This is a historic photo! After I don't know how many decades, the New York Times is moving from its current building (which was the reason they renamed Longacre Square to Times Square) to a new building a few blocks away. Saturday night we saw them loading up the moving trucks and one of the movers saluted us.

Here's Renee alongside the piano at our favorite New York City Piano Bar -- Marie's Crisis -- just before we left (at 2:30 in the morning).

The Puritan

Thursday night I took the red eye to New York City for a weekend of theater-going and the Tonys on Sunday night.

With a couple of hours of free time on my hands Friday afternoon I made my first visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the Upper East Side.

I was completely blown away by how huge the museum's art collection is and only scratched the surface.

In April the Met debuted a new Greek and Roman exhibit that includes this gorgeous corridor.

I spent most of my time at the Met in the "American Wing." I loved this room representing the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. I want to live in this room.

These Tiffany lamps caught my eye.

It's definitely summertime in New York City and people were content to hang out outdoors today.

The 21 Club is one of my all-time favorite places for lunch. A former speakeasy, I love the toys hanging from the ceiling and the people watching is unparalleled.

Since I flew overnight and given the time change I made a lunch reservation for 1:30 p.m. By the time I was done the place was pretty empty. So unlike Los Angeles, the land of the 3 o'clock lunch.

I had the strawberry-rhubarb tart wrapped in a light phillo dough for dessert. It was excellent.

Jockeys line the steps outside the 21 Club.

After lunch I visited with the Best Washroom Attendant in America. Upon seeing me he said, "someone's got to be No. 1, and it might as well be you."

Marcia, Myrna, Renee and I had dinner tonight at The Four Seasons Restaurant -- one of the finest restaurants in New York City. We ate in the Pool Room. The Grill Room (photo above) is considered one of the hottest places for lunch in town. The term "power lunch" was coined to describe the coveted tables seen empty here at dinnertime.

Friday night I went to see "Deuce" starring Angela Lansbury and Marian Seldes. A new play by Terrence McNally, it's about two of the greatest tennis doubles partners who reunite thirty years after they stopped playing together.

McNally's script has been criticized for being "lightweight," a criticism I think is unfair. McNally has written a star-vehicle designed to allow two great dames of the theater to flex their muscles. Both Lansbury and Seldes ace their serves, and it was a wonderful opportunity to see them perform live.

After the show Angela Lansbury was very friendly and chatty while signing autographs outside the Stage Door. I wished her luck Sunday night at the Tonys. She replied, "don't hold your breath." I told her I thought she needed to have a speech ready.

Marian Seldes came out of the Stage Door second and was very generous with her time, signing autographs and chatting with people waiting to see her. I told her I'd been a fan since seeing her in "Three Tall Women" at the Promenade Theater. She told me how much she enjoyed being in that show and how often people mention that particular performance to her. She reminisced that after the show's run in New York she took it out on the road. I let her know I'd seen her in the show a second time when she performed at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. She seemed touched. What a star!

Spotted Jo Anne Worley on West 45th Street.

During my "blogging hiatus" -- hey folks, it was only 4 days -- I did a couple of interesting things worth reporting on.

On Sunday afternoon I went to the Mark Taper Forum at the Los Angeles Music Center to see David Henry Hwang's new play "Yellow Face." This is a deeply personal examination by Hwang of discrimination in the arts, and his role as an Asian playwright in the perpetuation of it.

Hwang was the noted organizer of the protests over Cameron MacIntosh's casting of a Caucasian to play an "Asian" role in "Miss Saigon."

Hwang presents his play in a documentary style with several scenes introduced with quotes taken from newspaper articles. But his credibility is undermined when at the end of the play he admits to making up characters (and presumably the newspaper articles about them).

On Monday I made a quick trip up to San Francisco and back.

In San Francisco I had dinner at one of my favorite places -- Sears Fine Foods on Powell Street. Open for decades, Sears recently remodeled. And now they've changed their menu. Instead of upscale comfort food they're now serving a "continental" menu. It may still be good for breakfast, but I'm crossing Sears off the list for lunch and dinner.

Remember Me?

I haven't forgotten about you, dear blog readers.

(And I'm tickled by those of you who've asked why I haven't blogged in a few days.)

I've been a little busy and haven't done much worth blogging about.

But those are just excuses.

I have an exciting weekend planned and am looking forward to blogging about it. In fact I have to leave for the airport right now.....

Food Issues

I don't name the plays!

Went to see "Fat Pig," Neil LaBute's new play which examines our prejudices over physical appearance. An average sized, good looking guy falls for a plus-sized woman but is embarrassed to introduce her to his friends.

And in typical LaBute fashion, these friends aren't exactly the nicest (or subtle) people in the world.

At times the play is shocking and at times very, very funny.

It stars Scott Wolf, but he was not in tonight's performance. His understudy, Nathaniel Meek, did a good job but I was disappointed over not seeing Wolf on stage.