two days at...

Friends---good, hardworking days---kind of hard to do anything in the evenings with that work load. Too bad, last night there was a rally at an apartment house on Rutland Road, protesting a landlord's treatment of his tenants. Would have liked to be there---as I would have liked to go to the Tank, on Monday evening, to see a project that my friend Zoe was doing. But too tired. Zoe's really sharp---I am sure this was a work in progress, and that there will be other times that I can check this project out. Same thing with yesterday, would have liked to travel out to Brooklyn to stand with the BAN people and others against this predatory landlord. Always find that meaningful, usually have some good chats with the others who are there. Next BAN meeting is Monday---will go possibly,  depending on how much work I have.
 Interesting moment yesterday at Friends. I was at the Thanksgiving Assembly where a number of songs are sung by all. One, a hymn that begins "We Gather Together". was particularly moving---why? Well, first of all, I love the music---but more important, we sang this song at my elementary school, PS 96 in the Bronx, when I was growing up. As the song played, memories of sitting in the auditorium there, absorbing the song, rushed through me. There we were, all of us children in the fifties, listening to this song, now I sit, almost seventy years later, sitting in the meeting house of Friends Seminary,  letting the song and its memories seep through me. Quite an experience.
  Saturday evening, journeyed to the Brick, which usually programs adventurous plays, to see my friend Rolls in a play there. Very disappointed, the play, actually written by an artist, never caught fire. The playwright's vision never go off the ground, scenes were repetitive, and the direction was paceless. Nice to say hello to Rolls afterwards, and to give him support, but sitting through the play was difficult. This is a group that does a lot of work at the Brick, so there is a kind of indulgence there, but seriously, this play should have been stopped and worked on after the first reading.
 Afterwards, wanted to check out a bar in the neighborhood, but the one bar that I was interested in Basik---on Graham avenue, was packed, and looking in from the outside, everyone seemed to know each other. So I was intimidated and did not go in. Settled for the Pizza House, a little further north on Graham, I like their pizza--and I was getting tired. Afterwards, figured it was best for me to get on the L at this time, (around 10:30) when they were running pretty regularly, and if I was going to check out a bar, do one in Manhattan. In the end, I settled for returning to the apartment---I figured there would be enough action the next day. This did not actually turn out to be true, Sunday was kind of a mess, with me returning home from Williamsburg fairly early, but going home on Saturday evening, seemed like the right thing then.
  Tonight, hope to see the play at Atlantic. I made the reservation and paid for the (inexpensive) ticket about a month ago, yet when I checked my e-mail today, for the receipt, did not find it. Usually the theater sends you an e-mail on the same day, reminding you that you are supposed to go--but I have not received one yet. Will check right after this. Tomorrow is the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with my cousins in Prospect Heights. Hard to believe that this started in 1991---and here we are, all doing it again. The apartment house where my cousin Kayla and her husband Stan live is one block east of Flatbush on Park Place. I remember in the early nineties, that as I walked east from Flatbush, I would look behind me---and walk carefully. Well, no longer.
  Rest of day, not sure, will report on Friday...