All Kinds of A Social Life

Well, talk about your social whirl!  My social whirl, actually.  Or it looks pretty whirly to me, since my usual activities in that direction consist of going to Sarah's Brooklyneer job (a different bar...she's not at the Bistro any more) once a week.  The Brooklyneer, by the way, is in Manhattan...don't ask.

So the day after my Boardwalk stint, I went off to a bar in Soho called Boom, which is a place I happen to basically dislike.  The reason is that I only ever go there when my pal Tracey is in town, and since she now lives near Rome, I only get to see her about once a year.  Therefore, I would like to be able to sit and catch up with her activities...you know, have a conversation.  However, Tracey's taste in bars is loud, crowded and expensive, which makes this difficult.  But since this is her favorite place in NY, I just bite the bullet.  Luckily, this time around we at least (me and Philippe and a friend of his and acquaintance of mine named Angel, and a couple of friends of Angel's, one of whom was a former Miss Atlanta and a darling gal) got a table fairly far away from the live band, so at least I didn't have to scream (much) to be heard.  At any rate, a good (if expensive...who charges 8 bucks for a lousy bottle of Budweiser?) time was had by all.

Then on Friday, my pal Jiggers was playing at the Bistrto, so I went to hear him.  He had brought his drummer with him, Jon, but unfortunately Jon had been on a tear for a few days and played the first couple of numbers with Jiggers, but then proceeded to fall off his drum set, which enlivened the performance no end.  Jiggers convinced him that going home (or at least somewhere else) was probably a good idea.

Quiet weekend, then a stint with the lawyer on Monday which couldn't have been worse timing.  I had been mentioning to Sarah that I had a yen for ham...good, home baked ham.  I hate that thin sliced flabby deli stuff, and somehow I never seem to get over to the Polish butcher on 2nd Avenue who has the good ham.  So Sarah replied by asking 10 people to dinner for Monday.

Yes, well...so Sunday was occupied by grocery shopping followed by making what in our house is called P.S. 41 salad, because it's the macaroni salad recipe I always made every year for Sarah's grammar school potluck, and baking two large chunks of ham.  This was because I know from experience that ham goes VERY fast in my house...so since I couldn't get a 16 pound half ham, which is what I was looking for, I got two shank halves just under 10 pounds each.  If this sounds like overkill, you have to understand that we have one friend at least (who unfortunately wasn't at dinner) who can go through a 10 pound ham singlehandedly. 

So Sarah and Adrian came over Monday while I was at work and put together green salad and deviled eggs and got cheese and various breads and crackers...and I came home for the festivities.

Dear Sarah.  She someone managed to collect a group of her absolutely best...vegan and vegetarian friends.  This was certainly not intentional...it's just the attrition that occurs whenever you invite a largeish group over for what is essentially a sort of casual potluck type meal in Manhattan.  Now if anyone can tell me what the hell to do with the remaining, UNTOUCHED almost ten pound ham...actually, I know what I'm going to do with it, which is slice it up and freeze it in meal size portions.  Luckily, as stated above, I LOVE ham.  Anyway, we had a lovely time.

Then I did nothing whatsoever for the rest of the week until Friday, when my friends John and Jeanne arrived in town and I met up with them at an art show in a bar in my neighborhood...Jeanne's son is an artist.  We had a great time; John's an old acting pal and I love Jeanne dearly, but they live in LA now, so obviously casual nights out together are a little difficult.  Actually, I see more of Jeanne than I do of John these days, since her son has been in art school here and she's in a lot more frequently than John is.  And Larry joined us...another part of the acting crew that includes me and John.  We all met doing a perfectly awful production of Richard III, and like soldiers who fought a war together, we remained friends.  I was so glad to see Larry.  For madly complicated reasons (short version...we dated for a while and he thought that I wanted a firm commitment, which I didn't, and now he refuses to be friends in the sense that he never calls, or answers emails, or anything because he thinks...God knows what he thinks). I never get to see him unless someone else arranges it (i.e., a Richard reunion or John being in town), and I love him dearly.

And finally, Mother's Day turned up.  Sarah and Adrian took me to brunch in Brooklyn, followed by a stop at their home bar there, followed by a stop at another bar, so I got to see all kinds of our friends and had a lovely day (I think...it got a little blurry around the third bar)...but unfortunately, I had to go work for the lawyer the next day, without which I could have done.  I felt VILE.  Whatever happened to those days when I could drink tequila (not that I was drinking tequila...I'm a little odd, but not flying INSANE) and get to a job at 9 the next morning and feel fine?  This aging thing is just no fair.

Tomorrow I should go and see Jiggers at the Bistro again, but maybe not.  I've got to be there on Friday anyway for my favorite band, and then Saturday is the best street fair in the Village, whch NOBODY misses.

I tell you (pace Satchel Paige), the social ramble ain't restful.

Love, Wendy