Away from the Keyboard

Just a quick break from the "business" of writing Times stories to share a couple of photos and stories from recent travels.

Late in September, we journeyed to the Promised Land -- Wildwood, NJ -- to take our human son, Greg, on some rides and say goodbye to Tucker, our canine son. He (Tucker) loved chasing roller coasters on the beach, so we took some of his fur (in lieu of his ashes; I couldn't bear to open his urn and "rob the grave") with us to the beach and let the winds take him. We were all a little misty, but like all funerals, it was a necessary ritual.

Anyway, when we were done, Cindy caught a shot of me making like Lawrence of Arabia on the beach. (Wildwood has one of the largest beaches anywhere; it truly can be like crossing the Sun's Anvil to get from boardwalk to ocean. The photo doesn't do it justice. We'll get a better one next time.)




As for the other shot -- well, Greg's never seen Lawrence, so he didn't really get into the spirit, but we have so few photos together, this was something of an event.






Speaking of events, this brings me to my second recent diversion from writing: On Wednesday, Cindy & I spent the day in New York, shopping at Toys R Us and M&Ms World, getting The World's Most Expensive Turkey Sandwich for lunch at the Roxy Deli (yum!), and -- the reason for the whole trip -- seeing the afternoon matinee of Curtains with David Hyde Pierce. Given my passion for Frasier -- and the fact that the show also stars Edward "Gil Chesterton" Hibbert -- seeing this was an imperative. Having missed an earlier opportunity to see the show due to a last-minute dental emergency, I was thrilled and relieved to finally see the thing. If you like old-fashioned, breezy musicals (it's the last score by Kander & Ebb and features a great book by Peter Stone and Rupert Holmes) with a great ensemble, you MUST see this show.

We didn't have time to get autographs at the stage door before catching our train, but Cindy did oblige me with this photo to prove I'd really made it to the play. I consider the excursion nothing less than a monumental achievement, given the way The Machine likes to throw wrenches into my plans -- or, as it did last spring, into my teeth -- from time to time.



We now return to our regularly scheduled writing and plugging.
-- L.