The very famous Dr. Jim Withers and I are in New York City for meetings. They are today though we arrived yesterday and opted for Broadway last night.
I love Broadway! Musical comedies are my favorites though I like musicals of all kinds. Pippin. Jesus Christ Superstar. Godspell. RENT. Spamalot. Hairspray (I went kicking and screaming but then there was Darlene Love in it and it doesn't get any cooler than her!). Cotton Patch Gospel. Don't Stop the Carnival. Avenue Q.
I could go on.
New York is always a head rush though I've grown fond of finding little taverns and neighborhood pups ... especially when the Giants or Jets are playing. That's always fun!
New York has no real concept of college football though. Once my son Jeremy, Melanie Finnachario and I ran like twenty-seven city blocks to catch the second half of a University of Georgia football game. Everybody else in the city was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art which is where we had been but ... UGA was playing so we found the one sports bar that was showing the game (Georgia beat Kentucky on a last minute field goal).
But I like running through Central Park because I'm always discovering these little hidden treasures. Once I literally ran into Yoko Ono on the 25th anniversary of John Lennon's death.
Ray's Pizza is really good! Once we were there and this homeless guy burst in the front door, held up his hand and screamed, "Don't worry kids! I'm the trash inspector!"
Then he buried his upper body in the trash can looking for ... I really don't know what he was looking for.
"Hey Timmy," said a kid sitting at the table beside ours, "what the heck's a trash inspector?"
"Beats me," said Timmy with a mouth full of pizza.
The entertainment in the subway stations are to die for. As is Ellen's Starlight Dinner where those who fail to pass the auditions on Broadway get jobs as singing waiters and waitresses.
Anyway, I'm here with Jim for a meeting with a book agent and another meeting concerning using social medal to solve problems like homelessness. The head of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the National Coalition for the Homeless, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and a several philanthropists will be there.
Lunch is provided.
It is interesting to me that a year after leaving Union Mission these opportunities continue to come my way. The sponsors bought my plane ticket, spent a lot of money to put Jim and I up at the Omni Berkshire on West 52 Street and apparently read a lot of what I write every day. We're going to explore the power of blogging, Youtubing, Twitter on mobilizing public responses for serious social issues like health care, homelessness and housing. As the world gets smaller because of technology, we have the opportunity to grow closer.
It's a small step from the writing that I do every morning on my beloved back deck to corporate offices in New York City.
Who knew?
