Weekend in New York

Having just returned from a weekend in New York that was full of fine food, good theater, and good friends--and also a full measure of walking--I am catching up on everything from laundry to email. I'm grateful to be home, in spite of the great time we had, because New York is just too much for me. Too many people, too much traffic, too much noise, too much stimulation...Alexandria is more my speed. Close enough to theater and museums and restaurants, but far enough that they aren't shoved down your throat with a heaping helping of humanity.

We took in MoMA's member preview of the Van Gogh exhibit on Saturday morning, then had lunch at Sardi's (JC loves their Floating Island dessert.) Theater-wise, this was a revival weekend; we saw South Pacific, Gypsy, and A Man for All Seasons--none of which I had seen in their original stage versions, though I had seen the movies. All were fantastic, but my once-Catholic heart was particularly touched by the last of those three.

What a shame that every young person in America cannot see that play...What a role model to emulate. ..a man who obeys his conscience without becoming a screaming ideologue, or inflicting his beliefs on anyone else; a man who holds to his moral compass wisely and wittily and earns respect, even as his friends despair of him. Frank Langella brings this totally human scholar and statesman to the stage, and makes us love him and his family--and even more, makes us admire the steel in the man that makes him sacrifice so much that he holds dear for something he holds even dearer: his character.