Urban S'mores

We are sadly lacking for campfire opportunities here in the City. That did not dissuade Jeff and Russell however, from having s'mores as our treat at FHE a few weeks ago. Hence, urban s'smores were born...

Marshmallow enfuego...


Jeff survey's the damage... Not black enough, back to the burner...


Gabbi, Kathleen and Russell crowd in the narrow hallway and enjoy...


Mmm.

Popcorn Popping

I looked out the window and what did I see?





Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree!


(Finally that song makes sense.)

Building Book Exchange

There is a constant book exchange in my building. I have no idea how this started, but I love it. On any given day there will be books left out in the windowsill of the stairway on the landing between the first and second floor. Anyone going up or downstairs can grab a book, or leave one out. I love the idea that I'm surrounded by readers... or at least a handful of them. I also love the idea that we are taking part in a shared community of ideas by reading the same books. I also love that books are being recycled and shared rather than thrown out or wasted or forgotten.

Avenue Q

The show was billed as "Sesame Street for grown-ups!"

I thought, hey, I loved Sesame Street, this'll be fun.

Then on the way to the theatre, Andrea and I ran into Amy...

"Amy! Hi!"
"Hey, where are you guys off to?"
"We're going to go check out Avenue Q, have you seen it?"
"... Yeah... I did... It's really disturbing."
"Huh? I heard it described as Sesame Street thing, you mean it's disturbing because of the Muppets?"
"... Well, there is that... But I don't want to ruin it for you. You'll have to let me know what you think."
"Ok, I will."

... All of a sudden I'm wondering if this is a big mistake. But hey, we already have the tickets, how bad could it be?

OH ho ho, DISTURBING is the word. The word is disturbing. Ok, it had some funny moments; ok, it had several of them. But there were other moments that I was less than enthused about.

Long and the short of it: It was an adventure. A jaw dropping adventure. I don't particularly recommend it, and DON'T take your kids.

Except for the presence of furry monster puppets, it is nothing like Sesame Street.

Mary Stuart

Last week, my friend Sarah texted me... "I have two free tickets to Mary Stuart? Wanna go?"

Silly question.

After a few text messaging and cell phone kuffufles, I skidded to a halt in front of the theatre just in time for Sarah to hand me my ticket, and for us to run up to the balcony and fall into our seats just as the lights were dimming. Perfect timing.

Mary Stuart is a play about Mary Queen of Scots, the cousin of Elizabeth I whom she had beheaded for treason and attempted assasination. Ever since my Shakespeare class in college, I've had a particular fascination with that period of English history from Henry VIII through the reign of Elizabeth I, and especially with the monarchs in question.

Anyhow, the play was incredible. Intelligent writing, intriguing staging, stunning performances. A heart-breakingly beautiful production. My eyes were glued to the stage and the time flew by.

In other words, I recommend that you see it, should the opportunity present itself.

Car Service

Car service is my favorite way to get to work.

When I have to work anywhere other than my office in downtown Manhattan, my boss hands me a magical little piece of paper called a voucher. I call the phone number on the voucher and give them my address, and in the morning when I walk outside, there is a beautiful shiny black car waiting for me!

I climb in the back, say good morning to the driver, who is always very polite and sometimes even charming. Then I settle into the extremely comfortable seat with a sigh of blissful contentment, click my iphone to the Joshua Radin station on Pandora, and commence my driving tour of Manhattan.

My favorite part is always going over the bridges. I like being surrounded by water, the idea that it's always near by. And I still get a flicker of child-like happiness when I get a good view of the Manhattan skyline.

If the drive is long enough and the sun is shining, sometimes I doze off.

Eventually I arrive at my destination - remote and odd thought that destination may be (TW is not springing for the nice real estate in the outer boroughs) - comfortable, happy and wishing we had off site meetings everyday.

Now compare this experience to the hot or cold, hard-seated, sticky, smelly, crushing, crowded, disease ridden experience that is riding the subway.

Uh huh, that's what I thought.

Palm Sunday

I watched the first session of General Conferece at the Lincoln Center building today and then walked home through Central Park. It was one of those miraculously beautiful days. The park was full of people.

When I turned down my street, there were two men holding handfuls of palm fronds, just hanging out on the street corner, like they tend to do in my neighborhood.

One of them asked if I'd gotten a palm frond today, and gave me one.

This was one beautiful Sunday.