Events are occurring, and I’d better get stuff down while I have a chance.
I’m on a two-week trip down south, then a week back home, then off to England for two weeks.
That last week before I left was cah-razy. A lot was going on at work, and was very much up in the air, people not responding to meeting invites and so on, and making me insane. But that all coalesced right at the end of the week. Meanwhile, I was trying to get together with local Pinafolks before I left, and that was also very much up in the air, but also came together right at the last minute. So my week was all that, plus…
Tuesday I went to see Sunset Boulevard on Broadway before it closed. I hadn’t been anxious to see it, but pretty much everyone I knew loved it, so… I’d seen it in the original production and had no love for the piece. But I knew there was a lot of video/TV work in it much like Dorian Gray, which I loved, and I wanted to see how that was, and also Nicole Scherzinger had won the Tony (over Audra! Megan! Jennifer! Jasmine! all of whom could have deservedly won). So.
Bottom line – I didn’t like it. “Hate” is a strong word, so I won’t go that far. I don’t like the score at all, and the production was nonsensical. however, Scherzinger was really great, moved well and sang amazingly, certainly better than Glenn Close, though that’s not a high bar. The other standout was Max, who was sexy and strong-voiced and wonderful and reminded me that I really need to look at his Act 1 song as a possibly audition number for myself. And then I looked at the program and realized it was Jordan Donica, who’s Peggy’s hot doctor on The Gilded Age. Well then, I guess I have a new crush.
My buddy Casey’s boyfriend is a trombonist, and he’d told me months ago that he puts together a summer brass choir and I should be in it. Unfortunately, my crazy schedule now means I can’t play the concert, but I went to that Thursday’s rehearsal and had a great time. I really enjoy playing when I’m basically in shape and although brass choir isn’t quite chamber music (which I adore playing), it’s a lot of fun. I met some new friends and of course my buddy Lynn was there, because she plays in everything. I can probably sub for the rehearsal the week I’m back in town.
Friday, my buddy Manya (Buttercup) came out to JH for a coaching, and then we went out for margaritas and dished. First time I’d really gotten to socialize with her, but I hope not the last. Then on Saturday, I coached Tyler (Deadeye), Lauren (Josephine) and Chaz (Ralph) and we went out for more margaritas. Tyler had to leave after one drink, but the others hung out at my place afterward, great fun, and I finally had to kick them out because I was flying the next day.
So right now I’m at my dad’s place in Durham. He’s spent a lot of time in retirement paying attention to humanist/atheist issues and participating in various organizations. He and my mom have gone to various conferences over the years, and he’d invited me to join him for a weekend event in Chattanooga celebrating the centennial of the Scopes monkey trial. I don’t know if I would have gone to such a thing on my own, but was happy to accompany my hail-and-hearty nonagenarian father just to make sure he had some help. So the plan was to come down here, work from his place for two weeks, with this Chattanooga trip in the middle.
I came down last Sunday, and we spent the week just hanging out. Morning exercise walks with my brother, me working during the day, cooking together (not all that well) at night, and making various trips, like buying him a new bigger air fryer so I could take his small one back home with me. Watching the news together, but then me watching TV alone later while he read. All very peaceful.
Friday, we set off for Chattanooga by car. It was definitely going to be an all-day drive, and on paper, it looked like about a seven-hour trip, but the reality was with stops and road construction, etc, it was more like eight or nine. But the drive was mostly pleasant. We switched back and forth as drivers (his driving is just fine, although of course we’re keeping an eye on that) and mostly listened to Sirius XM radio, something I don’t normally have access to. Classic country, classic rock, singer/songwriter stuff, big band, and so on.
Checked into the hotel, got cleaned up, went down for the evening activities. Our hostess was comedian Leighann Lord, who was very funny and very smart. And then they introduced a pianist and jazz singer (the pianist was one of the heads of one of the organizations involved in the event, but he was very good), who did music from 1925. (attendees had been invited to dress up in ’20’s outfits for this evening, and quite a few did – hats and turbans and pearls and such). This was a lot of fun.
Saturday, it was speaker after speaker, some good, some not great. My favorite was the middle school teacher who’d ended up building (with Richard Dawkins) a program to educate middle school teachers on how to teach evolution. That was fun and fascinating and I’ll post some links later. There was also the author of “God, Politics and Money” (or something like that, I’ll look it up later) and the author of “Keeping the Faith”, which is about the Scopes trial (I bought that one, reading it now). Dad and I stepped out at lunch to walk around a bit and eat, and that’s all we got to see of Chattanooga.
During the break between the speakers and dinner, Dad and I went to the rooftop bar (on the second floor, heh, just around the corner from our room) and finally got to meet NYT columnist and Columbia linguistics professor John McWhorter, who would be receiving an award Sunday morning. And finally had the conversation I’d been dying to have. We introduced ourselves and I got to say, “My Dad lives in Durham, but I live… in the Towers in Jackson Heights.”. JM: “…..REAlly…” Yep. Although we’ve never met, we live in the same co-op complex, on opposite ends of the block from each other. So now that we’ve met, I can say hi to him on the street and such.
Evening was a rubber-chicken dinner, not bad actually. And then we were to be presented a reading of a play by (and including) John DeLancey – but we wrapped up dinner and it was not yet 730 and the play was at eight and Dad and I realized we didn’t feel like hanging around for the play. A minor shame, but yeah, OK.
Sunday was the presentation of the Richard Dawkins award by Richard Dawkins to John McWhorter, then a conversation with them which was delightful and hilarious. I clearly need to buy and read some of JM’s books. Then Dad and I hit the road and had a another tedious, but not-that-bad drive back to Durham. Dad got stuck driving in a torrential rainstorm up in the mountains, but we got through it and it didn’t take that long.
This week more of the same, plus some dinners out, and I fly home on Friday. More soon.
The Toast Point Page 