It has been a much longer gap than normal since my last post. All I can say is that things have been busy. I had to get through US taxes, then Canadian taxes, including figuring the tax for my son. Then I had a book review due (which I wrote out in longhand while watching a couple of sets at The Rex - and then the editor only asked for minimal changes, so in that case multi-tasking worked out pretty well). Then I had two presentations due this past Monday for TAC. One presentation was literally pulled together in a day. Now that I have just a bit of breathing room, I can perhaps get somewhat caught up, though I'll never write down everything that I think would be interesting enough (to me) to get up on the blog. There's just not enough time in the week.
Anyway, in my last post, I was bemoaning how I didn't make it out to SF to catch the Kronos Quartet. I ended up seeing a play called Metamorphosis (based on Ovid) at Crow's Theatre instead, but I didn't care for it all that much. It turns out Glen Sumi wasn't a fan either, giving it only 2 stars, so it probably wasn't just my desire to be elsewhere.
I starting thinking through some alternatives, and I settled on going to NYC to see Stoppard's Leopoldstadt, as I have grave doubts it will turn up here in Toronto (after it was cancelled due to COVID). Over time, I picked up more and more things I would want to do, including probably attending the musical Some Like it Hot. Then I got an email blast from Boston MFA about a pretty amazing exhibit on Hokusai and his impact on other artists. I had a gap in my calendar around May 20 and started trying to put a trip together that would include a day in Boston. I found a few workable solutions under $500 through Expedia but the price kept jumping up when I tried to book. (Expedia has not been my friend at all these past few months...) Eventually I gave up on that and set my sights on early June. The same thing happened through Expedia but Kayak finally found a way to make it happen, even though I may have missed out (slightly) on a sale Porter was running. So I am going to Boston to check out Hokusai. Then have to get up super early on Friday to head to New York. If I miss that flight I'm screwed. I have essentially three full days in NYC, so lots of museums. I'll probably even make a stop at the Brooklyn Museum to see an exhibit that offers a feminist challenge to Picasso. I'll try to write more on the Picasso Century celebrations another time. And if I can make it work, I'll see The Music Lesson as well.* Then I come back midday on Monday.
The flights are all booked now, and I just need to look into all the other pieces. It's definitely something to look forward to, though I'm sure I'll be stressing and fretting about missing my connections. I've have a few close calls, especially on my last trip to Chicago (which I definitely do need to jot down here), but things have generally worked out in the end. Though there was one time where snow conditions and cancellations ultimately derailed the entire trip to see my dad (and in retrospect this was a very bitter pill...), and then another time I got very sick (almost certainly food poisoning) right before a trip to Brooklyn (to see O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh) to the point I ultimately had to pull the plug.
* Apparently, The Music Lesson closed back in Jan. Too bad! Then there was a Tracy Letts's play called The Minutes that looked interesting, but it closed last year! This sounds like something that may end up playing Toronto, though most of his plays haven't. The timing looks a bit suspect, but I might be able to see the revival of Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window. That's probably worth checking out. Anyway, I'll start making the rest of my plans soon.
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