Sometimes, in New York, you can get the best and not-so-great that NY has to offer. I had a busy weekend in that regard. 
Friday, I needed to go to GMHC to do early check-in for Sunday's AIDS Walk. It took forever to even get out of my building - the photo at left shows the crowd on the sidewalk. Some days, I find the crowds really frustrating. Then I walked over to Ninth Avenue to take the bus. No bus arrived. More frustration. So I decided to walk to GMHC. It wasn't a long walk, just not through the most pleasant parts of town, though Tenth Avenue has become pretty swanky in a couple of stretches (the photo is a view from Tenth Avenue). When I finally got to GMHC, the room was packed with people trying to sign-in early. There was mass chaos, and though the gals at the check-in table kept trying to emphasize the 'honor system,' some people were having none of it. Waiting their turn wasn't really an option. Sigh.
I had decided beforehand that I would head to Chelsea Market after picking up my AIDS Walk stuff. I love going there and there's a bus stop right there. Of course, after waiting a half hour, no bus ever came. I hate that. There was one elderly gentleman who was trying to catch a cab and younger people kept darting out in front of him to steal it. I was getting really frustrated watching - finally, one nice person shared their cab with the elderly gentleman (who should've just stolen it, but maybe that's me). And I went to the subway, telling myself that if a train headed to Queens arrived first, that's where I'd go. But no, a downtown train pulled into the station as I was walking through the turnstile, so I went to Chelsea Market.
Wow, there are a lot of new stores at Chelsea Market! In fact, there were so many new stores, I became overwhelmed and suddenly exhausted. So I just bought my imported lemon marmalade at my favorite Italian import shop, and some loose tea from a new spice and tea kiosk. OH, and I also got a delicious blood orange lemonade from another new kiosk. I guess I'll have to go back on a Summer Friday, so I'll have more energy to do some exploring.
Saturday, I was going to sleep in before I went to Industry Bar to meet an old friend who was visiting for a couple of days. Of course, my idiot building super had other ideas. He rang the doorbell a dozen times around 7am (I was sleeping very soundly). Dazed and confused, I let him in with two contractors who wanted to inspect my leaky kitchen window. I got the creeps from one of the contractors, so that wasn't a very nice way to start the day. Thankfully, it was nice to see my old friend later on, and other old friends who I haven't seen in a long time. I had a cocktail and the extremely young, extremely adorable bartender CARDED me. I haven't been carded for years! Clearly he was gunning for a larger tip. The place was pretty empty, since this was early in the evening - it was more crowded later when I had to return (which you'll have to wait to read about)...
I actually won two tickets to see ABT's Saturday evening performance of Onegin, so I took a handsome friend and off we went. The seats were in the orchestra, which was a treat, and the performance was fantastic. Irina Dvorovenko was dancing the role of Tatiana, and this was her final performance with ABT. Final performances are always exciting - I've been fortunate enough to see the final performances starring Julio Bocca and Susan Jaffe in the past, so I was excited to see this one, too. Irina did not disappoint. She danced spectacularly well, with incredibly nuanced passion and precision. I think I've said this before, but it's amazing to me how different the same choreography can look on different dancers. She was beautifully paired with Cory Stearns - he's a grand partner. If his solo dancing could use a little more oomph, well, that will come in time. But he looked spectacular and I especially liked how he used his remoteness as reverie. Very nice.
My photos are spectacularly bad, sorry. My camera batteries died and my cell phone just can't get them right. Anyway, at the curtain call, many current and former dancers came out to pay silent tribute to Irina, which was lovely. Audience members were throwing bouquets, dancers brought more flowers. There was a huge pile of flowers on the stage floor - I wonder what happened to them all! Irina's husband and young daughter came out last and they were all very sweet together. The audience was standing and cheering really loudly; I think it was a very nice send-off. I think Irina will be missed, but, after seeing her in On Your Toes at City Center, I think she could have a career in musicals. : ) 
After the performance, I went with my handsome friend to Duane Reade, to get more batteries and sunscreen for the AIDS Walk. The first Duane Reade I went to didn't have any - what's up with that?! So my friend got on the subway and I went to another Duane Reade. (You'll see why I'm telling you all this in a bit.) I wandered around the second Duane Reade for a bit, shopping, and picking up a few things. When I got to the check-out line, I opened my purse and...no wallet. My wallet was gone! I started freaking out, which freaked out the poor teenage check-out clerk. I stepped away and called one of my friends who had been at the bar and asked if he had seen my wallet there. He said no. So I ran over to the bar, which was now PACKED, and tried to get in to find my wallet.
The bouncer asked to see some ID before he'd let me in. I said I didn't have a photo ID, because it was in my lost wallet! He was very kind and took me inside to see what we could figure out. The drunken man sitting at the booth where I was earlier in the evening would not move, so it was hard to see if anything was there. The bouncer told me to call on Sunday, early, to talk to the day manager. And he advised that I immediately cancel all of my cards, which I did. Thank heavens I carry my Metrocard in a different spot than in my wallet. So I got everything cancelled and went to the subway.
My train stops running at midnight, but I was at the station by 11:40 (would've been earlier if not for all the shopping and running around!), so I figured I was good. No trains came. No trains came. The platform was packed and we were all waiting and waiting. Two out of service trains went by. No train. I kept thinking, surely one has to come eventually! No, no it doesn't. Finally, I left the station around 12:20am and walked over to another station to take a different train. And I waited forever for that train. I was near tears by this time, thinking about having no cash and no photo ID. I finally walked into my apartment about 1:15am. Sigh. So not happy to get home so late when I had to get up early for the AIDS Walk the next day.
AIDS Walk Sunday. When I woke up, I looked at the weather app on my phone and it said there was a zero percent chance of rain until around 1pm, so I grabbed an umbrella, figuring I probably wouldn't need it. Yeah, right. It poured ALL DAY. I had figured that since I didn't get any sunscreen the night before, that meant the day was going to be blazingly sunny. Oh well. I was glad to walk with two gorgeous men, and I was proud to have raised money for such a great cause, but golly, I hate being soaked to the skin like that. It makes it hard to be cheerful. I know everyone was wet, but yuck. My socks were soaked, I made a squishing noise when I walked, I could wring water out of my jacket sleeves. My arms hurt from holding an umbrella all day (I'm particularly afraid when my arms hurt - I'm terrified of lymphedema). Sigh. I tried not to complain too much during the Walk, since it was nice to have quality time with such gorgeous men. And it WAS fun, because the AIDS Walk is always fun, but it was also, in a way, miserable. The walk is always crowded - well, compound that by adding 10,000 umbrellas to the mix... I was too miserable to go out for brunch afterwards (I hate sitting around when I'm all wet), so I took the subway home. I guess you could say I was all wet, all around. Oh, but I DID finish! Woo hoo! It's the first time I've finished in the past couple of years, so I'm glad of that. And thankfully, my gorgeous pals both lent me some money so I could get some brunch on my way home. I don't know what I'd do without my gorgeous generous pals. I'll put more photos of the Walk at the end of the post.
I called the bar again when I got home, but the less-than-helpful person who answered the phone told me I need to come in to see if my wallet is there. The Metropolitan Opera House was much kinder - they called me today to say no one had found my wallet (I had called them and left a message Saturday night as I was going back to the bar). So fingers crossed it's at the bar. What a pain in the patootie. Fun and un-fun - that was my weekend. I vote for all-fun from now on...
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