New York New York it's a wonderful town

Before I begin my blob I would just like to say that if you liked David’s picture in antlers, you should see the video of him impersonating Julia Child diapering a chicken. (I do hate it when he’s funnier than I am.)

This will be less a blob than a reflection. It’s the end of the week in New York City. It’s the end of the week in other places but I’m not in other places so I can’t write about them. We have been here since the middle of May. It has been raining nonstop. That puts a damper on some activities but it is New York so, unless there is a sizable disaster, there usually aren’t any cancellations. (And even better, the weather people don’t get hysterical about the weather.)

When we’re here I try to read the New York Post and the New York Times. I like to see how different media cover different topics and where they are placed in the paper. I hardly ever read the Daily News, because I can only deal with two sides of an issue—can there be three sides of an issue? Maybe there is black and white and shades of gray—but it’s TMI for me. (That’s too much information if you’re not up to date with acronyms.) Anyway, after I wrote my blob about Helen Thomas, I saw this headline in the Daily News, “Coulter the Cruel”. It seems that Ann Coulter was on the Today Show and was mouthing off in a negative way about the 9/11 widows. What more do you need to know? Oh yes, she’s never been married. Who would marry a coutie? (Remember couties from the 50’s). But here’s what I don’t get. Why would the Today Show invite her on, giver her anytime, or call her a credible columnist? Surely they have no shortage of possibilities for guests. God knows they could call me and I could promote some worthwhile charity. Why would anyone give this hideous (that’s David’s description and he loves everyone) person (I use the term reluctantly), any air time? Jordan said it best this morning when she said, “I guess she must be making a lot of money to make such a fool of herself. I can’t believe that conservatives support, like or agree with her. I bet even her mother doesn’t like her. She is just a total embarrassment, and, by the way, really stupid. What is it Nana says, smart smart stupid? That’s a great description of her.

Enough about white trash. My mother (this au pair is working out—for now) is much more worth talking about. And she has a few wonderful things she says about life in general. Some of my favorites are: Smart, smart, stupid, means you can be very well educated and still not have a brain in your head. She also says, what is, is. And dead’s dead. I don’t think those need explanation.

Back to NewYork. When it works it really works. If the weather is good it is a terrific place to be anywhere. There are out door eateries, parks, street festivals and markets. If it is raining it takes more work to be comfortable. If the subway is running it is the best mode of transportation in the country. But when it is down, it is impossible to navigate the city without a great deal of effort. And I can understand why some tourists hate NY. We were on the west side at 72 St. I was turning coins into cash and Jordan was taking a voice lesson. I had finished my errand and entered the subway station at about 3:00. There were a few policemen around but it is NY. I paid my 2 bucks and went downstairs. The trains on the 1 line were not running. No trains at all. So I went back upstairs and asked for a refund. That was not going to happen but they gave me a transfer. Only it was raining very hard and I couldn’t get on the awaiting a bus—they were too crowded. I walked a few blocks and finally found a bus that would take me. We traveled one block and the police had closed Broadway. I got off the bus, got my transfer back and walked to 59th street. It was a mess but the B and the D were running and I could take either to 7th Ave and transfer to the E. Only I got on a C—it doesn’t go to any stop I needed. So I got off at 50th and transferred to an E downtown but I needed the E uptown so I went to 42nd St. And walked about ¼ of a mile to the uptown E. The E was running but not on time. I waited 25 minutes until the E came and, of course it was packed. While I was waiting I met a guy named Norman who was incredibly kind and helped me to negotiate the subway. He asked for my name and number and I gave him my name as I raced up the escalator. I hate those women who make excuses like I’m married blah blah blah.. escape was much simpler. When I walked into the apartment it was 4:30. I was wet and exhausted. If this had happened to me in Virginia I would have been despondent for days. But somehow, in New York, it was just another adventure. Just another way to take a break in my writing. Last night I went on my theaterextras.com site and got a free ticket to an interesting off Broadway play about the Holocaust—I figured their day was worse than mine.

Even with all the effort involved in living in the city, I must say, I do love it. There’s always something to see or do – even if it’s just sitting in a side walk café people watching. If I want to take a break I don’t need to get in a car. I take the 6 to China Town of the E across twon. There are a million good movies, restaurants and museums. Or I just walk over to the bookstore on the corner and browse through the magazines. While it’s true that I also like my house, my friends, my life in Va. I find I am liking both equally. We are most fortunate. Some of our friends have a house somewhere in or near a city and then they have a vacation home near the water or in the mountains. We have a house in the city and an apartment in the city and it works just fine. We would never spend 1 or 2 hours going to someplace on a weekend— it would take us 1 or 2 hours to decide which route to go to get wherever. It is nice to be in a place where I have something to reflect about. New York New York, it’s a wonderful town. We’re just sayin…