Long Time Gone

I rarely write anymore. At all. I was a prodigious blogger and journal keeper. I did it daily to remind myself of the day past, issues of import and as a way of connecting with the larger world. Covid came and with that my time was my own, truly my own and I wrote with the intent of publishing, then the bubble burst. I have described the Covid experience of that cocoon being akin to the Seattle World’s Fair and their Bubbleator form of transport is what it has been like to transition back into the post Covid world. Irony that the time frame was 10 months, the same time it takes to gestate and give birth. But to some that Pregnancy seemed much too long and for others it was definitely a premature one. Regardless of how one views Covid, we are not recovering from any of it in any sane way.

There is Politics and these next five months will make the Covid Quarantine period (irony as that lasted barely 5 months) seem quaint. How do I know the exact time periods? Well I documented the time we were finally told to quarantine which was March 13, 2020 and when I finally started to attend events in September of that year and when vaccines became available in 2021 for widespread use, but were already available for some by December 2020. And once I finished my sequence in March 2021 I was ready for take off and landing. I began to travel and did not contract Covid myself until 2022 in irony of all places Washington DC. I even know where I contracted it, the African American Museum, crowded and unmasked and over three hours there. With that 72 hours later and I knew. I did all the right things then and have since only continued flu shots and have moved on with the endless discussion on the subject as much as possible. I recall working in the schools and the idiocy surrounding the disease from inception to today and there is nothing gained from recalling any of it. I still have some masks as I realize that they can be handy if you are sick, otherwise it is a waste of time. Seeing playgoers on Thursday night sitting behind me at Stereophonic ( which will win Tony award for Best Play) made me feel sad for them. As I said then, and as I say today, STAY HOME. And that is not just Covid it is about being so infirmed that you cannot move with enough ease it may be time to find a new way of finding pleasure in the arts. The walkers, the canes, the mobility devices in which to navigate and make it all challenging for everyone. And no folks I am not being Ageist, I am 65 and know that one day I have to pack it in, so live in the now. I do think that many Museums are now addressing that with numerous online options and other ways to partake in the viewing of art. There was an attempt at livestreaming and that has passed but many still are filming productions and frankly those need to be sold as one would tickets and still generate support, especially for productions that struggle to gain an audience. Lempicka might have been one to try out and enable a better recoup of costs. But we are not there yet when it comes to Broadway and it is a loss for all.

It was Broadway that was the first to open doors, with masks and then later vax cards. The Metropolitan Opera did the same and it is why I am forever grateful that they continued on despite it all. I never enjoyed anything more and yet now I find myself tired of them both. But that may be just because as I joke, I go to the opening of an envelope, so with that I am pulling back. This is not my support as that comes in other ways, but in attendance. I have to go to what brings joy. So as I see the Season ticket offers come in, I pick less and wait for the spontaneous joy it comes if I decide to go to a show within a time frame that is less than a year away.

As I have found myself contemplating another move and more change I have decided this time to plan longer and decide over time. With that I am divesting myself of stuff that is junk, selling clothes that do not fit or suit, getting the right furniture that will work and last, and even purging books. I have set up a little library in my buildings’ amenity lounge. The first one set up on a window sill was removed as it was “unsightly” but I transplanted that to an empty cupboard, put a sign up and add books as I go. I am seeing some additions to it so others may be discovering this and using that resource and with that I urge others to try ways to share reading and books as they are still essential at any time of the year. Books are treasures in which to find, so find some and share them.

But as for publishing it is again a field awash with its own issues. The major houses have tried to merge and consolidate. Some are dissolving their imprints and laying off individuals brought in to address inequity in publishing. And with the larger issues of DEI being questioned in the corporate world, this is no different. What that means for Writers of a unique voice should mean nothing or everything. What it also means is that many will not be heard at all and that is all our losses. With that in mind I do again look to Broadway as an example. The “lesson” plays and musicals have closed. The pre theater announcement of it being on “stolen land” has stopped and the hysteria of diverse casting for just the point of it with no point other than that has seemingly ended. Talent matters and sometimes that is all that matters. Stereophonic is about the band Fleetwood Mac (allegedly) and had to cast those who talent mattered and with that they found a cast who are all new faces and voices; however, when can you go to a Play about music there is one caveat, there also had to be music. It was amazing. To see that over the debacle Here Lies Love was refreshing. Take note, David Byrne. Irony his cast album is in fact famous singers singing the tunes from the “musical” Even his cast he disbanded. Money clearly matters when it comes to any production.

The other best play I saw this season was Appropriate. (is that an oxymoron?) That it had a first run off Broadway a few years ago and was like many closed without notice or making news. Even Sondheim had that and now after death his most infamous flop, Merrily We Roll Along, rolled in with great success and acclaim. So there you go fame lives on as does talent. Thankfully that it too was given a second life, the cast and direction were fresh and the voices on that stage brought the same words to life and to light about an ugly subject – Racism. And in death it too lives on. Funny that the Playwright is Gay, is Black and yet is given nowhere near the attention as the Authors of Strange Loop or Slave Play where both of those men are the same. The difference is that frankly nowhere near as talented as Brandon-Jacob Jenkins has demonstrated. Perhaps that lack of attention and lights will be rectified on Sunday as I so hope to hear more from that voice in the future.

With that I am going to see Cabaret a new production of an old theme and work as is Tommy, both I go with the idea they will be at least “different”, not original but different. As with that I also saw the adaptation of Enemy of the People with Jeremy Strong of Succession and Michael Imperoli of the Sopranos and it was well done and more importantly well acted on a subject and matter that is very contemporary. I truly loved it for that once again Strong shows what a risk taker he is and he deserves all the respect an actor deserves for that. Like or hate him he is something to see on stage. As for Michael Imperoli my mad crush remains intact.

I think we all want to be heard and it may explain the rising violence, the protests and the rising angst of many often showing in signs of mental health crisis. Suicides are rising and let’s not discuss addictions that often are ways of self-medicating. Coming out of that Bubble and Cocoon is a struggle when you have no mirror in which to model how to adapt, integrate and assimilate. I don’t see this changing for a long long time. And perhaps that is why I don’t write, I have nothing more to say. Well about this subject, but there are always others that matter more.