Daily Journal 
Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk! We went to the theater today and when we got in and went to sit down, Rachel looked at me and said, "no way." Okay, so I thought, "Well, just try...okay...here we go...and wow--they we're the smallest seats I'd ever encountered. Luckily, we were in the last row, and a very thoughtful usherette named Lisa stepped behind me and said, "If you think you're going to be miserable, you can go and ask the manager for a box seat. She added, "After all, these seats were made in 1910 for people who were 5'6" and 85 pounds." So I went downstairs and met Pete, a larger guy himself, who was the model of understanding, and he offered me a box seat, with armless seats! So here I am, very comfortable and I see Rachel sitting sort of sideways to talk to her friend Geoff, her legs folded up in front of her. She looks like she's comfortable and having a great time catching up on old times with him. Hey! She just waved at me and gestured, "Are you okay?" and I give the thumbs up and she mouths, "Great!" So the show's abougt to start and it's hitting me that I'm in NYC seeing a show on Broadway!! And between the usher and the manager, who've obviously dealt with this many times before, I'm going to have a wonderful, comfortable Broadway Experience! The rest of the day was great-we'd bought tickets for the show in Times Square at a discount kiosk 50% off. Times Square reminded me a bit of Picadilly Circus in London, with all the ads and stuff, but much taller buildings and not spread out as much. We had lunch at the Java Cafe, and we had to be quick, so I just had dessert! We looked at several electronics stores for a digital camera. So far we've been taking shots with my regular one, so I have to finish a roll before I can get them developed and scanned and loaded to the page. Major pain. I know you want to see pictures now!! And we mean to give them to you! So of course, Rachel wants a top of the line camera, and the first place quotes $750 after a bunch of haggling, and then we call a competitor and they say $699, then we walk a couple of blocks and they say, $599...so we'll keep looking tomorrow. We saw a second show, called "Forbidden Broadway," at a cabaret style place, where we also had dinner. It was a series of songs spoofing other musicals and performers, with a cast of 4 people. It was entertaining, and since we were sitting at the dinner table, again with armless chairs, quite comfortable. I know Rachel will point out that two of the performers we saw today were BBW's. It was one of the reasons we picked Bring in Da Noise, because there was a large woman prominently featured in the huge poster in Times Square. Her voice was awesome, and her costumes were amazing. If you're not familiar with the show, it's about the history of Tap, from slavery days through the move North to Chicago, to the Tap Masters to todays urban tap. There were also two very talented and powerful percussionists who performed interludes between the scenes outlining the history of percussion on instruments other than traditional drums. In Forbidden Broadway, there were two female and two male actors. One of the ladies was pear shaped, and several of her gowns were amazingly beautiful. In the finale number comparing the two ladies side by side wearing the same type of dress, the larger woman looked so much more beautiful with her fuller hips and bosom.
I'm going to try to check out Central Park in the morning. Monica's Journal, July 13th
Got up early and had the a wonderfully elegant breakfast in the restaurant
in our hotel. Silver, and china and chandeliers, oh my! Scottish salmon,
cream cheese and bagels. Rachel's continental breakfast was like none
you've ever seen! Fresh croissant, pastry, little butter pats perfectly
shaped like seashells, the works.
After breakfast I went for that walk in Central Park, walking down 2 blocks from the hotel, I descended some stairs right into the park at the Zoo
entrance. That was too good to pass up, so I went to the small children's
zoo first, $3.50 admission to get into both. The San Diego zoo at home is
at least 3 times the cost and size, but this was perfect for me. The kids
zoo was filled with mom's and nanny's with strollers, but I love kids, so
that was no problem. I love seeing how things I enjoy are presented to
children, being an educator myself, it gives me lots of ideas. The animals
at the children's zoo weren't the really exotic, they were goats and pigs
and turtles and rabbits and ducks. There was a short puppet show about the
sounds animals make that was quite good. Very lively. I walked over to the
other zoo in time to see the sea lions getting fed and putting on a bit of a
show. And then I walked through a tropical rain forest, a polar bear
swimming pool area, and a reptile house. Besides wishing I'd wore a hat and
a bit of sunscreen, I was completely at ease. It was nice being out in the
sunshine, and walking around, taking in a natural setting.
Later, Rachel and I went out to do some shopping and have lunch at another
little deli which was not quite as clean or expensive as the first one we
were at and returned to the hotel in time to meet a new friend. The three
of us hung out for the evening while we did our laundry! What a good sport!
While our stuff was in the washer, we went down the street to have some ice
cream, and while it was in the dryer, we sat on a nearby stoop and chatted.
It was so New York to sit and talk that way, watching the people go by.
We were pretty hungry when we got back, so we ordered pizza delivery, and
the two of us watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer-a nice juicy one where Buffy
and Angel discover their mutual attraction. It was a pretty relaxing day,
with a nice bit of exercise.
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