On Monday evening I was released from work at seven o'clock... it was so early, I barely knew what to do with myself! I decided to go to the used bookstore and pick up a new Tom Robbins novel (well, new to me... I just finished Jitterbug Perfume). I exited the building and made my way toward the subway, but stopped in my tracks. What am I doing? I asked myself. It's still sunny out and I've been sitting on my bum for the last 4 weeks. I should just walk it to 14th Street. So, despite the slight chill of wind in the air, I began my 14-block stroll to Union Square. Almost immediately I was happy I chose this route instead of the underground darkness of the subway. I don't know if it was the fresh air, the particular position of the sun in the way it hit every building and tree in the city, or if I was just in a great mood, but I could not take more than three steps without being struck by the beauty around me and the angles at which I was seeing them.
I even saw a pair of hula-hoopsters at Madison Square Park. These tulips just about destroyed me. A whole bed of them, just standing there in the sun, all folded up in prayer position, breaths away from opening up. Like a woman in her robe, telling her date she's almost ready, just five more minutes. And how could the sight of a Mister Softee truck in the beginnings of spring not be gorgeous? This amazing architecture... Yes, folks, every day here in Manhattan is a dream. Especially in the springtime.
On Friday morning, Mitch came into the assistants' room and said, "Jenna, who'd you get flowers from?!" I was like, "Flowers? What are you talking about?" I came out and saw a box full of beautiful purple tulips with a note from this handsome dude: He sent me flowers for our anniversary!! Isn't it so sweet? I was most delighted. It really made my day, because up until that moment I had been in a crabby mood due to my near-ruining of his gift. I had to work late that night, but fortunately we were able to have brunch together the next day at our old favorite, The Metro Diner. We toasted each other with Coca-Cola and coffee. We gave gifts, mine to him a black-and-white collage of pictures of us kissing, his to me a video montage of every single picture we've ever taken together in the last year. A lazy afternoon followed, filled with naps and TiVO'd episodes of "Top Chef." It was so lovely, especially for Dustin, who had not had a weekend off in a month. We capped off the day with a gussied-up trip to Mesa Grill, the famed Bobby Flay restaurant near Union Square. I had an excuse to wear my favorite dress of all time for the second time ever!They had a great ladies' room. (The food was great too.) The next day Dustin left for a broadcasters' convention in Las Vegas, while the girls and I had brunch and then hopped on the 4-train to go to YANKEE STADIUM!! (or is it Yankees' Stadium? Hmm.) In addition to ball players, beer sellers and peanut purveyors, we also saw a boy scout, ... and some Jewish kids. We were captivated by the game. We definitely couldn't resist yelling at the umps. We were straight chillin'. It was a beautiful way to spend the day. Covered in rain in the Bronx.
I'm back, and better than ever! Well, at least more tired. Sarra had to cut out for a family emergency this week, so I'm left alone to deal with the craziness of ESPN. I'll catch you up on the goings-on. Last Saturday night, Dustin and I went to a Seder! Oooh, exotic. It's Jewish! We were severely underdressed, which was a shame because I coulda gotten all dolled up! Fortunately, our natural beauty shined through. We mingled with his friends. As we all sat down for a nice Jewish dinner, accompanied by motion blur. Aaron read from the... something book, generously provided by Maxwell House (who knew?) While Sarah and Claire tried not to spill on themselves.Aren't these two just adorable? They just bought an apartment together, plus she's converting to Judaism for him. Which do YOU think is a bigger commitment? Throughout the night I developed a silhouette obsession. And boy, were there some fabulous shoes there. I struck a dramatic pose to personify the fierceness with which the Jews escaped Egypt, oh those long years ago. The next day was gloriously beautiful, with even more flowers blooming than last week. For some reason the side of this wall was just calling to me. It struck me as so beautiful in such a simple way, the shadows and all against the red brick. That night, our friend Andrew was in town from California for a Mets game with ESPN (it's all connected). He worked with me, Shannon and Kerri back at Channel 8, so we all hung out and had dinner in Queens. He told us stories quite livelily. (Livelily? Are you serious?) I don't remember why, but we started making faces. What happens when you ask 3 girls to stick out their tongues? You get 3 different responses: And, like many places in this city, Flo had a great bathroom. Its mirror/branches combination reminded me of winter (long gone by now!): Then it was back to work.
Yesterday (Sunday) was Coney Island Opening Day. I've recently made a list of things I want to do before I leave New York (if that ever happens!) so that I don't regret the NOT doing of something. I figured this would be an opportune time to accomplish one of the first items on my list: Ride the Cyclone at Astroland. Sadly, Dustin could not attend (working for the man), so I met my girls there after a long and lonely subway ride to the baby toe of Brooklyn, with only my tattered copy of "Jitterbug Perfume" to keep me company.
Even the subway station itself is festive o'er there. We were surprised to see the beach, as it was emptier than we'd ever seen it before. Usually (in July/August), the shore is peppered with Puerto Ricans, broken glass and boom boxes. Today there were but a few couples, some kids, and broken seashells. Li'l Jennifer, the sun in her eyes, tried to make a sour face at me but it was just cute. And Miss Kerri, freezing cold even though it was 57 degrees outside, donned her gloves, scarf, coat, and went to work photographing all in sight. We wandered around Astroland and another side goal of mine came true: I got to see the Hungry March Band again, a band that I have been trying to see since New Year's Eve and it has just never worked out... until now. You wouldn't think a 20-piece band would be so elusive. But alas! I have found them! This li'l tyke was just lovin' it. Then we embarked upon the adventure for which we'd travelled so far: The Cyclone. Built in 1927, it's one of the world's oldest roller coasters and VERY SCARY, mostly because it's so rickety while you're being thrashed around its wooden rails. This sign did not boost our confidence.Unfortunately they didn't let me take my camera on, so we had to recreate our fear immediately following the ride: After one more ride (they're like $4 each, for God's sake), we went back towards the shore and again spotted the Hungry March Band towards the water's edge. They were surrounded by a crowd and as we grew closer, we noticed the crowd was undulating in jumping jacks, and most people were in their swimming trunks. I gasped excitedly. "Do you guys know what this is?" I exclaimed. "It's the Polar Bear Club!!!" I had, just a few hours previous, been talking about another notch on my list, Become A Polar Bear. This is a club, made up 95% of hairy old men, who dive into the frigid winter ocean during the months between October and April. I have always wanted to do it, thinking it such a crazy adventure, but assumed I would wait until next January 1st (the best day to do it). However, we had unwittingly happened upon their second-to-last event of the season. We watched in awe as, in unison, they charged the ocean, splashing, hooting and hollering along the way. Everyone was fascinated. I saw a pair of young ladies out there who seemed to be not in their swimming suits but their plain old underwear. I thought, Hey. I'M wearing underwear. Maybe I should do it! Internally, I got whiny and fraidy-cattish and thought, Well, if I'd known I would have brought my swimsuit. Maybe next time. Blah Blah Excuses excuses. Then I thought, No! You know, I could go to work tomorrow and say "I saw the Polar Bears, and I was gonna do it and then I didn't" or you could go into work and say, "I jumped into the ocean and thought I was gonna die!" So I chose the latter. I tried in vain to convince Kerri to go in with me. I thought, I need at least one person to hoot and holler with me! But as I was doing so, Shannon was noticing that Jennifer was peeking at her own undies to see if they were acceptable for the public to see. Shannon yanked me aside and whispered loudly and excitedly, "ASK JENNIFER, SHE'LL DO IT, ASK JENNIFER!" So I looked at Jen, put my hands squarely on her shoulders and said, "Jennifer. Will you do this with me?" She smiled and said, "Yeah, I'll do it!" She had barely said "Yeah..." and my coat was off. We got down to our skivvies and ran out to the sea, screaming like little kids on a sugar rush. The old men (and few old ladies), cheered us on. We got in and tailing the adrenaline rush was the sharp pang of the icy water. It. Was. COLD. I didn't clearly understand the concept of it until I felt like pins and needles were piercing my skin and my lungs felt halved in size. It was honestly hard to breathe. This was around the time that the notion of hypothermia came clearly into view. We agreed that we shouldn't stay in too long, seeing as we hadn't done the jumping jacks and all. We got our proverbial groove on and hopped out, never before having been so grateful that our clothes were dry. After redressing, some old Polar Bears came up to us and thanked us for making their day. "Beware," they said, "this is what happens to you after being a Polar Bear!" Bald and hairy. Awesome.
Thank you, Coney Island... ... for helping make my dreams come true. P.S. - Later that day I gave Jennifer my latest work of brilliant genius, a variation on the painting I made for Kerri, which Jen had "commissioned" me to make. Here's the outcome: I like it. It's red.
On Saturday, the girls and I (sans Jennifer, who was working tirelessly on a paper for school) wanted to do a photo shoot in Central Park. But it rained. No worries, we had a backup plan. It involved a long subway ride, upon which we saw a weird homeless dude. I mean, I can only assume he was homeless. He kept putting things into his mouth. We arrived in Brooklyn and saw this awesome door. All 3 of us took a picture of it. And finally we arrived at the Brooklyn Brewery, where grandparents, hipsters, babies, and all sorts of people in between gather to sample local brews and, in our case, play Phase 10. Afterward, the sun was out and it was setting so we decided to try out our photo expedition again, this time by the water. We were rudely halted by a big fence. But Kerri and Shannon, masters of feminine wiles, flirted their way in, and we got behind-the-gate access to take some quick pics of the darkening Manhattan skyline.
We made our way back, stopping every now and then to take photos of the ADORABLE Shannon, ... and the exquisite natural textures all around us. We ended up at the world-famous (or maybe just New York-famous) thrift store Beacon's Closet. B.'s Closet also had some terrific textures. (I don't think I've said "terrific" since I was 10.) STILL making our way back to the subway, we stopped briefly at Fix coffee shop. My obsession with interesting bathrooms got the best of me and my memory card. The next day, spring was delightfully in the air and I walked across Central Park, admiring the flora and fauna and sky and air and colors and smells and tastes.It was SO BRIGHT out. I stopped at this little knoll to do the crossword (by myself; Dustin had to work! Such a misfortune on this beautiful day). But, in New York, one can never be truly alone. I was no exception. God, it was so beautiful out. The kind of day that makes you elated to be alive. This sweet little family from France asked me to take their pic in front of the white-blossomed trees. Afterward, I also took a photo for myself, because they were just such a sweet, loving family enjoying the day. Oh, early April. The time of year caught in a tug-of-war between the barrenness of winter and the blossoming of spring.Later, Jennifer and I went to the East River pier and got some ice cream. We enjoyed the tree-lined streets of the Upper East Side, so Cosby-esque. Happy Spring!! Ah, so lovely.
