Today is Saturday, August 5, 2023. It’s late here since Elliot and I were out having dinner with Cousin “Sally” at an elegant Italian restaurant called Franina in Syosset, on Jericho Turnpike. There was no particular occasion other than getting together with Sally whom we haven’t seen in awhile. She even wanted to pay for us since it’s our anniversary this coming Thursday, August 10. Of course, Elliot objected to her paying for the entire dinner, so they split the cost down the middle instead. In a nutshell, the meal was totally delicious from the three appetizers we ordered to the three entrees we had and to the two deserts we had, including the chocolate cheesecake we all shared.

Yesterday Elliot and I had a fun-filled day, beginning with our foray into the West Village to see a film called Passages at the IFC Center, located on 6th Avenue and 4th Street. The film was directed by Ira Sachs and it stars the British actor Ben Whishaw as part of a volatile sex triangle and Franz Rogowski who plays his reckless husband, Tomas, who is a director and falls impulsively into bed with a French woman, Agathe, played by Adele Exarchopoulos, and the tension the situation creates for the three participants. Elliot and I both thought the film was well acted and resonated so deeply with both of us.

Then we walked to two bookstores, Mercer Street Bookstore, and Codex, located on Bleecker Street. And, yes, I have to report I did buy one book, Vineland, by Thomas Pynchon. It’s a book published in 1990 and it’s set in California in 1984, the year of Ronald Reagan’s reelection. It’s supposed to be one of the author’s less dense novels, so I’ll find out when I read it.

Then before you turned around, it was time to have dinner at John’s, a traditional red-sauce Italian restaurant in the East Village that has served customers since 1908. We shared a main entree, chicken parmigiana with spaghetti, to cut down on our caloric intake. What was most enjoyable about the meal was our young waiter who said he hailed from Kosovo. Elliot enjoyed providing our young waiter with tips about traveling to areas in New York and elsewhere.

After dinner, we walked across the street to go to the Village East Cinema for our appointment with Ms. Hedda Lettuce, the host of 1970’s Joan Crawford vehicle called Trog which was a purely laughable film. This is, sadly, the last film Crawford would ever act in before her death in 1977. The action centers on the discovery of a “missing link,” in a cave somewhere in the British countryside and the efforts of a dogmatic anthropologist played by Ms. Crawford to observe and experiment with this troglodyte, to the dismay of the town’s reigning bigot and grouch, Mr. Murdoch, played by redoubtable Michael Gough who wants the authorities to destroy the beast. What was more enjoyable than the film was Ms. Lettuce’s delivery in the front row concerning some of the risible parts of dialogue inherent in the movie. Unfortunately, both Elliot and I were unable to hear much of her dialogue since we were sitting way back in the theater. She did use a laser pointer throughout the film and her gestures with regard to this were discernible by both of us.

Tomorrow my friend “Harold” is visiting with us after going to various museums in the city and is staying with us Sunday night. I intend to meet up with Harold tomorrow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and spend the latter part of the day with him in Manhattan.

I will then not be at this space tomorrow if I’m entertaining my friend here tomorrow night.

So have a great weekend.

Stay safe and be well.

Here is Hedda Lettuce speaking in front of a rapt audience at her first hosting duties at the Village East Cinema.