Friday, July 30, 2010

It had to be me

[Alternate titles: "I'm just wild about Harry (Connick Jr.)" and "It was the best of nights, it was the worst of nights."]

First, let me, in the words of Bing Crosby and Harry Connick Jr., accentuate the positive. Thanks to "Sleepover Night" at our daughter's day camp, the spouse and I found ourselves with the night off Thursday. And somehow we found ourselves in New York City drinking Champagne (or in the spouse's case, beer) and eating delicious French fare at one of our favorite little restaurants, Brasserie Cognac, on Broadway and 55th Street...






















then sitting in the eighth row of the orchestra section at Harry Connick Jr.: In Concert on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theater.

















To say that Harry Connick Jr: In Concert on Broadway was good would be a gross understatement. It was... amazing. And that is still selling it short. I wish I could have videotaped the concert (I had my camera and thought about it several times but the rather large usher hovering five feet away from me dissuaded me). Then I could have watched it again and again.

Not only was/is Harry Connick Jr. an incredible singer, he is an incredible musician and performer -- and also a really funny guy. And I doubt I was the only one in the audience who was disappointed when the concert finally ended around 10:30 p.m.

But all good things must eventually come to end. And in this case les bons temps stopped rouler-ing seconds after we walked out of the theater when I looked up and saw THIS:






















[Conjure image of Stephen Colbert shaking his fist in indignation:] DECKER!

It's like Brooklyn Decker is stalking me. Everywhere I look, there she and her breasts are (even on vacation, when we were flipping channels and happened to catch the ESPYs, there they were).

But Brooklyn Decker's double Ds were the least of my woes last night. For just as the spouse and I were drifting off to sleep, around 12:20 a.m., the phone rang. And I don't know about all of you but I have never had a good phone call at 12:20 a.m.

Sure enough, it was camp calling to inform us that J-THREE-O had sprained her ankle (trying to escape the embrace of a boy -- at midnight, on wet grass) and needed to be picked up. Now. So the spouse (as I can no longer carry our daughter) dutifully got dressed and drove over to the camp at 12:30 a.m.... literally picked up our daughter... drove her back home... and carried her up the stairs to the spare bedroom, which has a futon on the floor, whereupon I cleaned her feet and gave her some naproxen sodium and a kiss -- and stayed awake the rest of the night/morning, unable to sleep, only to discover upon (physically) getting up this morning that... we had no water. None. Not a drop.

So at 8:45 I packed up my toiletry kit and a couple of towels and a washcloth and drove to a neighbor's, so I could brush my teeth and take a shower and shave. (I LOVE YOU, G.! YOU ROCK!)

Fast forward eight or so hours... Still no water, but we have two nice new big holes in our backyard, and just found out we have to replace our water pump and all the wiring. All I can say is, glad we saw the concert last night, cause it's going to be a loooong time 'til we splurge like that again. But at least we should have our water back in the next hour or so... so I can do the laundry and the dishes and the cleaning. Yay!

As for J-THREE-O (aka Sarah Heartburn), she has a mildly sprained ankle (which is now in an air cast) and has been enjoying ordering her father around all day.

I will now end this blog post on a positive note, with this clip of (a much younger and thinner) Harry Connick Jr. singing "It Had to Be You," from When Harry Met Sally (one of my favorite movies):



Btw, Harry Connick Jr: In Concert on Broadway is being filmed for TV (and DVD) tonight, and when it airs/comes out, I'll be watching -- and you should, too.

5 comments:

EMM said...

OMG - all the best to J30. Boys are nothing but trouble!

I have LOOOOOOOVVVVVVED HCjr forever. Marvelous live. He's on my desert island list of men I'd want to be stranded with. Sounds like you had a perfect evening until...

Good luck w/ the H20 project...

Ange said...

Well this post started out sounding so exotic to me. NYC is one of those places people like me can only dream of visiting and Harry is a spunk!

Sounds like J30 is a bit of a heartbreaker. Glad she's keeping them running.

Ooooh, I worked out how to do the blogroll..I think.

Charlene said...

Harry has been in some good movies but not for a long time. I wish he'd do more acting. There was a recent rumor that he was going to replace the mean Simon on that performance show I never watched but ultimately it was agreed he was just too nice.

Sugar Daze said...

We saw Harry in Paris last month and it was a fantastic show -- couldn't agree with you more. He's a great singer and showman -- who knew he was so funny and charming and he even spoke French. He had some great stories to tell about the French and the audience just loved him. And I have to say that once he and his band were warmed up, there was no stopping them -- for 2 1/2 hours straight we were mesmerized.

Sorry to hear about J3O. What a nightmare! Hope you are getting some rest now and that her ankle is doing better.

Your Brooklyn Decker comments were lost on me -- sorry. Come to France - I can assure you it is Brooklyn-free. :)

J. said...

@EMM: You said it, sister! Though Harry Connick Jr. is a boy, and I am sure a lot of trouble. And therein lies the problem: I think we women like a little trouble. ;-)

@Ange: And I think Auckland sounds exotic and would love to visit. Maybe we can work something out. Thanks for the listing on your blogroll -- and I would much rather that J30 is the heartbreaker than the one with the broken heart, though that may be beyond my control.

@Charlene: There's still talk that HCJ may be a judge on American Idol. In fact Ellen deGeneres just announced she was not coming back and I read Jennifer Lopez was taking her place. Shocking.

@LittleMissCupcake: Cupcakes and no Brooklyn Decker?! I'll be right over. :-) Yes, HCJ gives good show. Sadly, due to the later evening's events and yesterday's debacle, I can barely remember our dinner and the show. Amazing how lack of sleep and crises can make one instantly forget the good things.

On a positive note, we got our water back last night (though it cost us a small fortune and we're supposed to use it sparingly for the next 24 hours) and J30 was doing much better last night. :-)