This was really strange. Bridge partner Alex was at my place - we were strategizing about bridge in anticipation of the upcoming tournament in Penticton - when my phone rang. When I picked up, the voice said "Hi. Remember me?" My response was "No, you'll have to give me some more clues. Your name might help". (For future reference, I hate people who do that.) We got cut off, and then the phone rang again. This time a name was added: "This is Gerry, you really don't remember me?" Again we got cut off, and again he called, now to say "I'm at your front door.|
I had no idea, of course. We haven't had a working intercom since I moved in 3 years ago, and I had forgotten that it was reactivated while I was away this winter, and worked through my cel phone. Meanwhile, Alex had said his goodbyes and left, and I - flustered by this time - let a complete stranger into my house.
I can hear the groans from out there already. I know, I know. In any event, I lived to tell the tale, and, trust me, it won't happen again. And it turned out that, indeed, I had known this person. He was my neighbor, having lived in my building in downtown Vancouver in the mid-70's. Even after seeing him I didn't remember him, but after he told me his last name, and innumerable details about the time - the name of my cat (which I hadn't remembered until he mentioned it) and dog, my secretary, the cars I drove at the time (including the leaky roofed Toyota Celica, I accepted that, indeed, I must have known him. The creepy part of it was that I have gone through one name change and about 13 moves since then. How exactly did he find me? And more to the point, why? He left about 1 1/2 hours later, with those questions still unanswered.
Creepy. Really creepy. I was shaken for quite a while after that encounter, and have no wish to have it repeated.
On a happier note, it has been a good week for theater. Jack and I saw Angels in America Part I and II this week, encore performances by National Theater Live. Actually, because of difficulties in scheduling, we saw them in reverse order. It didn't matter, nor did it matter that we had both seen the plays in various iterations several times before. It is grand theater with grand themes, fabulously acted and staged. If you have not seen these, you must, you absolutely must. (Tony Kushner, the playwright, also co-authored the screen play for Munich, and got an Academy Award for the screen play for Abraham Lincoln.)
Continuing in the theater theme, I went off for a weekend in Seattle with friend Arlene, and we had two theater outings. The first was in a small theater on Lake Union (Arlene had been on the board until recently), Seattle Public Theater. They were putting on Hand To God, which played on Broadway - okay, maybe off Broadway - for ages. It takes place in the basement of a church in Nowhere, Texas, and they described it this way:
Our next outing couldn't have been more different. It was Seattle Shakespeare's production of Shakespeare in Love. The theater (formerly called Inteman Theater, now named after someone else who I can't remember but obviously gave them a lot of money) was lovely....
.... as was the very traditional production. And Arlene and I agreed that the weekend' experiences were greatly enhanced by the company, and the ability to talk about the plays with another avid theater-goer. You know I go to the theater a lot on my own, and will continue to do so. Nonetheless, it is great to be able to clarify your thoughts by talking about them.
Of course, there was also food. Monsoon on Saturday was a return visit to Arlene'w "go-to" neighborhood Vietnamese place. Our last visit had not been terribly successful, but we returned, mostly based on Arlene's long - and tasty - past history. We were glad we did. Perhaps we just made better choices; in any event, a very nice meal.
Sunday, we returned to Racha, the Thai restaurant popular in the arts district of Seattle. Again, we had had a bad experience last time (bad food and bad service), but choices are surprisingly limited in the neighborhood, considering it hosts the opera, the ballet, and two theaters (San Francisco'a Hayes Valley has ten or more to chose from). Again, we were pleasantly surprised.
Altogether a lovely weekend, ended by a quick (2 hour) and uneventful drive home.
The bad news I have to report is that there is still no work. It didn't stop me from spending time with my colleagues, though...
Paul and I got out to a new Japanese restaurant whose name escapes me (there are millions of these places popping up every week in Richmond, which is now about 80% Asian, compared to Vancouver, which is officially 54% Asian)
Paul is great company, and very adventurous in his eating choices. We don't go out often, but always enjoy it when we do.
Also saw friends (from left to right) Susan, Joanne and Deirdre for dinner at the Dosa House...
.... a tiny, funky South Indian restaurant, close to home and previously mentioned in these pages. For those of you who don't know, a dosa is the Indian version of a crepe (every culture seems to have one), pictured above. They are filled with an assortment of goodies - in my case, spinach and lamb), and are amazingly filling - and cheap. A little spicy for me, but we like this place for its other attributes!
Of course, a week wouldn't be complete without my walks....
And, of course, at least one dinner and bridge outing, in this case with Dennis, Jules, Ruixa, and John (and yes, I know that makes five of us, but we make it work...), first at the local Flamingo House, and then back to my place for bridge.
Reading this week was Carol Shield's Larry's Party (meh!) (apparently "meh" is an accepted word in whatever Dictionary Word is using these days. Who knew?) and listening to Michael Pollen's book called "Changing your Mind". Again, I was misled by the title - I didn't really understand that the book was about the use of mind-altering drugs to "change your mind", but again I was not sorry. I have read several of Michael Pollen's books, and whatever he writes about, he does it well. Also on the go is another of Peter Robinson's mysteries, this one called Final Account. I haven't tired of them yet, and I have read at least 8 or 9.
And, finally, a quote, from as it turns out, Larry's Party: Getting older was to witness the decline of limitless possibility. That's all it was.
Oh yes, two good articles passed on to me, both from the New York Times, I think. (I would try to get the links from my mail, but I am afraid that I would not be able to get back to this post - you know how bad I am with technology....) One touted Vancouver as the best place in the world for Asian food. Not exactly a revelation, but interesting to read their recommendations. And I had totally forgotten about the Richmond night market, which I will definitely have to add to my tourist repertoire.
The other was an article about the 25 best plays since Angels in America, which was first performed 25 years ago. (I had forgotten that it has been 25 years - that must be why it is getting so much air time this year...) Considering how much theater I go to, I was amazed that I had only seen seven or eight of the plays listed, and I am not sure I would have put some of them on the list. Still others that I had seen and thought worthy were not on the list. Still interesting, though, and, considering what I think about Angels in America (see above), I think it is perfectly right to use that as a sort of watershed moment.
That's all. I'm off tomorrow to Penticton, B.C. with Alex for the bridge tournament. Wish me luck!!!!
I had no idea, of course. We haven't had a working intercom since I moved in 3 years ago, and I had forgotten that it was reactivated while I was away this winter, and worked through my cel phone. Meanwhile, Alex had said his goodbyes and left, and I - flustered by this time - let a complete stranger into my house.
I can hear the groans from out there already. I know, I know. In any event, I lived to tell the tale, and, trust me, it won't happen again. And it turned out that, indeed, I had known this person. He was my neighbor, having lived in my building in downtown Vancouver in the mid-70's. Even after seeing him I didn't remember him, but after he told me his last name, and innumerable details about the time - the name of my cat (which I hadn't remembered until he mentioned it) and dog, my secretary, the cars I drove at the time (including the leaky roofed Toyota Celica, I accepted that, indeed, I must have known him. The creepy part of it was that I have gone through one name change and about 13 moves since then. How exactly did he find me? And more to the point, why? He left about 1 1/2 hours later, with those questions still unanswered.
Creepy. Really creepy. I was shaken for quite a while after that encounter, and have no wish to have it repeated.
On a happier note, it has been a good week for theater. Jack and I saw Angels in America Part I and II this week, encore performances by National Theater Live. Actually, because of difficulties in scheduling, we saw them in reverse order. It didn't matter, nor did it matter that we had both seen the plays in various iterations several times before. It is grand theater with grand themes, fabulously acted and staged. If you have not seen these, you must, you absolutely must. (Tony Kushner, the playwright, also co-authored the screen play for Munich, and got an Academy Award for the screen play for Abraham Lincoln.)
Continuing in the theater theme, I went off for a weekend in Seattle with friend Arlene, and we had two theater outings. The first was in a small theater on Lake Union (Arlene had been on the board until recently), Seattle Public Theater. They were putting on Hand To God, which played on Broadway - okay, maybe off Broadway - for ages. It takes place in the basement of a church in Nowhere, Texas, and they described it this way:
After the death of his father, meek Jason finds an outlet for his anxiety at the Christian Puppet Ministry, in the devoutly religious, relatively quiet small town of Cypress, Texas. Jason's complicated relationships with the town pastor, the school bully, the girl next door, and - most especially - his mother, are thrown into upheaval when Jason's puppet, Tyrone, takes on a shocking and dangerously irreverent personality all its own. Hand to God explores the startlingly fragile nature of faith, morality, and the ties that bind us.Generally speaking, I am not a big fan of puppets. But this was a very clever way of externalizing Jason's thoughts and fears, not to mention I can't imagine seeing better puppet sex. Anyway, it met my test for good theater - I cared about this people and their problems, and how they resolved them. Although both Arlene and I had reservations, we ultimately agreed on two thumbs up. And in discussing the play, I came up with the line of the weekend: Subtlety is a tough sell! (when discussing the lack of subtlety in the play....)
Our next outing couldn't have been more different. It was Seattle Shakespeare's production of Shakespeare in Love. The theater (formerly called Inteman Theater, now named after someone else who I can't remember but obviously gave them a lot of money) was lovely....
.... as was the very traditional production. And Arlene and I agreed that the weekend' experiences were greatly enhanced by the company, and the ability to talk about the plays with another avid theater-goer. You know I go to the theater a lot on my own, and will continue to do so. Nonetheless, it is great to be able to clarify your thoughts by talking about them.
Of course, there was also food. Monsoon on Saturday was a return visit to Arlene'w "go-to" neighborhood Vietnamese place. Our last visit had not been terribly successful, but we returned, mostly based on Arlene's long - and tasty - past history. We were glad we did. Perhaps we just made better choices; in any event, a very nice meal.
Sunday, we returned to Racha, the Thai restaurant popular in the arts district of Seattle. Again, we had had a bad experience last time (bad food and bad service), but choices are surprisingly limited in the neighborhood, considering it hosts the opera, the ballet, and two theaters (San Francisco'a Hayes Valley has ten or more to chose from). Again, we were pleasantly surprised.
Altogether a lovely weekend, ended by a quick (2 hour) and uneventful drive home.
The bad news I have to report is that there is still no work. It didn't stop me from spending time with my colleagues, though...
Paul and I got out to a new Japanese restaurant whose name escapes me (there are millions of these places popping up every week in Richmond, which is now about 80% Asian, compared to Vancouver, which is officially 54% Asian)
Paul is great company, and very adventurous in his eating choices. We don't go out often, but always enjoy it when we do.
Also saw friends (from left to right) Susan, Joanne and Deirdre for dinner at the Dosa House...
.... a tiny, funky South Indian restaurant, close to home and previously mentioned in these pages. For those of you who don't know, a dosa is the Indian version of a crepe (every culture seems to have one), pictured above. They are filled with an assortment of goodies - in my case, spinach and lamb), and are amazingly filling - and cheap. A little spicy for me, but we like this place for its other attributes!
Of course, a week wouldn't be complete without my walks....
And, of course, at least one dinner and bridge outing, in this case with Dennis, Jules, Ruixa, and John (and yes, I know that makes five of us, but we make it work...), first at the local Flamingo House, and then back to my place for bridge.
Reading this week was Carol Shield's Larry's Party (meh!) (apparently "meh" is an accepted word in whatever Dictionary Word is using these days. Who knew?) and listening to Michael Pollen's book called "Changing your Mind". Again, I was misled by the title - I didn't really understand that the book was about the use of mind-altering drugs to "change your mind", but again I was not sorry. I have read several of Michael Pollen's books, and whatever he writes about, he does it well. Also on the go is another of Peter Robinson's mysteries, this one called Final Account. I haven't tired of them yet, and I have read at least 8 or 9.
And, finally, a quote, from as it turns out, Larry's Party: Getting older was to witness the decline of limitless possibility. That's all it was.
Oh yes, two good articles passed on to me, both from the New York Times, I think. (I would try to get the links from my mail, but I am afraid that I would not be able to get back to this post - you know how bad I am with technology....) One touted Vancouver as the best place in the world for Asian food. Not exactly a revelation, but interesting to read their recommendations. And I had totally forgotten about the Richmond night market, which I will definitely have to add to my tourist repertoire.
The other was an article about the 25 best plays since Angels in America, which was first performed 25 years ago. (I had forgotten that it has been 25 years - that must be why it is getting so much air time this year...) Considering how much theater I go to, I was amazed that I had only seen seven or eight of the plays listed, and I am not sure I would have put some of them on the list. Still others that I had seen and thought worthy were not on the list. Still interesting, though, and, considering what I think about Angels in America (see above), I think it is perfectly right to use that as a sort of watershed moment.
That's all. I'm off tomorrow to Penticton, B.C. with Alex for the bridge tournament. Wish me luck!!!!
