Since I got home from the road trip, I haven’t had a lot of scheduled stuff, but I have been putting together plans and taking advantage of some opportunities.
I did go to Queens Pride, always the first weekend in June, and in my neighborhood. It was fun, as always – but no famous celebrities or politicians that I noticed. I did see my beloved Big Apple Corps marching band, but I’ve been out of it so long that I saw very few people I knew. (I did introduce myself on the street later to one of the trombonists, and befriended another online.)
Undetermined whether I’ll go to BIG Pride in Manhattan. I don’t like crowds or being in the sun, so that’s a drawback. But maybe… also, the day before, I scored a matinee ticket to this production of “Cats” they’re doing way down near the World Trade Center, that is giving it a ballroom (as in “Paris is Burning”) spin. I don’t like “Cats” very much, but this absolutely could make it very interesting indeed. And after the show, I can go to the Village and enjoy night-before-Pride shenanigans.
Looking through my FB wall, what happened the first half of June? Well, we had the Trump conviction, which is a good thing. I think we’re all very worried about the election, but reports from the field indicate that Trump is becoming more and more the crazy uncle, and if that’s true, it may that one or two appearances – such as at the debate – where he’s unscripted and unfiltered – may make it very clear the difference in mental acuity between these two old men. Of course, I also realize that I get my news through a blue lens, and maybe the reports of Trump being off the rails are just as skewed and untrue as the right’s presenting Biden as doddering. I guess we’ll see.
I’ve been doing some cooking! I’d saved a recipe for a ‘pea and ricotta frittata’, and decided to try it. But it was far more involved than I was in the mood to tackle – you had to blend the peas together, it involved mint, which I didn’t have unless I wanted to crush up some breath mints – and I just kinda made my standard frittata. It came out good, and I realized that I like peas – but I will say that after the first few slices, I’m thinking I don’t like peas in eggs so much. (Most of the time I use spinach. Broccoli’s good too.) The ricotta was nice, but more about texture than flavor – I like a cheese in the frittata that makes itself known.
Since it’s getting hot, my plan is generally, for dinner, to make sure I have a protein ready to dump on some lettuce (and I’ll buy the lettuce the day of). C used to make all these little summer salads – radishes, 3-bean salads and so on – and I’m not gonna do that, but I can get some nice ones from the grocery story deli counter. So I made an entire pork tenderloin and froze most of it in portions, so I can use that. And I will probably do the same thing with chicken breasts or thighs – although I am intrigued by the idea of just buying a whole rotisserie chicken from one of the many ‘brasas’ places in Jackson Heights. Although I’d always heard that a rotisserie chicken from a grocery store is cheap, but we don’t seem to have rotisserie chickens in our local grocery stores, and the ‘brasas’ ones are not cheap. But worth a shot. I need to get some more salad dressings, too.
(Oh, I just reread Alex Gabriel’s Love for the Cold-Blooded, which is high-larious. Spoiler alert: the climax is a huge superhero battle with the evil villainess Serpentissima and hero Silver Paladin, where they both finally realize that Silver Paladin’s boyfriend (the narrator) is Serpentissima’s son. She ends up rearing up on her snakelike body, pointing imperiously at Silver Paladin and declaiming, “You will come to family dinner on Sunday. 6:30. Bring a mixed green salad for 7 people, with various dressings on the side to accommodate different tastes.” *picture Eric gasping for breath laughing*)
I started seeing a therapist! It’s about damn time, it’s been on my to-do list for forever. After the grief counseling I had two years ago, with a lady who was very sweet, but who was straight, had 12 kids and lived in Tennessee, I was determined to find a New Yorker, preferably a queer one. Just so I wouldn’t have to start from zero explaining what life is like in NYC, or what it’s like to be queer. Well, this guy is a New Yorker. Not queer, but plenty of experience in dealing with queers and queer issues. And although I could probably see him live, we’re going with video calls for now. I’m excited, just because it’s such an obvious step forward.
I went to a cabaret! I’ve always been intrigued by the standalone song that shines light on the human condition – whether it’s Broadway, folk, rock or classical. New York has lots of opportunities to both attend and do cabarets – there’s a whole sub-industry of your amateur actor friend taking a class or putting together a show, then booking the Duplex or Don’t Tell Mama’s and inviting their friends to plunk down a cover and two-drink minimum to see them sing about love and heartbreak, etc. It can be amazing, it can be tremendously self-indulgent, and it can be excruciating. But as an art form – well, OK, cabaret can be anything, but I’m really talking about singers with a piano and maybe a small combo communicating songs to a small audience – it has a lot of potential, and of course, being a singer with a healthy amount of self-regard, I’ve always vaguely wanted to do one.
This particular cabaret was the end result of a class, so essentially amateurs who’d paid a lot of money to perform for us. My goal was not only to explore cabaret in general, but to learn new repertoire to enjoy and/or perform. Let’s see, the line up was;
- Older guy singing comic songs without much voice, such as “One Meatball”. He wasn’t great, but was entertaining.
- An older lady who sang a couple of songs I took notes about, one was about ‘it’s all nice and quiet until you fall in love’ and the other was something about ‘a quiet thing’. I’ll have to look them up. She was OK.
- A very skinny guy with a European accent who sang standards, neither well nor badly.
- Another older lady who did funny songs about being crazy, such as “Twisted”. She was fun.
- A beautiful young lady of East Asian descent, who was a little too bridesmaid-dress outfitted, but who sang quite nicely about luv. She needed to support more, but was very nice.
- A middle-aged black guy with a big pot belly, a somewhat fancy shirt which wasn’t big enough and which rode up when he gestured, exposing his bare midriff, and a red hanky in his back right pocket. (see my FB wall for a spirited discussion of what that means) He sang things like Dorothy Loudon’s mashup of “Losing My Mind/You Could Drive a Person Crazy”, but not nearly as well. He seemed to me the stereotypical older queer who has a far more rosy picture in his head of his own talent than reality.
Anyway, I had a good time, considering what it was. I wish whoever was in charge of the cabaret had spent a little more time on stage deportment and what outfit to wear. Also, in general – that you need to deliver the basics of the song first, communicating with your audience, without assuming that all the EMOTIONS you have in your head will carry the day. Also, and this is true of a lot of amateur sings, and I saw this at the G&S thing in Baltimore too – when you’re learning your song, you also need to ‘learn’ the interstitial bits of accompaniment between the singing parts. You don’t need to perform them, you just need to know how they go so you can come in at the right time with your next bit. It’s painfully obvious when the singer has not done their homework there.
Anyway, part of me was smug knowing there was a lot I could do in my own performance that would be better than what I was seeing, and part of me was aware that one of my big problems as an actor is not knowing how to present myself physically – and I would hope a good cabaret class would help me with that. So it’s now on the list to do one of these classes, and start at the bottom. But probably not the class that generated this performance.
I went to a Mets game! My first one! Which is insane, because I’ve lived within shouting distance of Shea Stadium/Citi Field since I moved to JH in 1995. And I’m not a sports guy, but I have been to a baseball game before and had a great time, so… My company does this every year, actually, you get a choice between a Yankees or a Mets game, and I’ve signed up for the Mets game before, but social anxiety kicked in and I never went. (it tried again to keep me home this time, but I really did want to go)
I took an Uber there, which wasn’t outrageous, but if I’d planned it better, I could have just taken a bus straight up Northern Boulevard. (The 7 train is the other obvious choice, but at the moment, 7s aren’t stopping at my local stop in that direction.) Came in completely the wrong side of the stadium, but not an issue. Turns out our seats were way way up high at the end of the first base line, and it looked like we’d be staring into the sun – and we were, but not for long, it sank behind the bleachers soon enough. You could see everything just fine, although far away. The Mets were playing the Marlins.
I’m going to enjoy a baseball game far more than a football or basketball game. It moves slowly enough I can follow what’s going on, but actually moves reasonably quickly overall. I understand the rules, pretty much – which has never been true of football. And it’s fun, with the stadium music and crowd participation and honoring various organizations and groups of kids between innings, and t-shirt cannons, and beer and burgers. What’s not to like? It was also beautiful out, very comfortable. I had a nice big Blue Moon to get me through the first half of the game.
The first five innings, no one scored. I went to the bathroom during inning 6, then ordered a cheeseburger, fries and a Coke Zero – and realized that while I wasn’t paying attention, the Marlins had scored. Dammit. Back to my seat. (My coworkers are all nice, but I didn’t really know anyone there enough to sit and talk with.) Towards the end of the game, it was Marlins 2, Mets 1 and a lot of people left early. BUT… it was the bottom of the ninth, and J.D. Martinez got a home run with someone on base, ending the game rather abruptly. The crowd went wild!
I then did a lot of wrong turns finding my way back to the 7 train. They have special 7s that go very express through Queens back to Manhattan, but I took a regular one back to my stop (which is open in that direction). Got some Carvel (yay, they have the dipped cones again) and headed home. Such fun! Definitely worth a once-a-year visit.
Finally, a bit of fun news. As I’ve said, I’m finding it helpful if I can get away from my apartment every few weeks, so I don’t feel trapped. I’m going to England in August, but I looked at my calendar and realized that a perfect time to get out of town midway between my May road trip and my August UK trip would be the July 4th week – especially, since 7/4 is a Thursday and my company is giving us Friday off too. Hmmm, I wondered, where should I go out of town for 4 days? Maybe there’s a cruise or something, let’s look.
Well, turns out there is a cruise, perfectly timed, that goes directly from NYC to Bermuda and back, leaving on 7/4 and getting me back on Monday morning, theoretically in time for me to start work. Oh! Well, that sounds like fun, and will be a nice experiment. I’ve never been on a cruise without Charles, and I’ve been wondering if it would be fun on my own. This one is short. I’ve been Bermuda before (twice), and when C and I went in 2006, we never made it over to St. George’s, the east end of the islands/country, which is where Dad, Mom and I moored in 1987 when we sailed (!!!!) there. So… it’s Carnival, which isn’t my favorite line, but I have a balcony cabin to myself, so can hide out there to avoid the wet t-shirt contests and so on. I don’t really need to go to the upscale price-added restaurants. I can bring projects with me, and just enjoy exploring the ship during the two days at sea. The day in Bermuda, I’ll buy a transit pass, ferry over to St. George’s, poke around and take the bus back to the ship. Easy peasy.
So… that’s a plan, and maybe once I get off the ship, I’ll have figured out any unresolved issues re the UK trip and also figured out what I’m going to do about my 10th wedding anniversary, my 60th birthday and my father’s 90th, all through the rest of the year.
Yep, all caught up now, I think.
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