Drove to Sagaponack in the Hamptons on the south fork of the eastern tip of Long Island. 4 hour drive (199 miles). Andrea bought a house here at a bargain price earlier in the year. Arrived for lunch, chats with Andrea, Noah and Nyla, tour of the house and a visit to the beach. Continue reading
Went shopping early. Ended up with a surprising amount of food. Breakfast.
Mailed 16 Still Stepping books including one to Torrey in Australia.
Andrea says Noah and Nyla enjoyed yesterday’s chat. Spent most of day working on blog posts for 2003-4. Spoke with David Ackerman.
Tennis lesson at 4pm. Very strenuous drills serve and volley. Total Tennis continues to be overrun with city folk.
Karen somewhat depressed. More George Gently on TV.
Usual walk loop in the morning.
Noah and Nyla came by around 3pm. We sat out back with the heater for an hour. Louie the dog also came. Chased tennis ball endlessly. We had a very good chat about school, studies, and politics. Karen had to shut me up several times. Noah showed real animation. Nyla always does. It was a buoyant visit.
Sent photos of earlier Christmas tree to Leiden division.
Drove down to Harlem to deliver Christmas gifts to Andrea, Noah, and Nyla. Strange exchange on the sidewalk next to their building. Karen had picked out books from her collection to give.
Drove to NYC, picked up Jeannette, then to The Tank, 312 W. 36th. to see Nyla participate in the city-wide Moth story telling for teens. We had gone weeks earlier to see her perform in her Moth class performance. Nyla was the first presenter. She was terrific. 
We sat in a bar next door for an hour chatting.
UTMH work in the morning. Met with Tony Kieraldo to develop new social media program. David A. Has already indicated he doesn’t want to spend money on it even before seeing the proposal. Turns out he is once again funding the company so this brings out his craziness about money. Then, telecon with a private equity firm. We aren’t mature enough to be of immediate interest. David once again closed the door with his closing comments. A pointless exercise. Seth and I had a telecon with Troy Web about project status. Then lunch with David. He once again expressed himself about the social media campaign. This despite the fact that the revised proposal won’t be forwarded for review until Monday.
Jumped in car at 1 pm for ride down to NYC and Nyla’s lacrosse game at Horace Mann. Talked with Matt Almeida on the way down.
Across the street from the field….
Trinity won the game 8-7. Nyla scored 3 goals. Girls lacrosse is a strange unsatisfactory game.
Drove into Harlem in time to get to the Maysles Documentary Center for a showing of The Feeling of Being Watched by Assia Bondaoui. Andrea had tickets.
This is a personalized story of the investigation of FBI surveillance and harassment of a Muslim community outside of Chicago in the late 1990s into early 2000s. Very good. Discussion following was also stimulating. Mentions of “politics of respectability” – reminds the same in the history of civil rights earlier. Also the need to get beyond the objective journalism trope.
Back to Andrea’s about ten pm.
Cold continues to hang in there. Breakfast at Bob’s.
Just a quorum at 8. Waiting to get started at 10:15 am.
Board of Trustees meeting upstairs in the Senior Ctr. Introduced and got approval for new Fundraising Committee. Emily gave her illustrated annual report. As always very good. Positive numbers and results galore. The slide that listed all of the organizations with whom the library collaborated during the year is especially startling. 
Left to go to Philadelphia at 12:30pm. Caught up with Nyla and Andrea outside the church where the Iron Gate Theater is located around 4pm. Aliyah, daughter of ???, who is attending Howard U. was also there. Talked, gabbed, Nyla did homework. Noah showed up for a few minutes. 
Then, less Noah we had dinner at Baby Blues BBQ. Food not very good.
Over the top salsa dance program. Lots of lights, sound, action…. audience screaming… quite a surprising new activity for Noah. Show began at ~8:30 ended at ~10:30pm.
We stayed at Hilton at Penns Landing. Had drinks and a snack at bar. Noisy ac system in room.
Meeting with Chad Weckler at CEDC and Michael Tucker about commercial kitchens and Hudson-Creative. Arrived at the end of the meeting due to my calendar entry screw up. Tucker is loud and mostly about his own opinions.
Had coffee afterward with Chad. He told me of space offered to us at 3rd and State.
Drove to NYC. Arrived about 2pm. At MET Breuer – old Whitney. Diane Arbus and Kerry James Marshall. 
Took selfies in our regular bench in the stairwell. Horse or fire station entries on E. 82nd St.
Drove over to PioPio restaurant for Nyla’s 14th birthday party. Andrea, Noah, & John too. Very cheery time. 
Back to Hudson in time to watch some of the election returns at Spotty Dog. Went home at about 10. I went to sleep about 11. Woke up at 3am to discover a headline from NYTimes announcing Trump’s victory. Despite my lack of enthusiasm for Hilary C I am distressed.
Weighed 230.5 this morning.
Wrote overview piece for Hudson-Creative. Then turned to my attention to the Our Situation essays. Started anew writing a letter to Noah and Nyla. Very effective mode for me. Quickly got into the swing. Posing questions about why things are the way they are in order to get to the ideas.
Went to get a haircut with Karen. Done, both of us in under 15 minutes. Then a stop at Walmart for drugstore. Got new dish towels to replace the rags we have used up completely.
Dave Drake came over for leftovers. Beef stew.
