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.