Would you mind if I blogged about this?
“Go ahead,” said my dinner companion. “Just keep it fuzzy, who I am. Give me some nickname.”
Crazy Mandy and I were having dinner at Mimi’s, where the servers sing. The food is good enough to stand on its own, but it doesn’t have to: the singers are wonderful. Our server, Kiyaana Cox, is having a one woman show there next Friday (11:00 p.m. on 03/10/06–the $10 ticket covers a drink). During a charming evening–which leavened a much more serious conversation–Kiyaana sang “Summertime” from Porgy and Bess and did a very good job with it, so by all means go if you can; you might see Crazy Mandy and me.
A tangent, if you will. In my favorite scene of the otherwise forgettable movie Gosford Park, a concert pianist plays for fun while the betters around him talk and smoke and play cards; the servants, who might not have the chance to hear such fine music again, linger in the doorways and listen in awe. In Mimi’s that night, Crazy Mandy and I were surrounded by betters. Such good voices, and people don’t listen but keep talking to each other and to cell phones. If we hadn’t been sitting near the front, we’d have missed good music. Crazy Mandy and I talk quite a bit, but we take breaks whenever the singing starts.
So how’s your ex-roommate doing? “Oh, all right. His brother was in town for a fund-raiser–the one he adored growing up, whose running for office in the Bible belt, the one whose wife hasn’t said a word to him since he came out.” That’s terrible. Didn’t he think of becoming a minister once? “Yeah, ex-roommate did. Probably not any more. It’s a loss to the world.” I take it the brother can’t afford to have it widely known that his younger brother– “Yes, that’s right, so for God’s sake don’t link to the campaign website.” I won’t, I won’t. Still, that family’s values seem a little off. Whatever happen to “love one another as I have loved you?”
We heard opera and Broadway and “The Lady is a Tramp.” When a man starts singing “Tiny Dancer,” Crazy Mandy and I and a few others join in at the singer’s request. But so many don’t; I wonder if the betters remember any of it. Crazy Mandy and I people-watch throughout the night. That couple, like us, seems to be another Will and Grace set; that girls night out group seems to love Steven, now singing, and we’ll join the fan club they start; isn’t that an interesting May-December coupling over there?
So, Crazy Mandy, how’s your May-December thing going? “It’s going well. I just heard how December’s wife died. She started feeling sick, she went to the hospital. Two weeks after that autoimmune disease hit, she was dead, dead at 40.” That’s so young! “I know.” Do you think the betters–or perhaps just your ex-roommate’s family–will ever realize what they’re missing and listen to the music?
Perhaps the best thing about wine with dinner is that it keeps us from being betters; otherwise we might not have joined in with “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” from Jesus Christ, Superstar.
Posted by Hubbard in Vignettes