Busy New York City. Once again, I ran over to Bryant Park and the Whole Foods that is there to grab some dinner to go. No time to sit in the park this visit!
My hotel is lovely – The Millennium. Just a block from the theater and with a nice, large, and relatively (for NYC) quiet room. I’m throwing this post together rather quickly as I have to get it together, write up notes for the actors, check out, and then run over to the theater for some work with one of the actors.
The show is great. I see changes in the performances, the kind of changes that happen when the actors have the luxury of more than a limited run. It’s theirs now and they are having a ball. The audience was tremendously responsive for a Tuesday night.
When Dimitry and Anastasia almost kiss, but don’t, I heard an ‘Awww!’ from the row in front of me, which made me laugh.
That’s the Empire State Building.
And what do I see out my window this morning?
The Chrysler Building – my favorite skyscraper.
Don’t be discouraged by the win in Georgia; we closed the gap in a Republican stronghold, by a large percentage. This doesn’t bode well for 2018. And by then, Trump will be that much deeper in the hole in terms of Trump/Russia and the facts that are going to come out. I say this to myself as well: Stay Strong.
If you do use twitter – you might want to look at Charles Clymer. He, I have found, is politically astute and he posted a thread last night that puts the election in perspective. I was reading it at 12:30 am this morning and it provided a much-needed ‘big picture’ as well as hope.
Happy Wednesday.
The Chrysler building is my absolute favorite building anywhere. Such perfect architecture.
I was disappointed that Jon Ossoff didn’t win but not discouraged. The tide is shifting when a district that has been firmly held for 40 years was in contention until the end. The residency issue was a challenge at the end of the race. And of course yesterday when I called Mitch McConnell and Lamar Alexander’s offices, I got a recorded message and no answer or voicemail. Hiding to carve up healthcare and not taking calls either. Cowards.
My son has been approached by our state party reps to consider a position out of state to work as a District Field Organizer for 2018. They asked him to update his resume so they can forward it to the other state’s party reps. If he gets this position, he would move at the end of summer. At 22, he would be one of the youngest, if not the youngest DFO’s in the country. My hope for 2018 is in the young people like my son.
Good for your son! He sounds like a committed young man with integrity. I think the youngsters (said sort of jokingly) are going to make big changes.
NYC is so pretty from your view! I was unhappy about the GA election results but again we did make inroads into this state. Every time I vote I keep telling myself my vote counts in some way.
It does. We just need to get rid of voter suppression and gerrymandering. And the Russians, of course.
Enjoy your time again with Anastasia. We gotta keep believing real, positive change will come.
We do. Otherwise, I might have to leave the country.
I have close family in Canada who keep reminding me they have room in their homes…
Yes, I have friends and family in Canada, as well. Mom was born in Canada.
I needed to hear your positive thoughts…gotta keep the faith, but it is hard. I’ll look up Charles Clymer on twitter…maybe that will help. NYC has a beautiful skyline…the Chrysler Building is a stunner. Glad to hear Anastasia doing so well…I can hear your pride coming through. Enjoy your brief stay…travel safe! ;)
It is very hard. Some days are easier than others.
I came to your blog this morning for just what I got: perspective. I was discouraged last night and allowed myself to wallow in that discouragement for a time, but I woke up determined to get back to work this morning. So far, I’ve called five senators’ offices–my two, Cruz and Cornyn, who won’t be influenced, of course, as well as three others who might be on the fence–and I’ve got a list of others to call. I’m a writer for a reason: I’m an introvert who stutters through phone calls, but I have to do something when I see the vulnerable being hurt. That’s what I think our new healthcare bill will do, if passed. I also came to your blog for a reminder that good and interesting things still happen. Thanks for the news of the Anastasia and for views of NYC.
Good for you. I need to make some calls tomorrow. And I will!
Thank you, Linda.
I had to take a break from Twitter last night and today, a sanity reprieve. I worry
about your country because it is so divided due to Trump and so many of the
Republican Party. It is disturbing and unbelievable that so many of his base are still supporting him, boggles my rational mind.
Hoping and praying for a safer and brighter future for us all,
It’s unbelievable to all of us, too. I can’t believe there are so many people who are willing to be ‘cult’ members, blindly accepting everything he says.
Thanks for the photos from Manhattan.
Marilyn
You are welcome, Marilyn.
Beautiful pictures, and the Chrysler building has always been my favorite, too. What a grand view.
I am tired, my friend. So tired of all of it. It makes so much complete sense to me that he is an idiot and surrounds himself with the same ~~ and it confuses me beyond my comprehension how everyone doesn’t see it. No more (public) press conferences….. lies spewed 24×7…. and facts are simply disregarded.
I am encouraged by the investigations going on, but I have no faith at all that any of them will actually tell the truth when they, indeed, raise their hand and swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Beyond that I am also sure he will fire Mueller any minute now. He sent Kushner to the Middle East ~~ I’m sure he believes that he will come home with a peace treaty (easy peasy) and all of his followers will line the street with rose petals, pledging their undying devotion. Seriously, it all exhausts me. But we have phone calls to make about this health care bill, so we will move on with those…… and I hope your trip home today is a safe and pleasant one.
I get it. I’m tired, too. It’s like a bad dream that never ends and, in fact, just keeps getting worse. I’m not so sure he will fire Mueller. Surely even he, idiot that he is, knows there are already solutions in place should Mueller get fired. They won’t stop. And nothing he can do can make them stop. Especially since Jeff Sessions has now lawyered up.
I am crazy/nuts for any photos you ever post from The City or from the countryside, Claudia. You always take such wonderful pictures and I love seeing these glimpses of your East Coast locales…with commentary, too! Thank you so much for taking the time when you’re busy to attend to the blog and keep us informed of how things are going along with you. It’s also wonderful that you continue to be pleased with Anastasia and I’m glad you had a good trip into Manhattan with a hotel overnight that seemed to have been so nice.
We’re hot here in SoCalif; every day is 90 degrees or more, often still 70 degrees at 10pm or so, yet we then fog in later (it burns off early in the a.m., like really early). I try to make sure I do things in the morning, like errands/appointments, so that I can lay low in the warmer part of the day. The weather is sunny but extremely hazy. Our nearer hills have turned to straw ‘way too fast, browning up…seems like all the pretty yellow mustard and orange poppies, and other green-growing stuff, we saw last March-April after too many years of Calif drought, are a dream now, but I recently read that we’ve still got a good snow pack in the Tahoe area, northern part of the state, so that’s a blessing!
My husband planted a wildflower patch this year…trying to attract those butterflies I miss…and they’ve really popped out (the flowers) in the heat. Such pretty little bachelor buttons (blue cornflowers; LOVE the blue SO MUCH!!); other small flowers which are yellow, dark pink, light pink and I have no idea what they are but we plan to do more of this next year since we’re getting so much enjoyment from seeing what’s revealed from seed. I’ve also now picked two gorgeous, big-fat and red heirloom tomatoes and we’ve been getting a yield of yellow squash and zucchini for about a week; the cucumbers are coming along nicely…
Claudia, zero-ing in on the small stuff, since I can’t think about the big stuff right now (I’m watching Rachel and reading other news sites; not sticking my head in the sand, but I find I just can’t start writing about it or I’ll take up too much space; I just start pouring out too much of my heartache…)…
But, when you fly out to Don in San Diego, and you trek back to the East, how long do you think you might be away from the house in terms of what will happen to your plants indoors and out? Will you just soak everything really good on the exterior and hope for the best? One time I was on a long trip (lived in an apartment) and I filled my indoor sinks with water and set my houseplants in that water, which I could do today with tubs of water indoors, if need be I suppose. I often think about this for future travel with my husband once he retires although I think I could engage the gardener if I pay him a little extra…and just hope he remembers to lock the gates…
The gardens will be fine, there will be enough rain while I’m gone to take care of them. My dear friend Noble offered to water my potted plants, both indoor and out on the porch, so I’ll figure out some sort of schedule for that (he can also fill my birdbath). Most likely every 2 or 3 days. I have, of course, offered to do the same for him when he and Tina are away.
Otherwise, I was just going to put all the porch plants on the ground and on benches just outside the entrance to the porch and hope for the best. My indoor plants would probably be okay, but I’m going to put them all in one place so Noble can water them once a week or so.
Ah, so lucky to have this nice friend!!!
xo
We tried planting wildflowers a couple of years ago and they just didn’t take. I think we chose an area with not enough sun. Yes, Don says it’s hot – we might not go to the Grand Canyon now. We’re thinking of heading up the CA coast for a bit and then heading east. Don’s going to look at this maps and then we’ll figure it out. It’s so hot in the Southeast – Phoenix had to cancel flights yesterday (but climate change is a hoax) – that we think we’ll pass on the Grand Canyon this time.
Well, you can’t get up to Big Sur with the road closed, but you would LOVE the gorgeous/Mediterranean-feel of Santa Barbara and points north on the coast, such as Cambria if you could get up that far. The coastal cliffs still have a little green in them; cooler of course at the coast. From Malibu to Cambria is just so, so nice on Hwy 101, the coastal route, about 3 hrs between those two destinations and SO worth seeing, Claudia!
Closer to where you’ll be in La Jolla, I have spent some time in my past in Carlsbad and enjoyed it there and of course San Clemente was where Nixon lived and where an old boss of mine landed in retirement; very scenic. Malibu will be a crowded area in summer on weekends particularly, but the road north OR south (Pacific Coast Highway, or PCH, or State Route 1) through there is always one of my favorites, and if you grab something to eat and want a respite, drive into Pepperdine University and eat under a nice shade tree with beautiful views of the sea. Once you leave the university grounds, which sprawl all over the coastal hill above the highway, and continue to head north toward Ventura County and Mugu Rock, the traffic should thin out although, of course, there are always more cars on the roads for summer vacations. It’s crowded the most right at the Santa Monica/Malibu hub.
Closer to this Santa Monica side of Malibu is the Getty VILLA (there are two Getty museums and this is the smaller, older one…still Malibu although I’ve heard it referred to as Pacific Palisades where a lot of the celebs live), perched high on a cliff above the highway with easy access, which is one of my all-time favorite museums EVER in the entire WORLD although of course I’ve never seen what you have to offer in NYC; I think it’s still free admission; used to be via reservation; I love the intimate gardens, fountains & pools, and I love the views from there of the ocean although I’ve not seen it since it was renovated ten years ago.
The Getty CENTER in Brentwood (the larger J. Paul Getty museum, the main one and it’s newer, just off the 405 freeway [at North Sepulveda Blvd and Getty Center Drive on the west side of L.A.]) I think is also free admission but you pay for parking; take a fun tram from the parking lot up to the museum, also high on a hilltop, where on a clear day you can see so much of the L.A. metropolis although in summer you’re prob not going to get a clear day.
Highway 1 hugging the Calif coastline sort of runs jointly with US 101 (you switch back & forth from 1 to 101), particularly through a portion of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. The ‘five cities’ area north of Santa Barbara is very scenic if you stick to the coast (it’ll be hot & dry once you go inland thru the wine country of Santa Ynez/Paso Robles). Places like Pismo Beach, Morro Bay, Cayucos – that’s all before you get to pretty Cambria (which is a very quaint, seaside ‘village’ that’s got a British feel to it…I’ve just recently read that in Latin, it means “Wales”…with charming B&Bs; antique shops; nice little cafes; many Monterey pine trees) and of course Cambria/San Simeon is where you’ll find the vast and very interesting Hearst Castle (built in the early 1900s; it’s incredible; the Hearst family still owns multi-thousands of acres surrounding the sumptuous mansion; this is the big ‘house’ built by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, which is a Calif State Park and open to the public; I love the outdoor, above-ground swimming pool called the Neptune Pool, made of bright aquamarine/white tile [marble?] which just gleams in the sunshine, although it might still be under restoration {I seem to recall reading the pool might be drained til this fall}; the views of the ocean from up high where the sprawling castle is built on a big bluff are just stunning). Right around there, just ever-so-slightly north of the castle, is where you see from the coast highway this absolutely HUGE colony of seals sunning themselves on the rocks. I love this area so, so much!
I’ve taken that road before, have gone all the way to San Francisco on it, so I’m familiar with Malibu and Cambria (though it’s been a long time) and I’ve spent a fair amount of time in San Clemente. I suppose Don is familiar with it, too, as he lived in Los Angeles for years. We’re not really into touring famous houses, but Cambria would be lovely and I’ve been to Paso Robles – but again, it’s about 23 years ago!
Well, whatever you do, at least you’ll be together and any of it will be fun!