2018 By the Numbers

Happy New Year's Eve to everyone! I hope you're having fun and staying safe, wherever you are.  For me, the photo at left sums up 2018 - railing, screaming, crying, cheering, hoping that that document can mean what it's supposed to mean, instead of what that horrible man currently living in the White House thinks it can do for him.  I can only hope he gets a copy of it to read in prison.  Please, Mr. Mueller, do your thing in 2019.  Moving on - may there be less political angst and more theater, ballet, great food, spectacular cocktails, foreign travels, adventurous fun and happier days ahead!!  And maybe I'm still waiting for that date.  Just one.  I mean, why not??  That would be nice.  Anyway.  If you’re still reading, here’s how my 2018 stacked up:

• Theater visits: 88 (WAY up from last year - yay!)
• Shows written by women:  54 (woo hoo!)
• Shows written by writers of color:  42 (I'm trying my best!)
• Shows/concerts/events by my darling Fellows:  23 (they're all so good, it's hard to pass up one of their shows!)
• Ballet visits: 9
• New e-books:  25 (four are still in my reading queue)
• New book books:  5 (I'm starting to head back into the world of real-live books)
• Readings/workshops: 12 
• Concerts/cabarets: 6
• Tennis events:  3
• Award presentations:  3
• Conferences: 3
• New museums: 1 
• New restaurants:  5 (this is terrible, but now I have a goal for 2019!)
• Movies:  10
• Protest marches:  2 (sigh)
• New charities:  15 
• Tweets:  390 (that's down a bit, I need to work on that)
• Trips for work:  1 (yeah, my job needs to step it up)

Here are my 2018 Favorite Theater experiences.  These are in no particular order, with a few of my especial favorites in photos after...

• Hello, Dolly
• Until the Flood
• In the Body of the World
• Amy and the Orphans
• queens
• Our Lady of 121st Streeth
• we, the invisibles
• Angels in America
• Three Tall Women
• The Great Leap
• Teenage Dick
• Pass Over
• Twelfth Night (Central Park)
• Straight White Men
• I Was Most Alive With You
• What the Constitution Means to Me
• The Ferryman
• School Girls; or the African Mean Girls Play
• The Chinese Lady
• Usual Girls
• Choir Boy

Special mentions to The Confession of Lily Dare, which I saw twice in production and also as a developmental reading and I loved loved loved it each time, which you already knew, because I'm such a Charles Busch fan; Lynn Ahrens' Lyrics and Lyricists event at the 92nd Street Y; and Max Vernon's cabaret at Joe's Pub.  Delightful evenings, all.








And, again, thankfully, I had so much good food and drink, I had to do my Top 2018 Food and Beverage experiences!  These are randomly ordered, with the beverages at the end (oh, man, looking at these photos is making me hungry and thirsty!):

• bacon, egg, and cheese pancake wrap at Neil's Coffee Shop
• pastel vasco (Basque Style Custard Tart) at Ortzi
• burratini with mostarda pears and ginger tuile at Riverpark
• duck breast, with pureed butternut squash, fregola and sauteed greens, in duck jus at Fusco
• Proof benedict at Proof on Main (Louisville, KY)
• pork belly sliders at Terroir
• chicharron at Ortzi
• pulpo a la plancha at Boqueria
• prosciutto and mozzarella foccacia at Coppola's
• smoked ricotta and heirloom tomato crostini at Jam's
• laffa taco at Meme Mediterranean
• short rib lasagna at 'Cesca
• sopes and croquetas at La Fonda del Sol
• burrata, endive, butternut squash, maple, and pumpkin seeds at Joe's Pub
• roasted squash with feta, vanilla brown butter, and balsamic at West Bank Cafe

• belle de jour at Amali
• smokey sour at Al J's at the Conservatory (Louisville, KY)
• the Jackie at Gato
• the penicillin at Bouqueria
• Spicy Bishop at Bridges Bar
• whiskey buck at Castell Rooftop Lounge

HERE'S TO 2019!!