New Year, New Post

Wow, it's been quite a while since I wrote here. A lot has happened, mostly all good.

The holidays have come and gone, and it's back to work tomorrow. We had a lovely trip to NY, where we saw beaucoups of friends and relatives, ate too much, and got to experience real snow and REAL cold too! (New Years Eve was marked by temperatures in the low teens, with a wind chill factor near zero degrees. Not that anything as common as the weather kept the crowds away from Times Square, mind you.)

Arturo and I had a lovely day in the city on Dec. 30th. First we had lunch with his old friend, Joe Smith. Joe lives on W. 82nd Street. We met him at his apartment and then ate at a lovely little brasserie. It was fun for me to just sit back and listen to them reminisce, and observe their mutual delight in being together for a while. Arturo & Joe have known each other since they were both 16--a pretty long time. Then we walked around Central Park for a while, and saw the new building/museum at Columbus Circle, and ended the afternoon at Christophe Landon Fine Violins. Arturo was trying to sell a violin which had belonged to his Dad. Monsieur Landon was the soul of gallic charm as well as an extremely learned luthier. He spent about an hour talking to us about the violin and, while [politely] declining to purchase it at the moment, gave us information on how to further research its pedigree. Even though we still had to carry around the case for the rest of the day, it was a very interesting visit.

Then we went to see the revival of "Pal Joey" at the Studio 54 Theater, courtesy of Mom. (Thanks, Mom! Great Christmas present!) I have to say I was underwhelmed for many reasons, but it was, as usual, a great experience to be in a NY theater, enjoying live performances. No wonder legions of young people are seduced into trying to make their living as actors.

Gotta go===more later. Keep reading! And, Happy 2009 to all!