Yesterday was a really amazing day, starting out badly, ending well and with everything in between.

I dragged my ass out of bed at the crack of dawn to get to the line for the closing performance of Metamorphoses, though less cracky than I would have had Melissa not said that 7a was insane and 9a was early enough, that it wasn't Rent for heaven's sake.

There was a message on my cell from Kate and Melissa saying that Philly was being hit with a huge snowstorm and they would not be staying to see the show and be on the line with me because they were afraid that the trains would stop running and they wouldn't be able to get home and would have to begin new lives in New York.

I was leaving the house around 8.30a or so, when I heard Cynthia upstairs in the kitchen, and I thought I'd run up and tell her a neat story of something that had happened the night before. I got up there and she was on the phone and Fran was in the doorway, and she pointed at him and me and turned her back, so I said to him, "What happened?" and he said that her father had died in the night. She was calling the airlines, trying to get a flight to Tennessee.

Dear God. He'd been not entirely well for a long time, but that's different from being actually on his deathbed, and it was a terrible shock. I thought at first that she hadn't seen him since before Molly was born, but Fran reminded me later that she had gone home for a long weekend just a few months ago. Thank God for that, as I don't think that she would have been able to take it if she hadn't.

I stood there for a minute, uncertain whether to go or not, but since she was getting a flight and leaving right away, my hanging around the house looking soulfully at her would have been more of an annoyance than anything else, and I knew that Jon would take the kids, so I went into the city.

I got to the theatre at about 9.20a or so, and I was the first one in line. 7a would have been madness. It was so cold. I cannot even begin to emphasize strongly enough how incredibly cold it was. And with my impeccable timing, I had lost one of my mittens just the night before.

9.20a. The box office opened at noon. That was a long time to wait in the cold, let me tell you. When Omar and I went the other week it was less cold and for a shorter period and he were able to huddle together, this was much worse. But worth it! Because Metamorphoses is worth any amount of discomfort.

People kept coming, and when I told them that the box opened at noon on Sundays, leaving just as quickly. Especially since there was no line, just me alone. Around 10.30a the second person came, and then people really started to arrive. The first three of us in line decided to take turns going somewhere to warm up, and I went to the Blimpies across the street.

I never thought much of Blimpies, and wouldn't et one of their sandwiches for anything in the world, but at that moment they were a shining mecca of warmth. I got a cup of tea and didn't even bother to drink it, just held it in my hands and sat for my ten minute allotment, thawed out everything but my feet, then went back to the Line of Doom.

Where it turns out they had just come out to tell us that they were going to let us in early! They clearly took pity on us, since they never open the lobby early, not never not nohow, but it was, if I hadn't mentioned it before, fucking cold.

There was another 45 minutes of waiting before the box opened, but it was like waiting at a resort in the Bahamas compared to what came before it. I bought my two tickets, for Tracing and myself, and split.

It was only three hours before the show and I didn't want to go home, so I decided to see a movie at the AMC, and chose Daredevil. Which I really dug, by the way! Afterwards I read reviews and comments in people's journals and by God did everyone think that it reeked, but hey, for me it was a big handsome violent guy dressed in leather kicking ass while filled with secret pain, what could be wrong with that? Nothing, that's what.

The scene in the playground with Jennifer Garner was really hot, loved Colin Farrell and Jon Favreau (whom I normally cannot stand), the fights were great, there was Catholic imagery everywhere, it was just fine.

When I read all of the bad stuff, I wondered if I had been wrong, but of course I was not. How could I be wrong? If I liked it, I liked it, what does it matter whether anyone else liked it or not?

Then I went to the theatre to meet Tracing. Who was later than I would have liked, but not actually late. She can miss me in my show all she wants, but there will be no missing of Metamorphoses, that is sacrilege!

She got there, and was witness to the bag-check girl recognizing me even without the pink hair, commenting that she had thought that she would be seeing me at the evening performance. Of course, I wish I had gone to that one, but first Melissa and Kate could only see the matinee, and then I made plans with Omar so even with the girls canceling, I still couldn't go to the ultimate performance, only the penultimate.

But it was glorious. Glorious. The one I saw the other week was slightly off, remember, an understudy was in and the whole show felt a little down, but this one just crackled. The air was alive. When it was over, I turned to Tracing and said, "See?" and she said, "Yeah," and then we sat there and didn't speak for five minutes. It took her a long time to come, but I'm so glad she did.

Afterwards, I needed to buy a t-shirt for myself and for Katie, but had run out of money and they didn't take credit cards, so I ran out to the cash machine and got some dosh, and by the time we had gotten back, some of the actors had come out. Not Chris Kipiniak, I wasn't that lucky, but my favourite besides him, the one whom I think is the best actor in the show, Erik Lochtefeld. There were these two women talking to him, and when they were done, I walked up to him.

"I have seen this show eight times and have never talked to any of the actors afterward, but I wanted to let you know how much this show means to me."

I'll tell you, if you ever want an actor to stop and talk to you for five minutes, that's the opening remark to give. He was incredible sweet and appreciative (and tall, he was much bigger than he looked onstage), he said that the show meant a great deal to everyone in the cast and he was so glad to know that it mean so much to me as well. I told him how much I admired his work, particularly in Eros and Psyche, and asked about the likelihood of the show moving, and he said that it wasn't going to happen.

The best moment was when he said to me, "I'm Erik!" and I answered, "I know!" like the big stalker than I am.

Then I had to wait for Omar to call. He was in Jersey visiting his parents and we were going to a 9p show so there was some time to kill. I went over to BBs and hung out, read The Neverending Story, ate some mashed potatoes, it was fine.

He called only a little later than expected, came over and picked me up, then we went to The Coffee Pot. That's where we went after the Metamorphoses line, and it's a great hangout. There are sofas and you can hang out forever on one cup of tea, it's very Friends.

We were there for a couple of hours, he told me an idea for a film about a man who doesn't talk, and I fleshed it out with him. I can't invent a plot to save my life, but I can riff on someone else's idea. We had a really nice time, he's so funny. I don't remember what he said to prompt this, but at one point I said that he was a dork trapped in the body of a matinee idol.

Then we went to the theatre, which was pretty empty, though there was an earlier show going on. Then it ended, but there was still no audience or anyone to sell us tickets, so we just walked in. The penny didn't drop until Marsha came in with her fella and told us that the show had been at 5p that day, though they hadn't known it themselves!

So the four of us went to the bar and had a light dinner and a couple of drinks. This was the second time in a few days that the four of us hung out together. On the way to the van, I remarked that we seemed to be double-dating with them, and he said that he had felt the same way that I had about them on Valentines Day, sort of tense about having to make conversation with these strangers rather than being alone, but he really ended up liking them.

It's funny, we didn't do the think that we had met up to do, see Marsha's show, but it ended up being the best date that we ever had, just sitting and talking for five hours.

When I got home, Fran told me about Cynthia catching a flight and just missing the snow that was really starting to come down, and also that we would have to cancel the reading of Moon For the Misbegotten that was going to take place tonight because he couldn't find anyone to sit with the kids.

I was sorry, but as Omar and I figured out while we talked about it, Philip couldn't come because of his rehearsal, Cynthia couldn't be there, the snow would probably keep people away, it was actually for the best to cancel. This way we'll reschedule in April and have everyone there that we want.

Today's horoscope:
You've been ready for this day. The real thing is a wonderful experience after all the drills and simulations. Go forth with confidence in a world that you completely understand.

One year ago today:
Then I really decided fuck it, and had some ice cream. Admittedly, it was diet ice cream, so it wasn't much in the way of binges...

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Last Updated Sun 23 February 00:23:09 2003