First day that I have not....

worked at Friends in almost two weeks. Interesting, how the pace and the feelings of the day are so different on days that you are "free". Its also a harsh day outside. This afternoon there is a protest outside an apartment house in Bed-Stuy where the tenants have been deprived of their heat for several months. I will try to make it. BAN meeting tonight? Not sure---possible.
  Looking outside at the weather, the  color of the day reminds me of a day in November of 63. It was a Monday, the Monday after 11/22, the day JFK was shot. The weather around the Hopkins campus that day was cold and dank, and the campus was deserted (all classes were suspended)  A harsh chill in the air, a sense of feeling anonymous. Strangely enough, the next day, when classes resumed, was a very open sunny day, and I remember feeling amazed at how easily people moved around the campus. It was as if the world was put back on its axis---order had been restored. At least that was my vision of the moment.
  Saturday night, went to Westbeth to see the play my friend Sarah directed, which had several friends of mine in it. A play of pure language, that gives the audience no structure at all, it is defiant in the way it holds back from people. But is it successful? The production was brilliantly conceived, the costumes and scenery made a tremendous contribution to the evening, but at what point does one simply turn off when one realizes that stylistically nothing in the evening will change? Some of the word imagery was striking, other times, just ponderous. I discussed this with the person who organized the lobby, after the play, as well as with several cast members whom I  chatted with as they came out afterwards. They were very open to discussion and very friendly. Last out was one of the actors, Merlyn, whom I have been friends with for a long while. We talked and then went to a nearby bar on Hudson Street to have a beer and watch the world series game. The bar, an Irish one, was very crowded with Halloween revelers---kind of gross, actually. Did not get a chance to watch much of the game, but stayed at the bar for a while, kind of put off by how crowded it was, and then went home.
  Yesterday, made it to Cobra by 12:30, again no L, so took the M to Flushing and walked the rest of the way to the Bushwick border. Not really that hard a walk, saw more large luxury  buildings on Bushwick Avenue that look like they will open soon. How much luxury building before the dam breaks? Watched the Jet game at Cobra, kind of bored, so after the first half, took off, walked to Broadway via Hart Street, the whole Bushwick grid, and returned to Manhattan to go to the Quad, where I saw Tea with the Dames, the documentary featuring Dench, Smith, Plowright and Atkins, and their shared reminiscences. A really beautiful documentary, the women are incredibly sharp, and it was wonderful to listen to their memories of the sixties, at a time when I was reading about all that was happening at the National and Royal Shakespeare theater with great interest.
  So that is it---will report on more tomorrow or soon.