Upright & Stowed

Dance: 10; Looks: 10

Last night I saw A Chorus Line on Broadway.  ACL was my first Broadway show, in 1977, when I was a teenager making my virginal visit to New York City.  I will never forget the night.

Today, I give you my Top 11 reasons why a LOVED A Chorus Line in its new revival.  Do yourself a favor.  Don't miss it.

1. Michael Bennett’s choreography. Too perfect for words. 
2. The show is timeless, despite being set in 1975.  It captures the hopes, dreams and realities of chasing your passion, whatever the hurdles.
3. The new cast – excellent across the board.
4. My friend Brad Anderson is in it, and he’s never looked better.  Go Brad.
5. “Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love.”  The ultimate ode to teenage angst.
6. Paul’s coming out story, which is as moving in a post-AIDS world as it was in a pre- (I’d worried about that).
7. Deidre Goodwin as Sheila.  Every line she delivers is a winner.
   
8. The lighting and set.  So simple.   So perfect.
9. The thrill of revisiting a play that you know well, but that feels new because of the ways YOU have change.
10. "Everything was Beautiful at the Ballet."  Try not to cry.
11. The final number, One.  In my opinion, the best dance number ever staged. 

Photo Credit:  A Chorus Line website.

Top 11 Things I Love About Provincetown

This is a picture I took last summer in Provincetown, Massachusetts at sunset.  The waterway is not a river ... it's high tide flowing in across the dunes.  A sublime display of Mother Nature at her best.

It is good to have places you love to return to again and again.  For me, Provincetown is high on that list.  I am heading there tomorrow for a week.  I cannot wait.

In P-town's honor, here are the 11 things I love about it the most.

1. The sunsets
2. The end of the earth feeling
3. Its storied history, ripe with writers, artists, intellectuals and homos
4. Its appeal to both gays and lesbians
5. Its appeal to gay singles and gay families
6. Hanging out at Sprirtus Pizza at 1am
7. Bike riding through dunes, woods, beaches and town
8. The great food
9. The hot guys
10. The amazing fudge
11. The ability to get married ... even if you're gay

That's a highly edited list, since I could easily name 111 things I love about Provincetown.  If you've never been, put it on your list. 

Top 11: Travel things that made me happy

Based on my last couple days' journey to Ft. Lauderdale, here are a few things that made me happy on this trip.

1. Airline check-in kiosks
2. Airports with free public wireless internet access (go FLL!)
3. Hotel pillows and sheets that are  better than my own
4. Genuinely friendly hotel staffs
5. A great hotel gym
6. Hotel rooms with a view
7. Scanners that instantly complete your rental car return
8. Short security check lines
9. Flights that take off on time (2 for 2)
10. Flights that arrive early (2 for 2)
11. Carmel Car Service, when it works

In deference to my father, I will not log a list of complaints.

Top 11: America's Most Endangered Places

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, founded in 1949, is a private nonprofit membership organization devoted to saving historic places and revitalizing America's communities. In the broadest sense, it's about preserving the places that tell America's story. 

The Historic Trust's website includes a Top 11 list (Wait!  Did they steel this idea from Upright & Stowed, where a Top 11 list was first posted months ago?).  The list is of America's Top 11 Most Endangered Places.  I was not even aware that many of these places existed.   Each is a fascinating glimpse into a part of American history.  Check it out, and consider this your history lesson for the week.

Top 11: California Problems

I love my California, but alas, it isn't perfect.  So as I get ready to fly home to New York, I thought I'd provide a list of the Top 11 reasons that even California  has room for improvement. 

 

1. Traffic.
2. The 3 hour time lag from the East Coast.  (You always feel like you're running late, and phone call timing is a bitch.)
3. Getting stuck in Traffic.
4. A missing sense of history.
5. Obvious plastic surgery.
6. The rarity of hot summer nights.
7. Sitting still in bumper-to-bumper Traffic.
8. Hacienda-style subdivision housing sprawl.
9. Traffic Jams.
10. Weird fashion.
11. Traffic.

Did I miss anything? 

Top 11: California Dreaming

Today I'm flying to Los Angeles for a few days of work.   I have several good friends in LA, so I'll see as many of them as I can.  My fabulous sister Sibyl lives there.  And my equally fabulous father and wicked step-mother*  live just down the road in San Diego.

I LOVE California.  It rocks.  I visit  at least 5 or 6 times a year, and it makes me happy every time I go.  So today's entry is my "Top 11 Reasons To Love California."  Please Comment with any I've missed.

1. The Nature.  Simply off the charts.  Favorite spots include the Yuba River, Marin Headlands, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Death Valley and the Mendocino coast.
2. Hippy Spa Culture.  Go to Orr Hot Springs and take off your clothes.  It'll change you.
3. The People.  Well, I can't vouch for everyone, but I can certainly rave about (in no special order) Scott and Steve and Gina and Erica and Rob and Daniel and Mario and Gaetan and Randy and Jeff and Matthew and Sean and Laura et al and Margot et al and Mark and Adam and Max and Rose and Dad and Doris and Julie and Billy and Bruce and Rich and Sibyl and so many others.
4. The Food:  It blows away the rest of the world with its variety and freshness. 
5. The Plant Life:  Everything thrives somewhere in California.  Just when you think you've seen it all, some new flower or succulent or fern or pine or palm shows up in front of you.
6. The Coast  Watching the sunset over the Pacific, from anywhere in California, is a dream.
   
7. LA:   I love it!  It's so damn weird and wonderful and oblivious to how strange it all is.
8. San Francisco: A place that proudly holds onto its convictions as the world around it goes crazy.  It's a haven, and about as close to urban utopia as you get here in the States. 
9. Its Politics:  One of the few states that doesn't scare me or disappoint me on the political front, even if it did elect Arnold and boasts more than its share of frickin' crazy-ass conservatives.
10. Live Oak Trees:  Oh my god.  They are so beautiful, they sometimes nearly bring me to tears.
11. Disneyland:  It may be showing its age, but it's still The Happiest Place On Earth.

California, I love you!

* this was a silly joke I couldn't resist.  Doris is the unwickedest step mother there is!

Top 11 Travel Moments

This is my first entry in a new series I'm calling  "Top 11."  Each entry will feature 11 related items under some kind of travel theme.

Why "Top 11?"  Because it's startlingly more original than "Top 10."  Because we all love lists.  And because items like this are easy and fun to write.    Here goes:

My Top 11 Travel Moments.  Each is a moment in my travel past that delivered 100%  of that adrenaline rush that every inveterate traveler seeks.  Comments about such moments of your own are welcome.

1. Standing atop the ruins of Monte Alban, near Oaxaca, Mexico
2. A nighttime viewing of millions of fireflies from a boat on an Amazon tributary
3. Returning to hike in the Badlands of South Dakota (above), which was the location of my first travel memory (from a family vacation at age 5)
4. Hang gliding off a mountain in Rio de Janeiro (strapped to a hot Brazilian, who did the flying).  See picture below.  Please ignore scrawny arms.  It was 1994, and I wasn't butch yet.
5. Standing in the Marin Headlands looking down at the Golden Gate Bridge shrouded in fog
6. My first airplane landing in St. Barts (see Feb 25th post)
7. Soaking up the sites and sounds of Djemaa el-Fna, the central market of Marrakesh
8. Laying eyes on the Sydney Opera House
9. White water rafting on the Pacuare River in Costa Rica
10. Walking onto the Playa of Burning Man at night for the first time
11. Being on a boat on the Ganges River in Varanasi at sunset (see March 8 post)