A two play....

day, today, first Passover---I finally broke down, went to the box office and got a ticket for today's matinee---then, after what I think will be a short break, off to the Ohio Space to see One Small Step, It is by a group called Saint Fortune, I know some of them, and is supposed to be a take on the moon landing of 1969. I remember that well; at Bernstein Institute, where I was a drug addict counselor, we were given the option to take the day off---I didn't---probably was not too enthused about the landing. Anyway, that was part of a frenetic year that ended with the beginning of my relationship with Susan, who would, in time, become my wife and then ex-wife. (It all happened in a four year period, but then again, that was the 70's---apartments in NYC were pretty cheap, so divorce was pretty possible).
Anyway, very excited about the first play.
Last night: no trip to the Brooklyn Cyclones, my body was much too tired, instead, after a short rest, headed to the new Dive bar on Amsterdam and 106th, for a meal and a baseball watch. Nice time, the Yankee-Blue Jay game got ugly early, and I lost interest. Both bartenders were very warm and friendly, one of them, a young actress named Hannah, had just returned from an upstate production of The Little Shop of Horrors, and was pretty savvy theater wise. Looking forward to talking to her again. Still, it was early, cityboy did not want to see a movie, so he walked north on Amsterdam to Columbia and then south on Broadway to 106th. And what did he see? Well, the "strip" on Amsterdam between the bar (106th) and 110th, had at least five restaurants---all very upscale, all full of people (mostly white) who seemed very relaxed to spend their money there. The west side of Amsterdam and 109 th is very interesting. The first part seems to be a last remnant of the once dominant hispanic population in the area, the Hispanic "street life" dominoes playing, etc. is still there. But right in the middle of the block is a break; after that we find an upscale restaurant, seemingly oblivious to the first part of the block, and shortly after another very expensive restaurant, on the corner. Both restaurants packed with outdoor patrons---where does all this money come from? The area from 96th to 110th, between Broadway and Riverside Drive was the last gentrified part of the complete Upper West Side (61st to 125th street). I would guess that in the last 35 years it attracted an "intellectual" crowd, and that from being scrabblers in their early twenties, they now have done well in their mid fifties and sixties. So it goes. Similarly, on my return trip on the West Side of Broadway from 116th street south, at least three outdoor eating places that seemed relatively expensive were packed. And this was on a holiday weekend. The money is really flowing in.
   Finally, a word about The Invention of Solitude, Paul Auster's memoir written shortly after his father's death, about his father and the family that he came from. A very well focused and moving work--lots of insight about  how a parent relates to a child, and what that makes the child feel. Also, a generational look at a family---how early events in Auster's father's childhood, shaped the lives of his father and his three brothers. Really glad that I read it. Will read of more of Auster this summer.
  That is all for now. Tomorrow will be centered by a forum in Bushwick on gentrification and displacement. A busy day, will report, probably on Monday.