Friday, January 20, 2006
My family, for all its quirks and nuances, has been relatively functional. The immediate family gets along and I’ve simply ignored problems with other parts of the family, then befriended only a select few of the remaining. This strategy has served me well.
Oddly enough, on my father’s side of the family I know very little of my aunt and her family in Seattle. For those who don’t know, my aunt moved off to Seattle, married a famous jazz musician, and has lived there for my entire life. Her family has always been a mystery to me, with my seeing only her and my cousin a handful of times in my life.
But, apparently, my cousin is getting marred and having a child. And this seems to have changed her strategy of isolation. . . she put me in touch with her stepdaughter, Dee, who was in New York this week.
Dee: “Hey, there, dude, how’s it goin’”
My thoughts were that this woman is a quintessential Seattle music personago. And the conversation goes on to confirm it. We make plans to go see her friend play guitar later that week.
Part of me was not looking forward to it, and part of me was curious. I’d never met this cousin in my life.
So I meet her at her Midtown hotel to discover Dee decked to the nines. This was not what I expected either. I like her already, someone to respects the Big Apple nightlife. And I find out the jazz musician she was taking me to see was playing at Lincoln Center’s new Jazz space in Columbus Circle. My God he must be good. The night is shaping up.
We get there to find a fancy jazz lounge with the backdrop being a wall of windows overlooking Central Park and the Upper East Side skyline. (Time for a martini.) They seat us in the front row where the musicians come out and start playing just inches away. They were playing marvelously, the acoustics were wonderful, too. . . not too loud. They cranked out Gershwin, Cole -- all the jazz greats -- along with some creations of their own. I had a great time.
Afterwards we go to a bar in hell’s kitchen to meet up with some people traveling with her. It was all downhill from there. Hooch started flowing, I started talking about economics (and arguing) and before I knew it I was three sheets to the wind aty 1:30 am, on a weeknight.
The next day --I guess they weren’t completely repulsed by me -- we had a lovely meal at the Algonquin. The more time I spent with her, the more I loved here. Two people, who couldn’t be more different, having a great time (and hung-over like hell)
I need to get to Seattle.
Oddly enough, on my father’s side of the family I know very little of my aunt and her family in Seattle. For those who don’t know, my aunt moved off to Seattle, married a famous jazz musician, and has lived there for my entire life. Her family has always been a mystery to me, with my seeing only her and my cousin a handful of times in my life.
But, apparently, my cousin is getting marred and having a child. And this seems to have changed her strategy of isolation. . . she put me in touch with her stepdaughter, Dee, who was in New York this week.
Dee: “Hey, there, dude, how’s it goin’”
My thoughts were that this woman is a quintessential Seattle music personago. And the conversation goes on to confirm it. We make plans to go see her friend play guitar later that week.
Part of me was not looking forward to it, and part of me was curious. I’d never met this cousin in my life.
So I meet her at her Midtown hotel to discover Dee decked to the nines. This was not what I expected either. I like her already, someone to respects the Big Apple nightlife. And I find out the jazz musician she was taking me to see was playing at Lincoln Center’s new Jazz space in Columbus Circle. My God he must be good. The night is shaping up.
We get there to find a fancy jazz lounge with the backdrop being a wall of windows overlooking Central Park and the Upper East Side skyline. (Time for a martini.) They seat us in the front row where the musicians come out and start playing just inches away. They were playing marvelously, the acoustics were wonderful, too. . . not too loud. They cranked out Gershwin, Cole -- all the jazz greats -- along with some creations of their own. I had a great time.
Afterwards we go to a bar in hell’s kitchen to meet up with some people traveling with her. It was all downhill from there. Hooch started flowing, I started talking about economics (and arguing) and before I knew it I was three sheets to the wind aty 1:30 am, on a weeknight.
The next day --I guess they weren’t completely repulsed by me -- we had a lovely meal at the Algonquin. The more time I spent with her, the more I loved here. Two people, who couldn’t be more different, having a great time (and hung-over like hell)
I need to get to Seattle.
# posted by otas : 1:37 PM
