New York City-10/11/80-7 p.m.

 Play was about an 8 - music was pleasant, acting was the pits but not the actor's fault, on the directors. An actor can only do so much when he's not told what to do. Then went out drinking. At Boot and Saddle met a woman and her 4 male companions, 2 were lovers, two might have been and one of those was a dance teacher from Akron, Ohio so we had something to talk about. They left, I left and as I walked out the door there was the group smoking a joint. I joined them and then came home to find C's (my host/2022) door shut. 

Figuring it was an improper time to enter S & J (two of my hosts roommates/2022) asked me to join them at a jazz bar down the street. The band was hot, the drinks were exorbitant (like everywhere) but I had a good time and met a woman who had spent the summer in S.F., found out she likes S.F. better than N.Y.C. although she's moving to Boston. 

Drunk for days when I got home. Am getting along better with C's roommates (except E). S and I and J had a great time last night, E and I have had several interesting talks and C has a hidden charm. Last night before I went to the show J and E and S had to check out what I was wearing and ok it. 

This morning went to Macys and shopped around town. Bought an Empire State building with a thermometer in it and a tacky ashtray. P (my hosts boyfriend/2022) and I ate lunch at Nathan's and drank (again) at Boot and Saddle. There we met a fascinating man that ran a store in the village and kept us entertained talking with us until we discovered we were late getting back to meet C. 

The subway stopped running at 96th. The only way to get home was to take an express to 135th and take a local back (MTA fucks up again). P and I walked from 96th. Got to the dorm and E's (my hosts roommate/2022) mother, father, sister, sister's boyfriend, sister's boyfriend's brother and his roommate were all over. E's sister's boyfriend's brother and his roommate had lived in the 600 block of Powell in S.F., so we talked S.F. politicians and locales. It was wonderful. Her boyfriend (?) was overtly friendly as was one of J's friends (male) last night. I wondered if they wee bi or just friendly or if I don't look gay on this coast or just what. Ah well. Meeting S (my host's friend/2022) tonight (if all goes as planned) and then off to home (thank god!) tomorrow. Will write on the plane or sometime tomorrow. 

It will be so nice to be back home.

New York City - 10/10/80 - 5:30 p.m.

 Last night was a wreck! New York New York (the club we went to) was a boring bomb. $12 worth (door charge plus $3 drink, taxi and $1 coat check) of a disaster. But we danced and I tried to forget about it. So we left about 1 and went to G's (my hosts friend/2022), had coffee ice creme with a liqueur poured over it and a joint and pretty much salvaged the evening. G admitted that to be assured a good time one had to go to the gay places. 

Today we got up late and tried to settle the key problem. They changed all the locks so we didn't have enough keys (every one does except C (my host/2022) and I are sharing a set.) What a mess. 

C and I went out to the Cloisters, a large building filled with Medieval art. A little dull same for the unicorn tapestries. They were beautiful. 

The subway going was a mess - they kept emptying out the trains for some unknown reason (we took the bus home). Got a print of the unicorn tapestry for myself, a small plaque of it for mom and two libra cards, one for me and one to use as mom's birthday card. 

Ate lunch at the Unicorn Café which was very pleasant. I'll be going to the theatre to see Act/Road tonight, then play a little afterward. I'll shop downtown tomorrow, see S (my hosts friend) tomorrow night and then leave Sunday. 

Will be very happy to get back to S.F. I really don't like New Yorkers, they're rude, tactless and very cold. Also they're snobbish (about the city and themselves). It is a wonderful city culturally but I feel the cons outnumber the pros. Not even counting snow, which I haven't had to deal with yet. The weather was cooler and overcast today (which was kind of pleasant actually). I'm ready to get back though (homesick city). Will mellow out through tomorrow and the next day and then breathe a sigh of relief to be home, although the paperwork on Monday is a little frightening.

Anyway, more later. 

2022 I still remember that dismal night club. It might have been somewhat more interesting if there had actually been people there. I will admit it was fun to have the velvet stanchion unhooked and held aside for us as we approached. Seeing the small number of people inside the thrill quickly faded. 

. 

New York City - 10/09/1980 - 6 p.m,

 Finished the Met. Called the Museum of Modern Art and discovered they were closed. It was o.k., the crème of their European collection was loaned to the Met including Rousseau's Dream and The Sleeping Gypsy and, the high point, worth the $6 to get into the Met twice, Van Gogh's Starry Night.

Went downtown, looked at S & L's (Seligman and Latz, my employer at the time/ 2021) offices in the Tishman Building (great building, tacky cramped offices) what did I expect. Went into Bergdorf Goodman, crowded, less expensive than I had originally thought. Went into a bookstore, Coliseum Books, bought a book by a semi-unknown cartoonist and also Oliphant's book of political cartoons (pure heaven). Picked up a print and postcard at the Met when I left there and then stopped off at a discount store and bought two scarves, one for me (white) and one for A (my stepfather /2021), then walked forever (as usual) to find a subway entrance. They can be mouther fuckers to find. 

I had finished everything I wanted to do save the Cloisters tomorrow and Macy's on Saturday. Saturday is my big fuck around day. 

Got on the subway and coming home IT BROKE DOWN!!!! People who live here don't even have that happen to them. I'm so lucky. They managed to drag ass into the 96th St. Station and I decided to walk from there. How can I describe sitting in a crowded, hot, sweaty subway car? Miserable doesn't quite do it justice. Keeping chic is out no matter what you're wearing. Sweatsville! Anyway, it being 96th St. I got out and walked the rest of the way (only 20 blocks or so). Took a nap in expectation of this evenings festivities. Not a very busy or exciting day (except for the 3 hours or so I spent at the Met), but enjoyable.

2021 - This was the first time I saw A Starry Night. I have had the good fortune since to see it twice more. A friend of mine suggests that it looks like matter changing into anti matter and then changing back. The canvas throws out waves of emotion which made me literally take a step back in the Met that day.

New York City - 10/08/1908 - 10:00 p.m.

 Got up about 10 (after being out till 1:30 in the Village and getting totally, expensively blasted). Drunk for days. E's (a roomie) mother showed up a day early, charming woman. Left for D.C. this morning and will return Friday. Met marvelous people including a redheaded bartender who was enthralled with my red hair. Went to the Boot Hook (a quasi leather bar) dressed to kill. Talk about uncomfortable. 

Ate breakfast with C(my host-2021) this morning and then headed downtown. Played a couple of hours, bought a green tie uptown to wear with the suit I was wearing. Looked SHARP!!! Played downtown after smoking a joint on Riverside Drive. 

Bought a turquoise ring. The man who sold it to me tried to talk me into buying a cheaper ring (two hands holding an unidentified object). I kept trying to tell him I liked the more expensive (by $1) one but he was so insistent. I won. Then I found a bookstore and bought two books, a Carly Simon song book and a book on the making of Tommy (both $1.98). Between the ring and bookstore I went into Woolworth's and bought R (my sister) a sheriffs badge (really tacky). Same as the Woolworth's back home except all the souvenirs are N.Y.C. instead of S.F. Got a ticket for "Act/Road" (1st or 2nd row) Friday night. Will play in the Village afterward. 

Shelly Berman was marvelous. Funny and charming. Looked okay too! Met Geraldine Page (she was in the audience). She was a mess. Pointed out to me by a woman in a gray suit who sat next to me during the show (well done woman). 

Came back uptown on a crowded rush hour subway to C's potluck. She was running on Jewish Standard Time as usual. The potluck was a done so I came home, ate dinner with the guys and did my laundry. C's friend G dropped by for awhile. 

Tomorrow finish the Met and go to the Museum of Modern Art and then dancing!!! with C and G wherever we decide to go. I do miss the city and will be glad to get back although I'm enjoying myself immensely here. 

Love and all that.

2021 - Geraldine Page, how well I remember that moment. She was perhaps the first, certainly among the first, celebrities I have had contact with throughout my life. She sat some rows back in the half empty theatre. My balcony seat had been upgraded for free to the orchestra. Her hair looked as if it hadn't been washed in a week. She had twisted it and pinned on top of her head with two large bobby pins. She was wearing a somewhat soiled denim outfit and was toying with a long tie dyed scarf. I approached her and said "I enjoyed your performance in Interiors very much ". It was a lie, I hated everything about that movie except Maureen Stapleton. "Why thank you" she replied, looking looney as can be pulling that long scarf through her hands. You could almost hear the music from a cheesy 1960s grade b thriller movie playing in the background. Still have the book on the making of Tommy in my library despite my editing my book collection several times in the past decades. 

New York City - 10/07/80 - 7 P.M.

 Went for as drink last night with C (my host/2021) and Ch (one of her roommates). Bartender was a struggling actress (also a total delight). I became a little more comfortable with Ch (I feel he's probably the only one I could ever deal with on a constant basis). 

Today I ate donuts by the river on Riverside Drive and then rode the subway to 42nd Street. Discovered myself in the heart of the theatre district. Wild orgasmic sensations began. Spent two hours gaping at the Winter Garden, Miskoff, Helen Hayes et. al.  Fucked up some film by assuming there were 30 exposures instead of 24. Then, not knowing how to take the film out, I opened the camera to do so. Not a good idea I soon found out. 

Anyway, after getting through that catastrophe, I got my ticket to Shelly Berman's show tomorrow and then found myself at Rockefeller Center. Took a 30 block walk down 5th Avenue (feet said "ouch"). Beautiful street, mansions on and off 5th Avenue.

Stopped at the Frick collection. Beautiful and very well put together. Then went to the Met to discover that the gallery I wanted to visit was closed. The first time I'll be able to get to it is Thursday morning (before laundry and dancing). 

Bought postcards downtown on Broadway for 2 cents each and bought two prints ( one Whistler another Monet) at the Frick, then went to the Guggenheim. Bad museum for paintings because you're on a slant and the pictures are not. One wonderful painter with pictures that change as you move around them. A very nice impressionist collection including a goodly number of Picassos. One Van Gogh, HEAVEN! Fascinating building from an architectural stand point. Little touches such as arches and all that make it a little less sterile then it appears at first glance. 

Walked across Central Park trying to get a good Picture of Central Park West which was impossible because of the fence around N.Y.C. water supply (also fucks up views of  5th Avenue from the park.)  Tried (unsuccessfully) to find a black tie, will have to look again before the show tomorrow. 

We'll go into the Village tonight, maybe get the ticket to "Road" for Friday (providing the box office is open tonight.). Tomorrow we'll be doing something in the morning (maybe play in the Village) and then go see the show and go to C'S (my host) potluck in the evening. The Met on Thursday morning, laundry, a nap and dancing. Friday The Cloisters and Modern art Museum (if open) and maybe something else (the show in the evening).  Saturday shopping and general fucking around. Sunday lunch and then back home. 

The vacation is going so fast but I'm getting things together in my head and having a nice rest from work and Miss N (my roommate/2021). Will be much changed (read calmer) when I get home. Am actually missing the city and the people there although enjoying my visit and C's (my host/2021) company here.

2021- There are certain photographic memories one collects over the years. One of mine is sitting on that New York curb in the theater district, opening that camera, and realizing I had just screwed up the last few pictures on that roll of film.

New York City - 10/06/80 - 7:30 p.m.

 Weather has been gorgeous, light chill, blue skies, wonderful. 

Did the Liberty Ferry to the Statue of Liberty (it's huge) after eating pastries and tea with C (my host/2021) before viewing her school building and dropping her off at her class. Took the subway downtown with P (my hosts boyfriend/2021) and took the ferry . Went to the top of the statue (long climb), took 20 pictures on  film we paid too much for and get high on Liberty Island (how bizarre). 

Saw the immigrant museum which contains the 1st Torah used at Dachau after it's liberation among other things (it's contained in the pedestal of the statue). How the hell our government got said Torah is beyond me. 

We took the ferry back, on board bought J (my roommate in S.F. during those years/2021) the most tacky Miss Liberty I've ever seen and proceeded to go downtown via Battery Park, where I got my pix taken on a sculpture by P. We then found Wall Street and the Stock Exchange (very weird) then all manner of wonderful (real cheap) clothing and Woolworth type junk shops and sidewalk sales off Wall Street and Broadway. Bought an obnoxious shirt and wonderful web belt. 

Ate lunch at Kentucky Fried and then walked (a long way), down to the Village. Played, had a drink at my first NYC gay bar and bought cards at Greetings, a wonderful card shop. Stopped in the Unicorn Shop as well, a slightly overpriced old clothes store. 

We had a blast today and my feet hurt but such is the price we pay. 

I intend to see Shelly Berman's show on Wednesday and I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking it on the Road at the Circle in the Square on Friday night, playing on Christopher Street afterwards. 

Had a nice dinner, made by C this evening and intend to go out to one of the neighborhood bars tonight. Laundry on Thursday is a must. Will be going out dancing on Thursday night which should be a blast!!! Will go to 42nd Street, Broadway etc. tomorrow and maybe finish the Met (who knows).

Having a wonderful time even though C has boring roomies (which are sitting next to me here in the room) but these situations can be worked out. 

Got hold of S (C's old roommate), will meet her on Saturday so the week should round itself out well. 

2021 Discovered, whole cleaning out drawers, one of my favorite photos I have ever had taken of me. I am in jeans, boots and a trench coat, which is flapping the wind, smoking that joint on Liberty Island. It is heavily damaged but I will probably hang onto it forever. I do wonder, judging from the coat, how we managed to light that joint with all that wind.   

 

New York City - 10/05/80 - 10:50 p.m.

 Last night, Christopher Street after having dinner this small party at the seminary C's (my host/2021) friend G lives in. He looks gay, goes to gay palaces and professes to be straight. Ah well (kinda cute too). Anyway, Polk is more fun than what I saw of Christopher. At least the street. Polk is busier with different and diverse people - it's also brighter, more street lights and bars and such.

Coming home my numb brain hosts decided to take the #1, transfer to the express and then transfer back to the #1, therefore saving time. After leaving the #1 we discovered the express wasn't running. This at 1:30 in the morning when I was suffering from jet lag city. (also, we smoked some pot and got toasted on sangria). I bought 3 small ceramic pins (3 for $5) off a street seller, G bought a pink flamingo ceramic pin. Well, eventually we got home and to bed. 

I was the first too rise this morning among the three of us, about 1 p.m. P (C's boyfriend/2021) and I went down to the Met. The Egyptian temple is quite impressive. I will have to go back to view the 19th century art gallery. There were 3 full rooms of Degas' painting and sculpture. I was in heaven, brain cells bursting by the thousands. It was incredible. In one opulent bedroom from a palace in Venice P remarked, "Well, if you've got this far you sure as hell are going to get laid". The furniture and "things" were nice but when we got to the art works it was getting late and we didn't have time to do them justice (hence my going back later). The costume gallery was closed off till November, I was a little bit wrecked about that, but otherwise it was a wonderful trip.

Came back home via Central Park West (hot apartment houses) and 97th street to Broadway, bought salad makings and came home. We bullshitted, cut C's hair and then dinner was served. We proceeded to eat ourselves into a stupor (chicken, stuffing, small amounts, green beans with almonds, or some kind of nut) then I brought out some weed and P and I proceeded to get high as everyone else turned it down, which was a real wreck from the stoneheads I am used to. Her roommates are nice enough but they are the normal intellectual students, the kind that tend to drive me up the wall. Heavy into politics (there are a couple of other topics which even I cannot decipher here, and it is my own writing!/2021), and such, and also discussed (in great detail) medieval history. One argument was whether there were more Edwards or Henrys on the English throne (how relevant). There is no answer as the two debaters could not come up with a mutually acceptable date for the beginning of England (what fun). I will be spending mucho time away from the apartment. 

Tomorrow Liberty Island and (hopefully) Christopher Street again to pick up some cards and the like. Both of these activities with P. So much to do, so little time. I'll have to come back again (hopefully with more interesting people) to play another day. Its' a nice place to visit but I'm beginning to feel like I wouldn't live here (at least not this far uptown), but I'll have fun and explore by myself. ah well, till tomorrow.

2021 As a teen I got a cosmetologists license and at this point was managing a department store beauty salon, hence the cutting hair remark. I did edit this post lightly because 40 years after I wrote this even my own handwriting was impossible to decipher. I did make a return trip to New York (2 in fact ) but not until 1994 and 1995, oddly, staying with a couple I had met in Key West who lived exactly 4 blocks away from where I stayed during this trip.