GLASSES AND POP-UPS

Today is Thursday and my new glasses arrived. We went down to the 
Village to Artsee Eyes to pick them up but they weren't right. Well, 
they were okay if I wanted to hold them up a half inch to read. Cute 
Jason, my personal optician, fooled around with them a lot then finally 
told me he had another set of lenses and he'd fit them out while we 
went to lunch. Before we left, I thought I'd check out some sunglasses.

I didn't get them, though. 

We went back to Murray's Cheeses and bought a figgy 
Elvis sandwich -- chunky peanut butter, Brie, fig spread and bacon, 
grilled -- and ate it sitting in Sheridan square.  I wanted to buy a t-shirt

my new glasses



 there, because they have shirts that say "you have a friend in Cheeses" but I didn't.   It's a nice cool day  and pleasant outside.
After lunch we went back to Artsee Eyes and he had redone the lenses. 
They seem to be good now. I took them with me but have to go back to 
get the real ones with the coated lenses on Monday.

Paul Schaffer

While we were there Paul Schaffer came in to pick

 up some glasses. I  think he's famous for being in some famous 60's band, but to me he's 

famous for being the band leader on Dave Letterman.   And for wearing cool  glasses on the show.  I had been a little ticked off at this place because I

didn't exactly feel they were falling all over themselves to make me happy, but then I realized that everyone in the store didn't drop what they were doing to wait on Paul Schaffer -- who I stared at blatantly because I couldn't actually see him in my new glasses when I

first put them on, and didn't even recognize him until he started talking. 

From there we went to the new Guggenheim popup on the lower east 

side. It's an urban workspace that just opened yesterday and will 
close in October. It's built in an unused space from carbon fiber, and
meant to be impermanent.  When we arrived they were playing a game

about rating cities, or deciding what a city should be.
 There were lots
of young 30-ish people involved,
presumably aspiring actors or just
regular unemployed people. 

The game was done sort of like a chess
board and as you answered
questions you moved the pieces representing
money, transportation, liveability,
sustainability and archictecture forward
or backward.  It was kind of an interesting game.  You can find it at this link.

 From there we walked up to the east village,had 
coffee and just watched people. I love some of the styles people wear  just because they pay so much attention to an outfit but I never can get my camera out in time.

I didn't do the blog last night because Martha & I stayed up talking 
forever and I was too sleepy.


But yesterday we went to midtown and 
listened to an outdoor concert of African/Carribbean music. It was 

really nice music and pleasant to sit around listening
and watching.   And then a little van came by and unloaded 
60 cases of Coke in those cute new aluminum bottles.  And they were 
giving it away. You know how I love anything free, no matter how 
inconsequential. 


 We came home and fixed ravioli for dinner and then 
went to an early music concert sponsored by GEMS, Gotham Early Music Scene.
Apparently early music people in new York have always felt a bit 
dissed by the Boston establishment. I guess it's a my-bow-is-bigger-
than-yours kind of thing. Anyway this group put on a 4-concert series 
and we went to the last two. They were both wonderful, and I had a chance 

to chat with Julie Andrijeski, who taught a dance workshop and coached an ensemble I played in at Vancouver Early Music two years ago. We also met Gene, who seems to be the brains behind GEMS, which is in fact  a booking agency for  arly music groups in NYC.   He is a friend of  Martha's and gave us a ride home. I wouldn't exactly call it harrowing, but it was definitely exciting. He told us he loves to drive in NYC that  he considers it like a video game where obstacles like
pedestrians and taxis pop up randomly and your job is to avoid them without stopping.

Back to today, we went out to dinner at Acqua, which used to be a fish restaurant, but is now a Mediterranean place.  Martha's niece came tonight, she's visiting overnight, so we have a full house, but she'll have to leave tomorrow. 

And here it is almost 1 a.m. again, and I'm the last person awake in the house.