bethb's Diaryland Diary

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too cold. also, the whole NY thing

How is it mid-December? I don't get it.
I know it's mid-December without looking at the calendar by the ridiculous holiday parties dotting my schedule.
As usual there's too much to do and to make matters worse my mom was in an accident and then there was a mishap on top of the accident which is making being down here harder and harder still that i find out that we are effing *open* on christmas eve. I mean, who does that? hopefully attendance will be low to leaving early on thursday and i can drive home. I hate to drive big trips on days like christmas eve or the day of an event because it just invites drama and disaster along for the ride.
Gaskets blow, accidents happen, stuff dissolves into tears.
Case in point- the traffic en route to NYC last tuesday. I was fearful I was going to miss the soundcheck and my one chance in my life (well...maybe....i have my suspicions) to be in a room with all 4 jawboxers playing their instruments (I have been in a room with them where they played instruments but not together. The Up On In opened for burning airlines once- i think almost 10 yrs ago at the old black cat)
I sent an email to the guy organizing it all at NBC trying to be all funny and charming and hah-HAH! Oh! This traffic! I'm about to grab the wheel from the driver and commit Speed 3 here on i-95 and if i arrive at 11am is it no-exceptions after the doors close? and have i mentioned 'hah-HAH?'. He informed me that i was in luck and that soundcheck was pushed back and I made it in time only to find it was pushed back *again* (due to the haz-mat suits outside? maybe?) so i made it well within time although i should have been in NYC by 9:45 and made it a skin under 11am.
No matter. soundcheck- AMAZING. ran into Pete D- the only other DC kid. We were up on the risers behind zach for the soundcheck (and web-cast songs that weren't broadcast on NBC...i'm bhind a tall dude and his tattoo'd lady...i actually haven't watched it....i'm also wearing a black sweater) between soundcheck and the taping i went to the corner and got a cupcake at the made-famous-by-satc (turns out not great. i mean, fine, and well priced, but not all that. as the kids say) went to where i thought my hotel was (31st) nope. i check my reservations...oh! 51st st! So i was like 7 blocks away before? aces! so i hop on a bus back up to mid-town (in telling this story to my brother he tells me he never rides the bus. I love the bus in all cities but DC. i'm ok with the bus in DC, specific lines and all, but for some reason, I am magnificent at negotiating the bus systems of NYC and chicago.)
anyway, easy enough ride 20 blocks north. Check into the cool, tiny euro hotel and I will totally go back there. quiet, nice. felt like a ship. also- great showers!
Went to the taping, met up with KB who walked over from Brooklyn. Squealed with glee when we found out rachel madd0w was the A guest. And when the warm-up dude (kind of a douche, ripped jeans, sweater under a blazer) announce tom ford as the second guest i got all excited and then i realized he said tom ford, not richard ford, but whateves. tom ford was charming and delightful and then holy god the roots.
Like that wasn't worth the price of (free) admission itself. they were SO good. then jimmy fallon comes out and he's funny and then rachel maddow comes out and she's awesome and then they make coctails and we're sqealing 'ewwww' with the sherbert and then finally jawbox. And j. looks amazing, they sound great, kim is wearing another cute skirt (different from soundcheck) kim looks delighted and serious and sometimes surprised by the noises she and the others are making and it's the best thing i have ever seen in my whole life. KB and i sing along and when they're done I stand up applauding.
Afterwards we go to chinatown and have these aforementioned soup dumpling things which i have never had before and I don't know how to find them again. i'm sure something like this must exist if not in DC then in little eden on rt. 7. must find.
afterwards i head back to my hotel and fall asleep missing the broadcast of the show.
the next day was rainy and gross but i make it to both Pace/Wildenstein galleries to see David Hockney's new works which were big and colorful and wonderful. The first P/W had some jim dine drawings upstairs but i didn't stay long enough to view them thinking it was going to take me longer to get to chelsea.
had lunch with my brother and then walked up to the herald sq area to look at the windows and wasted time 'til the bus back. i should have tried to get an earlier bus i was so cold.
Ride back was untraumatic and slept most of the way. And I arrived back to find that I did not receive a ticket! On tuesday I parked my car around 4:30am near the 7-11 close to my new apt. and called for a cab, got a cup of coffee, hopped into cab and then went to wait for the bus to NY. The whole time i would fret about getting a ticket or worse a boot although i had been scoping out non-zoned spaces near my new apt (of which there are many) because i'm not going to have a chance to change my zoning until after xmas.
It was nice to have those two days of fun. I do like to visit NY i still don't think i could live there. not like chicago.
jeebus it's cold in here....too cold.

4:31 p.m. - 2009-12-16

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