Peekskill Surfing. I should know by now that trying to get work done in Peekskill on the weekend is pretty hopeless. Usually I have performances on the weekend. But these last two weekends I was mostly at liberty, and I'd planned to get a lot done at home. I need to realize that this just doesn't happen where there's so much going on right outside my door.
This past weekend's festivities started early. On Thursday evening I decided to watch the DVD of the movie The Quiet Man that I'd rented from Netflix. Since my roof terrace overlooks our Quiet Man's terrace, I thought it was appropriate.
I wasn't crazy about the movie. Sorry, but John Wayne was neither convincingly Irish nor sufficiently entertaining. I was just about to bail on the movie when I thought I heard real Irish fiddle playing. I went out on my terrace and sure enough, it was Daisy Jopling, fiddling away on the Quiet Man's terrace! MUCH better than the movie!
Friday evening my neighbor Annie and I were headed to H-Art Gallery for the opening of a show by photographer Caitlyn Barrick. On our one-block walk there we ran into plenty of Peekskillians, including the Agnes - John, Jennifer & Stella - who first took us to another opening at the Paramount featuring artists Anna Adler and James Mulvaney. John & Jen revealed themselves as potential stage parents by leading two year-old Stella onto the Paramount stage. Then J&J sat in the house and encouraged Stella to sing and dance and play to the whole theater. Stella was more than happy to oblige. We finally did get to Caitlyn Barrick's show, with its cryptic title, anyone lived in a pretty how town. As always we ran into lots of Peekskill friends, including John Ford, who gave us a spooky nighttime tour of his piano factory. We ended up at the Birdsall house, helping Stephanie Purcell celebrate her birthday.
Saturday was frustrating--there were conflicting events and I had to choose. There were three events by friends that of course I had to attend. John Agne's show, Series of Seven, at his Main Street loft started at 6pm. I dashed out at 7:30 and drove to VanCortlandville School to see Brian Delma Taylor perform in TheaterWorks production of Moliere's Scapin, after which I leapt back in the car and got back to Peekskill in time to hear part of Alexis Cole's first set at Nellie's Cafe. Then I then rotated between John Agne's show, Brian Taylor's cast party, and Alexis second set. Whew! I'm getting dizzy just thinking about it. Unfortunately, I missed Daisy Jopling's show at the Paramount and the opening of the Rick Prol show at HVCCA. There's just too much going on here.
Sunday was simply gorgeous. In the morning I saw a couple of patients then headed to the Attic Treasures Flea Market, where I was very very good--for once I didn't buy anything. Alexis brought lunch over to have on the terrace--it was too nice to eat indoors. Then we went to yet another art opening, called The Cutting Edge -- this one at a beautiful new space at 982 Main Street. It was a really fun show, featuring both local Peekskill artists as well as internationally famous artists, including Yoko Ono.
Guess I'd better get all that work done now. Mondays in Peekskill are blessedly quiet.
