A visit to the Paley Center for Media

 

The Paley Center for Media. It's the perfect museum for a couch potato to visit when s/he has nothing to do. And this is the place that RQS and I visited this weekend.

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To start at the beginning....

Like many couples, RQS and I ask each other on a weekly basis:

"What do we want to do this weekend?"

We'll usually find a new museum to go to, or restaurant to try out.  But it always seems to be a variant on the usual theme.  We are simply looking for ways to avoid boredom, and want to do something that nurtures us in doing so.  

Saturday morning came, and we slowly got ready to trek into Manhattan.  The subway route that we would normally have taken was out.  So we ended up taking an alternate way into Manhattan, and get to Rockefeller Center by 1:30 pm.  From there, it was a short walk to the Paley Center.

 

Arriving at the Paley Center, we were surprised at how empty the museum was.  We started our visit downstairs, and viewed some programs related to Women's History Month.  We were the only two people in the theater.  Next, we went upstairs to see an exhibit on Black Achievements in Music on TV.  Both physical and video artifacts were on display, two of which were Louis Armstrong's Trumpet and Chuck Berry's guitar.  It was a small, but well curated exhibit.  But it paled in comparison to what is on display in Washington, DC.  (I've gotten spoiled by exhibitions at the Smithsonian museums.) 

And then, we went upstairs again to see some videos related to animation.  This wasn't that interesting, so we left the theater and looked at Al Hirschfeld's work and the art of Television on display. This was most interesting, and worth the trip upstairs.  Yet, we couldn't find all the Ninas in the pictures.  Next, it was up to the fourth floor to watch videos from their collection.  This time, I couldn't find the video of Groucho Marx appearing on the Jack Benny show riffing on the theme of Groucho's show, "You Bet Your Life."  But I did find something well worth watching for a Yankee Baseball fan - Game 5 of the 1956 World Series.  

On our way out of the Paley Center, RQS stopped to see whether she could join as a member.  By doing so, our admission fee was refunded and we helped the center in its mission.  Next time, I'll look for a similar deal with another museum we'd visit more than once, and do the same thing.

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By this time, our stomachs were growling, and we decided to go to the Nom Wah Tea Parlor's Nolita outpost.  Unlike their Chinatown site, this establishment was easy to get in to without a wait, but had a more limited selection of Dim Sum.  I was surprised that one could order everything via a touch screen, but had trouble with the credit card reader.  Although the food was as good as their original site, I still prefer going to their smaller venue in Chinatown with Ping's Seafood as a fallback.

Finally, it was time to go back to RQS's place for the evening.  It was nice to know that our weekend subway connections got us back to her place almost as quick as if we were traveling on a weekday. And it was something for us to remember the next time her subway line does a weekend termination at its first Manhattan stop.

Odds and Ends for the month so far

 

Jack Benny.  There is an old joke about him getting mugged.  The mugger says: "Your money or your life," waits a long time for a response from Jack.  The mugger says "Well?" and Jack says: "I'm thinking!  I'm thinking!"  Well, I've been thinking about a lot of things lately, and want to get some off my chest.

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I find it amazing that shortly after I sensed that I had processed much of the grief over losing a relationship with XGFJ, that I started to sense grief welling up from the loss of FCP as a friend.  Yet, this grief was easier to manage, as I didn't have to process other grief at the same time.  There is only so much deep loss a person is equipped to deal with, and I had too much hit me in too short a time.

Things are going well with RQS.  She's far from the type of person I'd seek out.  She's not tall, she doesn't have blond hair, and she lives in an area where car ownership can be a big liability.  So seeing her becomes a scheduling issue - for my car.  Things weren't as bad for me when I dated Ex-GF-M, as her area was less densely populated.

Due to scheduling issues, I've again had to cancel going to some meetups.  Work, Co-Op board issues, and dating have gotten in the way of going to meetups - and I don't mind this too much.

I'm still ambivalent about quitting my job.  I like having new money come into my bank account, as I don't want to drain my savings accounts if I don't have to do so.  Yet, because of issues with my car, I have decided that I must soon start looking for a new car.  I hate doing this now.  But with a car that has 180k miles on the odometer, it's time to do so.  (My issues with the slow leak are the tip of the iceberg in this area.)

Assuming that I quit my job soon, I'm looking at taking a short Bermuda cruise.  Until I make a decision on employment, I won't schedule this cruise.

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As Jack would say: "I'm Thinking...."

I'm Thinking. I'm Thinking....

There's an old joke told about Jack Benny.  One day he was attacked by a mugger who put a knife to his throat and said:

"Your money, or your life."

Jack paused for a minute, and the mugger shouted:

"WELL????"

And Jack said:

"I'm Thinking.  I'm Thinking...."

In real life, Jack Benny was a very generous fellow.  And Jack had to give his friends money to pay restaurant bills when he was around, as too many people on wait staffs wanted to be able to say that they were "stiffed by Jack Benny."

So what does Jack Benny have to do with this post?

Like Jack, I can say "I'm thinking.  I'm thinking!" in regard to booking my Hawaii cruise.  Tonight, I had dinner with a friend, and we talked for hours.  She thought that I had already booked this cruise, and I said that at a current price of roughly $6,000 for an inside cabin, $6,450 for an ocean view cabin, $8,350 for a balcony cabin, and $11,250 for a mini suite, putting money down over a year before the scheduled sailing seems a little risky to me.  

I am hoping by the time this cruise sets sail that I will have another travel partner. This will allow me to save $1,400 to $5,100, not having to pay for a second person not sailing in the cabin with me.  So far, I have some good signs that I may have one or two people who may future travel partners.  But none are ready to make any commitments yet.  And that's OK with me.

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This is another cruise I'd like to take.  Starting at £3,300 pp (dbl. occ.), it is a little steep.  But then, this is a luxury cruise on a small ship able to reach Iceland's smaller ports. 

If I have a sudden influx of cash, I will book this cruise before I book a Panama Canal cruise.  Many people I know have made either partial or full transits of the Canal.  But not many people I know can say that they've been to Iceland and enjoyed the nation's hospitality.  Like Hawaii, not many ships give travelers a good idea of what this island is all about.  In Hawaii, it's because American law gives one ship a monopoly of sailing both in and out of Honolulu on the same cruise.  In Iceland, it's because this island is only a stop or two on a longer European cruise.  

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There are two more bucket list cruises I'd like to take: (1) Antarctica and (2) The Galapagos Islands.  But these cruises will cost even more than going to Iceland.  So I haven't even bothered pricing them out for this post.  As you can guess, I have a healthy travel bucket list, and I may just be able to cross a couple of trips of this list within the next 2 or 3 years.