The Only Living Girl in New York

We went to see the play August: Osage County this weekend, and I'm still reeling from the awesomeness.  It's a family drama that takes place in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, and it was smart and piercing and hilarious and devastating.  It was the best thing I've seen in ages.  Or possibly ever.  I'm not alone in raving over it, since it won Best Play at the Tonys a few weeks ago and also garnered a Pulitzer, but still:  DANG.  It was amazing.  It featured by far the best dysfunctional family dinner scene ever performed, and had some fantastic zingers that we've been quoting since we left the theater.  Brilliant, I tell you.  It was BRILLIANT. 

Apparently there's going to be a national tour in 2009, so if it ever comes to your town, you have to promise me you'll go.  Promise me right now.  Do it now!  Or, shoot, get on a plane and come on to New York and see it here!  It's summer, you'll find plenty of tickets available and you can get reservations at any restaurant you want while everyone (except us) is in the Hamptons (more on that below).  Don't be daunted by its length, by the way -- it's over three hours, but it absolutely flies by. 

I got us the tickets for J for our anniversary, and guess what J got me for our anniversary (among other things)?  Yep.  Tickets to August: Osage County.  Cathyhad told me we should see it months ago, so as our anniversary approached I thought it would be a perfect thing that he'd never think of himself, as I'd only mentioned it once before.  Nay.  Great minds, etc.  But his tickets are for a different day, so if he can't get a friend to go or something, we'll just go again.  (IT WAS THAT GOOD.)

We also went to the Cooper-Hewitt this weekend, on something of a whim (we're nuts!  we go to museums AT RANDOM!), and it was nice, if a bit small, and afterward we walked through Central Park in what has become a daily afternoon thunderstorm.  It seems Manhattan has migrated to the Caribbean; we've got hot, humid, sun-soaked mornings and afternoon downpours.  Which isn't bad, all things considered, since the alternative is for the sun to bake all the city's bad smells into one massive stench-fest; this way, everything's lush and hydrated, and the sidewalks stay clean(er) such that you can breathe without fear of a beastly odor wafting past your nostrils every few seconds.

Meanwhile, this is at least the fourth summer running that we've walked around wondering how, exactly, the vast majority of our peers and colleagues manage to get out of the city for the weekends while we wander about the urban jungle, not a beach, pool or lake in sight.  Every Friday evening as I trudge home from the subway, I see our neighbors packing their kids and dogs and groceries into their Subarus and Volvos, heading off to someplace with cool breezes and a grill on the patio, as we slog it out with the tourists (not that there's anything wrong with tourists, of course).  It's a little demoralizing.  

I mean, this year we figured we'd be traveling to Vietnam or would have just gotten home with Noelle (ha...HA...ha...WAHHHH), so we didn't even think about trying to get a place, but next year...NEXT YEAR, man.  We are all over that summer rental scene. 

Until then, we'll keep going on these little cultural outings (next weekend: the J.M.W. Turner exhibit at the Met -- also dinner with friends; we're not completely alone, at least) and taking the dog for long walks in the suddenly-not-so-crowded park and making summery dinners (gazpacho!  corn on the cob!  rose wine!) and praying feverishly that we'll be on a plane to Ho Chi Minh City very, very soon.  (It's been, ah, five weeks without an update of any kind.  I am not taking it well.) 

Comments

[lizgwiz]

I'm hoping they bring August: Osage County to Tulsa at some point, since Tracy Letts' mother Billie still lives here.

I actually lived in Pawhuska for a very brief time as a child, but I swear that's not my family up there! Hee.

[Becky]

Oh my, five weeks must seem like forever! Hang in there!
:) Becky
http://www.stinkylemsky.typepad.com/

[Leah]

Five weeks?! Get on it, adoption center people! IT'S TIME.

[Twangypearl]

Five whole weeks waiting as you slog through the stinky heat of the city (how well I remember the summer heat in the subway stations. Has anyone ever tried to bake a cake down there, I wonder? Seriously, the temperature is perfect) is indeed a long long time.
Enough, one might even say.
Oh do come ON, official people! For pity's sake, next step please.

[Danielle-Lee]

I am sorry you haven't had any news in 5 weeks. -hug-

I promise I will go see it if it comes to my city. It sounds great!

[H]

I hope you get to go soon.

[Mauigirl]

Will have to go see Osage County - with your raving recommendation it must be good!

So sorry you haven't had news for so long. Fingers crossed for you...