Yoko Ono or Omega Mart

Brett and Brendon are the most amazing hosts.  They are not even here and we feel their hospitality.  The house is clean and welcoming.  They left us a loaf of sourdough bread, a quiche and marmalade -- all made by Brett.  I texted Brett to ask where I might find butter.  He said there is a "wheel" of Amish butter in the refrigerator.  I thought it was a cheesecake.  We had a lovely brunch!

We decided that we would go to Omega Mart at Area 15 this afternoon.  Neither of us really knew what to expect and I'm not sure it is even something you can describe.  Just making our way from the car to the entrance led us past some incredible and incredibly weird art.

Inside the building you can go axe throwing, take a zipline next to the ceiling or enjoy the bar.

Omega Mart begins in a fake grocery store with weird items like cans of dehydrated water...

...Plausible Deniability laundry detergent

...WTF pill boxes for your Wednesday, Thursday, Friday travel

...a meat counter 

...with items like this cheese platter of The Scream Cheese and Touch of Bleu. 

You can enter into the back of the store through several secret passageways.  

For more than the cost of general admission you can choose to experience an alternate reality and try to figure out the story hidden inside Omega Mart.  What I read said it takes about 6 hours to complete....so, no.  We wondered around trying to make sense of what we were seeing.  It is a blacklight, psychedelic, strange music venue with an underlying message about the folly of capitalism, consumerism and corporate greed.  

You travel from corner to secret room up a set of stairs and around blind corners while talking on phones, pushing buttons, deciphering codes and dodging small children.  It truly is indescribable.

At one point Linda said, "You thought the Yoko Ono exhibit was weird."  I replied, "I still think it was weird."  We went to the Tate Modern together last May and saw the very strange Yoko Ono exhibit.  Omega Mart is a different weird.  After an hour and a half of wandering around with a quick stop at the bar (behind the pharmacy) for mac & cheese popcorn and some drinks we headed back home to get ready for our evening out.

Our reservations for dinner were at Diner Ross at the Linq.  Diner Ross is a Spiegelworld creation.  Spiegelworld is dedicated to art -- the art of theater, the art of cocktails and the art of surprise.  Diner Ross is connected to a Spiegelworld show called Disco Show.  We were greeted by these two hosts.

We entered through a room that made me contemplate what it would be like to live inside a disco ball -- not fun.  We waited a few minutes in a lobby/bar that was like a NY subway station.  We went into the phone and found this sticker on the receiver.

The phone booth was really a photo booth.  You punch in your phone number and then use the coin return to activate each photo.  You are supposed to get your photos texted to you.  I still haven't received mine.

Then you climb a long flight of stairs to another bar and a dance area.  The hot dog stand is also the hostess desk.  

The restaurant is a diner, with another bar, of course.  We got champagne pina coladas.  Why have I never heard of this before?  We got waygu pigs in a blanket (delicious).  Linda got roasted chicken with a brioche stuffing.  I got steak frites.  The wait staff is dressed like they are going to a disco.  The music on the speakers is all disco music.   I expected to have my senses overwhelmed  but it was really fine.  I only had to ask Linda to repeat what she had just said about four times.  The champagne pina colada was my favorite part of the experience but I really shouldn't drink rum

After dinner we had a few minutes before our show.  Linda demonstrated how to use a machine to play roulette.  But we didn't linger long because we had tickets to see the Mat Franco show.  Franco is a magician who won on America's Got Talent ten years ago.  Our seats were back far enough so that we wouldn't be brought up onto the stage but close enough so we could easily see.  It turns out he brings people up onto the stage from quite a ways back and he brings people up onto the stage for most of his tricks.  We slipped on n94 masks assuming that he wouldn't take someone onto the stage wearing a mask.  Pretty smart, huh?  You can use that trick if you are an introvert and ever at a magic show.

For a little over an hour Mat Franco wowed us with magic tricks.  He didn't cut anyone in half or pull a rabbit out of a hat.  He is a master of card tricks and other sleight of hand tricks.  The trick he did that amazed me the most was when he borrowed someone's phone to take photos of her, dropped the phone and then used a knife to cut open a table at the back of the theater, where audience members were sitting, and pulled out her phone.

We went back to the casino so I could try using a blackjack machine.  My goal was to win the cost of my dinner.  I failed.

It was a day of overstimulating my senses and I was ready for bed.  

Viva Las Vegas

My birthday is in October.  This past October, my son Matt and his wife Melissa gave me two tickets to see Nate Bargatze in Las Vegas at the end of January.  Their thought was that I would go with my other son, Brett, who lives in Vegas.  But he is on a trip to Jamaica with his husband, Brendon.  They offered to let me stay at their beautiful home while they are gone.  My friend, Linda, agreed to come with me to Vegas for this adventure.  It takes about 3 1/2 hours to get to Vegas from my home.  Our first stop was at Eddie World, located in the middle of nowhere and visible from a mile away by it large ice cream dish. 

We made a pit stop.  This is the sign inside every stall of the bathroom.

It felt like a mandate to peruse the aisles and aisles of candy.  I got some Jedidiah Jerky.  I'm not a huge jerky fan but if you ever drive by Eddie World it is worth a stop.  You will be shocked by the price but it truly is worth it.  Loaded up with snacks we got back on the road.

We stopped in Baker for lunch.  I had never been to the Mad Greek, which is the strangest fast food restaurant to find in the desert....actually anywhere.

On the ride Linda introduced me to the Smartless podcast with Jason Bateman, Will Forte and Seth Hayes.  We heard them interview James McAvoy.  It was fascinating as they talked about what it takes to act and what kind of actors they admire.  It had a bit of a "bro" vibe as they talked about their addiction to gaming.  When it was done I told Linda I had always intended to listen to the Handsome podcast with Tig Notaro, Fortune Feimster and Mae Martin.  We picked the episode that it mentioned Melissa Etheridge.   It was not what we expected. They chatted with each other, did Taro cards, reminisced about driving motorcycles, etc.  We kept wondering when they were going to bring on their guest, Melissa Etheridge.  Towards the end of the podcast they played a recording of a question Etheridge had sent them:  "To what song do you like to get it on?"  That is when it took a turn!  I learned more about Mae Martin than I was prepared to learn.  Tig Notaro and Melissa Etheridge agree.  Best get it on music is by Sade.

We arrived at my son's home in the middle of the afternoon.  We got settled.  I had asked Linda to teach me how to gamble.  I grew up with parents who thought even returning the Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes was gambling because it cost you a stamp. Linda taught me Blackjack, Texas Hold'em, traditional Poker and Three Card Poker.  She also explained Roulette.  I am far from confident enough to play any of them but she assured me that I can play some of those games at a machine rather than at a table.  

We had a reservation for dinner at Spring by China MaMa.  When I made the reservation I was surprised that they were almost fully booked on a Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m.  I had forgotten that I was trying to get a reservation at a Chinese restaurant on Lunar New Year.  I'm just a fan of China Mama.  We were given four menus to peruse, one in Chinese in celebration of the New Year.  We ordered their signature fried prawns and an eggplant dish.  Both were outstanding.  

We headed over to Wynn to park and find our way to the Encore Theater for Nate Bargatze.  The Wynn is one of the most expensive/nicest casino/resorts on the strip.  You can easily pay around $2000 a night to stay in a suite at the Wynn.  It was quite a walk from the parking garage to the theater but walking through a casino on the Vegas Strip is always fascinating.  We had time to kill so Linda demonstrated how to play her favorite slot machine.  She was ahead when it was time to head into the show.

The show began with three comedians:  Dustin Nickerson, Graham Kay and Nick Thune.  Nick Thune looks quite a bit like the Caucasian image of Jesus.  He game out dressed in white, carrying a guitar and started by saying, "I bet I look familiar from your prayers." (A Nate Bargatze crowd is 99.9% white, by the way.)  Then Nate Bargatze came out and did a solid hour of stand up.  He was great.  It is obvious he is trying out some new material.  He did a bit about he and his wife in couple's therapy.  At one point he had to stop and get out his phone and make sure he remembered it all.  He ended by reading a text chain between his parents, his siblings and himself.  It was quite entertaining and outrageous.  I left wondering if it was really a text chain from his family.  If so, it would be interesting to sit at their Thanksgiving table.  We laughed a lot and were very grateful to be gifted this evening.

We headed back to the slots only to both lose money.  Don't worry.  Neither of us are big gamblers.  We wound our way back to the car and back to Brett and Brendon's home.  We went straight to bed.  

Death Becomes Her and Omakase

This is our last full day in New York City.  It is the warmest day we have experienced since we arrived.  it almost felt balmy.  But most of the days here have been blistery cold.  We have seen so many bicyclists delivering Grub Hub with gloves wrapped in duct tape on the handle bars.  This way they just need to stick their hands in the secured gloves and set off.

Since it was such a nice day we walked over to Carnegie Diner, a place we had already sampled.  We even ordered the exact same meals we did last time we ate there.  We know what we like.  After breakfast, Gayle headed back to the room to rest her back before our matinee of Death Becomes Her.  I went shopping.  I love shopping in museum gift stores.  They are filled with things I would love to own.  I was searching for earrings.  I like to buy earrings when I travel.  Then when I wear them I remember my trip and smile.  I didn't find earrings I loved but I did find a present for my grandson and a gift for a friend.

I enjoyed my little excursion.  There is art on street corners....

and graffiti messages....

and models/influencers/crazy rich people getting their photos taken walking down the middle of Fifth Ave.

As I was out enjoying this amazing city I got a text from TodayTix, the app Gayle and I used to get tickets to many of the shows we are experiencing on this trip.  The text said I was receiving a very important email about Death Becomes Her and I should check my email "as soon as possible".  The lead, Megan Hilty, would not be performing this afternoon.  It didn't say who was taking her place.  They offered us a full refund or a 110% credit on the app.  Everything Gayle and I read said that TodayTix does not refund if the "over the title performer" is not available for a particular show.  But we are being offered a refund for just that scenario.  Hmmmm?  We looked around at other matinees we might attend instead and ultimately decided to stick with Death Becomes Her.

I loved the musical.  It was campy and very funny in a dark comedy way....and really well done.  The sets were amazing; the singing was outstanding; the choreography was fun; the slow motion fall down the stairs was incredible; and the shotgun hole through Helen Sharp was mystifying.  (Rating 92)

There was also some unexpected intermission drama.  A woman two rows in front of us had been taking photos during the musical.  An usher told her to stop.  During the intermission the usher, who had asked her to stop, went back over to have a further conversation with her.  She was belligerent about it.  The usher finally walked away and stood near me.  She got up and followed him.  She wanted to continue the "conversation".  At one point she turned, pointed at me and said, "This is the woman behind the counter who offered me free tickets to the 9/11 exhibit."  I said, "I don't work here."  She turned back to the usher and said, "I have asbestos in my brain and I am dying."  Then she looked back at me and said again, "You are the woman behind the counter who offered me the free tickets to the 9/11 exhibit."  Again, I said, "I don't work here".  Then she turned back to the usher and said, "I have asbestos in my brain and I am dying".  Realizing that we may find ourselves inside this same weird loop forever, the usher said, "I'm sorry to hear that.  Please enjoy the rest of the show."  

There were several audience members seated nearby who enjoyed this intermission show.  Once the woman finally returned to her seat, these audience members were commiserating with the usher.  I leaned over and said, "I have free tickets to the 9/11 exhibit if you are interested".  They looked so stunned.  They thought I was serious.

After the show Gayle and I wandered over to the Chemistry Room, a sushi restaurant.  We had reservations for Omakase.  We were given the option for a 12 course or 15 course dinner.  We went for the 15 course!  It is the last night of our NYC adventure and we wanted to suck the marrow out....I mean eat the raw fish out of this experience.  We took photos of every course.  

The first course began with the Itamae (assistant chef) burning bamboo and then putting a cup over it to smoke the sides of the glass for our smoked miso soup.

My favorite course was the box set of Shisho Fraiche Soup, Langoustine and Chawanmushi.  

I have always thought that gold wrapped or gold sprinkled food was silly and sinful.  I still do but I had gold on several courses tonight.  Call me a hypocrite.

The sea trout with kimchi was a delight.

I liked the Otoro (fatty tuna).  Gayle is a fan of Akam (lean tuna).

We had one course with uni (sea urchin).  The Itamae showed us the box of uni.

Because we were so delighted and giggly with each course we were given raw spot prawn and fried spot prawn.  The fried spot prawn came with the eyes.  I'm not a fan.

The meal ended with a yuzu cheesecake with the cutest little fork.  This was only my second Omakase experience.  It was Gayle's first time to do Omakase.  She admitted that she was a bit frightened by the idea.  But she is now a convert.

I got one last photo of Times Square and we headed back to our hotel to do some packing and so Gayle could watch her beloved Kansas City Chiefs compete for the AFC championship.  

We will set our alarms tonight for the first and only time on this trip.  We have scheduled a Town Car to drive us to La Guardia in the morning and we don't want to miss our flights home.

From St. John the Divine to the Redwood Forest, this land is made for you and me

Gayle is giving her back a rest day.  I added the MTA app to my phone and took off for the subway.  There is maintenance on the line so I waited for 20 minutes for a train.  Yesterday there was an article in the NY Times about a man who was pushed off the platform in front of a train and survived.  I stayed well back from the edge.  I was on a mission to find out of the Apollo Bagel in NYC is better than the Courage Bagel in LA.  I had heard that some thing the Apollo Bagel is a knock off of Courage Bagel.  I love a Courage Bagel have stood in line and waited a long time to get one.  When I arrived and saw the line out front I figured it had to be good.

When I finally got to the front of the line the man said, "Have you been here before?"  "I haven't," I said.  "Expect your mind to be blown," he said.  I couldn't help myself so I said,  "I'm from LA and I love a Courage bagel and I heard you were similar."  He got cool right away.  "Oh, we've heard of Courage.  They like to talk about us."  I guess not in a friendly way since he seemed upset.  I took my everything bagel with plain cream cheese across the street to a park bench and sat in the 22 degree weather to try out the Apollo Bagel.

It was the best bagel of my life.  Crispy on the outside, just the right texture on the inside and salty like I like it.  When I told my baker son how much I loved it.  He texted back that he wanted photos of the inside of the bagel.  It was too late.  I had already inhaled the bagel.  I texted back, "I'm your taster not your photographer."

I hopped back on the 1 subway line and headed towards St. John of the Divine, the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York.  I remember visiting this cathedral with Bryan and my parents in the summer of 1986.  I had just realized I was pregnant.  I was so nauseous.  I don't remember much except that it was such a beautiful building and the church had a huge commitment to providing social services to their community.  This is what I saw as I arrived.  It is impossible to capture the sheer size of this building.

I walked by what I thought was an unsheltered person on a bench in a little park beside the cathedral.  Then I realized it was a sculpture of Jesus.  I recognized the nail holes in his feet.

I went to the ticket counter to pay for a self-guided tour.  I was told that there was a guided tour beginning in one minute.  I opted for the guided tour.  It is the longest cathedral in the world -- 601 feet or in the words of the guide "two football fields and a football."

There is an impressive rose window in the back of the cathedral.  Jesus, in the center of the window, is taller than me.

Construction began on the church in 1892 with a Romanesque style.  In 1909, a church committee decided to change the overall plan to a Gothic Revival design.  This is the Romanesque part of the church.

The longest part of the church is Gothic.  Notice that there are actually two rose windows on the back wall.

The pillar between the two different architectural designs of the church has whimsical art pieces created by and American sculptor named Tom Otterness.

The middle section of the church is unfinished.  A widely held opinion is that it will never be finished because the church continues to believe that the right use of their money is to add those in need in their community.  It is in the unfinished section where worship most often happens in the church.  

Behind the choir area are a series of smaller chapels.  Each one honors the different ethnicities of the immigrants who labored to build this cathedral.  For example, the chapel of St. Ambrose recognizes Italian immigrants.  St. Ambrose is the patron saint of beekeepers because legend has it then when he was an infant a swarm of bees landed on this head.  They did not sting him but left some honey on his tongue.  The stained glass windows in this chapel have small panels shaped like honeycomb and if you look closely you can find bee hives in the stained glass.

On each side of the steps leading up to the altar is a short wall. On this wall, each 100 years of Christianity is represented by a historical figure (or four).  This section shows (right to left) Christopher Columbus, some saint whose arms was on fire but he didn't burn, William Shakespeare, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln.  

When it came time to create the statue for the past century the committee in charge could not agree.  So there are four historical figures represented -- MLK, Albert Einstein, Susan B. Anthony and Gandhi.  

Along the sides of the nave are fourteen stained glass windows dedicated to different forms of human endeavor.  This is the stained glass dedicated to communication.  It even has Jack Benny playing his violin on the radio depicted in the bottom right corner.

There is so much more I could tell you about this amazing structure, like about Philippe Petit, the high wire walker of World Trade Center fame, walking a wire inside the center of St. John the Divine. I could have spent another 6 hours walking through it but I was ready to go.  I bid farewell to this magnificent building and jumped back on the 1 Subway back to the Theater District.

The subway is such an amazing way to get around.  I wish SoCal had more and better public transportation.  I did have to sit next to a guy who believed that man spreading was his right.  But I didn't complain. I just suffered in silence as my gender has for years.  I am surprised at how leaky and in need of repair much of the infrastructure of the subway system is.

I wasn't quite ready to finish my exploration of the city.  I headed over to Rockefeller Plaza.

I queued up with others to try to get the best photo and offered my services as a photographer to other tourists.

I considered going inside St. Patrick's Cathedral on 5th Avenue.  I love visiting churches when I travel, as anyone I have ever traveled with can attest.  But I have been inside before and I was wearing out.

I went inside FAO Schwartz to find a gift for my grandson but it was so insane in there I decided that going to Vroman's in Pasadena when I get home will be a much more pleasant experience.

I stopped in Magnolia Bakery on the way back to the hotel.  I wanted to bring Gayle a cupcake or some of their famous banana pudding but the line was more insane than Apollo Bakery.  I left....sorry Gayle.  I went to Breads Bakery and got a baguette and an oatmeal cookie.  

Construction is ongoing in NYC.  There is scaffolding everywhere.  It is Saturday and yet workers were diligently braving the cold.  

In fact, our street has been closed on and off all week as ConEdison works on the infrastructure of the street.  Doesn't this look old and precarious?

I walked past the Fox News building on 6th Avenue.  I didn't flip them off but I did wonder how they were going to enjoy hell.  

When I got back to the room I enjoyed a cup of hot tea while telling Gayle about my adventures.  At 6:15 we headed out to Grand Heritage Bakery for dinner.  We enjoyed an Ancient Grains salad that was true to its name.  It was mostly ancient grains piled on top of arugula and a tiny bit of green apple.  We ordered the fennel sausage and ate every last bite of the pizza.  It was excellent.  We topped it off by sharing chocolate profiteroles.  (Rating 90)

We decided it would be quicker and easier to walk to the Nederlander Theater where we had tickets to see Redwood.  This musical opened yesterday and is still in previews.  Our path took us through Bryant Park, alive with ice skaters and then passed this frozen fountain.

We arrived at the theater just in time to find out seats and introduce ourselves to our seat mate, a man from Birmingham, Alabama who had flown to the Big Apple for three days and was stuffing in four Broadway Shows.  Redwood stars Idina Menzel, well known on Broadway for playing Elphaba in Wicked.  She won a Tony for that performance.  

Redwood is the story of a mother grieving her 23 year old son's death from a fentanyl overdose.  She gets in her car and drives from NYC to California trying to find a place where no one knows her.  Her healing begins inside a redwood forest.  I had a reaction to the musical.  I lived through a child's addictions and all the fears that went with that horrible time.  I also found her journey of grief difficult as a widow.  I was glad I was with my sister and had a place to talk about how this musical touched those two soft spots in my life.  

The set design of Redwood is unlike anything I have ever seen.  This is the way the stage looked at the beginning of the show.  Just a big white stage.

Through projection onto moveable panels we were taken along on her frantic drive across the country and then transported into a beautiful redwood forest.  We even survived a forest fire.  It really was quite amazing. (Rating 90)

We are getting better at the whole taxi thing and made it home before our toes were frozen.