Almost President

I went for a two-hour walk around Milford this evening. I needed to find space, to move, to walk, and it was the perfect remedy. My rehearsal space is in the hotel we are staying in, literally twenty feet from my room. It tends to get a bit... claustrophobic.

I walked through residential neighborhoods first. Very small town America. Not tract homes, but a town laid out at least a century ago (maybe longer) with homes along once quiet streets that now experience pretty heavy traffic, interspersed with small shopping plazas. Some of the houses look like they might date from the turn of the century, others, more contemporary. Maybe the next walk I'll take pictures to post.

I then wandered to the town center, which I thought was much further away based on my cab ride last night. It's not. It's only about a twenty-minute walk. I think my cabbie took the scenic route.

The town square is like many other New England town squares--a center green space with some sort of war memorial statue in the middle, a flagpole, with small shops and restaurants lining the square. It's charming. Head east and you hit the marina, which I am so glad I found. Fishing boats, sailboats, another memorial kind of relic with children playing around it, nice. The people here are very friendly. I turned around along my walk to head back and a tall man with a Connecticut accent said, "You see what you are turning away from?" There was a gigantic rust colored moon floating in the sky. I was embarrassed to admit he was right. I hadn't even noticed it. A big, beautiful, low-lying moon. Unreal.

And New York? New York was great. I had thai food with my brother and his girlfriend on Monday night and heard about their housing woes, which are frustrating and awful, and so horribly typical of the city. On Tuesday I did some banking I needed to do, browsed the Drama Book Store (didn't buy--plays are ridiculously expensive these days), then met my friend T for lunch. T is expecting her second child. It's very exciting.

We met at Columbus Circle and ventured down into the overwhelming depths of the Whole Foods in the Time Warner building (Remember the New York Coliseum? I used to walk by that building every day.)

The Whole Foods in Columbus Circle is an experience that is at once magnificent and horrifying. While all other Whole Foods have one or two salad bars, this one has about twelve.

After putting together an assortment of salad/middle eastern/indian/comfort food and paying my $20 for three pounds of a "light lunch" we found a spot at the edge of Central Park to eat and chat. It was a beautiful day and a lovely, leisurely meal. From there we wandered around Borders, taking advantage of T's slow day at work. I then headed down to the Holocaust Museum in Lower Manhattan. Because what does one do on their day off from rehearsing a holocaust play? Uh, duh, go to a holocaust museum! I know, pathetic.

It was a worthwhile visit. I'd gone specifically to see an exhibit on forms of resistance during the German occupation and then in the camps, and it was inspiring and helped solidify a lot of the thoughts I'd been mulling over about this play.

When I left the museum they'd closed off several streets in the area. I was all in oppressed mode, and when a cop gently stopped me from walking down a street I was all like "Why? Why can't I walk down that street? (*You going to pin a gold star on me next...?!*) " He didn't know why. He just said I had to walk a different way. I talked myself down. Silly paranoid me.

In retrospect, it probably had something to do with the UN meeting going on. Someone important heading downtown, I'm sure.

I headed uptown to wander The Strand for an hour, and then met Miss Heisler for dinner. It was great to see her, she was all jazzed about a financial planning class she is taking at the Actor's Fund (does everyone know about the Actor's Fund? It's an amazing thing.)

On the walk to another healthy, crunchy salad bar place we were stopped (twice in one day!) from walking down a certain street. Again I was like, "What? Why" because it was sudden and unexpected--two plainclothes guys from out of nowhere stopping us. Heis said, "Look Citymouse!" and pointed to the man crossing our paths not five feet from my reach.

Al Gore. It was Al Gore! Heading in the back entrance to the Hard Rock Cafe for a show. Heis gave a little gasp, and applauded a little. He looked right at us but we were both at a loss for words for some better tribute than that. The people behind us joined in the quiet cheer.

We tried.

Afterwards we debated what else we might have said. "We love you... Al?" which would have sounded kind of lame. Funny how you sort of freeze up in that kind of situation.

Dinner was filled with more great conversation, too short, as always. We closed down the place and then I headed for my train at Grand Central. Where my phone died.

But you already know the rest of this.