how many worlds...

does the city boy occupy?  Just got a comp for Friday evening's Beardo in Greenpoint, may also see Russalka at the Met on Thursday---and the reading at Bushwick Starr on Friday. Menawhile tonight is the BAN meeting--will see what happnens there.. Then there are the walks---another one today---after picking up my check from Friends, decided to make a change, so I took the A to Brooklyn, made the deposit at the bank in Bed Stuy, and then walked from Nostrand and Fulton to the Library at Grand Army Plaza, (stopping off at a strange bagel-smoothy place in Bed Stuy.
  Reading the Paul Auster novel 432l, as I go along--it is gargantuan, but very inventive. Walking down the Bed Stuy and Crown Heights (are is it Prospect Heights) streets, try to get the whole story of the last 50 or sixty years of the neighborhood. Like a novel, I try to understand how this area, one very similar to the one I grew up in in the fifties, changed radically around 67, and now has morphed back into a placid, well to do, area. How did it happen.?
 Not much else to say---BAN meeting will prevent my listening to the President's speech, really do not want to---will hear enough from the comments afterwards. Will see what happens, tomorrow.

upbeat (if possible at this time)

because I have just discovered that a Reading at the BushwickStarr that I thought I missed yesterday is actually next Sunday Great!
The rest of the weekend.
Saturday: the bad news: The play that I saw at Abrons Arts was horrendous. A really blatant, tin eared mess that ultimately was impossible to listen to. I thought it would never end, and at least twice I toyed with the idea of walking across the stage and cursing out the actors---that is how annoyed and time wasted I felt. Of course I did not---(can't have my reputation spoiled) but I was really incensed. One good thing that came out of  this visit---I did touch base with my friend Bailey whom I have not seen in a while---she is away now, but wants to see some plays with me when she comes back.
              the good news; Felt very welcome at La Flace before and after this horrible piece. It's nice, I walk in and the waitress has a big smile on her face. Anyway, had a nice meal and a nice talk with Kelly, Bobby's (the owner's) girl friend. Really enjoyed my stay and felt very wanted. Returned home quite content.
  Sunday---yes the walk to end all walks! Met fellow flyer Jonah at Church Avenue and East 18 street. He was not the Jonah that I thought he was, another BAN member, but he turned out to be very friendly and we walked east on Church, later Linden Boulevard and finally Lenox Road, all the way to Utica Avenue. At that point he left me to return to his and his girl friend's apartment back in Ditmas Park. I stood around for a moment and pondered where I had just been. As you go East on Church and the avenues that are parallel to it---the energy gets slower east of Nostrand---and the area becomes almost completely black and probably Haitian. People seem very self sufficient in the neighborhood which has more private houses than apartments. The Utica Avenue bus runs frequently, so I got on one going towards Eastern Parkway, where I figured I would take the 2 or 3 to the library. The first bus I got on was very crowded---after a few stops it figured to expand again, so I decided to get off---figured I would go east on Rutland Road and either try to get the Remsen Avenue or the Ralph Avenue buses to take me north---they run less frequently but are far less crowded. Remsen is about three blocks east of Utica at that point--but as I approached, a bus just passed by. So off to Ralph down Rutland Road. But wait! East 57th street became East 91 street--then began the search for Ralph avenue,which did not appear. Rutland Road at this point seems like a lower middle class commercial stretch--lots of convenience stores, travel agencies etc People seemed to be going about their business very comfortably---but where was Ralph Avenue? Imagine my surprise when I ran into not Ralph, but Rockaway Parkway, the notorious street that separates East Flatbush from Brownsville. Decided to follow it north, after about three blocks ran into East New York Ave---and Lincoln Park, a park that separates Brownsville from Crown Heights. At that point I was only three long blocks away from Eastern Parkway, but for some reason, jumped on the 12 bus and got off at Utica Avenue---now I definitely knew where I was- but did not realize that I had six blocks to get to the train stop. That walk seemed endless, plus I was getting hungry and the narrow side walks of Utica were filled with people (Utica is a big commercial street) but finally I arrived at the Station and took the train to the Brooklyn Museum stop. That part of the trip over.
  So why did I do it? What fascinates so much about a trip through this (unknown to me) part of Brooklyn? Well., the streets that I walked on, especially the apartment houses that I passed on this long journey were probably all Jewish in the forties and fifties. Which means, that I could have
grown up in any one of them, if my parents had taught in Brooklyn, rather than the Bronx..
But somehow in my mind, there is a hunger---I would like to know the story of the neighborhood changing, how the Jewish population morphed into an all black one. What were the streets like? What year did the transition really occur? How did one civilization take the place of another. Always on those streets I search for answers, Were there classical music lovers in those apartments, did someone grow up listening to the records of the Broadway shows of that time? . The travels will continue as the year progresses.
So, on to Cunningham's the pub where the Zydeco dance that my friend Jennifer had invited me to, was happening. Back to Manhattan! Got there early, payed my entrance fee and had a meal (expensive as meals go, but well cooked)  and hoped that Jen would make it. She did, along with another teacher from Friends and a few friends. Loud and somewhat raucous, but I did enjoy my time there. Finally returned home.
So where do we go from here? Not sure--lots of things happening, I am really getting into Paul Auster's novel 4321---which covers a lot of my lifetime. More on that some other time. Will report later.

not a great deal.....

to report re yesterday, after the time at the library, returned home, did some tax work, and then rested. Theater plans that looked so good in the morning, gone by the evening---simply too tired. When it came down to what I would do, it would either be a movie in the neighborhood or a possible hang out at a bar on the west side of 142nd street and Broadway where I had eaten some food on Christmas day. What did I really want to do. I chose the bar---maybe a little personal adventure beat a movie evening--and arrived there around 7:30. Place was pretty crowded and I was given a place on the bar, at the side, so I could not see the TVs. No problem, the bartender was very nice and with no real salad to choose from--he suggested a pizza that had a salad on it and some meet---and I accepted. So I remained there for the next 45 minutes--there were people around me but no conversation developed; they were into their own heads--the pizza came quickly and was very filling. After I left I decided to take the train to 116th street then walk down the Columbia corridor. This I did, stopped off at the bookstore on Broadway and 114street  and browsed (it seems to have been there forever) and then wandered down the rest of the corridor. Too tired to make it to 96street, I entered the subway at 110th street and returned home. So that was it---lots of time with my thoughts.
   Today, after sessions will once again try to see a play at Abrons Arts by the Tiny Little Band---my friend Merlyn, former bartender at South fourth and a good guy and good actor is in it. This will probably mean I will stop off at La Flaca, both before and afterwards and hang out there. Tomorrow, I promised another BAN member that I would join him in East Flatbush and flyer for a meeting on Monday---should be fun, and get me into a part of Brooklyn that I don't often go to (but should go to  more) and then forsake the Academy Awards (I really find them pretentious) by going to a Zydeco dance festival at a bar on 45street that I my friend Jen told me about. Hopefully that will turn out to be fun. I can either dance or watch. Should be interesting to find out what happens, will report soon.

Friday morning.....

at the Lincoln Center Library---away four days, the last three because of work. Beautiful day---should turn out to be even better as the day goes by. Read George Packer's short article in the New Yorker about the President and his Republican Congress. It is very depressing---just when I was feeling good about "things" in general, at least about my input in the past three days, comes this brutal assessment of what is to come. But how does it effect me, in particular?  How does the economics of one person's life, intersect with the current administration's brutal vision? Lots more discussion needed.
    On perhaps a more easier note---the Light Years, written by the Debate Society, was long and sometimes unfocused, but the great and meaningful moments came through. I left feeling very moved, then found out that the child performer in the play, who looked very familiar to me, was in fact a student from Friends, whom I had worked with in the past few months. I had a nice talk with he and his mother, than a longer one with Eric, one of the other actors in the play, about what they were going for. Nice feeling to think that I was giving both Eric and Graydon (the child actor) positive feedback, since it was only the third performance and the actors were really feeling their way through the piece. Afterwards headed to South Fourth where I had a good conversation with Noah and Harlo, the husband and wife who were there on Sunday evening. Left the place feeling very good about things.
 Monday: a strange day---very little contact with people---meandered in the morning and then headed to Brooklyn, hung out at Cobra for a while, then time to travel. But where?  Since I was headed towards BAM eventually, maybe to see one of the movies showing there, I took the L to the Junction, then exited---had a choice of walking down Broadway or Fulton towards BAM; I chose the latter, actually took the 25 bus up to Classon, tried to see what was happening as the bus moved through the southern border of Bed-Stuy (or northern border, if you like, of Crown Heights). Always interesting, Once I got off I was stunned by the new buildings between Classson and Clinton, and put off by the empty lots, preparing to become luxury apartrments, between Clinton and Clermont Avenue. Building building, building, where will it end. Reached BAM, but found myself too tired to wait for a movie time, and headed home, early in preparation for the next day of work at Friends.
 These last three days have gone by in a blur---I am grateful for a little free time today---a litttle "emotional space." Some play possibilities over the weekend---not sure which I will go to and when, will report probably tomorrow on the rest of the day.

Sunday morning...

in the mid Manhattan library---a really great library with terrible bathrooms. Though for some reason, I find the walk from Times Square station to this library, east on 40street, very depressing---maybe just because the streets seem so cold here. Anyway, here I am---Grand Army Plaza library is out of the question because I am seeing The Light Years at Playwrights Horizons, and must be there fairly soon.
Last night, went to Ars Nova for two one act plays by people that I know.
Ben, the author of the first one, is my friend, someone whom I respect a great deal. His play, really his first complete one, called Latter Days, takes place in a subway hatch where a delusional "king" lives in this squalor, his only contact, a lonely young man from a nearby bodega who worships him and does his "bidding" The king is grandiose--we know how isolated he is. This my friend has done well, the problem is this situation is very familiar---by the end of the play something has to happen, and watching the characters move towards this denouement sometimes becomes predictable. A great performance by Tony Torn as the king; I think for my friend, this is kind of a first play, some good things in it, some potency in the language, but hopefully he will expand his vision.
 The second play, a "comedy' for three women was much livelier---tart, sharp dialogue and wonderful performances---it appears to be a comedy about longing, then morphs, a little too quickly into something more brutal. There was an easy sense of the moment that ran though the play, again, could be a stepping stone for the playwright, which I hope it is.
 Lots of people I knew were there---did not have much time to talk to Ben and others who are part of one of my favorite groups, Assembly, because parents and relatives also abounded (this always seems to be the case when I come). Still, a nice time---walked from my apartment to 54th and tenth and back---as usual, when I left, the internal debate of how much money I should spend on food (I was hungry) Pizza for around $4.00 or a seat at a bar and a salad which will come to about $13.00. I was tired, so pizza won, and I later stopped at the yogurt place near me for some desert. Could not raise an interest in taking a chance on a west side bar---that is the way it is.
  Today, as I have mentioned previously, I will see The Light Years, then definitely off to Brooklyn.
Tomorrow I have no plans, should be another Brooklyn day---maybe visit East Flatbush and help hand out flyers for a meeting to deal with gentrification that is happening in a church around there.
 Work on Tuesday; the library will be closed tomorrow---will report soon.

one very disturbing....

article about people being stopped at Immigration on Facebook. How long will this go on?
  Not much to report about the last two days. Worked at Friends. My classes were the entire sophmore classes (four of them). They were happy to see me, and the energy was very positive. I showed the same two videos all four time---still remain quite spastic when it comes to adjusting the picture on the computer which then gets adjusted to the room screen. But the kids helped me out--they don't seem bothered by more spasticness and all went well.
  More tension than usual. I think this may be because the momentum that I had after the first three days of last (beginning 2/6) week was stopped cold by the storm and then by the teacher I was supposed to sub for canceling his day off---which resulted in my staying home last Friday. Just sailing along, until that happened. Of course, the teacher had his flight canceled by the snow, and was completely justified in taking the day back---I completely understand that---but still, I have to deal with the drop in momentum, just as I had to do on this Tuesday and Wednesday when there was no work. I will be subbing Tuesday (eighth grade, one of my favorite classes---assuming they behave)---after that it is opened---expect some work to follow, but not sure how much---will deal with it.
  Absolutely no night life since Sunday---even on days that I don't teach, the 5A.M. to 8A.M. corridor that I am completely focused on takes its toll, and therefore, all days this week, I was asleep by 8:30 P.M., with the awakening coming early in the morning. Now, with the three days off, perhaps I can change that---feel very wide awake and lively this morning, and can plan for the evening.
  After much "deliberation" have decided to see the two one acts at Ars Nova, one written by my friend Ben, and the other by a female playwright whom I know. Seems like the best idea---will be among friends, though the thought of going into the Bronx to see Documentary Los Sures at Bronx Documentary Center and hanging out there was very tempting. Also, will definitely miss The Tempest at Saint Ann's. But that is the way it is, with so many projects happening at the same time.
Tomorrow, one of my rare Sunday matinees, at Playwrights Horizons, the debate society project. Had to go, since it was the only time that cheap tickets were offered. Tomorrow is supposed to be a beautiful day, so hopefully can get some walking in afterwards, and spend the rest of the day in Brooklyn, hopefully most of it at South Fourth. Monday is open--will improvise my way through it.
 That is all for now, will report soon...

another day....

without work at Friends, though I will be there for the next two. This may be a good thing, because I can attend an important basketball game there, and will have some energy for the evening. Still, last night's dreams have me wondering.
  What happened? After two very productive sessions I felt tired, so I did not go to any of the hangouts suggested in the last blog, just grabbed a fat meal of chicken and rice at the cart near Lincoln Center, ateit at the Atrium, and headed home. Sounds like a good idea---since I was tired. By 8:30 I was asleep---then came the dreams:
  In the first, I am visiting what seems like a "camp" in the wilderness run by women---there is complete emptiness there, no towns nearby to get supplies, it seems like the camp is isolated---as if something happened, some catastrophe in the cities, and this is all of civilization that is left, or as if there is too much violence in the city and the women have moved here as a last resort---at any rate, the dream had a very barren look to it, and the women seemed resigned to fight for their survival, or, at any rate, live like this forever. There was a harsh emptiness there, and when I awoke, at about 12:30, I felt confused---angered by what I had dreamed ---why did I, after a fairly productive day---have this dream of a barren, scared world with people just holding on?

I stayed up for a while, then fell asleep again---the second dream is vaguer, but it seems to have something to do with someone violent with a gun---in the south or midwest---I felt I had to avoid this person, though, when we stopped at a gas station, he was right there. Like I said, it was vaguer than the first, but still full of anger. Why? What was it saying for me? Again, in my early hours of waking, I felt confused and hurt. Things are much better now, as I sit in the library, and have already gone to Friends to pick up my check but I spent much of the early morning stunned by the content of these dreams.
The basketball game is at 5:45---will be over about 7:30---I Must do something else afterwards---maybe head to the bar on 44th and tenth where both twins, two of my favorite servers, will be working. Other options--well we have gone through them all before, there is a trivia game at Pine Box Rock Shop which I played in early September, might want to take a chance on that again today.
At any rate, that is the situation as I move easily into the afternoon.
   Will report on new "adventures" soon.

Overload?

That is what I thought when I just got my ticket for The Light Years, the Debate Society project at Playwrights Horizons that begins on Saturday. I was able to get a discount ticket on TDF for Sunday matinee--I really did not want to see it this early, but Playwrights Horizons is not often on TDF so I pushed myself to get a ticket. Ok so I got it. If things work out I could be seeing one play a day from Thursday to Sunday. Pretty heavy, huh? Still I think I will try to see The Tempest either Thursday of Friday, and Saturday maybe go to see the play that my friend Merlin is in at  Abrons Arts. What about Ben's play and...oh well, the list is endless, no point in really continuing. Overload, anyone?
 Today, no work at Friends, after a hectic day yesterday which ended with twenty seventh graders sparing me nothing. These kids are not mean, but they have absolutely no self control, especially in a late class.
 Tonight, if not tired, will try to hit one of three bars that have interest---either the Gramercy. a bar near Friends; The Pinball bar on Union Avenue in Brooklyn, where the bartender is a woman whom I had an interesting conversation with a few weeks ago, or the Starr Bar, where I have always been made to feel welcome. Last Sunday nothing happened at South Fourth; I ran into a loud crowd and had no one to talk to--very rare for that place.
 Some reports: The middle school play was a revalation---really beautifully done, and its content was refreshingly moving and real. The kids moved in and out of the stage with incredible confidence. Certainly the most meaningful middle school show of I have in my at least seven years of attending them. (and that is a long time)
 After that, headed to Everybody---the play at Signature that I was very anxious to see. It is a very funny piece by a very bright playwright, but I really did not like it. The play exists in two parts: a framing device that appears to include the audience (but really doesn't) and the story of Everybody, a take on the Everyman medieval passion play. That is where the playwright fails--Everybody's journey is pretty rudimentary. Ultimately the play is smarter than it should be, but pretty empty. Hung around a little bit after the play at the Signature Bar, where I ran into two "downtown" theater people who had just seen Wallace Shawn's play which was playing at another space in the Theater complex.
They both loved it, and my attempts to communicate to them what I did not like about the play seemed to fail completely. Kind of frustrating, after which I headed to Lansdown Road, a bar I often visit where nobody seems to know anything about theater (good or bad?)  and had nice but expensive sandwich, and welcomed a new bartender who had just come here from Rochester (and no, he was not an actor on the side).
 Sunday, off to the Brick to see my friend Brian's play, He wrote a terrific comedy last year called The Golfer, which was performed by the same group, but this play, Enterprise, while funny, was kind of slight---sort of outtakes from his last and more successful play. Headed to South fourth after that, and you know what happened there.
 That is all for now...will report on the evening's "adventures" ( if they happen) and all else soon

still worried about....

roundups in different cities---hateful to see people frightened---it seems like there is a lot of resistance and planning around protecting people. That is a good thing.
 So we live with this (but wern't we really living with it before as well---with much less awareness)
Not much else to say, so I will make this clumsy transition to my own "adventure" last night.
    Headed to Dixon Place to see the Geraldine Page biographical play, created and performed by her daughter, Angelica. Usually when I go to Dixon Place there are some familiar faces to chat with, but here, as I suspected, because the late Miss Page is not that well known by the generation that frequents Dixon Place, there was nobody that I knew, and many first times, sort of awed by the surroundings.Theater was only half filled; maybe this was the first time in my many times at the Place that it was like that. The piece itself was very interesting, a little over long, a little too episodic, but also quite moving in its way. It begins with the daughter confronting us with her inability to let go of her late mother's memory, then she quickly morphs into Miss Page, Anecdote after anecdote follows, in a somewhat orderly fashion. Much of it is interesting, especially to me, who followed her career all her performing life. Lots of dropped names that I could recognize. The three performances that I saw Miss Page give between 1959 and 1964 (The Princess in Sweet Bird of Youth; Nina in Strange Interlude; and Olga in Three Sisters) were all amazing. The piece continues until her death at which time Angelica goes back to the framing device and gives us a moving conclusion. Not a great evening, a little too episodic, but at least got me in touch with Miss Page and her collaborators, who I had followed in the fifties and sixties.
   Walked up to the Fried Chicken place on 2nd and 2nd---yummy! Then returned home. Slept quickly then awoke at about 2---a little turbulent--but things are more in place now.
  Today, after library, will go to Friends middle school play at 5, and then Everybody at Signature at 8. After that, will probably drop into Lansdowne Road two blocks away, watch some sports, and then return home. Tomorrow, as I said in the last blog is the time for me to see Brian Parks' new play at the Brick, at least that is the plan.
   Will report back soon...

first blog in...

a couple of days---and what days they have been! Three days at Friends, including two in which I worked practically the whole day. On Wednesday two different schedules, but I felt very active---on all three days I also had sessions---so after that it was coming home and simply falling asleep very quickly. Yesterday, the snow day---no problem with that, but unfortunately the snow stopped a plane from taking off, the very plane that was supposed to carry the man I was supposed to sub for today. He remained, and I waited by the phone this morning, hoping that it would bring some work. It didn't, and there was a brief scare that Monday would not happen either. But it will, and I will be back there on Monday---really only one day missed.Still, a little frazzled by all these events---I am still, as you say, in motion.
  What about the weekend. Ah, would love to  see I Puritani at the Met tonight, and there are tons of seats available. What a pleasure to bask in Bellini's warm (but not too penetrating) music. But it won't happen, at least not tonight, because cityboy has made another choice---the daughter of Geraldine Page, Angelica Torn, has created a one woman show as a tribute to her mother. I grew up with Geraldine Page; I remember her great performances in Sweet Bird of Youth and Strange Interlude--so I felt this was something that I must see. Better to see it now, as it seems that seventeen friends of mine have theater projects happening in the next two or three weeks. Also, it is always fun to go to Dixon Place---since they do mostly downtown theater projects, I most  always meet someone that I know there, but since the saga of Miss Page brings back a different era, I wonder if there will be a different group of people there tonight---maybe some elderly people, some old Actors Studio veterans who knew and worked with Miss Page will be there to pay tribute to her. Well, we will see.
 Saturday will see the middle school show at Friends, and then off to Signature to see Everybody, the Brandon Jennings-Jacobs play. Really looking forward to that one. Sunday may try to go to Brick on Metropolitan and see Enterprise, which my friend Brian Parks has written. Then off to South Fourth for some (hopefully) good conversation.
  Interesting review of Big River, the musical adaptation of Huck Finn, that is playing at Encores. First the critic praises it,  then in her last three paragraphs she faults it for marginalizing the black characters and emphasizing the white ones. She is very critical of this--the Times reviews are rarely political in tone; I wonder what (if any) the ramifications will be of this. The critic writes regularly for the Times-----in a way, her review is a put down of the Times critic who loved it and shoved it into its fame--Frank Rich. It will be interesting to see what happens.
  So between now and my trip to Dixon Place have much time to kill. What to do---have some reading to catch up on, but where? Anyway, all will be revealed tomorrow....

An ugly movie....

that I saw last night----Nocturnal Animals, saw it at the movie theater on second and twelth. It had sounded interesting to me as escapist---and I knew there were two stories intermeshed, but I had no idea that the second story, the movie within the movie would be gratuitously violent. I was very turned off, yet I remained through the whole movie, and actually it kept my attention throughout,. a little more then the gentle Paterson that I saw on Thursday evening. Still, the violence seemed unnecessary to the main story (a rich woman in her forties at an emotional crossroads)  and I am angry at myself for not knowing that it was there.
  It happened that i saw it becauses I decided not to go to the Brick, to see my friend Brian's play. Why? Kind of tired after the sessions at the library and perhaps with two plays already experienced this week (including the incredible Beardo)  I just felt I had enough.  A lot of procrastionation around choices for the evening (a new bar, an old hangout, a movie) but seeing this movie seemed meaningful enough.
 Today, of course, is super bowl Sunday---kind of hateful that the game begins so late---6:30, I am determined to wait the time out reading and wandering around Brooklyn (where I am now) rather than "seeing something". But that is hard. At any rate, will report on rest of the day next blog, which could be in a few days since I am working at Friends most of the week.

the visit to Greenpoint

to see Beardo, arrived early (as usual) on this cold night, but could not enter the theater space (it was actually in a church) and so walked west to Franklin Street, and noticed three bars very close to each other. Went into one called Glogg, on Franklin's west side. I had passed it many times before; it looked interesting but had never gone in. This time I needed to use the bathroom, and it was not too crowded and from the window the bartender looked friendly, so I ventured in. She was very cordial and allowed me to use the bathroom ( a good idea since the one in the church was very rudimentary)--I thought that I would like to return there again and just sit and have a beer---will do that soon as soon as the weather improves a bit. There is also a very nice book store that is nearbye, should visit there too.
 Then off to Beardo---with music (not lyrics) by Dave Malloy and lyrics and book by his writing partner for Beowolf (2009) Jason Craig. A remarkable event----a two and a half hour musical about Rasputin, but of course with jibes towards the current day. Malloy's music is as usual, very imaginative---Craig's lyrics, a little smarmy but very bright, fits well with them. A two act musical about the rise and fall of the mad monk---it has just about everything in it. Unlike Natasha and Pierre which takes itself seriously throughout, this musical constantly references the present and uses different styles to present itself. It is not great--the character of Rasputin is intense and never changes, so it is hard to create any warmth---it is slow to get started but the second act really improves on the first with several great numbers. My friend Ellie, directed the show; she seems to have done an amazing job---assembly a brilliant cast. Afterwards she told me this was the show's first public preview (I had assumed it was the second) and when I heard that I was really amazed--it is in great shape. Finally the finale of the first act---a chorale for the "peasants" of Russia that arrives without any preparation and is sung acapella is totally amazing. I just sat there stunned. This is one of the few places in Beardo where the creators opt for a totally serious and respectful tone, and the effect is mesmerizing. Really glad I went.
  When it was over, I said hi to Ellie; she seemed really happy that I came---asked me for some feedback (which I gave, but which was overall positive) and then introduced me to her lighting designer as a downtown theater "legend" because I see so many works at the Brick, Bushwick Starr, Abrons Arts etc. Very flattered and somewhat amused that I would really be considered a "legend" ; this may tempt me to see even more shows in these small theaters, since a "legend" has to show up.
Yes it is funny, but this morning, waking up, I felt that good that my identity has some meaning to others---more definition always is meaningful.
  Tonight, the tentative plans are to go to the Brick to see my friend Brian's play, The Brick is situated on Metropolitan near Lorimer, afterwards perhaps can check out norther bell, a bar restaurant where I have been treated very nicely in the few times that I have visited there. Will report soon.

just made plans to...

see Beardo, the new (and practically under advertised) Dave Malloy musical at a church in Greenpoint tonight. Not sure if I wanted to do it, but it seems like the best idea I can have for this evening. It was very easy to reserve an inexpensive ($25.00) ticket for tonight, but who knows, if word of this gets out, it could easily become a "hot" ticket and cityboy might find himself standing on the sidelines, or worse, on the cancellation line. That won't happen now---interesting this is the show's second performance---I also saw the second performance of Natasha and Pierre at Ars Nova---kind of an interesting coincidence.
 Yesterday a free day, so two contrasting experiences in a short time. First, going to the Justice for Ramarley protest at Foley Square---of course I approached this with some nervousness but there were plenty of people there when I arrived around 5. Interesting group, I would say about 50% white---the speeches and call outs were very passionate and focused; they, lasted about an hour and a half---although the leader said that BAN was represented, I did not see anyone that I knew---spent the 80 or so minutes there by myself, though surrounded by passionate people. Very strong experience, glad that I went.
  When it was over, I thought the best place for me to hang out would be the Starr Bar in Bushwick, the "activist" bar that is part of Mayday. But fatigue set in on the subway, still it was too early to just return to the apartment, I opted to see the movie Paterson; I was looking for a calm after the storm and I found it. Paterson is a mellow, lovely movie, totally apolitical--it is beautifully filmed, basically about a bus driver around 30 who drives a city bus in Paterson, but whose name is also Paterson. Although race and class problems were non-existant in the movie, the characters that Paterson interacted with were of all races, living ordinary lives. A beautiful and unexpected conversation about poetry ends the movie. Soft, but fulfilling. The movie theater (sunshine) was about half filled---I must admit I enjoy being at a play much more---I feel much more part of the community, and of course, there is always the possibility for conversation with the artists or with fellow audience members---it is much more visceral for me. Well, that should happen tonight and also tomorrow, if cityboy decides to spend a second evening in Brooklyn (tonight's performance is at a Church in Greenpoint) and see Brian Parks' play tomorrow at the Brick.
  So that is it. Admit to being a little "frazzled" at the moment---a decent amount of free time is in front of me before the Greenpoint adventure---but I should be able to report on the whole thing next post, which should be tomorrow.

cityboy-is rich!

Well, not really, but just won 25 dollar scratch off game (finally, have played them incessantly--only one per day though)  which arrives at a good time. Strangely my impulse is to sit on the money---not spend it---so we will see if that is possible. But finally, the green scratch off card paid off!
  Yesterday a hectic day with a phone call to sub for a  latin teacher  at 6:30---a march to the bathroom to make sure that I could leave the house by 7---a very short trip on the two subways (2 and R) arriving at Union Square in about 11 minutes. Then getting the e-mail with which included a quiz, printing it and making 12 copies of three different pages. No problem doing that though; all ready to give the quiz at 8:15. The rest of the day consisted of supervising three eighth grade classes as they did their assignments on their i-pads, a lot easier then it looks. Eighth graders seem perpetually stuck between lower grade infantility and upper grade seriousness---the result is most of them are wild and wacky. Got out okay and made it over to 145th street for one session. After that it was back to the apartment to crash and sleep.
  On Tuesday evening, caught Wallace Shawn's new play with eight actors including Shawn and Matthew Broderick. It is a strange piece filled with contradictions---one or two beautifully written scenes about despair and loneliness but much of the play is locked in to a simplistic vision and full of  statements that don't really make sense. The setting, an older bar and laid back restaurant in Manhattan is realistic as are the characters who come back to it for a reunion. But the world they inhabit seems made up---it was easier to go with this in Shawn's the Designated Mourner, because it was primarily a monologue, which made the audience almost a partner in Shawn's vision. In this play, a playwright who never made it big, finally finds "success" as a show runner of a superficial television series, and returns to a reunion of his last failed play with some of its other participants. It is the first time in a long time he has been in this restaurant, I assume one reason is that he has been in California making the series. But then the owner of the restaurant announces that one of his other cast members was in the place the day before---so is the series being filmed in NY. And if it is, why has the writer stayed away from the place. This is only one of the many strange contradictions in this half realistic--half fantasy piece. Again, some good and perceptive writing exists in the piece, but it seems to be caught up in a vision that is dull and "locked in".
  Today, will go to a protest demanding that a policeman who shot a black male without provocation in the Bronx in 2012 (about the same time as the more publicized Trayvon Martin incident) be brought to justice. He is still on the force, earning a salary. A little leery about attending, but realize that I must do it. After that not sure where I will wind up, maybe a visit to Mayday bar in Bushwick, I have always had a nice time when I have hung out there. Will report on all this tomorrow or the next day.