Sunday, May 16, 2010

Yesterday was a fun day! Set out to meet up with a friend who lives in New York. Had just seen him three weeks earlier in Atlantic City, but weren’t about to pass up the opportunity to meet again.

Such fun!

My husband and I met up with him at a great wood-fire pizza place within walking distance to our hotel. Great pizza, awesome starter salads, but better yet was being able to share valuable time with a cherished friend!

When we got up to leave, we walked past a great wall fountain set back from the sidewalk. Our friend paused, stunned, and said, “Oh, my God! There it is!”

We looked from the fountain to him for enlightenment. He shared that when he moved to the city fifteen years ago, he’d stumbled across the fountain and had never been able to locate it again. The smile on his face was priceless, and we were glad to share the reunion experience with him.

After lunch, we got to spend several hours with our friend—the only thing better than breaking bread with him. It was fun to reconnect and learn a bit more about the Big Apple. Added, was having the opportunity to see Manhattan through the eyes of a local as we ambled along the streets, soaking up local flavor.

Our friend and we parted ways late afternoon so he wouldn’t be late for a date, and so we could prepare for dinner and then to attend an event we had flown here for—the filming of the season finale of Saturday Night Live.

What a hoot!

So much better to see the show in person. Got to see everything that happened, not just what was on camera. And by watching the off-camera activity, we got a better feel for the chemistry between those participating in creating the episode.

There was joking amongst the celebrities, and I enjoyed seeing how the “stars” interacted with the behind-the-scenes cast responsible for pulling the show together. Lots of hustling and running by the celebrities to get from one set to another, undergoing quick changes in the process, before their next scene came up.

Alec Baldwin was the host. By watching him, it was apparent what an easy-going individual he is. Friendly with all, laughing, and full of genuine smiles, he made all feel comfortable in his presence.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers was the lead band. Although I like the group, I was disappointed to see Tom’s lack of enthusiasm while performing. At one point, I wondered if he was stoned, but then realized he was just “going through the motions” of performing his two songs. Not caring to add an air of energy to performing, he looked like an anesthetized Matrix individual. Not fun to watch. And the two songs he chose to perform—not amongst his best.

Too bad!

After the show, we attended a private gala at Rockefeller Center (where the annual giant Christmas tree overshadows the ice-skating rink). There we met up with a bunch of our friends, executives at Saturday Night Live, to catch up and converse about the season’s ender. We each agreed that although the show was good, it wasn’t great. We attributed that to it immediately following the episode hosted by Betty White.

Hard act to follow.

The party, which began at 1:00 AM was a season wrap and attended by easily 350-400 people! Amongst the attendees were current cast members as well as famous ones from seasons past. It was fun to interact with them and see how everyone got along. I like that, when people adopt the mentality that everyone’s equal. That no one is less than them. That each person involved plays an integral part in pulling off the production.

That’s a class act!

We laughed, talked and danced away the wee hours of the night. Around 4:00 AM, my husband and I looked at our watches. It was then we made a difficult decision. Having only had nine hours of sleep in the past two days and needing to be ready to head to the airport several hours later, we realized we should probably head back to our hotel to pack, etc. Our friends were sad to see us go, yet took solace, knowing that we’d return to New York. As we watched staff members clear the food from the buffet tables in preparation for the party to end, my husband and I headed back to our hotel.

All in all, today was an awesome day—busy as heck, but great fun!

Saturday, May 16, 2010

Da-da-da-dum, snap, snap! Da-da-da-dum, snap, snap! Da-da-da-dum, da-da-da-dum, da-da-da-dum, snap, snap! So, in case you haven’t guessed, I have The Adam’s Family on my mind. Went to the Broadway show of it last night. Didn’t have a clue what to expect other than that the set design was supposed to be great. Also, the actor that played Uncle Fester is a friend of one of our friends and was supposed to be really good. And he was!

I had a hard time imagining how the writers would honor the memory of one of my generation’s favorite shows while growing up. It could have either gone well or tanked in the worst way. I’m happy to say that the show was a raging success!

Each of the actors personified the characters they played while lending a modern edge tinged with their own flair. Great combo! And it was obvious that the writers had a lot of fun creating tongue-and-cheek one-liners, relating to things relevant in today’s society. Those got the audience laughing every time.

Wasn’t sure how the younger boy who played Pugsley would do. That’s such a difficult time for adolescents to control their vocal chords, much less boys. But he did a wonderful job of hitting the high notes, holding them when needed and carrying off an angelic voice. I know, that sounds strange, referring to a boy’s voice as such, but hey, it’s how he sounded.

And the actress that played Grandma was excellent. One could tell that she’d had a lot of fun with the role. Wednesday’s actress sang and performed beautifully, with a good number of solo parts. And, of course, the stars, those who played Morticia and Gomez stole the show. Would have loved to have been a fly on the wall to see the goings-on behind-the-scenes during rehearsals, for it appeared that all the cast got on favorably with one another. Great chemistry that delivered an amazing show!

Friday, May 14, 2010

Had an interesting thing happen while on my way to New York today. My flight from California to my layover in Utah was nice enough. Pleasant flight crew, and I got to catch up on some sleep, having only gotten an hour and a half before heading to the airport.

Ugh!

All in all, the time seemed to fly (ha!) on my way to Utah.

My layover went equally smooth. Got into our gate on time. Had a chance to go up to the Sky Club and catch up on some work before heading out to catch my connecting fight to New York.

Loading the plane took a bit longer than normal. For some reason, people seemed to be perplexed with the whole put-your-bag-in-the-overhead-compartment-and-sit-down-so-others-can-board concept. Anyhow, with some gentle prodding by the flight crew, all bags got stowed. The doors were closed, and our plane got hooked up to the vehicle that was to back it away from the terminal with a push bar. The massive truck’s engine started and we slowly began to back up.

So far so good.

Just about the time we were backed into the center of a runway intersection, the truck began to turn us. And that’s when it happened. There was an extra loud sudden boom from outside the front of the plane.

What the heck?! Haven’t experienced that before.

The entire plane shuddered and jolted. And then it seemed to make a sharp backwards turn of its own accord before stopping rather abruptly.

Passengers questioned what happened? Flight crewmembers looked towards the cockpit and out their windows on the doors. And I, sitting a little in front of one of the wings, looked out the window to witness said wind bouncing up and down like a teeter-totter, shaking the plane in the process.

Yeehaw!

It took a few moments for the captain to come on the PA. He told us, “Everything’s okay with the plane. The stress tow bar that connected us to the truck snapped, pushing our plane away from it with the force. But our plane’s fine.”

Hmmm….

I looked out the window again and saw a sight I’ve never witnessed before. There our plane sat, like a broken down car on the freeway during rush hour, blocking an assortment of other planes. Now, had I been in my car on the freeway when this happened, I would have been stressed. But, sitting on a plane with no control over the situation, I found myself intrigued with how things played out.

Trucks could be seen hustling to our plane. And the blocked planes began to make what seemed like random turns, though I’m sure they were orchestrated by the control tower. And let me tell you, when a plane’s at a dead standstill and then begins moving again, the process occurs in hyper slow motion. Like I said, it was really quite interesting to see things play out from my bird’s-eye view.

The other planes got redirected. The part of the stress tow bar still attached to our plane was removed, and we got under way to join the line of other planes to prepare to take off.

Quite interesting!

I’m currently writing this about five minutes outside of landing in New York. This flight’s been uneventful, though now we’re banking hard left and hitting turbulence, which is making keeping my fingers connected with the keyboard a challenge. But hey, it’s flying—never dull.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Completion is one of those things that seems so elementary yet is infused with complexities. For some, completing a thought is a challenge. Others can’t seem to finish a task. And still more find that setting a goal is easy but seeing it to fruition is beyond their capabilities.

Why is this? Most times, completion of an endeavor yields a new beginning that’s better than the old. Perhaps that’s the problem. People are inherently opposed to change. And completion cannot be achieved without undergoing change. Change of one’s Self. Mindset. Behavior.

So I guess people get stuck. Like a caterpillar, trapped in its chrysalis, they’re unable to break free of the obstructions holding them back in order to emerge better. Stronger. Balanced.

What makes it possible for some to reach completion while others remain stagnant? Do they resolve to clear away the old, which in turn releases tension and uncertainty, freeing them to move forward? Do they possess more of a willingness to separate themselves from past behaviors and traits that they’ve outgrown? Or are they simply more capable of completing a thought?

Perhaps the ones that stay stuck are fearful of what moving forward or completing a thought might involve. Where it might lead them. Movement/change can evoke a sense of being in danger. But that same movement/change may be exactly what’s necessary to carry one out of danger.

Completion. In order to achieve it, one must be centered, grounded and determined to see things through. One of the best ways to do this is to free one’s self of unwanted outside influences. Now is not the time to be swayed by what others think. Instead, one should turn inward. They should consider what it is they want to complete and be prepared to allow nothing, including themselves, to derail their objective. Adopting this mentality will provide one with the calm certainty required to reach completion.