Friday, October 19, 1984
After work I drove downtown and parked in a garage.
Walked over to the train station and bought a $19 ticket to New York City Penn
Station. Waited for the 15:26 train, which was pretty much on time, but
crowded. Had to go to the rear of the train to find seats. We were delayed in
Stamford, CT where there apparently was a freight train accident a few days
ago. The power in the car kept going off and without ventilation it got stuffy.
However, being dark, one could see outside better and there were the lights of
NYC approaching. Arrived in NYC at 20:00 when we were due at 19:10. We were
shepherded up the stairs where a large crowds of people waited. I didn’t immediately
see Grandma or Dot. It turns out they had waited down by the track. We went to
the coffee shop to eat and Grandma treated. We walked outside to see men
pouring into Madison Square Garden for a boxing match. We walked down 33rd Street to the subway and headed to Brooklyn. It was pretty balmy in NYC. Once
at the apartment, we had ice cream.
Saturday, October 20, 1984
Had a bialy bagel for breakfast, a big fat thing
with sesame seeds and poppy seeds. Grandma and I left at 9:45 to take the subway into
Manhattan. In the station we could hear a girl reporting a robbery and sexual
abuse to a policeman. We got off at the 56th Street station, and
walked to 53rd Street, then turned left towards Fifth Avenue to the Museum
of Modern Art. They were having a special exhibition on "Primitivism.”
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| Prmitivism brochure guide |
There
was a long line to get into the building. Tickets were $4.50 for me and $2 for
senior citizens! Grandma had to check her shopping bag. We joined another line
to go downstairs for the special exhibit. It was very interesting, showing the
“affinity” of tribal and modern art, how many modern artists are influenced by
tribal art, and side-by-side comparisons could be made. There were many pieces of Pablo Picasso’s
work, along with pieces from his tribal collection! There was also Paul
Gauguin, Paul Klee, Max Ernst, etc. There were three major pieces of art from
the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, NY, by Gauguin, Klee, and Joan Miró.
I now have a better appreciation of these artists, knowing where they were
coming from, not just left field! We also saw the Irving Penn photograph
exhibit, and a furniture/glass exhibit by a Finn. We left the museum about
13:00 to look for the Reid’s Restaurant recommended by Dot. They were busy
because of a 50th college reunion party. But we got our hot roast beef
sandwiches right away. A couple next to us had to wait 45 minutes for their
meal.
We went through Gucci’s and wandered down Fifth
Avenue. Stopped at Rockefeller Center and watched the ice skaters. Later a card
store, and then past the Public Library that was being renovated. Walked down 42nd Street to Times Square, then back to 46th Street to
Howard Johnson’s for dessert if a peppermint stick ice cream soda with
chocolate syrup.
We took the subway back to Brooklyn. When walking
down 77th Street, there was a giant pumpkin in one yard. It was a
good three-feet in diameter, and a sign said “301#!” We were home at 17:30, and
later went to 19:30 Mass at Our Lady of Angels Church. They have compute-
controlled electric votive candles! Had chicken sandwiches and banana nut bread
when we got back to the apartment.
Sunday, October 21, 1984
After breakfast, I took the subway into Manhattan to
Penn Station, arriving about 8:45. Bought a $19 ticket for Providence and
boarded a train at 9:05. A couple wasted guys sat behind me, talking about
their relief to get away from the police. The train left at 9:18, three minutes
late. Then the train stopped. These guys were convinced they were going to be
thrown off the train. But then it started again. One guy lighted a cigarette,
and the lady behind him said this was a no-smoking car. The guy swore, and
another man stuck up for the lady. These guys were belligerent, so the lady
moved. The guy was so wasted that the cigarette just died. Another man across
the aisle from them came back to his seat and saw his leather jacket was
missing. He went to talk to the conductor who apparently called the police. The
conductor found the jacket under the seat of these two guys! They claimed to
have been asleep and didn’t even remember getting on the train! Well, the man
got his jacket back. I heard one of the guys say he did steal the jacket and
almost got away with it. In Stamford, the police came aboard to shake these two
guys awake. Only one had I.D. The man with the jacket and the husband of the no-smoking lady were shaking their fingers, saying these guys should be thrown off the
train. But the police just took their beer, and said if there was any more
trouble, they would be kicked off the train. So then they went into the vestibule
to smoke, and shout threats at their accusers. Too bad I didn’t have a tape recorder!
Later I heard the guy again say that he took the jacket, and he took the keys!
The keys! If we can catch them with evidence… I stood up to throw my garbage
away in the vestibule, and planned to go to the next car, but the guys were
watching my every move, and wondered aloud what I was doing. I sat down again,
and the man next to me said the leather jacket man had already gotten off the
train, so there was no one to identify the keys. By then we were in Providence,
arriving a half hour late at 13:35. I retrieved my car for $10 and drove home,
calling Grandma to let her know I had arrived safely.
Drove around with Kent as he looked at houses to buy. We went to China
Inn for dinner, sharing an order of rumakis/small egg rolls with pork and
shrimp. Plus two dishes Prince’s style, which is in a spicy hot garlic sauce
with dried chili peppers, one chicken and peanuts with pineapple, and the other
with lobster, scallops, shrimp, and vegetables. Kent’s fortune I that he will
take a trip in the desert, and I got three fortunes in my one cookie!
