two endings: one unsatisfying, the other too long in coming (lyn)

I could have gone to theater this afternoon with Robyn, but since I’m going tonight, I thought two plays in one day, even for me, was one play too many.

I could have gone with Shari and her friend to meet with a personal shopper at Loehmanns (who knew they even had personal shoppers?) but didn’t.  I knew that if I did I would spend money on clothes or purses I don’t really need.

Instead, I spend the day at home. I make squash and apple soup and have it for lunch.  I finish a book, Into the Woods by Tara French.  A compelling mystery is set up in the first chapter, and 429 pages later, it is left unsolved.  A million intriguing clues sprinkled throughout the book, and then nothing?  Really, there should be a governing literary body that prevents this kind of irresponsible writing.  

Zelia and I are seeing Yosemite at Rattlestick Theater in the West Village.  Last time we were there we had wanted to eat at a little restaurant called The Spotted Pig but the wait was too long, so this time we arrive in plenty of time for an hour’s wait.  Zelia drives and luck is on her side; she finds a perfect parking space on the street.  Theater is at 8, and we get to The Spotted Pig at 5:45.  We ask how long the wait is. "An hour and a half to an hour and three-quarters.  There are 40 people in front of you."    And this is at an hour when most New Yorkers don’t even eat.  We are shut out, again. 

We end up at Westville, one of my favorite little hole-in-the walls.  The restaurant seats less than 20, and the kitchen is smaller than mine.   (I know this because I have to walk through the tiny kitchen to get to the tiny bathroom that is in the kitchen, not near it.)  Yet the menu is huge, the serving sizes are ample, and the prices are reasonable.  I get the teriyaki salmon with grilled asparagus topped with parmesan cheese and some greens.  It’s excellent, and so is the warm blueberry pie with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream that follows.  I try not to think about the number of points I eat.

The play is dreadful.  Horribly and relentlessly depressing.  Our seats are fifth row center, and it’s one very long one-act, so it’s impossible to leave.  The actors yell and scream and swear and then sulk for long periods of time with no dialogue at all.  The characters in the play are all miserable.  The audience is too.  Finally one of the characters dies and the lights come up.  I only wish it could have happened sooner.