Run-Down in the Rain, Plus Three Cool Evenings Out

So on Tuesday I went for a run in the rain. I was exhausted, having not gotten enough sleep for the past few nights, but I was so full of nervous energy I had to get out of the house. If you look at the sidebar you can see that my pace for the 3+ miles was under an 8-minute mile. Pretty impressive for me speed-wise, yes. I just needed to burn some of that energy off. Maybe not the brightest idea in the world, as now I have a cold, and a 15K coming up. And I know, the rain didn't give me a cold. It was the rain plus my run-down-i-ness. Let me just say I wasn't the only person out there, lest you think I am totally bonkers. I am, but I'm not alone.

The reason for all my run-downness is that my roommate of nearly 14 years, Laura, is leaving. She accepted a new job that is going to take her out of the country, most likely permanently. We knew this day would come, but it's still hard. Complicating matters is that I will be heading back down to Florida next week, and won't even be around when Laura leaves. So, to make a long, depressing story very short, it's been hard.

Anybody need a large room in a lovely 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment in beautiful midtown Manhattan? Must love cats and humor runners.

Three things I saw these past couple of weeks that I must share:

-I was supposed to have drinks with my friend Erin after work. She calls me and says, "Slight change of plans. How'd you like to see Eric Clapton?" Huh? Turns out that a work connection had something to do with the concert and had tickets available. So, heck yeah! We get to the Garden, get our tickets, and are taken to our section, 63. The ticket said "Stevie Winwood / Eric Clapton" and I thought oh, Steve Winwood is opening for Eric Clapton. So we start walking down, down, down...oh, my God, we are on the side of the stage, THREE ROWS UP. And while that is Steve Winwood singing, that's, is that? Yes, that IS Eric Clapton PLAYING WITH HIM. Holy crap! We tried taking pictures with our camera phones, but all we got was blurs of light. An astounding show. Lots of jamming, and except for one comment by Steve Winwood ("Are you all having as much fun as I am? It's such an honor to be sharing the stage with Eric Clapton.") there was no banter. Really one of the most amazing concerts, and mind-blowing evenings, in recent memory. Of course, the pot smokers were right behind us. Aren't they always?

-Went to see "Sunday In The Park With George" at Studio 54. If you're in NY and have the chance to see this, run. Even if you're not a Sondheim fan, it will blow you away. Even if you absolutely hate musicals and Sondheim makes your ears bleed, you will love this show. Why? The visuals. It is the most innovative, entertaining, inventive, and beautiful-looking show you will ever see. They use a combination of projections, animation, and video to bring the painting and the scenery to life, and I can't even describe it. You have to see it for yourself. And the best, and perhaps oddest part about all the technology is how warm and human it was. Just go. Go. You'll thank me.

-Lastly, my friend Shirley got tickets to a secret Eddie Izzard show. He's been doing a series of workshops to hone his material before launching his new stand-up concert, and this was one of those workshops. It was supposed to start at 10:30 but they only did will-call and it took a LONG time to get everyone in (It was at the Union Square Theater.) It didn't get started until after 11pm, and Eddie had a cold and it was hard to understand him because of his hoarseness and the not-so-great sound, but it was a lot of fun. Yesterday Shirley discovered he'd be playing Radio City in June. We've already got the tickets.

Sunday is the Colon Cancer runs in the Park. You can do a 4 miler or a 15K, either one counts. Guess which one I signed up for? And the weather this week has been 40s-50s and sunny. This weekend? 30 and rainy.

Sigh...