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The New York Jaunt and May Day
(Begun Saturday, April 29th and continued through the 30th. Cut for length and naughty Avenue Q references.)
On Friday I went to work early and stayed through lunch so I could catch my train to New York for my Grandma's 75th birthday party. The train was late (and I was already cutting it close) so I was very nervous that I'd miss the surprise, but I got there in plenty of time. I actually beat my parents and brothers there. Everyone except my uncle-who got held up in horrendous traffic-made it in time to surprise Grandma when she walked in. It was good to see everyone again, including my relatives from Colorado and my little cousin from New York. Grandma's older sister, her husband and their children (my dad's cousins) were there. We had a great dinner, during which Grandpa made many humorous speeches and we all told stories. One of my dad's cousins, a freelance editor, talked to me about the publishing business and says she wants to read some of the stories I've written. It might be a long shot, but maybe I could get published. Grandma also really liked the afghan I made her. It was good to see how much she enjoyed herself with her whole family around.
After that, I went with Daniel to his dorm and to his favorite hangout, where we caught up on stuff that would not have been appropriate to talk about in front of my young cousins. He was nice enough to take me back to the hotel, because I doubt I could have found my way on my own and a cab ride would have taken a long time. We passed through Times Square (which Daniel, like a true New Yorker, absolutely loathes). I was oohing and aahing at everything like a bumpkin. I really shouldn't have been such a tourist.
I had to share a room with Benjamin at the hotel. He can be annoying because he always takes control of the television and won't give it up, but since I don't really watch TV, it wasn't that bad - it's just that he was watching really stupid things. He also told me that the coffee and tea they had with that little brewer in the room were not complimentary but that you had to pay for them if you used them (he said that Daniel told him so: I think more likely that he misunderstood or misremembered something Daniel said). I wanted tea, but I didn't drink any because then Benjamin would never have shut up. At least he was nice at breakfast the next morning. We were both surprised at how much the breakfast buffet cost, but, you know, it's New York. Go figure.
While Dad and Benjamin went out with our relatives from Colorado, Mom and I went shopping and to the flagship Ouidad salon to get my hair cut. When I was at home, and when I went to college, I would go to a Ouidad technician in Virginia, but I don't go home as much now and there isn't a place in Philadelphia that does it - and it's the only thing that's ever gotten my hair to look good or stay under control. We also met Ouidad herself, who developed the hairstyling technique. She was glad to hear from Mom that her techniques worked so well for my hair, but was kind of indignant that Mom still blow-dries hers straight. Mom is now considering getting her hair curled again, the way she had it years ago.
Mom and I also cruised the 5th Avenue shops. We didn't do a lot of intensive shopping, but we did stop in the cosmetics area at Barney's. I'd forgotten how glamorous and high-end New York department stores are: their offshoots in other places, even in big cities and fancy malls, really fall short. Mom got some makeup and skin treatments for herself, plus some moisturizing sunblock for me, and she also got me some expensive perfume as an early birthday present. I don't usually wear perfume, but it's as hard for me to find a good scent as it is for me to find jeans that fit. I went through a dozen samples at the makeup counter before I found the one I wanted[1]. When Mom and I got our perfume he cut two lengths of ribbon (our choice of color) to have tied around the boxes when we bought them. I, however, took Mom's ribbon and tied it around her hair like a hairband. The perfume counter guy thought this was great, and cut a foot of each kind of ribbon for me. And these were nice silk ribbons, too! I wore them in my hair and on my wrists and eventually gave one each to Benjamin and my two cousins from Colorado, although I kept the purple ones for myself.
We also stopped in at a Bare Esscentuals (yes, that's how it's spelled) makeup salon. Mom likes to order their stuff through QVC, and I use their concealer. While I was there I got one of the store attendants to brush some foundation and blusher on my face. The foundation actually looks better than my concealer and it apparently helps heal skin, so Mom decided to order some for me through QVC (which was actually cheaper than the store)). I also got some lip gloss there. We then rushed to the subway so we could catch up with the rest of the family for lunch at the Edison Cafe, one of my Dad's favorite places from way back when we lived in the New York area. It's one of those famous Jewish delis that has been owned by the same family for approximately forever. Their sandwiches aren't as big as the ones at the 4th Street Deli in Philly, but they're very good and you also get lots of side dishes.
Mom and my aunt Liz from Colorado went to Sephora[2] while my dad, Benjamin, my uncle Wayne and my cousins went back to the hotel to take a breather and prepare for dinner that night (Jonathan, my father's younger brother, had arranged a special dinner for Grandma - this one she had known about in advance and it wasn't a suprise like Grandpa's). We hung out in my cousins' room for a while. Benjamin and my cousins Wyatt and Noah all had PSPs and were playing with/against each other and teasing each other about how their games/playing skills stunk. I just worked on knitting my sock (which is coming along well, if slowly). Noah had a bit of a cold and kept sniffling. He'd been very difficult before when uncle Wayne told him to blow his nose, so I told him that he should get a tissue before he got a bunch of bright green snot coming out that made it look like aliens were living in his nostrils. He thought this was a riot, and yes, he blew his nose.
After about an hour Benjamin and I went back to our rooms so that Wyatt and Noah could take naps. We got changed for the birthday dinner: the skirt I was wearing, one of my favorites, seemed looser than it had before. I found out later that the elastic in the waistband had broken somehow and I actually had to spend part of the evening holding up my skirt to keep it from falling off, but that's onther story.
Benjamin hassled me to get ready quickly and made me rush downstairs with him to meet Mom and Dad in the lobby. I wasn't quite done getting ready so Benjamin went down without me. When I took the elevator down I saw him talking on his cellphone to Mom or Dad and he went back up to the room. I looked around the lobby but didn't see anyone, and after waiting for a while, I got fed up and went to take the elevator back upstairs. Just as I got into one, the door of the elevator across from me opened and there was Benjamin, who had come back down. I rushed out through the closing doors and thoroughly chewed out Benjamin (not that he cared). The rest of our family came down and we all went to Blue Smoke, a famous rib restaurant, for the dinner.
I finally got to meet my little cousin Nicholas at the dinner (he's about two, very shy and adorable), who is Jonathan's son. He hadn't been at last night's dinner. Ruby, his daughter, was also there. Daniel came along with his girlfriend Janteigh[3], who sat across from me. Janteigh has actually met my parents before and she knows uncle Jonathan, aunt Heidi and their kids, but I've never been around when she visits. Altogether, there were sixteen of us at a very long table. It was hard to have a conversation with anybody because it was so loud in there. The food was good, but Benjamin and I had to leave early so we could see Avenue Q (and Benjamin, naturally wanted to leave earlier than was necessary).
We got good mezzanine seats for the performance[4], but having seats up there is sort of a problem because the set and blocking in Avenue Q is designed to be seen straight on, not from above.[5]. Still, it was a great show. The performers handling puppets brought them to life in a very impressive fashion and, with the help of very good stage lighting, managed to make sure that all the attention was on the puppets, not themselves. The non-puppet characters interacted with the puppets in a very natural way, so the show balanced the real and surreal aspects very well. The whole stage set was also very creative. Most of the time it looked like three small apartment buildings in a sort of run-down area of town: parts of the set would swing out or light up as appropriate. I know just enough about staging and set design to appreciate how compact and modular it was.
By the way, Avenue Q is everything it's cracked up to be. Just be warned - try not to go with people who would be forever psychologically scarred by a puppet sex scene. Or only go with them if you're sure their reactions will be really, really funny. Benjamin spent part of the time trying to hide behind my arm, even though he knew what he was in for when we got the tickets, since we both have the soundtrack on our iPods and have heard it multiple times. And for a birthday present he got me an Avenue Q poster that read "Warning: Full puppet nudity." I mean, what was he expecting? He also got himself a shirt that says "It sucks to be me" and got Daniel a "The internet is for porn" mousepad. Later he had a big argument with Mom and Dad over whether he could wear the "sucks to be me" shirt at school. It's not the first time he's had that argument with them, although of course it's always over different shirts. Ridiculous.
Although Jon and Heidi were having a brunch on Sunday, I had to wake up and leave early for May Day at Bryn Mawr: I promised I'd be there and some of my alum friends are going too. I'm kind of sorry that both these things happened in one weekend so I had to rush from one to the other, but what can you do? Since I got ready early, Dad and I walked to Penn Station, passing through Times Square on the way (I didn't mention that our hotel was on the edge of Times Square, and Benjamin and I had a good view of it from our window). I should visit the city more often: I do love Philadelphia, but I was born in New York and spent my tender childhood years living close to it, and it has some ineffable quality that makes me feel at home there.
Further news after I get back from May Day festivities.
--------------------------------------------------------
Well, it was a hectic but fun May Day. I dragged myself, my suitcase and all my stuff from the train station down Senior Row so I could see the Doublestar Play. It was great to see all my friends, including Bethany and Jane, who were visiting. I also ran into my former HA, Sarah. I also spent some time with Liz and Phoebe (the former Fearless Leader of Doublestar), and an alum named Kim who graduated in the early 80s. We spent a lot of time in the Denbigh back smoker talking about various geeky things, including our fanfics. She actually has this massive mega-epic crossover fanfic thing called Starbucket, which she still works on occasionally.
I caught all the traditional May Day plays this year, including the Greek Play, which is always written and staged by Archaeology and Classics majors. The writer and star performer of this year's play was Claire, who I first met when she joined Doublestar as a frosh. She wrote a spoof of Euripides' Medea, turning it into a musical by filking various popular and classic tunes. The Greek Play is always great fun. The Robin Hood play spoofed Pinky and the Brain and Resevoir Dogs, among other things. Alas, there was no archaeology fashion show this year, but Claire came to the rescue and did an impromptu standup comedy act centered around her thesis (arguing against the theories of a certain archaeologist whose name I forget), Alexander the Great, and various Roman emperors. Then Kim (the alum with the massive fanfic that I mentioned before) shared with us some ancient Greek/archaeology-themed filks. Both acts were a real hit with the audience. I think this kind of thing could only happen at Bryn Mawr.
I managed to catch the last train out and get home without incident, but I was so tired from running around and having no sleep that I didn't unpack and I decided to sleep through what would normally have been my morning exercise time. I feel a lot better for having had a decent night's sleep.
To look forward to next weekend: the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival!
Also, those of you in the Philly area and particularly on the D&D listserve, please let me know if you are free on the 20th/21st to help me celebrate my 23rd birthday. It's actually on the 14th but that's around graduation time for both Bryn Mawr and Penn. I don't mind having it later if that means people can actually come.
[1] When talking to the guy running the makeup counter, I described my ideal scent as "not sharp like citrus or pine, more earthy and floral, very soft and subtle. If the smell had a color it would be a sort of dark red."
[2] It's a perfume, makeup and skin care shop. There are some in malls in Maryland and Virginia and one at King of Prussia, but none in Colorado, so Liz really wanted to stop there, and of course Mom is happy to shop with anyone.
[3] That's actually her nickname and I know I'm not spelling it correctly.
[4] You don't want to know how much they cost. Really.
[5] In the early days of Avenue Q, of course, it was played in a smaller venue, probably one without a mezzanine.[6]
[6] Gosh, this entry has a lot of footnotes.
On Friday I went to work early and stayed through lunch so I could catch my train to New York for my Grandma's 75th birthday party. The train was late (and I was already cutting it close) so I was very nervous that I'd miss the surprise, but I got there in plenty of time. I actually beat my parents and brothers there. Everyone except my uncle-who got held up in horrendous traffic-made it in time to surprise Grandma when she walked in. It was good to see everyone again, including my relatives from Colorado and my little cousin from New York. Grandma's older sister, her husband and their children (my dad's cousins) were there. We had a great dinner, during which Grandpa made many humorous speeches and we all told stories. One of my dad's cousins, a freelance editor, talked to me about the publishing business and says she wants to read some of the stories I've written. It might be a long shot, but maybe I could get published. Grandma also really liked the afghan I made her. It was good to see how much she enjoyed herself with her whole family around.
After that, I went with Daniel to his dorm and to his favorite hangout, where we caught up on stuff that would not have been appropriate to talk about in front of my young cousins. He was nice enough to take me back to the hotel, because I doubt I could have found my way on my own and a cab ride would have taken a long time. We passed through Times Square (which Daniel, like a true New Yorker, absolutely loathes). I was oohing and aahing at everything like a bumpkin. I really shouldn't have been such a tourist.
I had to share a room with Benjamin at the hotel. He can be annoying because he always takes control of the television and won't give it up, but since I don't really watch TV, it wasn't that bad - it's just that he was watching really stupid things. He also told me that the coffee and tea they had with that little brewer in the room were not complimentary but that you had to pay for them if you used them (he said that Daniel told him so: I think more likely that he misunderstood or misremembered something Daniel said). I wanted tea, but I didn't drink any because then Benjamin would never have shut up. At least he was nice at breakfast the next morning. We were both surprised at how much the breakfast buffet cost, but, you know, it's New York. Go figure.
While Dad and Benjamin went out with our relatives from Colorado, Mom and I went shopping and to the flagship Ouidad salon to get my hair cut. When I was at home, and when I went to college, I would go to a Ouidad technician in Virginia, but I don't go home as much now and there isn't a place in Philadelphia that does it - and it's the only thing that's ever gotten my hair to look good or stay under control. We also met Ouidad herself, who developed the hairstyling technique. She was glad to hear from Mom that her techniques worked so well for my hair, but was kind of indignant that Mom still blow-dries hers straight. Mom is now considering getting her hair curled again, the way she had it years ago.
Mom and I also cruised the 5th Avenue shops. We didn't do a lot of intensive shopping, but we did stop in the cosmetics area at Barney's. I'd forgotten how glamorous and high-end New York department stores are: their offshoots in other places, even in big cities and fancy malls, really fall short. Mom got some makeup and skin treatments for herself, plus some moisturizing sunblock for me, and she also got me some expensive perfume as an early birthday present. I don't usually wear perfume, but it's as hard for me to find a good scent as it is for me to find jeans that fit. I went through a dozen samples at the makeup counter before I found the one I wanted[1]. When Mom and I got our perfume he cut two lengths of ribbon (our choice of color) to have tied around the boxes when we bought them. I, however, took Mom's ribbon and tied it around her hair like a hairband. The perfume counter guy thought this was great, and cut a foot of each kind of ribbon for me. And these were nice silk ribbons, too! I wore them in my hair and on my wrists and eventually gave one each to Benjamin and my two cousins from Colorado, although I kept the purple ones for myself.
We also stopped in at a Bare Esscentuals (yes, that's how it's spelled) makeup salon. Mom likes to order their stuff through QVC, and I use their concealer. While I was there I got one of the store attendants to brush some foundation and blusher on my face. The foundation actually looks better than my concealer and it apparently helps heal skin, so Mom decided to order some for me through QVC (which was actually cheaper than the store)). I also got some lip gloss there. We then rushed to the subway so we could catch up with the rest of the family for lunch at the Edison Cafe, one of my Dad's favorite places from way back when we lived in the New York area. It's one of those famous Jewish delis that has been owned by the same family for approximately forever. Their sandwiches aren't as big as the ones at the 4th Street Deli in Philly, but they're very good and you also get lots of side dishes.
Mom and my aunt Liz from Colorado went to Sephora[2] while my dad, Benjamin, my uncle Wayne and my cousins went back to the hotel to take a breather and prepare for dinner that night (Jonathan, my father's younger brother, had arranged a special dinner for Grandma - this one she had known about in advance and it wasn't a suprise like Grandpa's). We hung out in my cousins' room for a while. Benjamin and my cousins Wyatt and Noah all had PSPs and were playing with/against each other and teasing each other about how their games/playing skills stunk. I just worked on knitting my sock (which is coming along well, if slowly). Noah had a bit of a cold and kept sniffling. He'd been very difficult before when uncle Wayne told him to blow his nose, so I told him that he should get a tissue before he got a bunch of bright green snot coming out that made it look like aliens were living in his nostrils. He thought this was a riot, and yes, he blew his nose.
After about an hour Benjamin and I went back to our rooms so that Wyatt and Noah could take naps. We got changed for the birthday dinner: the skirt I was wearing, one of my favorites, seemed looser than it had before. I found out later that the elastic in the waistband had broken somehow and I actually had to spend part of the evening holding up my skirt to keep it from falling off, but that's onther story.
Benjamin hassled me to get ready quickly and made me rush downstairs with him to meet Mom and Dad in the lobby. I wasn't quite done getting ready so Benjamin went down without me. When I took the elevator down I saw him talking on his cellphone to Mom or Dad and he went back up to the room. I looked around the lobby but didn't see anyone, and after waiting for a while, I got fed up and went to take the elevator back upstairs. Just as I got into one, the door of the elevator across from me opened and there was Benjamin, who had come back down. I rushed out through the closing doors and thoroughly chewed out Benjamin (not that he cared). The rest of our family came down and we all went to Blue Smoke, a famous rib restaurant, for the dinner.
I finally got to meet my little cousin Nicholas at the dinner (he's about two, very shy and adorable), who is Jonathan's son. He hadn't been at last night's dinner. Ruby, his daughter, was also there. Daniel came along with his girlfriend Janteigh[3], who sat across from me. Janteigh has actually met my parents before and she knows uncle Jonathan, aunt Heidi and their kids, but I've never been around when she visits. Altogether, there were sixteen of us at a very long table. It was hard to have a conversation with anybody because it was so loud in there. The food was good, but Benjamin and I had to leave early so we could see Avenue Q (and Benjamin, naturally wanted to leave earlier than was necessary).
We got good mezzanine seats for the performance[4], but having seats up there is sort of a problem because the set and blocking in Avenue Q is designed to be seen straight on, not from above.[5]. Still, it was a great show. The performers handling puppets brought them to life in a very impressive fashion and, with the help of very good stage lighting, managed to make sure that all the attention was on the puppets, not themselves. The non-puppet characters interacted with the puppets in a very natural way, so the show balanced the real and surreal aspects very well. The whole stage set was also very creative. Most of the time it looked like three small apartment buildings in a sort of run-down area of town: parts of the set would swing out or light up as appropriate. I know just enough about staging and set design to appreciate how compact and modular it was.
By the way, Avenue Q is everything it's cracked up to be. Just be warned - try not to go with people who would be forever psychologically scarred by a puppet sex scene. Or only go with them if you're sure their reactions will be really, really funny. Benjamin spent part of the time trying to hide behind my arm, even though he knew what he was in for when we got the tickets, since we both have the soundtrack on our iPods and have heard it multiple times. And for a birthday present he got me an Avenue Q poster that read "Warning: Full puppet nudity." I mean, what was he expecting? He also got himself a shirt that says "It sucks to be me" and got Daniel a "The internet is for porn" mousepad. Later he had a big argument with Mom and Dad over whether he could wear the "sucks to be me" shirt at school. It's not the first time he's had that argument with them, although of course it's always over different shirts. Ridiculous.
Although Jon and Heidi were having a brunch on Sunday, I had to wake up and leave early for May Day at Bryn Mawr: I promised I'd be there and some of my alum friends are going too. I'm kind of sorry that both these things happened in one weekend so I had to rush from one to the other, but what can you do? Since I got ready early, Dad and I walked to Penn Station, passing through Times Square on the way (I didn't mention that our hotel was on the edge of Times Square, and Benjamin and I had a good view of it from our window). I should visit the city more often: I do love Philadelphia, but I was born in New York and spent my tender childhood years living close to it, and it has some ineffable quality that makes me feel at home there.
Further news after I get back from May Day festivities.
--------------------------------------------------------
Well, it was a hectic but fun May Day. I dragged myself, my suitcase and all my stuff from the train station down Senior Row so I could see the Doublestar Play. It was great to see all my friends, including Bethany and Jane, who were visiting. I also ran into my former HA, Sarah. I also spent some time with Liz and Phoebe (the former Fearless Leader of Doublestar), and an alum named Kim who graduated in the early 80s. We spent a lot of time in the Denbigh back smoker talking about various geeky things, including our fanfics. She actually has this massive mega-epic crossover fanfic thing called Starbucket, which she still works on occasionally.
I caught all the traditional May Day plays this year, including the Greek Play, which is always written and staged by Archaeology and Classics majors. The writer and star performer of this year's play was Claire, who I first met when she joined Doublestar as a frosh. She wrote a spoof of Euripides' Medea, turning it into a musical by filking various popular and classic tunes. The Greek Play is always great fun. The Robin Hood play spoofed Pinky and the Brain and Resevoir Dogs, among other things. Alas, there was no archaeology fashion show this year, but Claire came to the rescue and did an impromptu standup comedy act centered around her thesis (arguing against the theories of a certain archaeologist whose name I forget), Alexander the Great, and various Roman emperors. Then Kim (the alum with the massive fanfic that I mentioned before) shared with us some ancient Greek/archaeology-themed filks. Both acts were a real hit with the audience. I think this kind of thing could only happen at Bryn Mawr.
I managed to catch the last train out and get home without incident, but I was so tired from running around and having no sleep that I didn't unpack and I decided to sleep through what would normally have been my morning exercise time. I feel a lot better for having had a decent night's sleep.
To look forward to next weekend: the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival!
Also, those of you in the Philly area and particularly on the D&D listserve, please let me know if you are free on the 20th/21st to help me celebrate my 23rd birthday. It's actually on the 14th but that's around graduation time for both Bryn Mawr and Penn. I don't mind having it later if that means people can actually come.
[1] When talking to the guy running the makeup counter, I described my ideal scent as "not sharp like citrus or pine, more earthy and floral, very soft and subtle. If the smell had a color it would be a sort of dark red."
[2] It's a perfume, makeup and skin care shop. There are some in malls in Maryland and Virginia and one at King of Prussia, but none in Colorado, so Liz really wanted to stop there, and of course Mom is happy to shop with anyone.
[3] That's actually her nickname and I know I'm not spelling it correctly.
[4] You don't want to know how much they cost. Really.
[5] In the early days of Avenue Q, of course, it was played in a smaller venue, probably one without a mezzanine.[6]
[6] Gosh, this entry has a lot of footnotes.