Saturday evening....

 One day active---one day passive. This was that day. Ah, but yesterday! You should have seen me! Up early, all my prep, then at 9 taking the crosstown bus to the east side, walking nine blocks to Weill-Cornell medical center to take part in a questionaire that I started last year. A long interview with questions; got paid $50.00 for the whole experience---should have been given more---worked over an hour yesterday on the interview-questionaire. Afterwards, walked a bit around the upper east side---a placid feeling all during the walk---the area now is kind of "insulated" by fashion. This was where the first generation of graduates came,who wanted to leave their homes in Brooklyn and the Bronx--and live on their own. Considered "hot" in the sixties---if you were on your way anywhere, you chose to live on the upper east side. Those who settled it must be in their eighties now. Now it is seen as a super upscale complacent neighborhood. But the vibes were nice, and I found a nice coffee place, much larger and more welcoming then anything we have around here in the west seventies. 

Then home for some rest, but out again around 6:30 to attend my friend Adam's play about a Jewish family, that is playing at the ART space on 53rd and 10th. Adam is a really nice guy---he was very happy to see me--I found the play well acted but,,,,well some other time. Real adventure began after I left the theater---the bus stop for the 11 bus that returns me to my apartment is right across the street from the theater. Convenient huh? Well, not quite--the bus simply did not arrive. After about 20 minutes I knew I could take either one of the many taxis that were passing by, or, believe it or not---walk. My thinking---money is tight--so, in spite of the fact that I was feeling very hungry, I walked the 23 plus 2 blocks to my apartment. My body really went with it. Then went out to buy some food. I felt strong, so I did not expect today to me a day of torpor.

I did have plans for today---it was to go to Dixon Place, where a friend of mine was performing in a play. I really wanted to go, but somewhat overwhelmed by lethargy--possibly a combination of my medication and the large amount of activity that I had yesterday Sometimes I forget that pre-pandemic, pre-illness there were days of low energy as well, usually after a day filled with lots of action. So I stayed home, followed some baseball games on the computer, and finished reading The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window. a play that was written by Lorraine Hansberry towards the end of her life. And it is brilliant! Filled with great confrontations, amazing insight and genuine fire! Seven characters and only one is black; Ms. Hansberry was writing about the west village intellectuals whom she hung out with in the fifties and sixties. And her vision is extraoridinary. I would love to see the play done by an organization like the Public---I think it would fit in there--some great roles for actors. Will discuss it with my "theater" friends, such as they are.

Tomorrow I hope to make the trip to Dixon Place and see the last performance of my friend's project. Also, many movies to check out. Will I do it? Stay tuned.

All alone......late at night...

about 12:30 to be exact. Horrible day! Why? first the heat---really unbearable, second my body was tired the whole day---usually happens after a full day the day before, or on a day, when I have no plans. Actually I had some plans for the day---a matinee of a friend's play in the afternoon, but by 11, I knew I could not do it. My friend's play still has a week to run, so I should be able to see it towards the end of next week. Kept in the apartment by heat and torpor---and nothing to read. Finished the Hansberry biography earlier in the week---somehow I have found nothing to replace it as a "lead" book. Read some stuff from the most recent New Yorker, but that just did not cut it. What is next...?

The rest of the week was pretty effective. Some good tutoring sessions, and, even though it is late in the school year, may have added some students. On Thursday, after starting off with a new student, and having what I thought was a very productive session, I returned home feeling really terrific. Did not need any more. On Friday I went to Friends and attended the student one acts. All were performed with great "brio", the second play, about a family dealing with their teen age daughter's cancer, was very serious and quite focused for a play by a teen ager. Actually two teen agers; this was a collaboration. Then yesterday, spent the early afternoon with friends Jen and Joe, two teachers at Friends, celebrating Jen's birthday and that of her cat Pheobe. Nice time in Riverside Park---liked the energy in the low nineties on the west side as I approached the park---a litte more open then what I find here in the seventies. Actually I find the energy on my surrounding streets, cold and rigid. Returned to the apartment after that, feeling good; somehow the heat was less bothersome--then in the evening, on the floor above, a dog had been left alone for a good amount of time. It was howling, and I thought possibly this was a sign of abuse. After  a few hours, no dog owner returned, I felt I had to act. Called 311, hoping to get theASPCA involved, but instead was directed to 911, and to my surprise, two New York city policemen were dispatched to the apartment house to investigate. I was their guide, and again no answer at the door---just the dog's contnued yelping, which I interpreted as a cry for help,or at least contact. The police heard what I heard, but said that legally they still had no right to enter the apartment. They were sympathetic, but would not act.  After they left, I frantically searched the internet for the number of the aparment's owner, but no luck. Finally, at around midnight a young woman came to the house, brough the dog down, and got into an uber. The dog was a little puppy, and looked no worse for wear. I saw the tenant who is the friend of the dog owner this morning, and told her what happened. She explained that the dog was very "yelpy", and its yelps were notLa sign of pain. But how was I to know this. I urged her to have her friend leave a note on the door, if she ever did it again. Lots of energy exerted--probably a good thing---maybe that is why I was so lethargic today. 

So, back to the grind. Maybe a movie tomorrow; I have been promising myself that for a while---no tutoring until Tuesday. We will see what happens.

So where do we go from here....?

 Great day, yesterday, all about Friends. Went to the reunion; chatted with some people I have not seen in a long time; got some good appreciation from the graduating class of 12; then the Meeting for Worship, followed by hanging out a Linen Hall (I like that bar---too bad I don't hang out in bars any more) and finally, a trip to Avenue C to celebrate the retirement of one of the teachers from Friends. Kind of young for that, but I guess he has had enough, and there are some things for him to do in Charleston, where he and his partner are moving to. His partner, Angela, turned out to be a really warm and attentive person; as the afternoon progressed, more teachers and their spouses from Friends arrived, and I had some very good conversations with many of them. Time to around 6---returned home on the 2 train and had a nice conversation with a friend of Angela, who lives a little north of where I do. A day of total integration into a social world---so different from the pattern of my life at this point. Really nice, but where do we go from here? 

Money is tight---tutoring will continue---really like my students and am finding more satisfaction from being with them then before---what about all the plays, movies, concerts, events that are flooding the city now and in the next few weeks---how much do I want to experience them? Not sure. At least three of my friends have theater projects from now through early June---do they come first? All are fairly inexpensive---what about what I call the "$38.00 projects", i.e. those plays available for around that sum of money, where I have no personal connection, but might be interested in checking out. What about just taking the subway into Brooklyn---hanging out at the Center for Fiction (my favorite) and then taking a nice walk down 5th Avenue in Park Slope. Some kind of strange fantasy draws me there---stopping off at the large coffee shop-bar on Douglass near 4th and sipping coffee while reading. It is all there for me---but can it be done? Tune in next time....

a short wait...

 between posts. But it is nasty outside---my tasks for the day are essentially finished---no tutoring until Wednesday, so here I am. Just finished reading a short story by Jhumpa Lahiri, it is called Only Goodness and it has an incredible sense of conflict at its center. Her writing really draws me in---what is it about her work that makes me feel so vulnerable, yet at the same time, asks me if I could create a conflict in a short story of my own. That's assuming that I could even write a short story.  The collection is called Unaccostomed Earth, Truthfully, I can't read another story in that collection now, or possibly even if the near future; the experience of reading Only Goodness was too intense.  Her universe draws me in too much. Need time to recover.

Yesterday, a trip to Bushwick---finally! Mayday celebration at Maria Hernandez park, Joined my cousin there and an old friend from my days at to FUREE, Lot of cries of solidarity, lots of activist booths, good to see all this energy in the name of helping others. I admired the solidarity,  the other hand,  the real estate industry as so aggressive---it is like pushing against a mountain.  A mountain with no moral center. Earlier,  arrived at the 14th street stop on the L, only to find out that it was not running in Manhattan at all this weekend. What should I do---turn around and see a movie? No, decided I would tough it out by train and bus and got there anyway. Stayed at the park for a little over an hour, went over to my pre pandemic"hangout "the Cobra Club. Had a nice talk with a bartender, a very welcoming  guy named Matt. He is  opening up his own bar on Graham Avenue in a few weeks, and invited me to come visit. Great experience--reminded me of my pre pandemic life. Good to be away from the safe but cold upper west side.  Once the M trained crossed the Williamsburg Bridge into Brooklyn, I could feel the energy changing, opening up.  the Brooklyn world, much more laid back and welcoming, a different aura. After Cobra, walked over to Flushing Avenue and waited for a bus to take me to the J train. This bus route leaves Bushwick and travels through the northern boundary of Bed Stuy, and I would have loved to take it all the way to downtown, passing those Bed-Stuy Avenues---Bedford, Nostrand, Franklin etc, that I have studied and traveled so much in the past,  but got off at Broadway and took the J back to Manhattan instead. Stopped off at the Essex Street food mart, for a break, then returned by subway to my home on the upper west side. What a trip! Most energy I have expanded in a long time. lots of walking and climbing stairs, my body resoponded well.  More trips like it? We will see.

Rest of day, not sure--no walks, it is pretty grubby out. Will report soon.