i'm not kidding about having summer fun!

You may have thought I was crazy when I posted a list of things to do this summer. She can't possibly go to all of them, you thought. That would be unbelievable! She's amazing! Well, you were right. (About all of that.)

However, I really am planning to do as many of them as I can. So last night, I went to see John Pizzarelli and Paula West at Rockefeller Park. Except that I made a few serious errors in planning my evening:

1. Rockefeller Park is at the north end of Battery Park City, not Battery Park. (hence, a very long walk ensued)

2. The concert was at its rain location, which was Stuyvesant High School. (which was cool, actually because a: it was air conditioned (hi, it's been in the 90s in NYC this week!) and b: I have been known, in my time, to have been obsessed with a boy or two who went to high school there. And, while it's a completely different school now than it was when they were there, I somehow feel I've completed a new level in my obsession. Unintentionally.)

(Intentionally would have been Very Bad.)

By the time I got there (see "very long walk" above), Paula West had finished her set, my armpits were completely wet and the show was in it's intermet(zo). (yay! bad poetry!)

I started walking into the school, the guy at the door said, "Ticket?" and I said, "But isn't this free?" And he said, "Yes. But you need a ticket." And I said, "I don't have one." And he said, "Well, you have to have one." And I said, "Well, where can I get one?" And he said, "You can't. We're sold out." And I said, "Harumpf."

So I stopped a lovely lady on her way out and I said, "Excuse me, are you leaving?" And she was foreign and gave me a very lovely blank stare. Luckily, her friend behind her said, "Yes, we are." I said, "Could I borrow your ticket?"

So I looked my gift-horse in a non-oral location, showed Door Guy my pilfered ticket, and waltzed right into a seat in the back.

It was awesome! John Pizzarelli is a great performer (as well as a great musician -- although, really, what do I know about jazz??), and he was charming, crooning and carousing up a storm.

Oh, did I mention I went alone? And that I had an excellent time?

Yeah, this is going to be a terrific summer!

p.s. I'm going to hear throat singers tonight -- more specifically "a young quartet of Tuvan xoomeizhi (throat singers) and instrumentalists mentored by one of the best-known figures of that genre, Kongar-ool Ondar (of Genghis Blues fame)." You know, good old Kongar-ool Ondar. RAWK!!