Today is Thursday, December 28, 2023.   I just came home just about an hour ago, and I’m reveling in the Maine decision to take Frump off the ballot, making this the second state to remove the Orange Ogre from the ballot. I’m hoping that other states will now follow Colorado and Maine’s bold steps to remove an insurrectionist from the presidential ballot.    Now the ugly Extreme Court will need to weigh in on this trend.   I would think that New York will definitely follow these two states next.  And possibly others.

Anyway, this is going to be very short. Elliot and I just returned from the city viewing the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center and then walking 37 blocks to Cafe d’Alsace, located at 87th Street and 2nd Avenue.   We certainly could have used the subway, but we somehow preferred to walk in the misting rain.    The temperature, however, was quite mild, so it was actually very pleasant to walk rather than take the subway.  We actually arrived at the restaurant separately, since I walked ahead of Elliot and stopped at various chain drugstores to look for a card for some friends who sent us a holiday card this week.  Again, I was struck by the theft of envelopes in the card sections of two stores:   Duane Reade and CVS.     Both stores were missing the envelopes behind their greeting cards.     When I eventually found a suitable card, I had to take a different envelope from another card to match up with the card.   I even told the cashier that this activity was going on, and she agreed that it was an annoying situation.     I just can’t figure out why people would do this – without buying the card that matches with the envelope.

When I arrived at the restaurant, I was surprised to see Elliot there sitting on a fireplug.    This was about 6:45 p.m.    We walked in about 6:50 and were brought to a table that seats four.   At around 7:05, my cousins walked in:  ”Rivka” and “Dillon.”

I have to say that conversation flowed very smoothly and uninhibitedly for close to 2 and a half hours.  This time Rivka and Dillon talked more about their families, their sons, and even their own parents, while Elliot discussed his daughters, his parents, and the advantages of being an only child.     I learned that Rivka has one brother, while Dillon is one of four children.   We also discussed politics, movies, theater, and Radio City Music Hall, in which they had just attended the Christmas spectacular with their grandchildren to see the world-famous Rockettes.   On this subject, we all reminisced about the old Radio City that used to offer a first-run film and the Rockettes show,  which usually ranged from 2 to 3 hours.    Now, I learned, the current show is only 90 minutes and a hundred percent more expensive from the time my parents and I would go to Radio City.   Ah, progress!

So we walked back to 86th Street to take the 6 downtown and change for the E or the F to Queens.   We took the F train from 51st Street and stood all the way to Forest Hills.   And this was after 10 p.m. no less. 

Tomorrow we’ll be busy too, attending the show at the Orpheum Theatre.  I don’t know if I’ll be reporting here tomorrow, but I’ll do my best to enthrall you with the latest news.  

By the way, I had a moment to walk into Shakespeare & Company Bookstore on 68th Street and Lexington Avenue, where I bought Philip Roth’s Sabbath’s Theater for only $1.     This is a nice addition to my growing Roth library, I feel.

Stay safe and be well.

Here’s the tree without Hugh Jackman.

It was damn crowded by the tree that Elliot and I fled after taking these pictures.