Monday afternoon....

hard to express what I am feeling now. Main problem of the day was that I had cheesecake last night, very rich and my stomach has not recovered. Really. Have had one very good session with someone I am helping with her english---should feel upbeat about that, could feel my creativity coming through as I guided her during the lesson. But this over eating puts a kind of kibosh on anything. This, and some of the comments I have read on facebook, plus the fact that the ESDC is accountable to no one but the governor. We don't need another tall building, which hopefully he won't sponsor. The system has to be changed.
   Does the above make any sense as I juggle two or three topics that are in my head. Let's try to be a little more normal:
Saturday night: Three different invitations to see friends or projects of friends, but all were in Brooklyn, by six I realized that I did not have the energy, after two days at Friends and teaching in the morning to cross the river. So I opted for a movie---Mia Madre was starting just as I approached the Angelica---got my ticket and went in. A fine movie---very serious---very skilfully made---the director-writer moves the audience along with him never pandering or stopping to make a point. Two stories, a director (female) copes with her mother's serious illness while she tries to direct a movie about the takeover  of a factory and the conflict between the new owner and the workers. An American actor is imported to play the owner, he is grossly narcissistic--lots of problems as he attempts to fit in. John Turturro plays the actor---a wonderful performance, he captures every narcissistic tick from every conversation that he has ever heard. Still the movie is serious. Lots of intergrity---glad I saw it---afterwards walked from Angelica to La Flaca; my friend the owner Bobby not there, but I was able to watch a lot of the Met game (my goal) and have some guac. Returned home tired---not a bad night.
Sunday: highlight was a long walk after starting out at South Fourth---began there and walked up Roebling as it turns into Lee, up Lee until it turns into Nostrand and continuing South on Nostrand to Halsey. Still fascinated by the streets of Bed-Stuy---the western edge of the neighborhood highly gentrified by now, yet as one moves south one sees many older black men sitting in front of their apartments houses---watching the day go by. I wonder what stories they have to tell. Is it possible that this neighborhood was once tough? That was its reputation---pockets of poverty still seem to line the blocks, though the brownstones on the streets that run perpendicular to Nostrand are really beautiful (and very expensive by now). As I walking on Nostrand, thought that before it gets too cold, I should make this north to  south walk on each of the streets that move east to Ralph avenue.Halsey Street bus took me through those streets until it crossed Broadway into Bushwick. There I went to Cobra---watched football, then had a salad nearbye and called it quits early. Returned to ny--that is when the cheesecake incident kicked in.
Just received an offer to sub Friday---feeling better---time running out on library computer---remember not to have cheesecake again---will report tomorrow