Do I wake or sleep?

Had a lovely time as always. Tim had called the night before, wondering about the rain--I said hells yeah, we should go, I'd been checking the forecast (obsessively) all week and it looked as though there might be showers but not steady rain.

Due to cat shenanigans (that third cat really does add to the cleaning load exponentially), I ended up leaving later than I meant to but no worries, just sailed on out to Flushing Meadows on the ol' 7, reading The Odyssey. That train ride always kills me during the Open--you can see more and more tennis fans getting on, all wearing polos or US Open tee-shirts or hats or whatever. Everyone's in a good mood. Got there around 12:00 and Tim met me with the tickets. We saw some great people play, including Andy Murray (the Great Scot--he rocked), Venus (for like the fifth or sixth time, we always seem to catch her. Where is my Maria?! I'm dying to watch her), Sam Querry, Anna Ivanović, Tim Isner and Rafael Nadal. The Nadal match was SO great--he played against Denis Istomin and the guy seemed to be dying in the first set, and then he really, really fought after that. A lot of us had on the American Express radios (they have a booth where they give them out to cardholders and Tim always gives me his) and McEnroe's commentary was so enthusiastic, saying "Nadal is having the time of his life out there--he's playing a worthy opponent who's making him work and I've never seen him give so much respect to an opponent." The whole crowd was behind this guy--I mean, of course we wanted Nadal to win but this guy was really working and did a great job. I was cheering out loud for him, encouraging him. Tennis is such a lonely sport--it's really hard to die out there. So the crowd always gets behind a good effort (Venus's match was not as close but people were similiarly encouraging to her opponent). So much fun.

We had dinner at a restaurant inside the grounds called Mojitos--food was great (I had scallops, big fat ones) but we made a mistake in ordering a pitcher of mojitos. You really shouldn't make them by the pitcher, they have so many disparate ingredients, they're best made one at a time.

Great, great time. I love the Open.

Serena. WOW. I'm very surprised but--not really. I can appreciate her tennis but I am not a fan of hers because of this sort of nonsense. She has a reputation for being a sore loser--in post-match conferences after she's been defeated, she never gives credit to her opponent, it's always "I had a bad day" or whatever. When I was at the Open listening to the commentary on their special closed-circuit radio thing, they mentioned this tendency several times, saying that Serena herself has admitted because she's the youngest in her family, she has an entitlement thing going on, but that "being aware of the problem and doing something about it are two different things." Indeed. Venus used to be a little petulant but has gotten much better since she, well, grew up. It's about time Serena did the same. Watching her behavior the other night toward that lineswoman--you just cringe. Dropping the F-bomb? Screaming that you're going to "take this [expletive deleted] ball and shove it down your [expletive deleted] court?" Serena, this is TENNIS. The gentleman's sport. You simply DO NOT act that way. Don't give me that garbage about McEnroe being your hero--when people think of McEnroe, they don't think of his amazing ability or his titles, they remember the tantrums, the obnoxiousness. A pathetic legacy for such a good athlete. Is that how you want to be remembered? I can't even imagine how uncomfortable Kim must've felt. Serena was losing anyway, what a way to divert the attention from the victor and of course now she can say "I only lost because of a technicality."

Ugh. Very glad the US Open gave her notice. $10,000 fine, plus $500 for the earlier racquet nonsense, plus they might strip her of everything she's won at the Open this year. I agree with the first two penalties--not sure how I feel about the latter, and I do not think she should be banned from future tournaments. But I do hope this serves as a wake up call--NOT. COOL.

So this weekend kind of wiped me out but in a good way.

Friday

Tim and I went to the Open--we had the same seats we have every year which are fantastic. In Arthur Ashe wwe're in one of the corners, a couple of rows behind the family/player guest box, so we have seen the Williams family many times. (As we did this year.) Our Louis Armstrong seats are even better--three rows from the court. Tim has a friend who has season tickets for these seats for every day of the Open and just gives them away.

I got there a little late, around 1:00 but quickly got caught up on the first big match, Novak Djokovic (no. 3 seed) against Radek Stepanek (I can't remember his ranking--somewhere in the 40s, I think?). Anyway, this was an amazing match. They were neck and neck in every single set--the first two, and the final set went to tie-breakers. Just a perfect match, full of terrific play from both sides. The coolest thing about the match was how word was spreading through the complex that this was THE match, and the crowds got bigger...and bigger...and bigger. Not just in the stadium but on the grounds as well--there were huge crowds gathering at the big outdoor screens.

We saw Serena Williams who was struggling against some Russian player--it'll be interesting to watch her match against Justine. And Venus who looked lyrical out there--she was playing flawlessly, just eating up the court with those long legs of hers. She was in very good shape too, much better than Serena. If Serena and Venus continue to win, I think they're scheduled to meet in the semis--and I think Venus will take it. I think she may be going all the way.

We saw Rafael Nadal (who is HOT, just wook at dat cute little Mouseketeer face) play some interesting tennis--he's so good but he's suffering from tendonitis, as was his opponent, who retired sometime in the second set. So I rushed back over to Louis Armstrong to watch Lleyton Hewitt (also HOT) get smoked by Agustin Calleri, who sadly got knocked out two days later. Calleri was playing some incredible tennis that day, though--he's on his way for some big things.

At one point during the Djokovic/Stepanek match, I saw in the program that Martina Hingis and Daniela Hantuchova were playing a doubles match on Court 8 and I snaked my way through the general seating crowd to try to catch some of that. Sadly I got there just at the end and only got a glimpse of Martina. Love her tennis.

After a day full of glorious, wonderful, 5-set tennis ( we were especially thrilled because last year, the evening session was rained out), Tim and I finally left around 11:30 and went to the Wicked Wolf to get something to eat and hang out with his friend Donovan. I got home around 2:00.

Saturday

I had a riding lesson at 2:30 which meant I had to be out the door by 12:30 or so--unfortunately I was so tired from the Open, I forgot to set my alarm and woke up at 12:17. I was rushing around so much, I left my apartment in a mess which I HATE. But I quite enjoyed my lesson--they gave me a slightly smaller horse, Invisible, who was a former racehorse. One of the weirdest trots I've ever encountered--it was extremely bouncy and unrhythmic. I had to sit the trot for awhile before I could figure out how to post. I had one exciting event happen when Invisible spooked and TOOK OFF. Not a canter, a flat out gallop across the ring. I was thinking "okay, I may get thrown here, just stay relaxed" and all the time gathering up the reins in my hands, rolling them over my hands. Finally he stopped. The instructor, Helen, said "yes, you need to keep shorter reins with him, he likes to go. But the good thing is, you kept your seat and you stopped him. Were you scared?" I said a little, but I figured I'd get him under control.

After the lesson, I met Duncan at Elana's for a quick stopover at her Labor Day weekend house party--we had hamburgers and yummy food, and Lorraine's savage doggie attacked me with doggie kisses. I barely survived. Doggie kisses are intense. Elana let me shower at her place, and I was able to freshen up.

Duncan and I left after about an hour to go over to Queens for the Foxy Brown reading. I was so tired, I dozed off during our ten-minute break--I could hardly keep my eyes open. I went home and cuh-rashed.

My mother is coming to see As You Like It! She's arriving tomorrow evening around 9:30--she'll take a cab to the rehearsal space, meet me there, and then go back to the apartment. So happy!

I had a weak moment last night and convinced Duncan to get a beer with me after rehearsal. I love how in NYC it's just so easy to stop into a place for a drink--you don't have to get in a car, and drive anywhere, or park it--you just nip into a door on your way home. Bubye. Couldn't be easier. But I'll admit I'm a bit wiped out this morning. But I needed it; my runthrough didn't go that well last night, I was very distracted with a bunch of stuff and was flubbing lines. Argh! I do know these lines. It's maddening.

I ran into Sulai this morning on my way to work. She really is a sweet person, just a TOTAL FLAKE. Last night I got to play Madame Productrix and get all "Don't. Be. Late. It costs me money and it's disrespectful to everyone else who got here on time." She of course is the chief culprit.

But, yay! My mother is coming, and she gets to see me be all tomboy, and play Rosalind, and she'll see my new apartment, and she'll love it, and get to see her granddaughter HIH Grand Duchess Tatiana (Lil' Miss Fewocious) and I'm just very, very happy.