Happy Easter, Darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                  Girls, what a weekend it has been!  Being Easter, yesterday, you know we had the annual
screening of "The Song Of Bernadette," starring, of course, Jennifer Jones in her stunning, Academy Award winning performance!  By my calculations, this was the 22nd annual screening--22, darlings!!!--and, let me tell you, from the opening title above, with the great Alfred Newman music, to Gladys Cooper's immortal line, "My body is pain wracked from stone floors," it was an emotionally wrought experience.  Monsieur was holding my hand and passing Kleenexes, because, I am telling you, I was just so overcome!!!!!  And when the film ended, loves, I was so emotionally drained, I had to take to my bed, with a headache.  No wonder I only screen this annually!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                Now, if you think that was something, you should have seen Saturday night.  Monsieur and I went to a Passover Seder at his friend Alvin, whom we all call "Auntie Alvin", because he is just a dear old thing who likes to fuss!!!!  I thought, with his gumming issues, all the food would be pureed, but, believe me, it wasn't.  What made the evening memorable were the guests--Alvin's fag hag companion Lorraine, who, let me tell you, is no Mack Sennett bathing beauty, though she turned out to be the most intelligent and lucid one there!!!!  Then there were Alvin's cousins from Staten Island--Vicky (his blood relation), her husband Mitch, and their son, Eric.  What a crew!!!!  You just had to be fascinated!!!  REAL Staten Islanders--the accent, the border Borscht belt mannerisms, but then add to that Mitch talking over everyone, Vicky doing the greatest Jewish Mother act since Kay Medford in "Funny Girl," (I swear, she is like the daughter of Marcia Lewis, and I kept expecting her to break out in a rendition of Lewis' number from the musical, "Rags," called "Three Sunny Rooms!!!!")  and Eric--oh, my God!  Eric!  I felt so sorry for this kid; someone has to help him.  At 26, he is still living at home, which is not that questionable, but it becomes such, when you look at him, and realize he is either 6'4" or 5", and 300+ pounds!!!!!  And, let me tell you, the food
that was there, he crammed in.  Even the roast beef, which was hacked up like a serial killer's murder victim, and was so raw, no one could eat it!!!!!  But that did not seem to stop young Eric (who looked older than I did!!!!), who obviously has no digestive problems, so no Culturelle for him!!!!!  But, with his size, I kept wondering about his future problems; I swear this guy could have a stroke or coronary before he is 40!!!!
He is straight, because he talked about finding a woman he wants to date (whereupon I thought, then he better do something, because food seems to be the only action he is getting right now.  You know, if Eric had not been straight, I could have given him great advice as an actor--work on TV crime shows, do Edna
Turnblad in "Hairspray" onstage, maybe even the Victor Buono role in 'Baby Jane', while he still can!!!!)

             The food, what there was of it (thank God for the store bought chicken), not to mention the carrots and potatoes,   matzoh ball soup, kugle, and cakes that were so sweet I thought I would go diabetic on the spot.  And, honestly, if Monsieur had not moved things along, we would have been at the table until 1 AM!!!!   And this was all after we had read The Haggadah!!!!!!

             The whole evening was like an early Woody Allen movie, with our stomachs feeling like lumps
of lead when Monsieur, with no argument from me, pulled me out of there!!!!!

               All I can say is, if Eric has a wedding, I want to be invited to it!!!!  THIS I have GOT to see!!!!!

              But that is not all, dolls!  For, as the line goes in 'Fiddler', "Golde, I have such news."  On Saturday--Holy Saturday, no less--Monsieur and I were walking the streets (not for income, you bitches!!!)
of...Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, where, as some of you know, I resided between 1983 and 1997--and where we MAY--nothing is confirmed yet--be moving to, ourselves, in possibly the not too distant future.  And we got all kinds of signs and portents signifying this could be a positive step.

              For sheer irony, there I was, in a Starbucks on Third Avenue  and 76th Street, when my cell rang, and who should it be, but my oldest friend, Doug, who happens to live in Bay Ridge, which he has since 1981.  When
I told him where I was and why, you could have knocked him over!!!!  But, I had always been fond of Bay Ridge, and really did not want to leave, even when I did (and that story is worthy of another post, darlings!!!!), and he always knew this, so he was excited--not to mention when he heard the location was better than where I had been originally. he was pleased with the idea of me moving back.  But he was also concerned, which is why he called; earlier in the week, he had sent me an email, and, as I said, I was taken up with all these matters, so he was afraid something might be wrong, as I am generally so prompt in responding!!!!!  Well, as it turned out,  he had news too--a job interview with a big midtown hotel, which sounds like better pay and perks than what he is getting now, and where he would be happier.  They are
interested in doing a background/drug check, he told me, so, all I can say is, I hope things work out for him.
I know he has been struggling.

            But back to the Bay Ridge experience.  When we were done with the realtor at Starbucks, we walked over to the building, which is named, appropriately, The Ridge.  We walked into the gorgeous courtyard, where the windows of most of the apartments (including our proposed one) face--and the view is beautiful.  We had luck on our side; a gentleman let us into the building, and we went up to the floor where this apartment was.  Of course, it was locked, but, suddenly, a woman, emptying garbage, came out of her residence at the other end.  Very friendly, she asked, "Are you going to be our new neighbors?"  She  introduced herself as Jackie, and we told her  our story.  I asked her how long she had lived there, and she said, six years.  I asked her how she liked it, and she said she and her family like it very much.  So we began to get a good feeling about the place.  Monsieur even had the audacity to walk down to the spacious, well lit basement (which, fortunately did not resemble "Rosemary's Baby" or "Single White Female"), with laundry facilities, and benches for sitting to wait, with light strong enough to read by, a factor I cannot overlook..  On our way out, we were stopped by some workers, who seemed not the   least disturbed by our presence, asking only if they could help us.

          So that was the building.  I then had a few things I wanted to check out--the Bay Ridge Public Library, Our Lady Of Angels Church, the strip along Fifth Avenue, because I wanted to see what was still there, and what wasn't.  Specifically, I was interested in three places I used to frequent--an Italian restaurant in the 70s called La Stella, a hair place (the name I could not remember) and an old fashioned type ice cream parlor, called Hinsch's.  I would go there, after getting my hair done, feeling like Lana Turner getting
discovered at Schwab's!!!!!   It turned out La Stella was no longer there, but when we got into the 80s, (around 83rd Street) I spotted this hair place called "Salon Briana," and bells went off in my head.  I told Monsieur, I was sure this was the place, and he said, go in.  So I did.  When I walked in, I recognized the layout, and knew it was the place, even though I had not set foot in it, for fourteen years!!!!  Well, I was surprised how busy it wasn't, this being the day before Easter, and I was greeted cordially by the staff, one of whom said I looked familiar.  When I removed my hat, she said, "Oh, my God!  I remember you!  You used to  come here, and Linda Ann would cut your hair!"  I couldn't believe it.   I knew I was in the right place.  I asked them how long the Salon had been here; I could not believe it was 20 years.  I asked if Linda Ann was still there, and they said no; she had gotten married, and was living on Staten Island.  So, good for you, Linda Ann!  I asked them, too, if Hinsch's was still there; they said it was, that it had been closed for a time last year, but that it reopened in November.  I thanked them, took a card, and said if I do move back to Bay Ridge, this will be my hair place, for sure!!!!  Then we went to Hinsch's, where I did feel indeed like Lana Turner, and had the first real old fashioned chocolate ice cream soda I had had in years... I cannot recall the last time I had one.  We had a lovely time at Hinsch's, the staff was friendly and polite, and from there we left, got on the train, headed back to Manhattan, having enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, with me feeling like maybe these are all signs pointing the way as to saying this is the right thing to do.  So, if it happens, girls, you can bet you will get a full account here.

         To think our weekend was to have gone so differently in the first place.  Originally, we were supposed to bus up to Northampton, Massachusetts, for a Passover Seder at Monsieur's cousins.  Had we gone, we never could have investigated Bay Ridge, or had the blast we had at Auntie Alvin's!!!!!!!!

          The best laid plans, darlings.....sometimes it is better when they do not work out!

          Happy Easter, everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!