Pretty in pink

It is so late! And yet it is as if this day never happened.

I went out into the world in this beautiful pink sweater I got at the sale at Beth Tzedek. I love that word. I want to keep saying it. Tzedek.

I wonder who used to own this sweater. Howard said it looks expensive.

This morning I was going to a Philharmonic concert. It was one of the orchestra's Coffee Concerts. Which are this weird invention. You go to the Phil at 10:30 a.m. It is fun but it feels illicit. I am used to going to the Philharmonic at night so when I go in the morning it feels weird and the rest of the day I feel as if I have a hangover.

As soon as I got inside Kleinhans I started forgetting it was morning and thinking it was night. There are no windows. It is like the casino! I mean, I was looking around for the bar. And I kept saying things like, "How's the crowd tonight?"

The ushers kept telling me, "Uh, Mary, it's morning."

And I would say, "Oh, right."

That is a weird feeling! It is like having your day turned upside down!

When the concert was over I had to go to the office and before I knew it, it was dark. I had to work late because I had screwed up certain deadlines.

When I was finally done working I went to the Hyatt with Howard and my friend Michelle to catch Jackie Jocko's last half an hour. That is Jocko in the middle of this picture.


Here is something surreal. Jocko told us that Metallica had been in to see him.

Metallica was just playing in Buffalo. Anyway, Jocko said that this guy from Metallica said, 'Holy #$*#$*, that guy can play piano."

We all laughed about that. Then Michelle said: "What happened after that?"

"Nothing!" Jocko said. "I didn't talk to him."

Hahahahahah! For some reason after my upside-down day that struck me as awfully funny.

Michelle is great. She is a real journalist and peppers people with questions. As opposed to me. I just want to sit there and laugh. That is how I wound up writing about Leonard Pennario. The night I met him I just sat there and laughed. I do not think I asked him one single question! Guys love that, I am telling you. They love when you act like a ditz. Which, luckily that comes naturally to me.

"What did the guys in Metallica look like?" Michelle asked Jocko.

"Oh, Michelle," Jocko said, as if he were trying to break it to her gently. "They do not look like you and me. They are not normal people."

"What was their hair like?" Michelle would not give up.

"Terrible!" Jocko exclaimed.

He looked dismissively away and launched into "Lemon Twist."

Hahahahaha!

At the top of this post is a picture of Metallica who thought Jocko was a hell of a piano player and who do not look like you or me.

It seemed like years later when I finally got home, still in my pink Beth Tzedek sweater.

I had put it on a lifetime ago!