March 26, 2003

"Wouldn't know how to wave his hands in the air if you pulled a gun on him"--New York Press on clubowner David Rabin, from an online list of the 50 most loathsome New Yorkers

https://www.metafilter.com/24583/The-50-Most-Loathsome-New-Yorkers

Dreamed of being in a social group like Mensa; meeting Robert Urich; a fellow-member (a middle-aged woman) taking me and a small group past the CNE horse show; meeting a Chinese man who was blackmailing the woman, and plunging a fountain pen into his eye; being photographed at the social group; while passing the horse show in shiny shoes, commenting that the shoes wouldn't be shiny for long!

Got up at 9:06.

Went shopping.

The parents went out to find new curtains. (Mother's doing spring cleaning.)

Dinner was pork chops.

The last acting class was a blast!  We did things like create scenes like Hamlet seeing his father's ghost.  My group got the idea of turning the lights off and on.  The girl playing Hamlet recited a bit from Dante's Inferno.  I played the ghost and my only lines were "Avenge!" and "Swear!" [I appeared silently when the lights were on, then spoke when they were off.]

Then we did this dialogue from The Prodigal with banal lines like "I'm home," and "Do you want a drink?" First time my group did it in a bar, and I was a drunk who conked out in the middle, but was back up like a shot when hearing "Do you want a drink?" (The bartender did my lines then.) Sue admired the way I did it with my back to the audience.  Second time I camped it up as Dracula. (When my wife offered me a drink, I reached for her neck.) The audience was in stitches both times.

Then we did silly circus acts. (I pretended to break out of a straitjacket.) Last of all we joined hands and performed a dance Sue had learned from a Russian period dance teacher.