The Big Tease

This past week was crazy for weather. After an absolutely blissfully warm springlike day last Friday, it was followed by absolutely frigids winds and then SNOW again last night. I think this snowfall was much harder on the psyche because of that big tease of spring on Friday.  Bob was telling his brother in CA that winter was over here and then a day later it's snowing again. There is predicition of a bit more snow/rain over the next few weeks but with a good dose of sun too, just not the high 60's temp we had on Friday. So NYC continues to slog through the winter.

We went to see the Merchant of Venice on Saturday night and while we both thought highly of Al Pacino's performance as Shylock we pretty much didn't like the rest of the play.  There are too many other main parts for him to carry this play alone and we just didn't think the other actors were strong enough to match Pacino's performance. It seemed pretty obvious that he is the main draw for the sold out crowds with Standing Room Only sales. We thought the time setting of the story was too modern and not seeming consistent amongst the characters, the casting seemed off for several of the characters, the story line is very anti-semitic, which we were aware of, but was far more uncomfortable for us than we had anticipated, and it was difficult at times to hear all the dialogue.  It might have been due to our main floor seats being under the balcony or poor projection by the actors at times. Lastly the ending was rather harsh and somewhat meloncholy when the couples were reunited.  Maybe we should be writing for the NY Times!!! We are hoping to get in several more plays over the next few months (Good People, House of Blue Leaves, That Championship Season, The Importance of Being Earnest, Avenue Q).  My mom will be visiting at the end of April/early May so we will probably see plays like The Lion King and Mary Poppins or Phantom of the Opera.

We met up with friends for brunch on Sunday on the Upper Westside near Columbia University. It was a crisp sunny day and we took a walk on the Columbia campus. It's been a while since I've been back there and it was as impressive as I remember it. I love college/university campuses.  Columbia has a beautiful chapel with several very detailed intricate stained glass panels. Quite spectacular.

Today was devoted to starting the process of getting our passports renewed in anticipation of a four to five week stay in India in late summer or early fall, paying bills, starting to make plans for traveling to CA for Bob's mother's 90th birthday celebration and to see my family in early April, and starting in on getting our taxes done. Organinzing our lives keeps me busy.............