Broadway, Boats, and Brooklyn

It is that time of year again when it (in theory) gets cooler in the evenings, my schedule is on overload, and the theater district prepares for another Broadway season.

Once again I attended the annual Broadway Blessing. I think last year's ceremony was better but it was still entertaining this year. Lynn Redgrave was supposed to perform but canceled, however Boyd Gains (a veteran Bway actor I like) did several readings. After the ceremony, I picked up take out for Esther and myself. One of my favorite things about this city is the fact that I am able to pick up Thai food and strudel from the Hungarian Pastry Shop on the same block...I love it! That was some darn good strudel too.

Later that week I had dinner with my Marriage Equality/Social Justice Hevra at my friend Marlene's apartment. It was a great meeting. My friend Joe and I are now in charge of coming up with ideas for outreach in our synagogue. I also got to meet the new coordinator of Social Justice for the synagogue, Bella. She is really fun and is a fellow Brooklinate. Lisa (another friend) and I were excited because the three of us all live in the same neighborhood and ride the same subway (Brooklyn is so huge that it is rare to randomly meet people who only live a couple blocks from you).

This weekend was very fun filled. On Saturday Heidi arranged for a group of us to meet at The Frying Pan on Pier 66. The Frying Pan is an old tug boat that was dug out of the Hudson River and restored. You can walk on the boat (which is sort of creepy at night) and next to it is a larger boat with dancing, drinks, and food. We managed to snag the coveted seats on the top deck and enjoyed the beautiful Manhattan skyline (and the Jersey skyline too).

Okay here is why I hate global warming: Saturday night was cool and breezy and I was excited to wear more fall clothes on Sunday but....no 88 and humid. Ugh! It wasn't all bad though. The Brooklyn Book fest was going on downtown. I had high hopes about getting Joan Didion to sign one of her books for me but it was too humid, too crowded, and I have no patience.

I did manage to enjoy the Flatbush Frolic which was also on Sunday (and a block from my apt so I had no excuse for not going). The live music was great this year and I actually got to hang out at Vox Pop. Vox Pop is this coffee house that apparently is way too cool for me because there are never any free tables. It is this quirky place where they sell political books and have smoothies named after Patti Smith and Joe Strummer. Got to love it.

A Weekend in Brooklyn and Other Recent Events

Well the past two weeks have been extremely busy work wise. The last week of August our department had three different orientations which my co-workers and I had to plan and present. This week was the first week of classes which is always hectic.

There has been some time for fun and games though. Last week Esther and I saw VickyChristinaBarcelona which is one of the best movies I have seen in a while. We also managed to explore a neighbourhood that neither of us were familiar with, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. It has the feeling of Park Slope with all the brownstones, restaurants, and boutiques but it feels less gentrified. We had tasty Thai food at a local BYOB restaurant.

Labor Day weekend I showed my friend Sarah my hood. We had coffee at one of my favorite local hangouts, Connecticut Muffin. After our walk through Ditmas Park we hopped on the subway to Brighton Beach aka Little Odessa. There was a street fair where Sarah and I found we were the only people who did not speak Russian. We had an amazing lunch/dinner at Tatiana which is a Russian restaurant on the Boardwalk that over looks the Atlantic Ocean.

Later Sarah's husband Joe wanted to meet up with us so we headed over to Park Slope. Joe grabbed dinner at a Mexican restaurant while Sarah and I enjoyed the Margarita's. Afterwords we made our way to the Black Sheep Pub which was very fun. This is a laid back bar on the Park Slope/Boruem Hill boarder. They have inexpensive beers on tap plus fooze ball and trivia competitions.

This week Linda introduced Esther and I to this great Italian Restaurant in the Garment District called LUXE. We enjoyed the Thursday night jazz.

I also started some classes this week. I am taking an on-line course through the New School in Screenwriting. I like it so far it just strikes me as funny that since it is an on line course the instructor is actually in LA. I had to see a Danish film for an assignment which lead me to discover this cool shop called Mondo Kim's. It is in the East Village and is a three floor Mecca of music and movies. They have rentals on the top floor and specialize in foreign films.

I am also taking a course through my synagogue on preparing for the high holy days which are coming up. Rabbi Esther who worked with me during my conversion teaches the class so it is nice to see her again. It also gives me the opportunity to meet more members of the synagogue which is also great.

I guess the most exciting recent news (exciting to me, anyway) is that I wore lots of new clothes...which we know always makes me happy :)