They say the neon lights are bright...

Last weekend, Melis, Eric, and I took a quick trip to NYC. Melis and Eric wanted to see Idina in If/Then one more time before it closes or she leaves, and Melis and I wanted to see Beautiful before Jessie Mueller leaves. There was nothing to do but head to the Big Apple.

We got there Saturday morning and things went swimmingly. Melis and Eric won the final set of lottery tickets for If/Then, and went to see Idina in all her glory. I got a ticket for my beloved Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, and I must say, it was even better the third time.

For our second show, Melis and I went to see Tony award winning Jessie Mueller play Carole King in Beautiful. Melis had gotten the last single ticket available, and as I waited in the cancellation line, a darling little old man came up to me and sold me a ticket his friend had bought but couldn't use. Sixth row, center. Jackpot. He even went into the theater with me to make sure the ticket scanned so I knew he wasn't scamming me. Delightful.

That night Eric went to On the Town and, sadly, hated it. Poor him. But Melis and I were transported. Beautiful is a music-lover's dream. I was a scene and a half into it when I thought to myself, "I have to see this again tomorrow."

Then the Drifters came out as characters in the musical (I'm just crazy about the Drifters) and I could not have been happier. My mind was definitely made up to see it again.

The next day, an evil British lottery crone denied Melis and Eric a chance to enter the If/Then lottery, even though they showed up with a good 30 seconds to spare. It was too late, baby, it was too late, though we really did try to make it. (I was singing that song and Melis failed to see the humor.) So, Melis and I got cancellation tickets to Beautiful again and Eric got to see the wonderfulness that is Gentleman's Guide, finally. I enjoyed every second of Beautiful and danced out of the theater.

Also, I was sitting right behind the mother and godmother of the guy playing Gerry Goffin, the male lead. After the show I said to his mother, "He was wonderful." She replied, "I thought so too! And I'll be sure to tell him you said that!" She was a delight.

In between our three shows we stuffed our faces with:

• The world's best Eggs Benedict at Le Monde
• Chicken fingers, mashed potatoes, pickles and cabbage at Junior's
• The world's best pepperoni pizza (aside from my mother's homemade, of course) at John's
• Empanadas from a food truck
• The world's best chicken parm at Caffe Napoli
• Assorted pastry from Crumbs, Junior's, and the Ferrara bakery in Little Italy
• And another John's pizza for the road

We should be heartily ashamed of ourselves, but, well, you know how that goes.

I come to praise Caesar, not to bury him.

Tonight I went to see Julius Caesar at the Folger Shakespeare Library downtown. BTW, the Capitol dome is currently under scaffolding and it looks so cool at night, as though it's under its own bell jar. Had I taken my good camera, I'd have snapped a pic.

Crying "havoc" and letting slip the dogs of war.

The play was wonderful. I had two favorite moments (aside from Antony's funeral oration, of course). The first was when the conspirators were portrayed in a hellscape, enrobed as wraiths and hissing and moaning. It was like a dozen Nazgul on stage. Creepy!

"Give ussssss the riiiing!"

The second was when the little old man next to me started audibly snoring and his wife, a stylishly coiffed, fur-coat-wearing, little old lady hissed slowly and deliberately at him: "Wake. Up."

"Beware the Ides of March. Also an angry wife."

Obsessed! (And you will be, too.)

Have you ever heard me talk about This American Life, that most glorious radio show, which would surely make it onto my desert island list of necessities? You really ought to listen to it. Each week, they take a theme and produce a variety of stories relating to that theme. It’s truly wonderful, every single week. Now they've made a spin-off called Serial. Instead of telling a story during one episode, the way This American Life does, Serial tells a single story over the course of a season of episodes.

This inaugural season, it’s the story of Hae Min Lee, a high school senior who disappeared in Maryland in 1999. Her strangled body was found buried in a park a few weeks later. Authorities soon arrested her ex-boyfriend, a 17-year-old kid named Adnan Syed. Adnan was well-liked in the community, very popular at school (he was crowned Prom Prince), and had lots of friends, all of whom were shocked when he was arrested for Hae’s murder. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to life in a Maryland prison, where he has been for the past 15 years. He claims he had nothing to do with her murder.

The host of Serial, Sarah Koenig, examines reams of evidence, trying to decipher a case with loads of twists and turns (Why was a witness who claimed to see Adnan at the time of the murder never called to testify? Why was Adnan supposedly in one place when his cell phone was pinging a cell tower 45 miles away?). You will swing from “He’s definitely innocent” to “He’s definitely guilty!” and back again, with plenty of “Oh, I just don’t know” along the way. It is so compelling.

The Serial episodes can be downloaded as a podcast or listened to from the website here. The website also has photos, maps, letters, call logs, and other evidence you can peruse should you become completely obsessed (you will).

So far, there are six episodes out with a new one each Thursday. The only way they could make it better is if they dropped all the episodes, House-of-Cards-style, all at once so I could binge-listen to them. I keep telling myself I’ll wait and let a few accumulate, but then Thursday rolls around and I need my ear candy.

Go listen!

Blazing, beautiful autumn.

This weekend, I headed up to Harpers Ferry for one last taste of autumn. (Until Virginia tosses summer right back in my face this week, that is. 80 degrees? Really?) The weather in Harpers Ferry, however, was perfect; just spectacular.

I climbed all over the ruins of the Shenandoah Pulp Factory...

...and walked through the beautiful woods and along the sparkling Shenandoah River.

What are men to rocks and mountains? -Jane Austen

Overheard in the restroom line at the Ren Faire...

A young woman was talking to her mother about how her son has hit the terrible twos and she's certain he gets his bad behavior from his father… 

Young Woman: Did I throw fits all the time?

Her Mother: Yes. All the time. I used to have to call your dad at work to talk to you.

YW: But that's not because I was horrible; it's because I wanted my daddy.

HM: You were horrible.

YW: I was sweet, though.

HM: Honey, you put a puppy in the oven.

The Niagara of the South

On Friday, I went to visit Great Falls National Park and what a beauty it was. Had I waited a week or two, the leaves would have been more colorful, but the weather was so fine I couldn't take the chance of missing out.

There were some really beautiful trails along the canal.

And the trees, despite being more green than orange or red,
were really beautiful.

The first overlook reminded me of Devil's Den in Gettysburg,
with lots of big rocks to scramble over.

It was a lot of fun. Also fun? Watching people in dress shoes
trying to navigate these boulders.

The falls are gorgeous and also really powerful. It's hard to tell  from
 a still photo, but the water rushing over those rocks was ferocious.

Also, the Potomac River apparently drowns people left and right. Tucked into my national park pamphlet was a warning card, letting me know that the river was lying in wait, hoping to claim any victim foolish enough to pass too close to its shores.

Try not to drown, okay?

Then, as I walked to the first overlook, I saw this sign:

Seriously, you guys, please don't drown.

Finally, on the way to the second overlook, this huge poster plastered across the footbridge reminded me that the Potomac was desperately trying to murder me.

This is not a drill. We have both capitalized and underlined
the word "deadly."

Deadly and beautiful.