. But then I shouldn't be. Because as extravagent as the celebration was, the new couple are pretty down to earth people.


Here is a picture of me with my mother-in-law and the bride. Yes. I agree my head does look exceptionally huge in this picture. But everyone else looks beautiful.


At some point, Jon and I snuck away from the party and went upstairs to explore the building. Here is a shot looking down on the festivities.


And here is the bank ceiling.


This is the bride dancing with her father.


One of Jon's younger cousins is a gymnast. Here he is doing an incredible back flip.


Here is a shot of Jon and me. You can see in our faces how happy we were to help in the celebration.


And the final image with which I will leave you is this one of the portrait that was being painted of the wedding. I didn't even know this was a thing that could be done. Four photographers, one videographer and an artist rendering the live events in oil paint. They are definitely the best documented bride and groom I've ever met and I wish them the most happiness.

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.