Sondheim on Sondheim

Went to preview matinee today of this Roundabout Theatre production at the (in)famous Studio 54.  Saw Barbara Cook live for the first time. She is a legend so that was a thrill. Loved Vanessa Williams and the supporting cast. Stephen Sondheim turned 80 this year and deservedly got a theatre named after him.  He too is a legend. One of the biggest.  Saw Judith Light in the VIP Lounge at intermission.  She did a panel for me in LA  (as did Vanessa Williams) and remembered me. That was cool.  Very nice lady. And I think from all the things I have seen her in, she is damned talented.  Her husband and I played tennis at a tournament once. Blah, blah, blah. blah Bobby baby...
Bobby bubbi...Robby...Robert darling...
Bobby, we've been trying to call you.
Bobby...Bobby...Bobby baby...Bobby bubbi...
Angel, I've got something to tell you.
Bob...Robbo...Bobby love...Bobby honey...
Bobby, we've been trying to reach you all day.
Bobby...Bobby...Bobby Baby...Angel...Darling...
The kids were asking--
Bobby...Bobby...Robert...Robby...Bob-o...
Bobby, there was something we wanted to say.
The line was busy...
Bobby...Bobby bubbi...
Bobby fella...Bobby sweetie-- Bobby, baby,

Smaller, Shorter & Cut

I remember that Joan Rivers joke about how Liz Taylor was the only person she knew who would stand in front of the microwave and yell "HURRY UP!!"

There was a day when we had to hunt and kill our food and now we can almost have it sprayed on.

But so many things I thought would never go away, have.  Like the record album and even the CD!

My friend Sean is counting down the days until his ipad arrives like it is Christmas and he is wearing pajamas with feet in them. (NB: My feeling is until the ipad and iphone act as a hotplate, we have not fully arrived. )

Change is a process of letting go and embracing.  Much like life, eh?  This morning I looked over at a stack of books I am putting aside for a trip and for the first time I saw how a reading device (Kindle, ipad, Sony Reader) really made sense.  (I still periodically dabble in the  "If we were meant to fly, we'd have wings" school of thinking.)  Here I am with airport weight limits going to put all these weighty, ancient papyrus tomes into my baggage when I could have one simple plastic light up thingy.

I marvel.


And I heard about Haiti and Michael Jackson first on Facebook, but that is another article...

End of the Line

2 Are Killed in Stabbings on Subway in Manhattan

3 guys in their 20s were riding the subway home early Sunday morning. When the doors opened one threw some garbage out the door aiming for a garbage can. It hit a man on the platform instead and he went into a rage and stabbed two of them to death. 

This happened on the #2 Subway at my 14th Street stop.  The platform I am most often on was the final resting place of two poor souls yesterday morning.

One bad shot and you are history, gone, dead, never gonna see 25, kaput.  

After serving on a grand jury for a month and reading this and umpteen other experiences I have had/seen, my quick, "stand back, I know what I am talking about" assessment is --the problem is : drugs + alcohol + male ego.  

So sad and yet when we (men) are perceived to be made the fool we must retaliate BIG!  And when fueled by some substance, watch out.  

One errant paper toss (there is an i-phone APP to improve ones skills for this) and you are DOA. Well, actually before arrival. 

It saddens me beyond an appropriate level when I read this stuff. I know life is fleeting and can change on a dime and in the blink of an eye and every other cliche, but WHYYYYYYYYY?!!!  

Skyping

Modern technology can seem cold, but it can also break your heart in the warmest of ways.

One of the things that was hardest about leaving the west coast was leaving my family.  I have five nieces and nephews.  My littlest niece now walks and talks. I never saw any of that. 

I would like to be known at the Digital Media Unlce so tonight I had Skype sessions with my brother's kids and my sister's kids. What joy!  What joy!

All these miles away and we get to see each other on line.  Mitch played some of the bagpipe tunes he is learning for me and Oonagh played the piano. They are both amazingly good! And Little Rita spoke!   I am floored and amazed and humbled and grateful.

All in one delightful evening spent with my family.

A Party In Westchester

My friend Bob is a novelist (Late and Soon) and he is moving to Paris to write for 3.5 months. We had a going away/birthday party for him at his sister's in Westchester.

To include this on the blog is so "diary entry" which I hate, but it brings me to a wider theme which I love: connecting and connections!

I have not had this much fun in a long time and I was wondering why. Well, I got to meet so many nice and fascinating people in a safe and fun setting and talk to them.  I think I love nothing more in life.  I even had to tell myself to stop talking. And I was hoarse.

I met this couple Ed and Tom and they knew my friend Jerry. Really well, even! And I was just at this mystery bookstore in the West Village, Partner & Crime, today and I meet Bob's friend SJ Rozan at this party tonight who is an Edgar Award winner! And a neighbor in the city! And she is featured in this bookshop.

I know many places are like this, but New York has this way of circles, upon circles, etc.  We always marvel what a small town, or how can I meet people who know people we know. When you really break it down a lot of times like travels in the same circles as like so the connections are not really as surprising as they seem, but I still love them.

Writer and fabulous food and such FUN people.  I need to go to more parties!

Census Taker, Dream Maker, Leader Faker

When I got on a grand jury this past year all I wanted to do was do my time and get out.

They appointed me foreman.

Today they are going to appoint Lead Enumerators for the 2010 Census who have to run teams and be responsible for a lot of shit.  I already KNOW I will be one of them.  I just know it. 

Sure enough, today I was appointed Lead Enumerator.  I have absolutely no idea what we will be doing on Monday, but I will be in charge of a team that I do know.

I cannot get arrested in the job market, but give me a jury or a census to run and I am your man.

In the Realm of the Census

 

I saw a postcard at the check out at the grocery that said,  "Come Join the Census!" or somesuch thing. I took one. I took the exam. I got a 98%.  I got the call and today I started my training to be a census taker.

The census is all about near accuracy and confidentiality. 

It is also run by the government. 

The training on day one was one of the most unorganized messes I had ever experienced. It started at the front desk where they did not have me on the list. I  knew this alone would be trouble.

They put people in rooms willy nilly and then took hours to hand out the pre-labeled forms packets because they didn't know where everyone was! 

I, of course, did not get one because as of most of the day, I did not exist.

I have this odd (and very common, I know) thing about being unique.  We can all stand around in the rain in the same tailored suit, but I will be the only one with the hole in my shoe.  Of the 200 people I was the only one who did not exist in the eyes of the US government. I was lost in the system somewhere.   Meanwhile...

The I-9s we filled out at the exam were all misplaced (confidentiality?) so we (or they, since I still could not be counted at the census training of all places!) had to fill out new ones.  The form filling took hours where it should have taken 25 minutes.

Then there was the fingerprinting.  Chaos!  I still didn't exist so I had to go at the end of the day to another building down Wall Street way into the bowels so they could find me.  They told me I lived on Riverside Drive and that was the problem. [The real problem was I had never lived on Riverside Drive and they needed this to not be true.]  Finally they found me and I got printed and got out 1.5 hours late.  
Now I am a real live boy and have been counted.

Stay tuned, I still do not have an ID number and cannot get paid...