So, yeah, first things first. Those of you who were tracking my trip updates last month might have noticed that, until today, I did not mention that my dad had injured himself 4 days in, and that put the whole trip in jeopardy.
I, of course, had always had worries in the back of my mind about this trip. When I proposed it to my dad, I’d thought of doing something very easy, like a cruise, where it didn’t matter what his energy level was. But we’d discussed a road trip of all six states he hadn’t yet been to – and narrowed that down to a road trip in Montana – and then it became maybe Hawaii (!!! which seemed like too much to me) and finally settled down into this west coast road trip (which included Nevada, one of his six states). Which still seemed a lot for a ninety-year-old, but for this particular one, who goes on three-mile hikes with my brother almost every day, it seemed like it was doable. At least I thought so, and he thought so too. But what if it wasn’t? What were we going to do?
As it turned out, we decided to keep going with the trip, and now with hindsight, that proved to be the right decision – particularly since we could have cut it short at any point if it got too bad for him. And he’s home now and in the care of his doctors and, although still in the arm sling and annoyed by it, he’s doing fine. I’ll keep you in the loop as to what happens next.
I’ve been loving being home and getting caught up with stuff. A lot of paperwork and year turnover stuff. Doing some cooking. Even though I sent out no Xmas presents, my niece zapped me with a post-new-years delivery of gift towers and such, loaded with snacks and cookies and candy. “Oh, damn”, I muttered insincerely, as I shoved another cookie into my face, “I’m still trying to lose weight.”.
Work has been just fine. I went back to the office for the first time in a month last Tuesday, because I had a dermatologist appointment after work. (He ended up freezing a spot on my cheekbone. It looks just lovely now, as you can imagine, but will be healed up in another week or so.)
Pinafore is now in the ‘we’re waiting for people to submit their auditions” phase. I’ll be seeing that bunch next weekend as we’ve been drafted to do a concert Sorcerer at the society. And as of just a few minutes ago, I purchased a ticket to the Aida matinee at the Met the same day. That’s exciting – I haven’t been to the Met since COVID hit, and Aida has been a bucket list opera to see. I actually know it quite well, from studying it in college, but have never actually seen it on stage. So that’s cool.
I also managed to get a ‘one of the last performances before they close’ ticket to Stereophonic. It won the Tony last year for best play, plus a lot of other Tonys and nominations. I’d always wanted to see it, but it’s long and I’ve kind of gotten into old-man mode with shows – if it’s an evening, I’d rather go to a 7:00 day than an 8:00 day, and if it’s long, I’d rather see a matinee. I work two blocks from the theater, and had thought about just taking Wed afternoon off and seeing the Wed matinee, but my boss, curse him, had scheduled my performance review that afternoon. So on Tuesday, I snuck out and went to the box office and got a Sat matinee ticket.
A really good ticket, actually – off to the side, but quite close. (I couldn’t see the drummer when he was at his kit but could see everything else.) The play was great, and as a musician, but not in that genre, I had a bunch of questions about the recording process that was the framework for the play. Oh, actually, I’m answering one of them now, in my head. It looked like she was singing something a capella, and was having trouble with a high note. I was wondering, (a) why isn’t she checking her pitch with the piano before she starts, and (b) why doesn’t she just lower the key, but I’m now realizing that she was listening to the backing tracks in her headphones – we the audience just couldn’t hear that. Oh, OK.
But it was very well done and I’m really glad I got to see it. I read that it’s going on tour and then will have a UK run, so it’s not over yet. (also, similarly, I was surprised to find out that the Broadway Mattress I saw a few months ago went to LA for a second run after it closed on Broadway – it was running while we were there.)
I also watched one of my “let’s watch movies that take place where we just traveled” movies – Los Angeles Plays Itself. It was really interesting. It also occurred to me that this would be a good time to rewatch Showgirls, which I actually have on DVD, but haven’t seen in a long long time.
I’m also pondering going into the office on Tuesday and bringing my skates so I can go skating at lunchtime at Bryant Park – I haven’t been skating in over a year and need to start again. And also maybe getting a ticket to Gypsy? That’s my top priority now. I know Audra’s scheduled to be in it for quite a while, but what if something happens? I need to see that performance before it goes away.
And Wednesday, I have a reservation at a really nice restaurant to celebrate a really nice anniversary. By myself – at least in the corporeal sense – but was not offered a choice there.
The Toast Point Page 