Traffic in Astoria

So, as I was walking home from the train, I noticed that all of the cars on 21st Street at the intersection of Astoria Park South were running the red light. After a minute or so of observation it became apparent that the traffic signal was broken; 21st Street was red and Astoria Park South was green and that was it. No change.

Now, this is a problem for several reasons. First, the potential for a vehicular collision was high. Duh. Second, that corner is the corner of a park. There are KIDS TRYING TO CROSS THE STREET, KIDS RIDING BIKES ACROSS THE STREET, and KIDS PLAYING NEAR THE STREET. Enormous potential for splatter and death. Third, the adult pedestrians (including me) aren't aware of what's going on because it's not apparent until you take a moment to watch and figure it out. If you're walking and talking on your cell you for sure won't notice what's going on until the cars are on top of you.

I called 311. They said that it would be TWO HOURS before the signal could be fixed. I called 911 to ask for someone to come and direct traffic four times. FOUR. TIMES. The cops came twice and drove away. What? The? Fuck?

I couldn't leave. O, my overdeveloped sense of responsibility. Another pedestrian put on his Good Samaritan hat and walked into the middle of the intersection to direct traffic, brave soul. Now I really couldn't leave.

All told, I was out there for an hour. When the Traffic Signal Repair Guy got there he said that the problem was Con Edison. The signals weren't getting enough voltage to work properly. So, he made them flash red on one side and yellow on the other. He also gave me his orange vest for the G.S. and I took it out to him.

When it was all over, G.S., T.S.R.G., and I parted ways. But I took some photos:

Coda: G.S. makes his living as a conductor.

Cake Wins a Prize

For Most Sociable Pirate Attack on a Nun. Guess which nun she attacked...

Literature

This is, perhaps, the most alarmingly funny writing I've read on teh interweb. Although new articles are not being published, there's an archive.

More Up Our Aftermath

NewsFlash

I've also apparently won First Runner-up for Most Individual Sponsors Online. Thank you, everyone, for supporting me!

Up Our Aftermath

So, last night I left early (9:00 p.m.-ish) because I was TIRED. SO. TIRED. There was a party and a ceremony post-bowling, at which awards were given out. And I won two: Best Personal Web Page Design and Most Self-Deprecating Bowler! NunCaptain Megan was kind enough to collect them and just handed them to me. Hooray!

Classical Action's Up Our Alley 9

I participated in Up Our Alley, a bowl-a-thon in support of Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS. My team, Spare Angelica, from OPERA America, raised some serious funds for the fight against AIDS and bowled our little hearts out.

Thanks so much to everyone who generously supported me:

Mark! Cthulhu Alpert
Mark!'s parents, Eva and Everett Alpert
Stephen & Justine Antopol
Bob Bertrand
Roger Claman
Dave DelGrosso
Cake Louise Ehle
Peter Finder
Jenna Freedman
Elisabeth V. Gehrlein
Estelle 'Stella' Gomez
Leslie Graham
Tabitha Hanslick
Jean K. Hines
Diana Hossack
President George Jacobstein, Rose Brand
Matthew Kirby-Smith
Justin Mazzoni & Amy Delvecchio
Sally McElwain
Peter Monahan
Kelley Rourke
Lauren, David, Chloe, Nealie, and Caitlin Silverstein
Julia Tell
Keri Thibodeau
Waddy Thompson
Abigail Trarbach
Stephanie Tzall
Sreesha Vaman

And check out the photos on Flickr.

Nancy Pearl

On Thursday, May 31, Mark! and I went to the Forest Hills branch of the Queens Library to hear Nancy Pearl talk about her new book, Book Crush. It's Book Expo weekend and there are tons of big names in town right now. Somehow, someone at the Forest Hills branch finagled a visit from Nancy Pearl during all of this excitement. She was totally fabulous. She is an excellent speaker; she must have given this book tour talk a million times so far and she's still so excited to share her thoughts with us that everything she says feels fresh. Mark! and I sat in the front row; when she brought up Robin McKinley's Sunshine and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, she immediately responded to my excitement. She cared! She gave a shit about me being excited about books! What a wonderful lady.

And I took some photos:


Nancy Pearl is coming to town!


Alexa and Nancy


And, as a bonus for you, my faithful readers, here's a photo from when I met Andrew Vachss, the author of the Burke novels, on September 12, 2006:



Andrew Vachss at the Astor Place Barnes and Nobles

Oh. My. Goodness. Wednesday.

Last night I slept with the balcony door open for fresh air and white noise, and it was lovely. Except for the part where all of my paper notes blew around while I was asleep. This is the price I pay for white noise.

This morning's activities began promptly at 6:45 a.m. when breakfast was served in the Presidential Suite prior to our 7:00 a.m. staff meeting. My special gluten-free plate arrived promptly at 7:10 a.m. I had a little chat with the kitchen about that and we'll see if tomorrow morning is any different.

Today I worked at the registration desk, attended the Information Service committee meeting, filled in as a roving A/V technician-coordinator, worked at the reg desk some more, and then went to a reception at a steakhouse near Miami Beach. I have no more pep or schmooze left in me.

The highlight of my day was during my afternoon stint at the reg desk. It was staffed by two of my OA cohorts, two volunteers, and myself; an excellent audience. My left earring was falling out and I tried to poke it back through my ear but failed to do so. I did succeed in knocking it out of my ear entirely. I thought it had sort of fallen up my left sleeve so I took off my jacket and unbuttoned my left cuff and shook my arm like a mad thing to get the earring to fall out of my sleeve. It did not. Then I unbuttoned two of the buttons over my stomach and reached in to see if it had gone the other way into my shirt. Not there, either. I was really, really irritated. Then I just pulled the collar of my shirt out and there it was, nestled in my bra. I received a polite round of applause upon recovering the earring. Well done me.

Also, I've had no dinner yet. So off I go.

Opera Conference 2006 - Monday and Tuesday

Hello from sunny, windy Miami. Yesterday my flight took off an hour late and landed 15 minutes late. It was like magic. Or physics. Upon arrival at the Marriott, my male coworker and I were given a room together and we quickly set the front desk straight. I have a room BY MYSELF and it has a balcony. On the 29th floor. With a balcony. And a microwave and a fridge. Woot! I made a trip to the Publix supermarket, which was ALSOME. Just like a Hannafords but with more booze. Of which I purchased none. At 2:30 p.m. the whole staff gathered and moved boxes around and prepped materials for filling the binders, bags, and name badge pouches today. At 5:00 p.m. we went on an all-access tour of the Ziff Ballet Opera House at the Carnival Center. Then at 7:00 p.m. the people who are hosting Network Dinners on Wednesday went to Lincoln Road to get the lay of the land. Meanwhile, I made myself risotto with garlic, Parmesan, spinach, and green olives in my hotel room. (Everyone said my dinner sounded better than theirs!) Then SLEEP.

I'm currently in the staff office at the end of a very active day. This morning I made some quiona with dried fruit, then took a walk to and around the Carnival center for kicks. I came back to the Marriott and helped stuff envelopes for individual conferees and moved many, many boxes filled with bags and binders from one room to another. We had a luncheon for the Florida Grand Opera volunteers I also had the FASTEST introduction to a projector/DVD/VHS/laptop combo in the history of... well... me. But everything was fine during the seminar I sat in on this afternoon. No explosions, no fires, just a sort of pink cast to the projected images. I also reconnected with Sara Jane Patterson, with whom I worked with at Glimmerglass a million years ago. Now I'm OFF DUTY. Time for another walk, dinner (leftovers), and then perhaps some socializing in the bar.

So far, everything has been OK. I've had one conferee summon me with a series of finger snaps, but whatever. I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow, the first full day of the conference, when the bulk of our conferees will arrive and things will be in full swing. My previous anxiety seems to have been fear of the unknown fueled by the horror stories of conferences past. I think this is going to be OK, not disastrous and not life-changing, but OK. I'll keep you posted.

Also, Miami is absolutely pedestrian unfriendly. You need a car if you live here. If not, you're walking FAR for everything you need. I'm in downtown Miami and on my morning walk (8 to 8:30 a.m.) I counted eight pedestrians, not including myself. Unbelievable. Ask me how many bodegas, boutiques, fast-food franchises, souvenir shops, etc., I passed on the street. Go on. OK, I'll tell you. NONE. That's right. NOT A SINGLE ONE. Astounding. And inconvenient. It's weird. And there's some serious development going on here. There are at least 20 high-rise buildings under construction right now. The skyline is filled with cranes. As I understand it, they're all being built on the gamble that the housing market here will pick up but that investors are just bleeding cash because very, very few units have actually been sold. This sounds like a recipe for disaster. And on that uplifting note, I'll take my leave.

Cat Meets B

Cat Meets B, originally uploaded by librarianalexa.

So, my sister won a trophy and I stole it. Now B's travels will be documented in a Flickr Group called B on Parade. Stay tuned...

Emerson Connection: The Most Wonderful Love

I went with Mark! to see Matt Freeman's The Most Wonderful Love at the Access Theater last night. It was a great show and the actors, including Matt Trumbull and Dave DelGrosso, faced disaster with aplomb.

Check out Matt's description here.

Vocabulary for Bratislava

Apparently, many young men have stag nights in Bratislava. Airfare to the city is cheap and so is the alcohol. These phrases were included in the guidebook that we used:

What's your name? = Ako sa voláte?
Can I buy you a drink? = Móžem Vás pozvať na pohárik?
Two beers, please! = Dvakrát pivo, prosím!
Cheers! = Na zdravie!
You drink like a fish (literally, like a rainbow). = Piješ ako dúha.
Where do you live? = Kde bývate?
What's your phone number? = Aké máte telefónne čislo?
You are the most charming lady I have ever met. = Si najpôvabnejšia mlada žena s akou som sa kedy stretol.
Are you married? = Ste vydatá?
I love you. = Ľúbim ťa.
I really love you (literally, I love you like a horse). = Ľúbim ťa ako koňa.

Unfortunately, there was no pronounciation guide.

Mission Accomplished

Hugging Peter Sellars!!!

The Basics

So, I haven't been updating this as often as I would like, in the detail that I would like. I'll give you all an outline of what I've seen/done and where I've been, and add details when I have a few hours to sit down and bang it all out. Here goes:

Day 1 – Wednesday, May 17
Walked the Ringstrasse with a detour in the Stadtpark
Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of the History of Art)
Dinner with Tanya at the Asian restaurant down the street; Betsy and Beth joined us after we arrived

Day 2 – Thursday, May 18
Arenberg Park, which has anti-aircraft flak towers from WWII
The Belvedere Gardens
A music school courtyard; Betsy doesn't know the name of the school, but the courtyard is beautiful and you can hear lovely piano music
Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral), the Stephansdom Steffl (spire) via a spiral staircase, and a Vigil-Kapelle (chapel) in the Stephansplatz U-Bahn station
The Roman Ruins in the Hoher Markt
Hofburg, a huge palace complex
The Volksgarten (People's Garden) and the rose gardens which were not yet in bloom
Back to the Belvedere in the early evening to see the interior, but didn't make it in time
The Botanical Gardens via the Belvedere Gardens

Day 3 – Friday, May 19
Walked along the Hundertwasser Promenade, which follows the Donaukanal
The Kunsthistorisches Museum (Natural History Museum)
Stephansdom North Tower, which holds the Pummerin Bell ('Boomer'); and the Catacombs under the cathedral
Minoritenkirche (Minoriten Church)
The Stadtpark again
Fernwärm Wien, which is the local incinerator with an exterior redesigned by Friedenreich Hundertwasser
Ausgarten, which has the oldest Baroque garden in VEEEN, is on the scale of Central Park, and has a couple of anti-aircraft flak towers from WWII

Day 4 – Saturday, May 20
Day trip to Bratislava, Slovakia with Betsy, Beth, and Tanya
Watched Eurovision when we got back

Day 5 – Sunday, May 21
The Prunksaal (Austrian National Library Main Hall) in the Hofburg complex
Zentralfriedhof, (Central Cemetary) where Johann Strauss I & II, Beethoven, Brahms, and Schubert are buried; and the Dr-Karl-Lueger-Kirche
The Secession Building on the Opernring, which houses Gustav Klimt's Beethoven Frieze
Betsy's show, Mozart's Zaide, opened at the Jugenstil Theater at the Otto Wagner Spital
Opening night party!

Day 6 – Monday, May 22
The Papyrus Museum, which is part of the Austrian National Library
Walked through the vineyards at Nussdorf, from which there are super views of VEEEN; we passed the Karl Marx Hof as we rode by on the tram
Grinzing walk-thru on the way back from Nussdorf
The Hundertwasser Haus, an apartment building designed by Friedenreich Hundertwasser
The KunstHaus Wien, which houses artwork by Friedenreich Hundertwasser, and also features temporary exhibits of other artists' work; an exhibit of H.R. Gieger's work will open the day after I leave
A fly-by, or more accurately, a U-Bahn by, of the UNO-City (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) next to the Danube Park
The Prater, a massive funfair; Coney Island is far better
Snacks and drinks hosted by Gabriel Berry with Betsy, Beth, Tanya, Diane Malecki, Wolfgang, and Stina Sigl

LORDI

Oh. My. Goodness.

Lordi just finished their song and dance number. During the spraying fire the following exchange took place:

Me: Wow. I hope their costumes are flame-retardant.
Tanya: I don't.

Sometimes I adore TV.

Eurovision Song Contest

Betsy and I are watching the Eurovision Song Contest right now. We cannot look away; it is a total train wreck. So far, our favorite moment has been the white-painted woman who emerged from a trapdoor in a grand piano. The trap was masked with a pile of red rose petals. It looked like she was crawling out of a giant placenta.

Signage

The crossing signal buttons at intersections, which I consider to be a scam in every city, are blue boxes. The old ones have the button out of sight on the bottom; the new ones have the buttons on the front. During this transitional period, a government employee with a sense of the absurd added symbols to indicate where gullible pedestrians can find the button to push:

I think it looks more like 'This guy wants to go to the moon.'

The anthropomorphic mascot for VEEEN's trash pickup / recycling program seems to be a leering slime mold with an open tin can embedded in its back:

And George Clooney is shilling a coffee product called Nespresso. He looks a little bit like he's going through heroin withdrawl and the tiny cup holds a sweet, creamy dose of methadone. Image coming soon...

There are now more photos to see on Flickr.

FAQ: How do I post pictures?

There are scales like this all around the Ringstrasse. I don't understand what the fetish is about, but the scales come in gold, silver, red, and green. Possibly other colors as well, but those were the only ones I saw. For €.20, you can weigh yourself in public. How's that for fun?

Miscellaneous

My new vocabulary includes the following:

Spargel: Asparagus
Scharf: Spicy
Used together in a sentence: The Scharf Spargel! at the Asian restaurant down the street is in no way spicy.

And here are some photos. By 'some' I mean 'three': http://www.flickr.com/photos/80228902@N00/

Tuesday, May 16 and Wednesday, May 17

Monday, May 15 was my last night in NYC before my trip to Vienna/Wien/VEEEN. Except for some snacks with my lovely friend Liz it was not very interesting stuff, so let’s skip to my wonderful BF Mark!, who did my laundry on Tuesday morning and kept my head on straight as I scrambled to get my shit together for the trip. Mark! and I took a car from Astoria to JFK at 3:00 p.m. for a 6:00 p.m. flight. Yes, I know. But I'm really, really uptight. When we arrived at JFK, the line for Austrian Airlines was snaking around on itself. It was over an hour before I could check in and feel utterly justified in my choice to take a 3:00 p.m. car.

Mark! and I said 'bye as I got in line for the security check. I took off my shoes to be x-rayed for the sake of national security and, once approved, made my way towards my gate. My 6:00 p.m. flight did not board until 6:05 p.m., and the restless crowd turned the whole event into a total clusterfuck. Eventually, we were all on the completely full airplane, in seats, ready to go. Except for the overhead compartment one row in front of me which kept springing open. And the armrest between myself and my buddy in the next seat which was hanging on by a mere thread. As an extra bonus, Buddy smelled strongly of B.O.

I'm ok with flight in general, but I do get sick during takeoff and very sick during landing. I used to take Dramamine, but I'm unsure if that particular medication contains gluten. So, I equipped myself with a bag of candied ginger which worked out very well indeed. The ginger also masked Buddy's aroma a bit. Betsy recommended that I sleep as much as possible on the flight to prevent jetlag; I think I got about five hours of sleep on the eight-hour flight. Buddy's odors did not affect my sleep.

My flight landed in VEEEN at 9:00 a.m. WeinTime (3:00 a.m. NYC). I was through baggage claim and customs in record time and met up with Betsy at 9:30 a.m. We went back to her fabulous apartment on Salmgasse, via the City Air Terminal shuttle-subway and the U-Bahn, for breakfast and planning. Betsy recommended that I visit the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of the History of Art) and ride the 1- (clockwise) or 2-Tram (widdershins) around the Ringstrasse, which circles the center of VEEEN. Then, Betsy went off to work, I took a shower, and out I went to do reconnaissance.

I walked around. A lot. I walked from Betsy's place to the Ringstrasse, and along the Ringstrasse to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, passing the Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera House) on the way. By this time, it was pouring rain. It had been drizzling when I got off the plane, grey as we walked from the U-Bahn station to Betsy's apartment, bright and sunny while we ate breakfast, grey when Betsy left for work, drizzling when I left the apartment, and pouring when I reached the Ringstrasse. I didn't really mind; I had been cooped-up on that airplane for so long, I was happy to be moving around. Unfortunately, I couldn't deal with my umbrella, map, and digital camera all at once. I'll have to go back for some photos later.

The Kunsthistorisches Museum is an absolutely enormous building with a tiny collection. I thought I might have missed some of it in my stupor, but Betsy assured me that the collection is, in fact, very small. I found it pleasantly overwhelming. Most of the curatorial information was in German and I relied heavily on my English audiotour handset. There were European paintings and sculpture; Greek, Roman, and Egyptian statuary; coins and medals; and some other stuff which I remember as a blur.

Every time I sat down I fell asleep. Once on an upholstered bench in the Kunsthistorisches Museum and twice on park benches around the Ringstrasse. My goal was to stay awake as per Betsy's instructions. I knew if I sat down on a tram, it would be all over. So, I decided to walk the Ringstrasse. And I did. I checked my guidebook when I was done; the Ringstrasse is approximately 5 km; just the thing to do when you're about to fall asleep on your feet.