second day....

of no work at Friends. And what I am beginning to understand was how differently I experience the day when there is no work there. It fills out so differently and I have some time to appreciate the evening.
  Yesterday night---the movie? No. Went to the Flea web site and discovered that there were inexpensive tickets for the evening. The play, Fill Fill etc. which I wanted to see because Sarah, whom I knew when she was a student at Friends, was playing the lead. So I took the plunge, with a little hesitancy, after all the last time I spoke to Sarah, was her graduation day of June 2010. But there she was at the "Siggy" (the theater named after S Weaver) playing the central character in this play. The play turned out to be somewhat strident---it is about the young woman Sarah was playing and her attempt to settle herself after a painful and unexpected break up, but scenes seem to become louder and more exploitive as the play moves on. Yet Sarah was amazing---she moved easily through every emotion the play asked her for, and this meant that one moment she was a serious young woman, and the next a wacky cartoon. She never missed a beat---never off. At least it gave the play a center, even as I felt it was becoming far too obvious. Glad I went.
  Afterwards, I waited for her and said hello. She was very happy to see me---we talked for a while---I told her about another teacher she had liked a lot and what was happening to her---but mostly I wanted to let her know how much I admired what she had done on stage.  She had to go back to do some stage work, but I left feeling happy and focused--and certainly pleased that I could give her this positive feedback. Will see her again, in the next thing that she does.
  Still, it was only around 9, and I was not sure that I wanted to return home---feeling hungry, but where to go. Finally settled on the Dive Bar on 101st---a nice little West Side bar, where my friend Brittany was bartending. We have become friends in the past few months--she always seems happy to see me---and I can relax there. I left after a beer, but I felt that evening had left me with two good experiences---a focus that I had not felt in a while.
  Today---not sure---there is an important rally in Brooklyn a little bit south of Eastern Parkway that I might attend. My first BAN event in a while, but I think it will be important for me to attend. Also, the teacher I might substitute for tomorrow will call me and tell me if his jury duty came through. Will find out if I work tomorrow, and will report all...