Sunday, March 2, 2003

rainy Sunday in New York

Yep...we missed the snow. There were blizzards before we came and big snow after but only this rain on Sunday and some cold wind for our visit. We are the weather privileged.

We were at our leisure this morning. Since it was raining, we just dashed to the hotel next to ours around ten, the Sofitel, and had a delightful breakfast of eggs en cocotte, a poached egg casserole with a mild tomato sauce and a side of asparagus and potatoes. I had some great French-press coffee and FFP had tea. We had fresh-squeezed juice, too, and my grapefruit was delicious. We took our time and read while we ate. I was finishing Michael Cunningham's A Home at the End of the World.

We went back to our room and rested a while and then braved the rain with my small umbrella and one borrowed from the bellmen. We had spied the Museum of Television and Radio on 52nd Street, not such a long way away.

There were several screening rooms with different programs. We saw some old Elvis footage including a comedy bit with Andy Griffith and Steve Allen and a show of controversial footage from TV. Then we got (as a part of the admission price) a trip to the library where we were able to pick shows to watch from a vast database. We picked some episodes of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and an old Howdy Doody Show. One of the Mary Hartman's had Gore Vidal and Merv Griffin on it. One of Buffalo Bob's pals on the Howdy Doody Show seemed like a drunk vagrant. He fell off a bench trying to sit down. The little 50's kids looked strange, too.

We went back to the hotel and started communicating with pals over cell phones, catching some of them coming in from JFK and someone else calling us to see if we were game for an Italian meal at Puttanesca near their hotel. Well, sure.

It wasn't even raining so we walked to the Holiday Inn on 57th between Ninth and Tenth and met our buddies. We were sitting in a lobby waiting for them when we heard the voice and laugh of our friend Marie, the singer, in the bar. We gathered up in a phalanx of ten or twelve people and marched to the restaurant which was close by. We had some Italian wine and apps and salads. I had a Caesar and my friend Jon's step mother next to me had one, too, and donated her anchovies to me. Yeah.) I had a ravioli dish and I was stuffed. Someone invented a couple of occasions (an anniversary and a birthday) and a couple of creme brulees with candles were delivered and passed around. None for me, thanks. I think one of Jon's friends likes to make it someone's birthday. Glad it wasn't me...I'm old enough.

We walked back to our friends' hotel with them to get our tickets for the Carnegie recital and then walked by the Hudson where we stayed a couple of years ago.

friends after an Italian meal

"I invite you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air . . . and keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that you will observe a vast wasteland."

Newton N. Minow, 1964

 

JUST TYPING
Rain.
Needing just a place to dash in and enjoy things.
More than an umbrella.