Good morning! Today, May 12th, I celebrate 20 years of living in New York City. It's a little strange since I am only 29, but hey, math was never my strong suit <wink>

On this date in 2003, I moved back to NYC from having lived in LA for five years. It was a choice that I made borne from wanting to move back to the city I had loved from 1994-1998. So, in total, I've lived in New York for 24 years.

One of the songs that got me through the pandemic was Todd Alsup's Manhattan - it's a love letter to the city that never sleeps and it more or less encapsulates my feelings about this burg. Enjoy! ;)

(Photo credit: Rick Gilbert. Skyhook Entertainment, May 2013 for Bank of Tokyo  http://skyhookphotography.photoshelter.com )

Good morning and Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend! After last weekend's rain-o-palooza, this weekends clear skies and sunshine (and 70 degree temps) was definitely welcome!

We started off the weekend by seeing "Funny Girl" starring Lea Michele on Broadway. We all know the show has gotten rave reviews since Michele joined last autumn and I have to say, those raves are well deserved.

I haven't been to a Broadway show in years, not just because of the pandemic, but for some time before that - I mostly got tired of being annoyed over the glare of everyone using their cell phones as well as people arriving late, people talking during the show, and, in one case, a woman next to me eating soup out of her purse (on one hand I admired her ability to keep it all balanced, but on the other hand, must she slurp SO loud?? lol). 

Anyway, during Friday night's show, three people in front of us arrived during the first scene and promptly spent the entire show frantically texting; then a person behind us spent the show crinkling some plastic wrap (by the middle of the second act, the Mister could no longer stand it and turned around with a sharp look and a  "do you mind???").

There was also the incident a couple rows in front of us - a woman, who had been seated on the aisle, took it upon herself to re-assign her seat. We know this because when the two people whose seats those actually were showed up, the woman complained LOUDLY how inconvenient it was for her to move back to her actual seat. The two people insisted on sitting on their assigned seats, clearly confused why this is even an issue, and the woman harumphed her way back to her own seat and then we saw her COMPLAIN to her friends. That was some world class gaslighting going on there. 

BUT you know what? Michele (and the rest of the cast) is SO GOOD that none of that really mattered. Lea Michelle is frikkin BRILLIANT as Fanny Brice - her rendition of "Don't Rain on My Parade" was so magical that it elicited applause BEFORE SHE HAD FINISHED and the excitement generated in the audience at the end elicited the type of reaction reserved for a sporting event - I felt like a straight guy watching Monday Night Football! ;) What a treat!

And what an honor to have been in this room watching her performance - Michele is clearly having the time of her life and she generously shares her joy with the audience. I am so grateful. Days later, just thinking of that number, well, I get chills!

And, Lea, if you are reading this (I know you're not, but, my friends, humor me, please! lol) - pitch someone a sketch/music variety show ala Carol Burnett - your comic timing is amazing and the Mister and I both agreed that very few people could pull off a revival of the genre - and you are at the top of the list!

Also: we are looking forward to the day when you are at a point in your life when you can play Mama Rose and/or Dolly. I know those days are a bit far in the future :) 

As mentioned above, the rest of the cast, the costumes, the staging, the set - all brilliant as well.  Thanks to all involved for a fabulous theater experience! 

On a semi related note, if you know of Fanny Brice, you also know that she created the character of Baby Snooks. We looked Fanny up on You Tube and, wouldn't you know it? Someone posted a Baby Snooks radio program from 1951 - it's hilarious and 100% holds up. 

Michele's run in "Funny Girl" ends on September 3, 2023 - if you have the chance it's 100% worth your time and $!

Good morning and Happy Thursday, May the Fourth Be With You!  

The other night I attended an advance screening of the new movie, "Love Again" from Sony Pictures. It's a romantic comedy featuring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Sam Heughan as a couple who meet cute via text. Celine Dion also plays a major role veering between giving sage advice to the characters, issuing comic quips with precision timing, and acting as her own PR team for her upcoming tour.

The leads have a genuine chemistry and although there are a few bits and pieces that don't quite work, the overall ride is very enjoyable: I laughed, I cried, and I found myself wanting to buy tickets to Celine's show (and this is coming from someone who only very rarely likes going to big concerts of that sort).

There are genuine flashes of genius hidden in the story, such as a book agent who finds a clever way to motivate Chopra's children's book illustrator character, and a funny cameo by Chopra's real life husband Nick Jonas. And, of course, for those Outlander fans who like such things, we do get to see Heughan shirtless a few times. Just saying. :)

The screening was hosted by performer Yuhua Hamasaki who dressed as Celine to greet attendees - fans of drag will remember that Yuhua appeared on Season 10 of RuPaul's Drag Race. Click here to read the Entertainment Weekly article about Yuhua! And, because performing is what our queens do, we were treated to a lip sync to "It's All Coming Back to Me Now". It should be noted that Yuhua was in the dark as the theater didn't have any kind of follow spot (they really need a theater person on staff to plan/manage these events! lol).

On a personal note, I used to work in LA and New York LGBT nightlife (1997 - 2016) and planned/produced fundraising events that featured tons of drag queens from all around the country - I never met one that wasn't 100% willing to jump in and give of themselves for a good cause. I do miss it!

On a further personal note, I knew I'd been needing a haircut for some time but seeing this photo really drove it home for me and the next morning I stopped into Made Man Barbers in mid-town and got one of the best cuts of my life. I now look less like an old man and more like an old man trying to look young. No, wait. That's not right. <wink> Seriously, it's a great cut and I'll be going back. 

"Love Again" opens this Friday, May 5th! 

This year I have had the opportunity to spend a lot more time enjoying Spring than I did last year - and thank God I'm getting to enjoy the whole springing of Spring! :) 

Below is a shot I took in Riverside Park this morning - I'd been trying to photograph the emerging buds but they were just high enough that the pics were not turning out right....so, today, yes, I schlepped a step stool to Riverside Park and conducted a fairly extensive photo shoot with my iphone setting and re-setting the step stool. The best part about it is that I was on a fairly heavily traveled walkway and no one said anything about it at all. This IS one of the perks of living in a big city. :)

I got several shots that I was pretty happy with but sharing just the one for now. 

Good evening and happy Sunday! I write to you from December 2022 where, since my last batch of regular blogs, I've left one job, started another, traveled to Vermont, celebrated Thanksgiving, put up two trees with my partner (whom I refer to as "the Mister" since he values his anonymity), and tackled and finished two freelance design projects for a client. Whew. That was a lot to do in just six weeks. I suppose most people would have preferred all sort of spread out but while it felt like that the Michelle Yeoh movie "Everything All At Once" was the guiding light of autumn 2022, change happens when change happens and, although kind of chaotic, I managed to get through it with some grace. More on all of this at one point or another or maybe not, who knows. I sometimes overshare, and sometimes undershare but it all evens out in the end, I think. :)

For the moment I'm just sort of sailing through December trying not to fixate on the stress of the season as those who live here know the "special" kind of place our fair city is during the holidays. Instead, I'm trying to enjoy the moment and, to some degree, succeeding. :) 

Looking ahead into 2023, I realized that two of my favorite obsessions... uhm, er INTERESTS (lol) are celebrating 60 years in 2023 and I though how fun it would be if there was a cross over episode. I mean, Disney owns ABC which produces General Hospital and will start to stream Doctor Who in America next year so it's possible. I mean, common sense tells me that it  will never ever happen but in that small chance that putting it out to the universe will make it happen, here it is. Get to work, universe!

As an aside here, while we're wishing, "hi universe, I'd also like to put in my request for $10M to suddenly appear in my life" thank you. This could be because my comic strip characters get noticed by Netflix or Disney and they just HAVE to own them (now you know my asking price!) or maybe some person in the world decided that I should have $10M. I'm OK with either (but quite frankly, I'd rather it be the former than the latter... how wonderful for these characters to have a life beyond this blog and Instagram). 

ANYWAY. 

The point of all of this really is - I made it through all of last year, It was a LOT but I made it. With the help from The Mister and many friends. Please note that I will not be singing "I'm Still Here", but I absolutely could - I have, as the kids say, the receipts to prove just how much I've earned that (this is slightly cryptic for those who don't know some additional personal stuff that I was battling this year that I have not yet graced this blog with... ) 

The upcoming week is filled to the brim with all sorts of event work/holiday stuff and I am 100% looking forward to it but also looking forward to next Sunday, when most of it will be behind me. :) I probably won't have time to blog til this short cycle is over but know that I am chugging along in fine fashion. 

Finally- here is an advance poster for an event I'm doing at work. We decided to do a "Baked Potato Bar" and so today I purchased a stuffed tater at a local diner, shot it on a white towel, cut out the background and added some dazzle. I'm pretty happy with it and thought I would share it with you my blog reading public. :) 

I've been posting a lot this week and let me tell you, the service that runs this blog has had some major problems this week with their servers, so it's been a kind of challenge. But while those challenges aren't, I think, completely behind us, I have found pockets of time to post. Like with basically everything in my life, I've had to practice great patience this week. I'd like to say that I succeeded in being patient butttttttt having the time to devote to writing at exactly the time when the writing platform goes all wonky can be very frustrating. lol 

Today I took another walk and am realizing that it's probably better to do a walk every day rather than a mega walk every couple weeks. This time I reached the 4 mile mark. I didn't even realize it until I'd gotten home and checked the "health" app on my phone. Granted, I stretched that walk out over 2 hours which I won't necessarily have when I'm back to work next week so the next goal is to be able to do 2-3 miles in an hour before or after work. But that'll come, I'm not quite at the 'power walk' level quite yet. See also the aforementioned concept of "patience". :)

For this walk, I sailed up to 112th/Amsterdam to St. John the Divine.

I take a few minutes to pray every so often and this week, well, I just wanted to give thanks for being alive given where I've been at recently and also just spend a minute or ten contemplating the future and things that have been occupying my mind. Definitely a matter of "thy will be done" for me at this juncture. I'm letting go/letting God, as they say. 

There's a section where they have quotes from various authors in stones and this one from Audre Lorde felt especially appropriate: 

As I walked across W.110th, I noticed this artwork, which felt very much 'of the moment': 

A few photos from today's Park choice: Central Park 

This is one of my favorite buildings in all of NYC (around 102/CPW)- I've always wanted to live here - I mean, who wouldn't want to live in a turret? 

Finally, I walked back across W. 94th Street and encountered a brownstone in full Halloween decoration mode - the women doing the decorating were only too excited to talk about their creation - and that they'd be carving the pumpkins on the front steps the day before Halloween - would love to go back when they're done and carved! I really love it when NYers go out all for the holidays - and Halloween on the UWS is the BEST! 

It's SO easy to sit at ones desk all day every day especially over the past couple years - but this week with a few days off, I've been getting out and getting some much needed exercise. It's the perfect time of year for it with the fall colors but the weather has also been INCREDIBLE - temps in the mid 60s to low 70s are definitely something to encourage long walks. Yesterday I managed to log 3 miles, today, slightly less at 2.5 miles (but that's still not too shabby esp since it's been months since I've had the energy to go further than the Gristedes two blocks away ... and yes, I know how sad that sounds!). 

Today's trek took me up Columbus Ave to the park at 110th Street. The entrance descends in to the park and you feel like a grand dame arriving at the ball. OK maybe that's just me <blush> I visit Riverside Park all the time, Central Park comes a distant second (the cyclists have kind of ruined my enjoyment of it, sad to say) and I usually completely forget about the park at 110th- so much so that I don't even know its real name ( a quick google check to discover: it's called Morningside Park. Well, now I know). 

These walks are not only for a mental health break and a bit of exercise, but also in an attempt to lose some weight - I clocked in at a hefty 210 at one point in the thick of the pandemic (all the treats were just... RIGHT THERE!) and today I'm hovering around 195. My goal is to lose the belly and get back into the 170s. For someone who is 5'8", that's still a bit on the large size (as is measured medically, anyway) but I think do-able through no in between meal snacking, small portions and healthy exercise which will continue to include walks/cardio and, at some point, when life works out that I have access to a gym again, lifting weights. Usually putting ON weight has been one of the life long challenges and am hoping that I can make these changes on a slow and steady basis. 

Anyway, in addition to the scenery, I had a lovely call with an old friend while got some air and sun - all good things! Here now, a few of my favorite shots from today's walk. Enjoy! 

I had the day off today and needed a walk so I took a couple hours and walked through Riverside Park. The fall colors are starting to emerge but there is still plenty of summer to be seen. Here are just a few shots I took. Enjoy! 

Riverside Park is my go-to place normally but has been an essential destination over the past year. Spring has sprung a little later this year than usual, but, like everything else, even the seasons are teaching patience. Photo by Andrew Altenburg, 2021.