Bloomberg gave the press conference about the subway “threat” just before my plane took off from Midway. But I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary once I landed.
It rained near-continuously the whole time I was in town, except for very early Sunday morning, when it tapered to a steady drizzle.
I stayed with my friend Nick, who was recovering from a mild case of food poisoning. Friday morning I went on my own for a bagel and coffee at Bagel Stix, 53rd/9th. They do not actually sell bagel stix. But the bagel was good. Then I toured the American Museum of Folk Art and saw, among other things, some amazing work by Chris Hipkiss (http://www.chrishipkiss.org). Went to Queens and met up with Zach, saw his new condo, a nice little 1-bedroom. Cabbed to the Lower East Side, tried to have lunch at Moby’s restaurant but it was packed. So we ate at Grilled Cheese (guess what I ate?) Delicious. Then much assorted running around, including a view of Laurie Anderson’s amazing new gallery show (http://www.artnet.com/event/78736/laurie-anderson-the-waters-reglitterized.html) Then a few beers in East Village at Phoenix. I played “Autobahn” on the jukebox just to annoy Zach.
Friday night Texas BBQ wrap for dinner, then late night show of the NY edition of “Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind.” Excellent cast, lots of energy, but the writing is not quite there yet. There were lots of good plays, some so-so ones, and a few that were outstanding.
Saturday morning late brunch at VNYL and then the American Museum of Natural History. Super new Space wing, Margaret Mead Collection of Pacific Peoples, cool “Logan Run”-style gem/mineral collection, Meteorite Room, etc. etc. Later on dinner at Yum Yum Bangkok. Great food, but $19 for pad thai? Then it started pouring cats & dogs. Going out would have been dumb. But I still did it. Went out for a beer at Barrange, returned home soaked. “The Naked Gun” was on TV.
Sunday morning we puttered around and watched “Saturday Night Live” with Jon Heder. Then I met up with Dylan for a bite to eat on my way to the airport. We stopped at a charming little Italian bakery. Ham & cheese sandwich on fresh bread + homemade sweet roll + large coffee = $3.75. We talked a lot about film.
Flight home was uneventful. I was so sleepy I slept most of the flight. I’ve noticed that I’m always sleepy on the way home.
Last night Andy & I went for dinner at Nancy’s and got the chicken tetrazzini. Oh man. It’s good to be back in Chicago. I love this town.
