By some accounts, Susan Sontag was hardly a charming woman. However, in 2004 she was already struggling with terminal cancer.
https://pagesix.com/2019/09/18/susan-sontag-mercilessly-bullied-lover-annie-leibovitz-new-book-reveals/
2
That lovely phone call reminds me - as if I needed reminding - how much better it is to talk to an actual human being, especially one who hasn't been ordered to stick to a script and end the call as fast as possible. For far too many of our 'services', public and private, this is what we get.
5
I love NY.
5
I love this section so much. In addition to the reliable charm and humor, there's always at least one story so moving that it makes me cry. Thank you, NYT, for Metropolitan Diary. Long may it live!
17
I’m visiting NYC for the first time with my wife, who lives here between 2001 and 2007.
As she escorted me on a tour through the tourist hotspots of mid town, including 30 Rock and The NY Times lobby (great exhibit!), she relayed a story about her first month in NYC.
She was outside a McDonalds not far from The NY Times when she saw a junkie nodding off on the sidewalk. He was struggling to eat his French fries. She saw him drop a bag of money in a nearby garbage can and walk away. She immediately approached the van and pulled out a bag with $1200 in twenties. In 2001 this helped her with a down payment for her first apartment.
3
@monkytrane
Legally, she should have taken it to the police and turned it in as 'found money'. She would have got it back after it wasn't claimed.
9
Legally, perhaps, but not really.
4
Because the cops totally would not have kept it for themselves.
6
I was strolling the tourist stroll with the brother in law and wife and sister in law thru Times Square, and they were awed, of course.
Trying to describe the history and what it used to be was impossible.
As I used to be in the military and had recruited for a few years, I'm well aware of the Times Square recruiting station and took a minute to head over there.
Two policemen and a policewoman were standing, arms crossed on the curb looking north.
I said "Don't you ever get tired of looking at all these tourists?"
The policewoman piped up, "We place lots of side bets on who is from where."
"And where would I be from?" I asked.
"Don't know, don't care, I know you're headed to the recruiting station, they're closed." One of the policemen said.
"That obvious, huh?"
"Yup. Now she owes me a buck." The male cop said pointing to the policewoman.
19
Re "At the Movies."
Not sure that's one I'd share much about myself. And I'm notorious for my lack of a filter.
4
The Susan Sontag story was funny and entirely consistent with almost everything I have ever read about her: Intellectually brilliant and a humorless boor at the same time.
May she rest in peace.
33
@Jack Sonville - remember talking with a celebrity hairstylist Jose Eber at the height of his fame in the 1980s, when his "Shake Your Head, Darling" was a real catchphrase, and he was immediately recognized by his signature ponytail, and a very gushing but respectful fan came up to him and he was so nice, really knowing the fan was having a good time talking to him.
I asked how he dealt with always being stopped suddenly. He said he was lucky, that when he didn't want to be recognized, he just undoes the ponytail (which he did right then to show what he meant, and suddenly he looked like a distinguished 30-ish businessman who maybe just liked keeping his hair styled and a little long). Others don't have a way of not looking like a celebrity when they want to be by themselves, but he felt lucky to have realized he can do that: Nobody expected to run into Jose Eber without the signature look. And when people would ask him to say "Shake your head, darling" for them, he said that he pushed the phrase for a purpose, and at least at that point, he was pleased that "Shake your head, darling" had caught in so well.
21
@CD
Just order a martini instead!
2
not all heroes wear capes. some wear tweed.
33
Susan Sontag never struck me as a barrel of laughs. I think she would've benefited from seeing "Dumb and Dumber" rather than "Umbrellas of Cherbourg." But kudos to you for acting like the normal human being in the room.
43
@James - there was an article online early in the year that was about just as people of course have no idea what I'm going through at any moment, I of course have no idea what they're going through.
"Everyone Around You is Grieving. Go Easy." February 21, 2019 / by John Pavlovitz
https://johnpavlovitz.com/2019/02/21/everyone-around-you-is-grieving-go-easy/
In this story's case, maybe someone is in the frame of mind for levity from a stranger, or maybe not.
11
Laughing out loud thinking about the many times I've had too many Aperol Spritzes! Usually at home though, so no catastrophes - and in Italy they are soooo good - and they always have little apéros to go with them. Here, in Nice, they often make with the pre-mixed stuff because it's cheap - and no goodies to go with them. Think I'll have one (or two) tonight - at home!!
14
Cara Anne,
Aw, the cheap pre-mixed stuff. But still—Nice!! Hope you enjoyed a lovely visit and a safe trip back home.
Buone feste e tanti auguri.
Allen
7
@Anne I adore Aperol Spritzes!
4
@Allen
Sorry Allen, that is another Anne!
Buone feste e tanti auguri anche a te!
3
Thought I would offer a little sidebar to the Sontag story, taken from a TLS review of Benjamin Moser’a biography on the woman.
The writer Jamaica Kincaid said of her fiend Susan Sontag, “ Yes, she was cruel, and so on, but she was also very kind. She was just a great person. I don’t think I ever wanted to be a great person after I met Susan”.
Moser wrote of his subject: “ Disappointment with her is a prominent theme in memoirs of Sontag.”
Critic Elian Showalter wrote, “She was avid, ardent, driven, generous, narcissistic, Olympian, obtuse, maddening, sometimes loveable but not very likeable.”
And so, dear readers, you know what Gil Reavill was up against. Brave man.
59
@Passion for Peaches
"The writer Jamaica Kincaid said of her fiend Susan Sontag. . ."
"Fiend," eh? I read that same review, and was appalled at Sontag's ongoing emotional abuse of Annie Liebowitz, so I'm unsure as to whether your usage was a typo or intentional.
5
@Passion for Peaches
I'm having a bit of a chuckle at what I assume is a typo - ". . . Jamaica Kincaid said of her FIEND Susan Sontag. . ."
6
Those were great. Thanks.
8
The stories are great but I’m really captivated by Agnes Lee’s drawings. Such perfect line and she always captures the moment.
44
We learn from each other. We mimic each other. Each of these stories are worthy of both. Thank you.
12
"Your backpack is open" - I've gotten that one a few times as well! And, once coming out of the N/R/Q at Canal St, "Your backpack is leaking," after a water bottle opened up in my bag.
30
Brief encounters with celebrities, or 'At The Movies' was a reminder to this reader of tales of New York City, when catching sight of Walt Frazier in the 70s at the height of his championship season, a friend and I paused. He was dressed in a burgundy suit; a perfect match for his burgundy Bentley in a quiet City street; and my friend dared me to ask for his autograph.
Sure, I replied, with the confidence of a peacock fan, and approached this sports star with a smile that was not returned. Not to be deterred by a drop in this social temperature, I looked up to his eyes, covered with a snappy pair of shades, and he shook his head. 'No autographs today', and the sting of this rejection made me fumble. But my husband is an admirer of yours and he loves football!, causing Mr. Frazier to look perplexed.
A cautionary tale, and a reminder that not all celebrities care to be recognized by star-watchers. Years later, I found myself waiting for my lunch companion at a restaurant counter, alone with Jeremy Irons at the opposite end, reading a paper-back novel. We shared an amicable smile. And yet, I have always maintained a tinge of regret that it was impossible to see at a discrete distance what was engaging his attention on paper.
Privacy is a precious commodity for our professional entertainers, and a genuine 'thank you' is a safe ticket.
38
In the mid 80s in Boston the actor Ed Asner was in a play when I was visiting my sister. She and I were walking around the city when I realized the person trying to look inconspicuous crossing the street in front of was none other than the actor himself. A few years later on my way back to the States from my sister's kibbutz wedding at 5 a m. Waiting for the plane across from me were a few of the actors from Mr. Asner's show Lou Grant. I was tempted to ask for an autograph buy chose to share a few shy glances instead.
11
@shira-eliora,
Prudent on your part, and yet you seemed destined to meet. 'Alas, is not a place where I live', but in hindsight, the Spirit of the Past visits on occasion, along with the memory of a friend much in love with Meryl Streep.
Jacob was a most compassionate man, and an advocate for Children's Rights. Destitute, he would look after his friends' pets when they were away, and of course he never left The City.
A neat stack of The New York Times would await my return from a long trip, and calling to thank him, we would arrange a date for our next movie outing, and a time to share a simple meal.
He became ill, and I used to visit him at a New York hospital after work, where he would read out loud passages of Doris Lessing to this uninformed ear.
But it was only after he died, and the news flash appeared on the Public to the Private sector-screen from East to West, that I regretted not having thought of writing to Ms. Streep, asking if she would visit my friend who was dying.
The man I was working for at the time had a recognizable handle on his name, closely knit to The City, and she might have made a brief surprise appearance on receiving this message, knowing that this was not a 'sham'.
Here's to you, Jacob, with a Postcard from the Edge of New York to the rue de Jacob in Paris.
21
Miss Ley, perhaps one of the reasons Walt Frazier didn't give you an autograph is because he was a basketball player; he didn't play football. By the way, I have met Mr. Frazier and he's a nice guy.
21
New York stories, I love ‘em. Here is my latest one.
I was in NYP Columbia recovering from a quadruple bypass. Got to talking with a nurse. I asked where he lived, and it was near CCNY. “I went there for college. And I used to work a few blocks from here, in the Heights.” He said he was born at Columbia, having been raised in the neighborhood. His mom was a nurse here, and his father had worked here too, and he decided that one day, he too would work here. And he did.
A physical therapist came by to get me up and moving and to treat me. He was another young guy, too. I struck up a conversation. He grew up near Brooklyn College. But, he said, he was born here, at Columbia, because that was where his mother’s doctor was. He had the same first name as the nurse, and I asked if he knew him, and he said yes. I said, did you know that not only do you both have the same first name, but that you both were born here at Columbia? He laughed and said No, I didn’t know that.
Three New York City kids (OK, I am probably 40 years older than they) having things in common. We got along well during my stay, as did the Nurse Practitioner who liked tennis, and stopped by and lingered in my room while she could because I was the only one watching the Open. The US Open. In Queens.
I love New York.
58
I was motivated to find out what an Aperol spritzer and Scally cap might be. My vocabulary is now two words larger.
32
Definitely order an Aperol Spritz sometime. Quite delicious!
9
@goajck substitute Campari for the Aperol. Learned that from a bartender in Alba (Italy) once upon a time.
6
@CD Thanks for the comment - I’ll try it tomorrow. Sounds yummy.
2
Susan Sontag. How sad. She could have said something nice and made a good memory.
90
@KarenAnne, I thought it was funny. Mostly because the person writing has a man’s name, so I assume it’s a he. I mean, just picture it. Two women known for having no shortage of attitude, doing these arty film dates, and a guy behind them gets over familiar. So Sontag comes back with a biting but funny retort. Perfect!
51
@Passion for Peaches
Good point. I was about to add a snarky comment before I read yours. Will Gil please reveal his/her gender?
Oh dear. Now I am going to get into trouble by raising yet another social issue...
5
@KarenAnne She COULD have said something nice, but then it wouldn't have been Susan Sontag.
It would be like meeting Don Rickles (old reference, I know) and him not insulting you.
It's like, if you're not miserable, you're not really at Disneyworld.
9
I have never lived in New York but I imagine these could happen any where and love these stories.
17
Lovely stories
4
Great key story !
Good info.
I have paranoia about dropping my keys through the grate.
33
@MC, I do, too. I have purposefully walked around grates when I am taking keys or my cell phone out of my purse (in a parking lot, for instance) because I think there is an evil, key and phone eating vortex in every grate in the world. Must be.
19
@MC esp. if you have ever watched Strangers on a Train.
6
@MC i dropped my keys into the yawning vortex known as the elevator shaft in my 1930s apartment building in san francisco years ago. it was the same surreal experience -- i just watched powerlessly as i stepped off the elevator and the giant crack sucked my keys into it. luckily my car keys i kept separate, so i was able to go to work, and my beautiful father came over and managed to fish my keys out, somehow, with a long, long unfolded coat hanger and tons of patience. god bless him. i cherish him every day for various such acts of heroism.
30
And this is ... New York.
LOve this column!
28
"Where are we going next?” They glanced back at me. “Some place you aren’t,” Ms. Sontag said.
That pretty much summarizes the impression I got from her writings of Susan Sontag's feelings about the bulk of humanity outside of her small coterie of snobbish aesthetes.
122
I want to make it clear that I do not believe that hers (Susan Sontag's) attitude is a common or typical one of NYers. Most are as friendly or even more so as anyone else, as I think these stories in the Metropolitan Diary show.
25
@John
Yes, correct. It is hard to believe that there was an era in which a sliver of our culture took her as an influential figure, one to be respected. All a bit pathetic, in retrospect.
17
@John Was Susan Sontag trying to out-snark Dorothy Parker?
1
Too bad Ms. Sontag doesn't have a sense of humor good enough to play along.
87
@mark She doesn't now.
2
Ms. Sontag and her clever ilk are a very good reason to live elsewhere. Please don’t make it Idaho.
33
Hey, I grew up in a red state (Oklahoma) and went to college at a place where about a third of the students were from NY, and with few exceptions they were some of the most friendly, and helpful colleagues I have ever known, and completely disabused me of some of the xenophobic prejudices I had grown up around (I want to make it clear that most people in OK did not have these prejudices). And I have lived in Idaho. Please get over, or seek some real experiences with NYers, that will help you move beyond your current attitude.
81
As a lifetime NYer, I've noticed the "NYers" with attitude are usually the transplants who have heard NYers are rude and feel they need to act a certain way to fit in!
13
Man, I love this section.
61
I'm from Philly, but I love these stories anyway...
35
Susan Sontag could have laughed off the incident, but didn't, She was dour and it showed as well through her writings,
118
Susan Sontag: meanie
64
@PrairieFlax
Susan Sontag's opinion of Susan Sontag was always a lot higher than mine. And not surprisingly, her opinion of the rest of humanity was lower than mine.
19
I wonder who the group of men dressed in tweed and scally caps were.
112
@CKent, I admit I had to look up what a scally cap was. I call them flat caps.
8
Gentlemen. Whoever they are.
39
@Passion for Peaches looks like a "tam" to moi-and i'm from the other end of NYS. cheers
4
This week’s Metropolitan Diary has come with a mixed bag. “ Through the Grate “ story is all about collective kindness or group kindness. We have read similar stories such as lifting a car for helping people in need in this Diary itself.
“The Breakup” story is about personal heartbreak overcome through strong will assisted by sane spontaneous advice by an elderly gentleman.
“L Train” story is about individual kindness, perhaps favour well returned.
“At the Movies” story is all about natural response from the opposite gender while encountering an unexpected question from a stranger. This story shows that coincidence can happen twice.
“Ticket Talk “ story is all about the individual choice of a movie or play.
19
I guess the grate incident happened before "smart" phones became ubiquitous. Otherwise, she'd have tried to take a picture with her phone and then dropped that down the grate too.
31
@yl . that's just grate. It may not make full logistical sense, but sure made me laugh on a Monday morning. And a victimless joke too, except at the expense of a societal compulsion.
And yet, I do at times wish when my parents were in their younger years, instead of just the posed photos, they'd had the technology and kept the insanely detailed records of their lives as I do at times make silly fun of, like the many many people for whom the instagram and Facebook layout of their vacation is more important than experiencing the vacation itself. :)
17
@yl
Thanks, yl, for the best laugh I've had all day!
3
@Freddi Yet in future years your parents posed photos will remain, and your digital memories will have disappeared into the ether.
10
As an incessant worrier, I've worked to eliminate many risks of living and working in the city. I NEVER take my keys out of my pocket near grates or sewers for fear that they'd disappear in the dark. My backpack, which contains nothing more valuable than some power bars, has those small padlocks on each of the zippers.
To add to the list, I always stand as far away I can from the tracks on subway platforms behind pillars with my feet perpendicular to the tracks. At street corners, I stand far away from the corner, preferably behind a pole or other barrier until the light changes. I try to cross intersections on one-way streets where the cars are not turning into the intersection.
Despite these foibles, I'm a very happy, active and engaged person.
120
@jill I like you!!! You sound me. Why invite trouble.
28
@jill, your last line gave me a good chuckle!
I use underground transport only when I travel, and even then only when necessary. But when I do venture underground, I stand as far away from the edge of the platform as possible, without being too far to get on a car when the train comes. Knees slightly bent. Ready to react.
Despite this double, I work every day on my mountain property, quite calmly, despite the presence of mountain lions and rattlesnakes. Animals are fine. It’s people who freak me out.
24
Freddie’s autocorrect bug is spreading. Double should be foible. Ack, it just changed to double again! Double foibles. Foible you, autocorrect.
24
Since when violence and racism are funny ?
7
@Malaika
I think the laugh wasn't about the content but about the fact that someone felt the need to put a warning like that on a play called "Slave Play". And I think (hope) the "excellent" was ironic.
87
@yl
Dear Malaika and yl in nj,
There are actually triple layers of irony going on here that might make Malaika feel better--it's not a play that condones or laughs at violence or racism at all--quite the opposite.
There is a big "WOW" surprise written into this play that I certainly never saw coming that upends the entire premise.
So it really is a drama about how we cope with and can begin to expunge the evils of centuries of sexual violence and slavery in the US. But I can't be more specific without spoiling the surprises for future viewers.
Even so, I came away from this intense drama feeling tainted by the sexual and racial violence expressed (even To Kill a Mockingbird was a bit over the top for me--I get emotional). Perhaps, as my husband said, that was the whole point...
Elissa
27
What I love most, besides the humor, is the helpfulness and kindness shown by total strangers in NYC!
72
Julia Murphy is very lucky in the sense that she could find a number of people willing to help her in retrieving her keys at that point of time, so sweet.
Ticket talk story has brought back my fond memories about evergreen Telugu movie Sankarabharanam, which is my all time favourite movie. This movie has rape and murder scene even but very artistically depicted by the great director K. Viswanath.
I have seen movies in many languages including English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati, Sanskrit etc but Sankarabharanam tops all of them. This movie depicts platonic relationship between a classical singer and a classical dancer. It literally shows how a guru and his disciple conduct in life.
I never dated anyone since I married my wife through arranged marriage. We have faced many up and downs in marital life but still withstood for 41 years. The journey is still continuing.
It’s nice to learn that Ashliegh Hunt didn’t get permanently disheartened but found love again after sometime. Glad to know that elderly person’s sane advice has helped.
The response perhaps would have been different if the people sitting in the front rower a movie theatre twice by chance happen to be of same gender as that of Git Reavill. It’s natural for the women to get offended.
32
Today’s Metropolitan Diary features three shoulder taps.
In the first entry, titled “Through the Grate,” a man wearing tweed and a scally cap taps Julia Murphy on her shoulder. He and his friends retrieve her keys from the grate.
In the final entry, titled “L Train,” there are two shoulder taps.
Tap #1: Sierra Lewandowski taps the red-haired woman’s shoulder to let her know that her wallet is about to fall out of an open pocket on her backpack.
Tap #2: Someone with a quiet voice taps Sierra’s shoulder and says, “Your backpack is open.”
I like to think that it was the same red-haired woman.
66
@Dean
Dear Dean,
As always, you hone in on the essence of these small human dramas.
Taps on the shoulder from strangers are usually associated in the Bible and in literature from the ancient Greeks to the modern Latin American "magical realist" novelists (in plays, so many movies, paintings and sculptural art too) with visitations from angels, who arrive to intervene and help humans in danger or at difficult turning points in their lives. Often, they herald Divine or heavenly intervention when humans or humankind are in great need.
Sometimes, these taps on the shoulder are softly felt--much like the ones you describe on a young woman's shoulder. Sometimes crashing thunderbolts from Mt. Olympus resound. Sometimes there are great annunciations from archangels with splendid golden wings.
But sometimes, there is just the gentle tap of "an angel on my shoulder," the stranger who appears to help guide us in the right direction--the desert wanderer who appeared to tell Joseph's repentant brothers where to find him after having sold him into slavery or the anonymous big, burly marine sergeant between tours who revived my husband after he had been hit on the head on Lexington Ave and 25 St several years ago.
Ms Murphy is most fortunate that her encounter turned out well. But I so grieve for the lovely young life lost this past week just steps from the Columbia campus and feel strongly that this little vignette about lost keys could have been printed at another time.
E.
14
@Kokopelli, this is from Mr. Manners, “The. ocean Manners Guy”:
“ If the person whom you wish to correct is your child, student, or employee, you should, of course, feel comfortable (if not obligated) to correct his or her grammar, providing you do it in a polite and constructive manner. If the child, student, or employee is an adult, and it is outside of a classroom setting, you should also do so in private. In any other case, you must ask yourself if the person you wish to correct would actually like to be corrected. If the answer is “no,” then you should keep it to yourself.”
Be kind. It costs nothing.
13
@Passion for Peaches
Hi Passion for Peaches,
Thanks for the moral support!! Who knew a simple typo ("m" and "n" are next to each other on the keyboard) could generate such a kerfluffle?? And Mr. Kokopelli certainly did *hone* his razor sharp comment on my typing error.
The truth is, I have arthritis in the 3 and 4 finger of my right hand, and so my index finger--the one that would naturally hit the "n" key--tends to take over. So, both wolf-cub hunting from helicopters (truly a repellent activity) and playing Chopin sonatas (my only musical skill after much practice) are now activities denied me....
I can till peel potatoes, though, and so I hope our correspondent from Idaho continues to grow and ship them out to us here on the East Coast.
But, should exhilarating, frenetic NY ever get too noisy,
Why, we might all just pick up and "home in" for a visit to Boise!!
Elissa
5
it seems to me that Ms. Sontag's response was quite rude, unless the tone of her remark was jocular.
134
@Martin Frank
I think the author was conveying that the women thought he was stalking them.
27
@D - it's the society live in these decades, that there are times not to make jokes in case the people get nervous by not being sure we'rejoking.
Recently, because I have a metal stent in since June that hasn't been taken out, I always have to be searched when going through security - It's a precaution making sure people know they will be stopped if they set off the scanner. And they try to be so careful when there's a medical reason but still have to check carefully - let's face it, someone who plans to go up with a plane could do it by having a device inside them. But after maybe five minutes in full view of all the passengers of the TSA worker having to check a whole host of places he was told to, I so wanted to say something like "I'm so sorry we didn't at least have dinner first" - but I caught myself and recalled "No jokes!" New York humor might not go over in Miami.
70
@Freddie Good call. An airport security checkpoint is not the right place for humor -- and not only in Miami.
12
You have to love a good play
'This play contains violence, sexual scenes, nudity, simulated sex, racism and violence.'
Could've been Cecil B DeMille's The Ten Commandments
51
In "L Train," a fast reading suggested it was the same person as easier - but since that's not stated by the author, was it a chain going on of people helping each there?
9
@Freddie: earlier, not easier.
5
@Giskander - just from the sense of that, it's spellcheck that I didn't catch. When I type "soundtrack" and it should be "cast album," that type of change is me. :). After spellcheck kept insisting in renaming "Notting Hill" as "Nothing Hill," my friend Debby noted: "Somebody wrote on Facebook that having spellcheck was like having a little elf in your phone who really, really wants to be helpful, but who is also drunk."
Tune of “Always Something There to Remind Me”
I type my comment, and here’s Spellcheck as he joins me cheerfully.
Though he’s so nice, some fixes make me question his sobriety.
I smile and can’t get mad at him,
So there are
Always typos there to remind me.
Always typos there to remind me.
I’d turn off this feature.
But he means well, and oh gee,
He’s friendly as an app can be.
so there are always typos there to remind me.
Always typos there to remind me.
(Hey, Spellcheck, is it Dionne Warwick or Warwicke?)
41
With all due respect to Miss Warwick's version, my spellcheck would produce Naked Eyes.
1
"Ticket talk" made me think about "Take me Out" which is being revived soon, a terrific play with so much nudity when it was on Broadway about fifteen years ago. Jesse Tyler Ferguson's character doesn't have any nude scenes. But Patrick Adams is just as major a Tv star from "Suits" (he starred with Meghan Markle) and I was saying to a neighbor that it's strange to imagine that he'd be doing those long scenes really acting while totally naked, like the character did in the original. My neighbor, who's an actor, said as long as it's integral to the scene: the baseball team is taking a shower for about five minutes, and are the baseball players going to take a shower in their uniforms?
10
Bob Lohrmann's story reminds me of the scene from 'Blazing Saddles' where the felons have to list their qualifications.
Paraphrasing, "you said violence twice."
"I like violence . . ."
Sign right here Bob.
24
Ms. Murphy, thank you for your lovely Diary entry about a group of very kind and thoughtful men cheerfully and willingly helping you retrieve your keys. Your story brought both a smile and a good feeling this day, ever so much needed.
Ms. Lewandowski, your entry about both receiving and then extending a helpful word to a fellow subway rider also brought a feeling of well being as well as the thought that it is so important to keep stories such as yours in mind. During these difficult times accounts like yours and Ms. Murphy’s are reminders of basic human decency and goodness as well as guideposts to what we all can do in our own small ways. In that respect they are big stories with the ability to both lift spirits and stimulate similar acts of kindness.
Ms. Hunt—I am very happy your story ended as it did and I so wish you a full and contented heart, while wishing the same to all good readers and commenters to this very special space.
Stay well all.
Allen
63
@Allen, will anyone else admit to googling to see if Ms. Lewandowski is related to Corey Lewandowski? (though I'm wondering if there are some parts of the country where Lewandowski is a common name, like Smith). What was your sense of it, Allen, was the tap on Sierra Lewandowski's shoulder the same person. The more I read it, it seems like such terrific storytelling to not explicitly say so, doesn't it?
8
Dear Allen,
The Metropolitan Diary along with your always uplifting comments are a guaranteed good start to each week.
You, too: Please stay well.
And stay sane in these times!
Dean
25
Yes, Freddie. I thought that the tap on the shoulder was from the same person. I posted a comment to that effect, but it never appeared. Here’s hoping!
Best,
Dean
8
Love these Diary submissions. Bob Lohrmann's response to the warning about the play he was buying a ticket for reminded me of the email I sent to my mutual aid society/movie group about Queen & Slim this week. After rattling off the R rating particulars, I almost wrote "(What's not to like?"). The Susan Sontag story made me laugh. I had a friend in Ann Arbor who volunteered to take Susan Sontag to the airport, and Susan Sontag, more pleasant on that occasion, was at my friend's house standing in front of her book shelves. My friend thought, "Susan Sontag is looking at my books!" How in awe we all were.
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@Sara - regarding " After rattling off the R rating particulars, I almost wrote "What's not to like?"
It's like earlier, when on the news they said something like "this clip coming up has some frank and explicit material, so exercise caution," it almost feels like code for "Get the young kids away from the Tv, but everyone else, you'll want to take real care not to miss a second of it."
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@Freddie
Freddie, exactly. I'll come back just in case you decide to write a song or a poem about this phenomenon.
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Dear Sara and Freddie,
Regarding both of your comments: My thoughts exactly.
Cheers!
Dean
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To get around the City, the subway is a good choice however each individual line is a train, the G train for example. To get to Long Island take the railroad and to go upstate it's Metro North.
I've never traveled to New Jersey by train, for me the railroad to the subway and then New Jersey Transit is to big of an ordeal.
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I've been out of the City almost 20 years now and forgot you can connect to NJT at Penn without getting on the subway.
Still I would never take the train to NJ.
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@mlb4ever I've done so. The way back though was extremely crowded.
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