Monsters and Purgatory

It’s really true what they say, New York City is a place where you can do everything, but not afford anything.  Oh to be independently wealthy was a thought that infiltrated my brain chemistry over and over again as I made my way around Midtown, Park Slope, and Williamsburg.

New York City is an introvert's dream, which is kind of weird thing to say. Why would so many self proclaimed loners flock to a city of millions? I wish I could describe it better, but here's my attempt nonetheless. You're around people at every turn, in every way, but you still feel alone because everyone is so caught up in their own mind, maintaining their own space, pursuing their own art, battiling their own monsters, they don't have time to concern themselves with whatever you have going on and that somehow works, is actually very much ok. If you're an introvert, I suspect you have an understanding for what I mean.

I feel a natural high whenever I visit New York, a dopamine rush if you will, and then a perpetual sinking in my soul when I make it home again, in southern suburbia, which makes me think that maybe New York is a drug, one that never quite dims the hit that I get from all of those bright lights; the rapid shuffle of busy people, busy streets.  I’ve never been disappointed from my time there, the lights have never lost their magic, the people their allusiveness and I have visited quite a bit, although this is the first time I’ve gone with a group of friends, which was an experience that I don’t think a people pleaser like myself should feign to embark upon lightly.

I felt frosty.  That’s probably the best word to describe my overall demeanor the first day or two or maybe it was how I envisioned my insides.  A frozen igloo of parts, icicles included of course.  Why? I don’t know exactly.  Well, that’s a lie.  I do know.  I get lost sometimes in the shadow of my husband or maybe it was a fear that our knowledge of New York would over power what the others wanted to see or do.  Am I being too annoying? I thought on more than one occasion.  Am I oversharing? Am I too embarrassing?  Am I too much? Am I dressed too boldly or maybe not boldly enough? So to refrain from all of that, I remained frozen instead, afraid to utter much of anything, least it all be way too much for the situation at hand.  I had periods where I melted to a certain extent.  The hard exterior falling to reveal the me that was buried underneath. And then I kicked myself that I had waited so long.  No one ridiculed me or rolled their eyes or acted embarrassed of the person who I was. I actually felt included, one of the group and then hated myself for thinking otherwise.

Day One

It was an early wakeup call.  3:30 AM to be exact.  I know…WOWZA!

The only thing that was permanent on the agenda once we got settled into our prospective hotels was to see the play DEATH BECOMES HER.

We did do some walking around before hand.

The New York City Public Library being our first stop of course.

And yes that is the original toys from Winnie the Pooh and my heart is happy. I know it will be a surprise to no one who really knows me that I identify the most with Eeyore.

Grand Central Station was next.

And then a rooftop bar.

Waiting in line before the show.

To be honest, DEATH BECOMES HER was exactly what I expected it to be.   Nothing particularly extraordinary.  I wasn’t singing any of the songs as I walked out of the theatre.  However, the choreography was readily good, I will give them that much.  Some of the stunts caused us to scratch our heads as to how they pulled it off so seamlessly.

And then there was Michelle Williams.  The former Destiny’s Child singer, not Heath Ledger’s baby mama.  Williams was absolutely stunning as the witch or would her character be considered more of a sorcerer? I couldn’t really tell, but she was beautiful nonetheless.  I did find her voice to be a bit shrill at times, but maybe that was her character.  An actor’s explorative licence I suppose.

Overall it was a solid choice for a musical with friends, especially if your a fan of the film.

Day Two

We decided to all meet in China Town at the Golden Unicorn for an early lunch  It’s a hidden gem.  Four floors of dimsum and it’s cheap, so so cheap, especially for New York’s standards. 

You walk into the building and you feel like your in a bank.  You put in your name and they tell you the floor where you will be dining.  (I love a restaurant where you have to take an elevator to your table.) Each level is very much the same.  Carts upon carts carrying plates upon plates of the delicious, the exotic, the exquisite Asian style dumplings. 

One of G’s main talents is knowing what to order and when.  

Belly’s full we knew that a walk was in order so we decided to walk over the Williamsburg bridge.

And to a brand new bookstore, one that featured only horror books.

What a cool idea and really perfect for the season.

We were headed to the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn next.  If you have not been to Brooklyn in October, it’s a definite must see. Houses upon houses are clad with some very creepy...

...and not so creepy decorations for the Halloween season.

We had some time to kill, so we found our way to a pub with more, you guessed it, spooky Halloween decor.

And then we were off to the cemetery.  This Green-Wood Cemetery, our destination,  is 478 acres and was established in 1838.  There are many notable politicians, artists, entertainers, business leaders and inventors that rest within the confines of their gates. 

Every year they host an event called Nightfall.  You basically walk around the graves, listen to live music, some gripping and haunting, others New Orleans style big band, and get properly freaked out.

One thing that I really love is that they make apple cider from the apples that are grown in the cemetery.  We discovered that Fireball properly sweetened the cider, which was on the bitter side.  But really shouldn’t it be? These are apple trees rooted in dead people. I will let that sink in...

Day Three

We started out so elegant, so put together, even a bit on the  bougier side having booked a reservation at Sveta, a modern European fusion restaurant located in the West Village. This was the outside.

And the inside.

However, the deal on the menu got us starting the day in a rough spot or perhaps a fun spot, you be the judge.  The deal of the weekend included a bottomless cocktails combo with one food item, but the catch was you only had 90 minutes to utilize the bottomlessness of the cocktails.  Challenge accepted!!!

But look how cute these mimosas were…

Then our friend, who ended up moving to the city, decided to take us on a gay bar tour and that’s where everything got a bit hazy and my memory comes and goes.  Let’s just say the last drink I was told was an espresso martini because you know espresso will sober me up. That's what I said of course upon ordering. Do I remember any of that? What do you think?

Day Four

I surprisingly woke up more bright eyed than anyone would have thought if you had witnessed my display from the night before. It might have been the four slices of pizza I was told I ate, but have no recollection of, or the water that I was encouraged to drink.  Thanks again to my dear and loving husband for purchasing and feeding me said pizza.

But I couldn’t really afford to be feeling under the weather anyway because Keanu Reeves and Neil Paztrick Harris were expecting me to see their performances on this very day.  And I could and would not dare to disappoint the two of them

The rest of our group left, so G and I started the day in Central Park.  I surprisingly have never made it this far past Times Square.

And to this tunnel.

Cue the Law and Order music.  It’s really rude that they were not filming an episode on the day that I visited.

We met up with G’s brother, wife, and their two boys and visited the Central Park zoo.

I didn't realize that all I took were bird pictures until now., but I'm not ot really mad about it.

And then onto WAITING FOR GODOT and our front row seats.

If you don’t already know, WAITING FOR GODOT is a friend’s project that Keaunu Reeves and his long time friend Alex Winter (of BILL AND TED fame) decided to do together.  And yes they made a BILL AND TED reference and now I can die a happy person.

In a word it was golden.  The whole cast was amazing.  Reeves and Winters had great chemistry on stage and I whole heartedly loved how weird and avante garde it all was.  I have heard mixed reviews about the performance, but I loved it and that’s all that really matters to me.

It actually wasn't just the two of them. The other actors were all amazing as well.

The play itself caused my husband and I to discuss who the two main characters were actually waiting for.  Were they in a kind of purgatory and God was being represented by Godot? And this brought up the idea of fath to me.  Were they just supposed to have fath that this Godot person would one day appear and rescue them from their mindless waiting, even when all signs pointed to their waiting being for naught or were they actually supposed to live a wasted life filled with waiting for a thing that never came to be.

Keaunu Reeves described WAITING FOR GODOT by saying that while Shakespeare’s Hamlet character asks “to be or not to be,” this play asks “What are we doing here?”  And I do see what he means. Are we supposed to have faith in a greater power and wait for that power to rescue us or are we supposed to live this life right here, right now?

We had an hour to do some waiting of our own before our next play, ART, began. 

ART stars Neil Patrick Harris, Bobby Cannavale, and James Corden.  I have seen Neil Patrick Harris on stage before and the man has stage presence, the same can be said this time around.  Although James Corden, who I don’t necessarily like, blew me away.  Really all three men had great chemistry together and were perfectly cast.  This play was a real joy to watch.  It’s only 90 minutes, no intermission, so it was perfect after the dark comedy of what we had just come from seeing.

I fully believe that New York is a place where you are never quite comfortable.  You are either up in your own head (I know a scary place for many) or your body is never quite acclimated (one minute a degree too cold, the next a degree too hot) or is it that you are always on the look out for the next best thing so you are never quite satisfied with the status quo of it all?  Whatever it is I compare New York  to a kind of monster, one in which may eat you entirely up, bones and all, or it may become your new best friend?

I often think what my life would have been like if I had been bold enough, brave enough to make the leap to move to such a place in my 20s.  Would that monster have torn me from limb to limb or would it have cuddled me amongst it’s prickly flanks?  The answer will never be known of course or maybe it actually will one day when I find myself waiting, reevaluating my life and being finally ok with the person who I am, the choices, decisions I have made that make my life a whole one.  I  hope I don’t find myself in a purgatory, although if I do I hope it is with friends like a Keaunu Reeves and Alex Winters friendship, one that has stood the test of time and is still flourishing with art, love, and family.  Maybe then it might not be so bad, all of that waiting, even if I have to do it for all enternity.