Some Enchanted Evening

At this stage of my life, I think it is enchanting to see my sister across a crowded room, especially since we don't get to see each other very often. So this week I had the pleasure of hosting Kathie for three evenings. I think we would both agree that our most memorable evening was seeing the revival of South Pacific at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center. The last revival I saw at Lincoln Center was "Carousel" and it was so well done I was confident that this would be a great production. We were not disappointed. While we did not see the original cast, the current cast was excellent. The handsome baritone William Michals has evolved from the beast in "Beauty and the Beast" to Emile, the charming French plantation owner. An adorable blonde Laura Osnes was energetic and compelling as Nellie Forbush. I think even Greg (who hates South Pacific because of Mary Martin) would have fallen for her in her bathing suit. I've become a fan of director Bartlett Sher now that I've seen this production and the Tales of Hoffman at the Met. The music is wonderful and infectious (just to have a full orchestra is a treat nowadays) and I highly recommend this revival of South Pacific if you plan a theatre trip to NYC. I look forward to seeing the actor who won a Tony as original Emile, Paul Szot, in Gogol's "The Nose" at the Metropolitan Opera in March.

"You Ought To Be In Pictures" Part 3 Paul Newman and Arthur Miller in Brooklyn Heights

The carriage house in the photo dates to 1880 and is around the corner from us. It appears in the movie "The Verdict" with Paul Newman, although the movie takes place in the Boston area. As you will learn in subsequent "YOTBIP" entries, many Brooklyn Heights movie scenes are meant to evoke other cities and eras.

Dear Reader, I am learning that publishing a blog is serious work. I spent 45 minutes trying to research some of the details for today's entry and now realize I will have to do additional research to ensure that I am giving correct information. I have a serious guidebook which says that the house in the photo, 151 Willow Street, was Arthur Miller's home before he married Marilyn Monroe. However, after much research I cannot confirm that this is true. Another site says the Miller lived at 155 Willow Street which is a lovely red brick Federal house from 1826. Aside from which house he lived in, Miller produced such fantastic work while living in Brooklyn that he'll deserve a very long blog entry on his Brooklyn plays and his trials with HUAC and McCarthyism. A revival of his play "A View From the Bridge" (yes, that bridge) just opened to strong reviews this week and there will no doubt be other articles about Arthur Miller for me to use as research. It is as if I am taking a literature course just by following up on Brooklyn authors and it is quite a wonderful course.

"You Ought To Be In Pictures" Part 2-Moonstruck in Brooklyn Heights

Brooklyn Heights is like Meryl Streep, beautiful in her own right, able to age gracefully, and chameleon like in her ability to take on multiple personalities. And, like Meryl, BH is highly sought after for movies. Last week I attended a fun event hosted by the Brooklyn Heights Association in honor of their 100th birthday in which a local writer/director and two producers talked about Brooklyn Heights in the movies. A large part of the fun was seeing the location for a particular scene from various movies so these blog entries will be interspersed throughout the year as I acquire photos of some of the scenes that I was shown.

One of the most famous Brooklyn Heights movies is the wonderful Moonstruck with Cher and Nicholas Cage. Many of the scenes were filmed on Cranberry Street, which is the photo at the top of this entry. One scene includes Cher returning "moonstruck" from her night at the opera walking with her stiletto heels in her hands with the Manhattan skyline in the background. If you look to the left in the middle of the photo, you can see how Cranberry Street ends right at the East River with the skyline rising like a giant backdrop. Cher strolled dreamily at the location three blocks down from where this photo is being taken. Another scene has her mother, Olympia Dukakis, engaging in a flirtation with John Mahoney. As they walk down Cranberry Street her father comes around the corner and realizes that his daughter is two-timing the entire family. The corner is in the forefront of this picture. We'll return to Cranberry Street in future blog entries. Turns out it has been very popular with producers.

"You Ought To Be In Pictures" Part 1-Tina Fey

On Friday afternoon while visiting 5th Avenue and Rockefeller Center, my good friend Karin and I saw some activity on 49th Street, just to the south of the skating rink. We wandered over and discovered it was the film crew for 30 Rock. They were setting up shots with a stand-in for Tina Fey and we watched as they adjusted the lighting and sound booms and the crowd. We were told at least three times that we needed to move because our reflections were showing up in the glass windows that would be behind Tina Fey. After about 10 minutes we were rewarded and saw Tina tape about 20 seconds of film in front of Morrell and Company followed by about 10 seconds of film twenty feet further along the sidewalk. She looked just as ordinary, natural, and approachable as her TV persona. I shot several photos and two video snippets from my iPhone but didn't have a good close-up and it's really hard to see Tina. Karin gets credit for the photo above. She used the "Genius" app on her iPhone and immediately convinced me of its value. In addition to seeing Tina Fey I learned about a great new app and had a great time with a good friend. Nice afternoon. Tomorrow's blog entry will be about all the films that are located in Brooklyn Heights, hence the Part 1 to the title. (By the way, if there are any copyright issues for Tina's photo then I'll take credit for the photo. Don't want to get Karin in trouble.)

Friends on Fifth Avenue

Karin Ash joined me for an afternoon on 5th Avenue yesterday. We had a great time catching up on our families and friends and shopping. We both opted for small purchases-sweaters on sale at small stores. The prices at Saks Fifth Avenue's designer sale were offensive, especially given the conditions in Haiti. A sweater marked down to $450 from $900. Our highlight of the afternoon, in addition to meeting Bill Huling for drinks, is described in the next blog.

Haiti and GHESKIO-

Many of you know that I have been actively involved in Hearts' Cry, a charity that supports a small village in India, and that the reason I became involved was because of the one-on-one connection with the village and the knowledge that all of our stateside contributions were being sent for use in the village.

I feel a similar connection with GHESKIO a small but vital hospital with a funny acronym for its name. GHESKIO was founded by Cornell Weill Medical School 30 years ago to work with victims of AIDS and TB and its awkward title (it stands for the Haitian Group for the Study of Karposi's Sarcoma and Opportunistic Infections) reflects the knowledge of this disease 30 years ago. I've been aware of GHESKIO because Beth originally went to Cornell for her infectious disease fellowship with plans of doing her research there.

Now this small hospital is trying to respond to the needs of its neighbors. NBC highlighted the hospital on Wednesday night. Dr. Jean Pape keeps saying "we have no other choice" in this extended interview which discusses his plans for 1 week, 1 month, 1 year from now.

Seems like as good a place as any for my current heartstrings and to follow-up on my plans to not forget Haiti. If you want to contribute and see a regular accounting of where your contibution is going I suggest you consider GHESKIO too. Most of my readers are part of the Cornell community so this would be a logical home for your hearts also.

Globalization in the early 18th century

Uh oh, sounds boring.

But from my eyrie I can almost see the hundreds of masted boats that left New York for the West Indies on a regular basis during the early 18th century (1700-1730). I am reading about how New York thrived by globalized trading (sound familiar) during the early 18th century in the wonderful Pulitzer Prize winning history book Gotham.

By the luck of climate and tradewinds, New York was better situated (than Boston for example) to trade directly with the Caribbean Islands that were furnishing sugar to England. Sugar had become so highly valued it was known as "white gold" and plantation owners preferred to use all their island land to grow sugar cane and get the commodities from the colonies. I remember when Beth and I went to Barbados and stayed in a room built in 1867 for sugar plantation owners. We would look out our window high on a bluff overlooking the Atlantic and know that Africa was directly across the water. Reading Gotham I was able to imagine the boats that came to Barbados for commerce, not for tourism.

So how does globalization fit in? New York benefitted from economic triangulation: New Yorkers made their living by feeding the slaves who made the sugar (in the Carribean) that fed the workers who made the clothes and other finished wares (in England) that New Yorkers didn't make for themselves. Now we don't have slaves, just people paid like slaves. And traders don't actually make or ship the products, they just process everything electronically and pretend there is some value to their economic transactions.

For now I can look at the masted boats at the South Sea Seaport and pretend that they are about to leave for Barbados on the prevailing west winds.

I Have a Dream

Its Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Like everyone else, I am haunted by the pictures coming from Haiti. I've known enough about the hardships Haitians endure from the work of Cornell Weill's GHESKIO clinics and Paul Farmer's Partners in Health. Beth has long been interested in the work in HIV-AIDS that these two organizations engage in and the GHESKIO clinics were a major reason she chose Cornell for her Fellowship, even though her research has moved away from HIV-AIDS.

The Haitian people are a beautiful people who have endured so many hardships. Their spirit is so affecting and resilient. I will sound banal trying to add my commentary to the reams of articles and news reports we have been seeing for the past six days. But I do have a dream, and that is this horrible event will allow the Haitian people the opportunity to complete rebuild their country. Is it possible to start anew? Can the countryside be rebuilt, and opportunities developed outside of Port au Prince so that the homeless and destitute can find new hope? Can the orphans and those young children sold into slavery, now find a safe harbor provided by the international community?

I can dream and I can hope that I will personally rise to the challenges that this disaster has given to all of us. I'm trying to keep myself honest and have set up reminders for up to five years to see what I'm doing to help the Haitian dream.

der Rosenkavalier-Standing Room

The only thing I knew about der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss was that it is a perenially popular opera. But I thought of Strauss as the composer of Electra and Salome and thought it would be too "modern" for me. Yet the combination of my favorite soprano, Renee Fleming, and Susan Graham in this production was appealing to me.

Then last weekend I listened to it on the Saturday broadcast and loved the music so I tried to get tickets. The music was very lush and romantic. "Perenially popular" meant that the last remaining performance on Friday was sold out. So I ventured into the world of standing room.

What a wonderful discovery. I paid $30 for a ticket ($10 of which was a fee) and had a very satisfying view and the accoustics were fine for me. Standing was a bit tiring, but then I thought about the cashiers at grocery stores who are on their feet 8 hours a day.

The story is a comedy, modeled on the Mozart bedroom farces and set in Vienna in the 18th century during the beautiful era of the Empress Maria Theresa. Yet the enduring scenes are the bittersweet revelations on aging and the inconstancies of young love. Time passes "Die Zeit, die ist ein sonderbar Ding" The "aging" Marschallin (she is supposed to be in her 30s-he is 17)admits to getting up at night to stop the clocks in a desperate attempt to stop time. This is definitely an opera for a 60 year old. There were several other lines that really moved me, such as the Marschallin's observation that she looks old, yet still feels that she is the same girl.

The youthful lover, Octavian, is played by a mezzo-soprano. In this case it was Susan Graham and from my standing room location she looked exactly like a 17 year old boy and was very believable in the role. Of course, the highlight of the opera is in the final act when the Marchallin, Octavio and Sophie combine their voices in the famous trio which (as I learned later) is written "in the ultimate Romantic key of Dflat" and the Marchallin says "I vowed to love even his love for another" We old ladies are so wise and self-sacrificing.

Enough of the opera lesson. What I am learning (as I age) is that one should always take advantage of any opportunity to learn about a new opera, even if I have to stand.

Lady of Leisure at Lincoln Center-Part 2

Backstage at the Met

After the Open Rehearsal at the New York Philharmonic, I went to the beautiful new Apple Store on Broadway to ask a question about my iPhone and then indulged in an extravagent lunch at Fiorellos. Eating alone is no longer a problem when one can discretely read the New York Times on an iPhone. Having profiteroles for dessert after reading about the devastation in Haiti is a problem and I hope an online donation to the Red Cross made some amends.

Back across the street to the beautiful building at the left (center) of the photo above-the Metropolitan Opera House- for a backstage tour. These tours have a great reputation but I've never had the time to go at 3:30 p.m. on a weekday in New York.. at last I do. The Met is phenomenal and my admiration has grown over the past several years as a result of the HD performances and our increased attendance at the opera. This 90 minute tour took me (and 14 others) backstage into the vast labyrinth of non-stop design, construction, fittings, prop set-ups and "tear-downs", practice, and performance. The building is open 24 hours a day, six days a week and something is always in motion. While we were there they were moving sets from Stiffelio and Turandot and Boccanegra and the sets from Carmen and der Rosenkavelier were off to one side. In the crowded corridors I saw long racks of costumes for the upcoming Hamlet and in the workshop they were painting the palm trees for the new production of Armida. Mind you the palm trees were turquoise blue. Someone was practicing a scene from Stifelio in the practice room, and the wig for Carmen was being spruced up in the wig room. The career counselor in me was fascinated by the number of workmen (and women) who were shuffling scenery on wheeled carts, or painting scenery, or working with electrical wiring. What a great job, lots of variety every day. We only got glimpses of the HUGE stage and five (?) story tall proscenium because every time we tried to enter-from stage left, stage right, backstage, the crew were scurrying around with sets and backdrops. There were 90 minutes worth of discoveries, too much for this blog, so I'll just highlight a few more:

• Dressing rooms for the stars are very simple. About the size of the 3 cubicles that Holly, Susan and I shared. The "stars" like Renee Fleming have to keep their personal belongings in a locker (like the ones at Helen Newman) because only the evening's performer can use the dressing room. They have a dressing table, a small sofa for guests, a small piano for warm ups. I couldn't tell if they even had a bathroom but they must. On Saturday's the matinee performer has to get out at a certain time to accommodate the evening performer. We visited the tenor's room and Roberto Alagna's humidifier was on the floor, with magic marker citing his ownership.
• The stage is a city block deep. We traveled up and down the floors backstage in an elevator and I think there were 7 floors. I tried to get my facts confirmed on the web, but couldn't find a general site that told all these dimensions.
• The backstage is very, very crowded. With seven performances a week and sometimes 200+ performers on stage (not to mention about 100 in the orchestra pit) every available space is used to store something. When you see the Met in HD it often looks like there is a large, empty space on stage as they set up the next scene. Yet the 15 of us were scrunched by the door leading onto the stage and I wondered how the 200 members of the chorus would amble on so casually while singing.
• The largest repertory theatre in the world. 4000 seats. Perfect accoustics. The singers do not use ANY amplification and yet I can attest to the fact that one can hear them from the Grand Tier as clear as if you were in the same apartment . The students who accompanied us, from a small liberal arts college, seemed blase during most of the tour. But when we stepped into the theatre (they had never attended a performance) and they saw the size of it their mouths dropped open.
• I think I see a familiar face rush past me and into and practice room. When I check the website my suspicions are confirmed. It was Michael Fabbiano, who was in "The Auditions" last year (Donna Fleming will know who I mean). He has his Met premiere this week in Stiffelio. I feel like I know this young man.
• Tonite I am going to see Der Rosenkavalier in a standing room only "seat" because it is the last performance of the season and I wanted to hear Renee Fleming and Susan Graham. Several years ago in der Rosenkavalier they brought two dogs onstage who were supposed to be the pets of the Marschallin (the heroine). When the dogs got on stage they started to fuck and had to be separated by a stagehand with a big stick. The NY Times took a photo and a hue and cry went up about the Met's cruelty to animals. This bullet is one of my tests to see if you are reading my blogs. Our tour guide said the were "making love" but I want to make sure you are reading this.
• There are no right angles at the Met, because right angles are bad for accoustics. Luciano Pavarotti used to always take a right angled nail on stage for good luck. My tour guide gave me one at the end of the tour.

Tonight I am going to try to buy tickets for myself 4 more operas (The Nose, Hamlet, Attila, and Armida) using my Johnson School retirement gift certificate in addition to the four for which Greg and I already have tickets (La Boheme, Aida, La Traviata, and der Fliegende Hollander. Guess you can tell that I am really hooked on the Met this year! For may fellow fans, if you want to come take the tour I'd gladly do it again with you.

Lady of Leisure at Lincoln Center-Part 1

Today I felt the genuine freedom of retirement and enjoyed the ability to do things during the day that I previously only thought about doing.

Part One of this adventure was the Open Rehearsal of the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center. The Philharmonic performs in Avery Fisher Hall which is on the right side of this photo of Lincoln Center. I became a "Friend" of the NY Philharmonic this year and one of the benefits is tickets to selected rehearsals. Nearly all the attendees were obviously retirees who also share of love of music. There are some disadvantages to this audience as I sat in front of a nearly blind old woman ("What does this say? I can't read it") who would ask the question from her nearly deaf husband who would respond helpfully but very loudly. This was while we were all supposed to be quiet.

The Open Rehearsal offered the benefits of hearing beautiful performances but also watching how Alan Gilbert works with his orchestra. We heard the program which will be presented as the next three Philharmonic performances:
Berg's Three Orchestral Pieces
Schubert's "Unfinished" Symphony in B Minor
John Adams-The Wound Dresser
Haydn's Symphony #49 in F minor (La Passione)

The order listed above is how the orchestra rehearsed it today, but the concert will present the works in the following order: Haydn, Adams, Schubert, and then Berg. It looks like they choose the order for rehearsal based on the the convenience for the orchestra members. The Berg and Schubert pieces required the largest number of performers, so they must let them rehearse and then leave. The rehearsal last four hours and then these performers will be back tonight for another 3-4 hours. That's a long day. The orchestra members and Alan Gilbert were all very casually dressed. Sloppy t-shirts and blue jeans.

The highlight for me was "The Wound Dresser". John Adams is about my age and has composed some wonderful new operas which are personal stories behind momentous historical moments (Nixon in China, Doctor Atomic which is about the Los Alamos project, The Death of Klinghoffer). This 20 minute piece was written for Baritone and Orchestra and Thomas Hampson of the Met sang the poem. The Wound Dresser was written by Walt Whitman during the Civil War where he served in military "hospitals" in Washington DC where the wounded lay in unheated, unventilated canvas tents. I couldn't help but be moved as I thought of the parallels today with the victims of the Haitian earthquake

"Bearing the bandages, water, and sponge,
Straight and swift to my wounded I go...

I onward go, I stop,
With hinged knees and steady hand to dress wounds,
I am firm with each, the pangs are sharp yet unavoidable,
One turns to me his appealing eyes--poor boy! I never knew you,
Yet I think I could not refuse this moment to die for you, if that would save you..."

This piece was more melodic than I expected from a modern composer previously characterized as a minimalist. It was quite beautiful. And it was a rare treat to have the composer himself in the audience, and watch as Adams went up to talk about some corrections with Alan Gilbert, Thomas Hampson and the first violinist. Tonight's performance is the NY Philharmonic premier of this piece, but we actually heard the "premier" this morning.

This senile old lady (me) went and bought a discounted ticket to Saturday night's performance, forgetting that I was coming to the Open Rehearsal. I figured that Beth could take my ticket to Turandot which is also Saturday night and which she has always wanted to see. But now I'm really, really happy that I am going because I will get to see how the real performance differs from the Open Rehearsal.

Tomorrow's posting (Part 2) : my afternoon backstage tour of the Met.

Addendum: The New York Times review of Thursday evening's concert echoed many of my observations, which makes me feel a bit smug
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/16/arts/music/16hampson.html?ref=music

Two Russians and two knockout #2s

The two Russian works that we heard performed Friday night by the New York Philharmonic were each a work by a young artist at the beginning of his career. I always am a bit awestruck at the stories of young genius and the reminder of how much courage it takes for the young artist to make his/her mark in their field. Greg and I attended a fascinating Pre-Concert talk by John Mangum of the Philharmonic which filled in some of the background for each of these works.

Prokofiev wrote his Piano Concerto #2 in 1912 when he was 21 years old and just graduating from the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He wrote this work during a very difficult summer just after a good friend committed suicide. Prokofiev had considerable chutzpa and had used his Piano Concerto #1 written weeks earlier as the recital piece which won him the coveted Rubenstein prize from the Conservatory. Most students played Mozart or Beethoven but Prokofiev wrote these pieces to show off his technical brilliance and the Israeli pianist Yefim Bronfman rose to the occasion. I could not find a Bronfman recording of this particular piece but I hope to in the future because iTunes is presenting all of the Philharmonic concerts for this year. In the meantime I've included another artist from You-Tube because you can see her hands and the segment give you a sense of the nature of this piece.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWKT8VpGkZU

Rachmaninoff was a young artist who had to recoup his courage after a very cruel series of negative reviews, and a disastrous premier of his first symphony. It took several years and several months of serious psychotherapy before he broke through his "composer's block" to produce the exquisite Symphony #2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v60qgwtOQCI


This has always been one of my favorite symphonies-I'll test whether anyone is reading this blog by stating that I could have an orgasm listening to it. If you're reading this I think my statement deserves a comment!

Alan Gilbert conducted a brilliant, uncut version of this lush, romantic, intense symphony. I am looking forward to following Gilbert's career leading the Philharmonic. He floats as he conducts, using his entire body, stretching out to encompass the entire orchestra. He delicately moves on his feet, almost as if he were dancing. And the orchestra responds to his conducting. I don't recall hearing the Philharmonic sound this good. Friday's performance was a vibrant experience "Mr. Gilbert drew a revelatory performance from the Philharmonic" said Anthony Thammasini in his review
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/09/arts/music/09gilbert.html?ref=music

Our first of many New York Philharmonic concerts was exactly as I hoped the experience would be. We walked 3 blocks to the Clark Street Station, got on the 2 express train to 72nd street. We walked 6 blocks down Broadway and enjoyed the vibrant West Side on a Friday evening. It was simple, cheap, and wonderful. I am planning many more evenings like this for the next few months.

Ted

No fancy title for this entry, because Ted prefers to keep things simple. Ted flew back to Portland yesterday and had just enough New York City to satisfy him for a long time. He was very patient with his short-term-memory-incapacitated mother and even agreed to pose in the freezing weather on our terrace when I realized I didn't have a single picture of him from this holiday visit.

What a year 2009 was for Ted. He graduated from Reed with an outstanding record and faced the intimidating task of taking the GRE and applying to graduate programs in English. From the health and well-being perspective he gave up smoking and began running daily. The physical changes are dramatic. Next up? He's working on some essential issues and I'm sure he'll use the time spent on this exploration wisely and well.

Liberty's torch swaying?

Is the torch swaying? I swear I can see Lady Liberty’s torch move, so I pick up my new binoculars. Sure enough, she is shivering so much in the knifelike cold winds that her arm is losing its grip as she pulls her flimsy gown closer to her. It is COLD. We have whitecaps in the East River water and the waves are headed straight on to the Promenade.

This is the perfect museum day and we take the 5 back to Grand Central and walk down six blocks to the JP Morgan Library and Museum. It is the last day for the William Blake exhibition and Ted, Greg and I want to take it in. This is a wonderful opportunity to see his watercolored prints for the Book of Job, Milton’s L'Allegro and Il Penseroso and The Continental Prophesies. Blake might have done an engraving on Liberty with a swaying torch. I truly engage with these great works, by taking off my glasses and putting my face within inches of the pieces to read Blake’s handwritten poetry. Ted is very, very pleased to have the opportunity to see the work of an admired artist.

If you want to share this experience, the wonders of the web put it at our fingertips even after the exhibit has closed. http://www.themorgan.org/collections/works/blake/overview.asp

NYC Shopping Trips

Greg is rewarded for his generosity by my suggestion that he get the new pants he wants from Paul Stewart. We learn how easy it is to catch the 4 or 5 up to Grand Central station and have mid-town Manhattan so conveniently located. On our return trip we are serenaded on the train.

Les Contes d'Hoffman

January 2 (Saturday)

It is bitter, bitter cold out, so I arrange for a car service to take us to our second opera in one week. This proves to be a wonderful decision and “Jessie” picks us up at our door promptly at 6:45 and then picks up Beth. Beth has arranged for a standing room only ticket so that she can see an opera she has always wanted to see. Once again she takes the lemons and makes lemonade. She manages to even sweeten the mix by finding a balcony ticket for sale when we get there and selling her standing room ticket. We all enjoy the new production of this psychologically and intellectually interesting opera with its striking visual illusions to Freud, Kafka and Fellini. “Jessie” merits her tip by having the warm car ready for us at the end of the performance.

Sad News

That's how the email was titled on January 2, Saturday morning. I'd seen this title before and knew it would be sad indeed.

I learned that my nephew John Kruggel and his wife Heidi lost their baby girl whom they named Lorelei. Heidi has had more hardship than most young women, losing her mother to cancer a few short months after her marriage to John in 2008. John lost his best friend and older brother Alex only two years ago in 2007. My heart genuinely aches when I think about the profoundly sad New Year’s eve they endured and the cruel physical tricks that Heidi’s body continues to play on her (she had to endure a long labor and delivery knowing that the baby was dead and now she’ll have to lactate). This loss puts our minor disappointments in perspective: I’ve cried for John and Heidi but have remained more stoic about Beth. I think my emotions reflect the relative sorrow of the events. I will continue to pray for them and hope that Heidi, like John's mother Claudia, will be blessed with many beautiful children in the years to come.

The bitter cold weather and sharp gusty winds are blowing and whistling through our apartment. We are warm enough but the sounds are eery. I'm happy I'm in the third pigs brick "house" because that wind wolf does threaten to huff and puff and blow our house down.

The sky and skyline have been putty grey all day, but at 4:41 I watch an amazing gold/red sunset. I’m sure I’ll see many more.

New Year's Day 2010

Who knows what 2010 will bring? I have to ask myself the question again.

Once again, there is no traffic as I drive back to Brooklyn. I had brought blue jeans with me to Beth’s, so I have Greg meet me downstairs and give him the golden gown and slippers and then I drive the car 14 blocks to “The Parking Club”. This is the Brooklyn Law School subsidized garage where we’ll keep the car. It’s nice to get it off the street and not worry about it until I need it again. I love walking around Brooklyn Heights and stop to pick up some more supplies on my way back to Pierrepont Street.

I haven’t seen Avatar, but the trailers keep showing these creatures who fly around. I’m reminded of them today as helicopters fly over our apartment to the heliport on the East River across from them. There is a constant, non-stop drone and I wonder if this is what I can expect during our stay here. I couldn't get a photo on New Year's Day but hope to capture one later on in our stay. They move quickly and are actually very small when seen next to a skyscraper so my camera has a hard time focusing on them.

Emmaline has spent the night but the poor girl is suffering from food poisoning and feels rotten. She and Ted leave in the afternoon and visit places on interest in lower Manhattan. Greg and I shop at the expensive, but fun deli Lassen and Hennigs for a bowl-watching, low-keyed New Year’s day. Beth joins us for a few hours in the evening and we’re feeling at home in Brooklyn.