It was 3 pm before I decided to get ready to go out (a short post)

 

My original plans for the day were to get showered, dressed, and out of the house by 3 pm.  This would have given me enough time to choose a summery dress (the temperature broke 80° today) for a trip into NYC to see a Broadway play.  Well, that didn't happen....

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I woke up early again, and had no energy to do much more than sit on the couch all day.  Yes, I cooked breakfast for a change.  But I won't count that much for doing anything.  By the time I was ready to get moving, I had time to make it to the city.  Yet, I didn't do so, as there weren't any good/cheap tickets left for the play I wanted to see.

Instead of trekking into NYC, I decided to make a run to Costco to pick up a few things, and then get a couple of slices of pizza.  Was the pizza good?  Yes, but it was not the meal I first contemplated for the evening.  But this was just as well, as I spent more than enough month today.  I made the mistake of charging two garments to the wrong credit card by accident - I had $125 in credits on my Amex card and wanted to burn them off.  Instead, with a couple of other things, I now have $200 on my Visa card.  Thankfully, I have the cash on hand to pay these bills.

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As the winter comes closer, I will look to flesh out my winter wardrobe a little.  Going out in dresses all the time is not what a cisgender woman does during the winter.  So I will need to find a few more tunics I can wear over leggings for the colder weather.  Let's hope I can find things in my size that will both fit and look good on me.

 

I decided to spend another day in NYC

 

Do you think I really need to take this class?  Probably not.  Yet, there are some things about building sites using WordPress that may be of use to me.  Specifically, I want to leave something NOT connected to Google's blogger for my co-op's long term use. Given that this is a free class, I don't expect too much from it.  But it will be an opportunity for me to visit NYC, take the class, have a light dinner, and then see a (Off ?) Broadway play at half price.

The first question I have is: Do I attend as Mario or as Marian?  Given that I will likely be one of many people here, I will likely blend into the woodwork either way.  Since it will likely be in the low 80's, I will likely go as Marian and wear a summery dress to be comfortable in the expected weather for the day of the class.  After this, I have to determine which play to see.  This is the harder question for me to answer, as I don't want to spend a lot of money right now. So far, I lean towards seeing "Operation Mincemeat", 

Todaytix.com describes Operation Mincemeat as follows:

How did a dead body, a fake love letter, and — of all people — Ian Fleming turn the tide of World War II? Winner of the 2024 Olivier Award for Best New Musical and the most acclaimed West End show ever with 77 five-star reviews (and now four Tony Award nominations), Operation Mincemeat tells the chaotic true story you couldn’t make up if you tried. It’s 1943, the Allies are losing, and there’s only one thing left to do: risk it all on a stolen corpse. Singin’ in the Rain meets Strangers on a Train in this fast-paced, hilarious musical retelling of a twisted secret mission. 

Yes, this story is derived from a real life story which has been made into a movie.  I figure that it may be a fitting thing to see given that this play, like my last, is inspired by a gruesome reality.

Big question: How do I fit in a bite to eat between the time the class ends and the time the play begins?

The Outlaw Is Dead!

 

With an entry title like this, one might think we'd be celebrating another person's death.  But in this case, I am talking about a visit to NYC to see the play "Dead Outlaw" on Broadway.  As much as I should have gone into NYC yesterday when the weather was cooler, or earlier today, when more tickets were available, I have no complaints.  The play was well worth what I paid to see it.

But first....

I keep adding more clothes to the "Dirty Laundry" baskets, and I have enough to fill two washers.  Since RQS is coming up on Friday, I figured that I could either do the wash today, or put it off until tomorrow.  Guess what I chose?  If you thought I'd stop putting this task off, you'd be wrong.  If anything, I started putting winter clothes into storage containers, and figured that I have to start on a third donation bag with excess clothing that's currently in the closet.

Around 3:30 pm, I decided that I was finally going to go into into NYC to see a Broadway play.  Only one problem.  By the time I would get to Croton-Harmon station, I would be on the margin of being able to get tickets to one of the plays I want to see before those plays started.  As I got to the station, the 4:46 pm train was leaving the platform.  So I took my time walking to the elevator to the ticketing area.  At the elevator, there was a mob of friends packed inside and the doors weren't closing.  Taking the stairs, I got to the ticketing area at the same time as this group.  Luckily, I was able to get to one of the ticket vending machines without having to wait for this group to be done,  And then, I had to wait 20 minutes for the train.

Once on the train, it took me 45 minutes to cool down from the heat outside.  Thankfully, I was wearing one of my favorite dresses, as I would have died if I were wearing much else.  (Too bad that I have to wear wigs, as they don't allow my head to radiate heat the way natural hair would allow.)  When I got to Grand Central Terminal, I skipped the chance to take a bio-break, and this would be a concern later on  I took the crosstown subway, then walked to the TKTS office in Times Square to buy a ticket for a Broadway play.

For those readers not familiar with NYC, Times Square has been a place that true New Yorkers avoid as much as possible.  It is a place fit only for tourists and for people in transit to Broadway plays.  Assuming one has taken the subway to Times Square / 42nd street, even a native New Yorker can get confused where uptown and downtown is due to the buildings with scaffolding on them - it's hard to see the street signs and traffic lights which give clues as to which way to walk.  So it took me a couple of minutes to find my way to Duffy Square (at the Northern end of the Times Square area) and the TKTS office.

Of the plays I wanted to see, only Dead Outlaw was on sale.  $95 later, with ticket in hand, I went to the theater and went to my seat.  (Or, I thought it was my seat.)  A few minutes later, the usher came by and directed me to another seat - he mistakenly told me to sit in the wrong seat.  Now, I was dead center, 7 rows out, with no way to sneak out for a bio-break.  Throughout the next 1 hour, 40 minutes, I was hoping that the play would end soon, so that I could go to the loo.  Yet, even with this annoyance, I enjoyed the play.  Would I have paid $190 to see it at full price?  No.  But for $95, it was worth it to me.

Before I go on too far, Dead Outlaw is a musical based on a real person's life and afterlife.  Elmer McCurdy was a person who lived a complicated life, wanting to become a bandit from childhood.  His life took him in many directions, and he ended up becoming an incompetent bandit before being shot to death in 1911. And that's the beginning of his afterlife story.  The coroner who embalmed his body mummified him, and charged money for people to see his corpse.  The body ended up being an exhibit in several traveling shows, a prop for movies, and a display for a scary amusement park ride before being forgotten about for decades. It was only in the 1970's did the body show up again, and finally put in its final resting place.  Hopefully, they will find a way to make this person's life and afterlife into a movie.

But back to the play....

I first heard a clip of the musical's opening number being sung in front of the Coney Island Sideshow Museum - and it was a perfect fit to be performed there.  (Sadly, I can't find that clip now.)  So, it became one of several musicals I wanted to see.  The music was a blend of rock and Broadway styles, and had an energy that I like in my musicals.  The story was wonderfully macabre, without being gruesome.  Once one gets used to the main character being a corpse for 45 minutes, it's fun.

Luckily for me, the play ended with enough time left to make it to the ladies' room without incident.  As I left the theater, I fought the usual Times Square crowds to make it to the shuttle, and grabbed a bite to eat when I got to Grand Central.  Sadly, the train I took home stopped at Yankee Stadium, and got crowded with fans who saw the home team lose.  At least, the play had a happy ending - the corpse is finally buried, encased in 6 inches of concrete (to prevent further use of the corpse).

I woke up late today, and did nothing of note.

 

I didn't want to get up today.  I was comfortable in bed and didn't want to get up - until I needed to take a bio-break.  That's when I looked at my watch to find that Mickey was getting held up!

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At last night's board meeting, we were frustrated by three no-shows at our zoom meeting.  Luckily, the fourth vendor gave a good presentation.  Although we need to interview more vendors, we feel good about this one.  That's enough said on that issue - I don't want to say whether I'd award him the contract, nor do I want to say what he was bidding on. 

This morning, I received an email from our managing agent, apologizing for the problem.  Since the email came from the new fellow, I am not going to jump on his back too much.  But this apology made me reconsider the wording I'd use on the meeting minutes, and I edited them before, and reword the paragraph so that the new site representative would not suffer too much from his mistake.

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Afterward, I ended up doing a lot of nothing, and this was just as well.  The Broadway play I was thinking of seeing was sold out, and I no longer had a good reason to make it into NYC.  Although I could have gone to the furniture store to buy the sofa I wanted, I decided not to leave my apartment. Do I regret doing nothing?  Yes and no.  It would be nice if I had a better reason to get up in the morning. This is a problem with retirement, and one I deal with on a regular basis.  And this is why I used to attend as many meetups as possible - I like human companionship, and it gives me a reason to rise and shine in the morning....

A friend invited me to a Broadway play.

 

Recently, I got together with Vicki #2 to have a bite to eat, and a drink to go with it.  It was nice to see her again, as we hadn't gotten together in months.  I said that if she ever had a mid week break in her routine, that she should call me, so that we could get together.  That call came the other day....

Although Vicki has seen me once as Mario (I was with XGFJ at the time), she knows me as Marian, and that's the way I always go to see her.  It's pleasant to get together with a person who knows and accepts my authentic self, and I was pleasantly surprised when Vicki invited me to see a Broadway play.  At the time I'm writing this entry, Broadway theaters are having a half price sale, and she was able to snag orchestra tickets for $80.  Since this was in my price range, I said 'Yes' and we proceeded to set a time and place to meet.

I wouldn't have chosen this play.  But I'm always open to new experiences if they do not take me too far from my comfort zone.  So I'll reserve judgement until I've had the chance to see the play.

It's a fine day to do some house cleaning!

 

You should have seen this corner of the room before I started work on it!  There was a pile of assorted stuff where the fan is that had to be sorted through and dealt with - Keep, Donate, or Trash.  To do so, I had to make space in a second closet for the stuff I needed to keep.  So far, I'm at least $40 richer, as I found a cell phone holder that contained: (1) a $20 bill, (2) an MTA Metrocard for use on the subways, and (3) a blank check to be used for my co-pay when I visit my doctor.

At the time I wrote this, I still had the time to either go into NYC to catch a Broadway play at half price, or to visit my brother on Long Island.  So I'll talk about this (if warranted) some other day.  For now, I plan to keep up with my cleaning, then call CWS about getting together tomorrow.  At least, she understands the headaches of deferred house cleaning.

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A while back, I noted that I let things go to hell in my place shortly after the pandemic struck.  With the loss of two of the people I used to lean on for support, I had to build a new network from scratch - something very hard to do during the pandemic.  The mess that built up in this place was a direct result of the depression I was going through at the time.  Little did I know how bad this mess would grow.

Right now, my living room/dining area is a mess, and is filled with 5 large bags used for items I mean to donate to charity.  There will be more bags to go to charity in the near future, as I don't want to have storage containers (or shoes) in the other 3 corners of the bedroom.  Assuming that I were to get a new job (I'm waiting for the results of the interview.  I'm not counting on an offer, as I expect that age discrimination has already taken me out of the running), I will spend a couple of free days in a row to clean up this place.

Once I have this place tolerably clean, and have a place inside my closets for all of my feminine stuff, I will again have my cleaning lady come.  I'll bet that she will need an extra couple of hours (or more) to get rid of the dust, etc. that has accumulated over the two years since her last visit.