14 June
I woke this morning because my Da said my name.
I need to get into work early this morning, so I set the alarm for 7a. I woke up at 6.45a, because I had to go to the bathroom, but I have this bad habit of going back to sleep when I get up before the alarm, so I just reset the alarm to 8a and did so.
When it rang, I hit snooze. I can do that for an hour, you know, without actually meaning to, so it rang, I sat up, hit snooze, and lay back down to sleep for nine minutes.
Then I heard "Kimberly," and was completely awake.
The funny thing was that when I heard it in my sleep, I knew it was my father (partially because who the hell else ever called me Kimberly, besides my Mom), but when I opened my eyes and thought about the voice, it wasn't him. Then I realized that it was his voice, his younger voice, from when I was little.
It was really nice, thinking that he's watching out for me and making sure that I don't oversleep and get to work ontime--even if it was just a dream it's still a nice feeling.
Thanks for getting me up, Daddy!
Well, yesterday was a nice day.
I went into the city to try and see You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, but it wasn't up on the board, so I went to the theatre and found crowds clamouring outdoors, begging for seats and realized that even if I did want to spend sixty bucks, I still wouldn't get in, so I decided to see Via Doloroso (also closing that day, but due to a limited run rather than to lack of Tonys) instead.
And what is Via Doloroso? It is a one man show by and performed by English playwright David Hare about the problems in the Middle East. Sounds like a real corker, doesn't it? Well, how riveting does "Spaulding Gray discusses his macula pucker" sound? Not very, but Gray's Anatomy is a simply marvelous movie that I recommend very highly, as I do Monster in a Box, but especially Swimming to Cambodia, one of my favourite films of all time.
Anyway, back to Via Doloroso. David Hare went to Israel, where, a friend says, "we experience events and emotions in a single day that would keep a Swede going for a year," and interviewed secular Jews and Orthodox Jews and Arabs.
He went to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and to a settlement in a disputed area that he says he thought would be like the Old West, but was more like Bel Air and "but for the barriers and armed guards, might be one of those towns Steven Spielberg uses when he wants to show aliens disrupting suburban normality".
Going from Tel Aviv to the Gaza Strip, was, he said, like going from California to Bangladesh!
The whole thing was great, as David Hare, though no actor (he wasn't really able to make it sound spontaneous, since he's been performing this piece for over a year in London and New York, and his movements were a little studied) is a terrific storyteller.
I recommend the playscript very highly, if you come across it. The main point of the story is, what is more important, stones or ideas? He doesn't have the answer, and neither do I, but he's made me think hard about it.
After the show I wandered downtown to replace my nosering that I lost last week, so I went to St. Marks and got a couple (hopefully I will manage not to lose them for awhile) then walked across to 8th Ave. to go back uptown.
I haven't walked on 8th St. for awhile, and was faintly horrified at the changes. When I first moved to New York, you see, that was where I lived, those were my stomping grounds, but now everything's different.
Well, not everything--there are still nine million shoe stores on 8th St. between 5th and 6th, they may be different shoe stores in some cases, but it's more or less the same thing.
But there are two movie theatres gone (one I knew was gone, but the other was a surprise) and many little stores, all replaced by new and infinitely inferior businesses. Of course, this didn't stop me from buying Krispy Kreme donuts from the store that is where the 8th St. Playhouse should be, but I resented it.
And someday, twenty years from now, some kid who's at NYU now will be saying "8th St. has changed so. How could they have torn down the Krispy Kreme!"
Today's horoscope:
Information/stimulation overload! You could feel overwhelmed by papers, messages, meetings, and demands. Simplify your schedule.
One year ago today:
"I ate sausage beans and chips and I'm drenched and I'm listening to Irish music. I feel like I'm in England!"
* Yesterday / Index / This Month / Tomorrow *
Spring-like logo and graphics by:
Krystyn Wells!
This page was written by hand. My hand. Only
pussies use HTML editors.
Last Updated Mon 14 June 09:24:09 1999