That toddlin' town

First off, a note from my daughter to those of you who graciously offered suggestions re: the worst songs in musicals.

"Dear Bloggers Galore,

Thank you so much for your incredibly useful thoughts and comments. I was enormously impressed (and somewhat concerned) with your expansive knowledge of bad musicals and songs. Thanks again.

~Annie

P.S. I don't care what some of you have said. I will continue to hate Shipoopi, and I'll misspell it if I want to...it's not a real word..."


Lovely. Thank you. Moving on.

Yesterday was the New York portion of my October, 2004 travelogue. The adventures continue….

*****

On Friday we zipped out to Sopranos International Airport (Newark) for our flight to Chicago. Visiting our daughter, Annie for Parents Weekend.

Back to the Omni hotel where this time the books in our room included Illinois court cases of 1954 and “the Toothache Tree”. There’s no real reason to ever leave the room.

Parents Weekend at Northwestern featured many lively seminars with professors, receptions with faculty and administration – all of which we skipped, of course. We did however go to the Northwestern-Indiana football game which proved to be the highlight of the trip. Nothing like a Big Ten game on a crisp autumn afternoon. Okay, so Northwestern usually loses (on the stadium they have listed all their bowl appearances since 1949 – there are five) but last week they upset mighty Ohio State (the Dick Cheney of universities) and this week they beat the Hoosiers in double overtime! Too bad my wife and daughter left after the third quarter to go shopping.

One thing I noticed – this was the whitest crowd I’ve ever seen at a football game. It should have been broadcast on the Hallmark Channel. And everyone was so polite. No one yelling “sodomite” (even though the quarterback was very close to the center). I’m used to “Yankees suck” and “FU-SC”. After the game a Hoosier rooter called out to a Wildcat fan “You guys were lucky”. Withering.

There’s a watchtower at Northwestern they light up whenever the Wildcats win. (They haven’t had to replace the bulb for fifty years). It’s supposed to glow purple but it looks pink. You’d think that Julliard won.

The Chicago Marathon was held on Sunday. 40,000 entries – or every thin person in the entire Midwest. As I watched -- Starbucks crumb cake in hand -- I thought to myself: “SOME of these people have to die before me.”

A lot of the marathoners were staying at our hotel. Several got on the elevator with me and I offered my support by yelling, “Take the stairs!”

Those marathoners registered at the Omni had to be good. The race started at 8 and check-out time is noon.

On Monday we grabbed a cab to O’Hare at 5 A.M. A couple of straggler marathon runners jogged by then we took off for our 7 A.M. flight back home. Why so early? Winter is coming.

All in all, Annie is fine and looks great. The freshman transition is a tough one but I have every confidence that Northwestern will eventually adjust to her.

So after ten days it’s good to be home. Yes, this is a special time in the East and Midwest with the colors changing and all but there’s nothing like being in Southern California for the first cancellations of the new Fall shows.