My roomie on... oh my God... Page 6!

Never did I expect to quote the New York Post on my blog, and certainly not Page 6.

However, they did run a nice little piece on my roomate Jimmy yesterday. Remember him? The tour owner/operator?

I like to promote my friends, so... whatcha gonna do? Oh - and they ran it with an incongruous picture of Julianne Moore.

*****

September 21, 2008 --
DIANA Taylor is a tourist attraction. Jim Dykes, who runs Rich and Famous Tours, was leading a group of out-of-towners down East 79th Street when the door of Mayor Bloomberg's elegant 1910 townhouse flew open - and out bolted the state banking superintendent in blue jeans, sneakers and tank top, headed to Central Park with two Labrador retrievers. The pooches pulled Taylor over to the group for a moment, and the tourists eagerly petted the tail-waggers. When Taylor moved on, Dykes announced, "You just met your first New York celebrity . . . that was a casually dressed Diana Taylor, our billionaire mayor's longtime girlfriend . . . and her dogs."

*****

Miss Taylor has waited long enough...

So, it has been a while since I have dined with the irresistable Miss Abigail Taylor. I know. But she isn't standing for it anymore, so tomorrow we are meeting for burgers and Broadway shakes (coffee ice cream with chocolate syrup) at Tom's. Actually, Abby might do a cherry shake.

Tom's was the sight of last week's marvelous catchup lunch with wonderful Liz Reddick. It must be my new lucky place! No wonder Jerry and Elaine loved it so.

Broadway On Broadway

Elizabeth and Johary and I treked down to Times Square a week ago for the annual Broadway on Broadway kickoff to the Fall Theater season. It's a two hour concert (attended this year by 50,000 standing showtune fans) where every musical on Broadway sends a number. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from Lion King. "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" from the upcoming White Christmas. "The Wizard and I" from Wicked. It's fun. Carolee Carmello rocked on "The Winner Takes It All". At the very end, the combined casts sing "New York, New York" and tons of confetti rains down on the Square. It truly makes you tingle.

Anyway, because of the Big Bro, my friends and I are among the 200 folks who get to sit though it. This year I took Johary and Elizabeth. Oops! I already told you that. Anyway, the photo above is Elizabeth at the left, looking artsy and Bohemian, a wedge of my over-peroxided head in the middle, and Johary, who refuses to take a bad picture, at the right.

Play your cards right and maybe next year you can go!

At four in the morning I think...

I couldn't sleep last night and I can ALWAYS sleep. So I rewrote my club act in my head, did the second verse of a new song called "And You Know Who You Are", fretted about the reversability of knee injuries, and came to this conclusion, based upon a lifetime of reserach:

A.) It is possible for a love relationship to be passionate and responsible;
B.) It is more fun when a love relationship is passionate and out of control;
C.) Passionate and out of control has to implode;
D.) Passionate and responsible is sustainable.

Soooooooooooo, it's really about whether you want something epic and ultimately tragic or something that's going to stay around. And that is not a simple choice. I have had both and have nothing to offer beyond that incredibly deep, four-in-the-morning observation.

LOL.

Moi at the Metropolitan Room

One of the lovely upshots of the MetroStar Talent Challenge this summer is that the host club, The Metropolitan Room, made it clear that they wanted to book me. The room was chosen this year by New York Magazine as the Best Cabaret in New York. Take that, Oak Room. It's the performance home of Julie Wilson, Maureen McGovern, Faith Prince, Tom Wopat, Baby Jane Dexter, Andrea McArdle... on and on.

Anyway, they were sincere. They have asked me to do my thing on November 5th, 12th and 19th. Cool! And I've decided, for a change, that's it's just me... no guest stars, just me.

So save the dates and meet me in Chelsea in November for an evening of me. I promise Kafka on the train!!!

Meryl on the Wonder Wheel

High on the list of people I abjectly adore but hardly ever see is Ms. Meryl Rosner. I just found this pic online of the indefatigable Meryl rocking the world --- and the Wonder Wheel --- one last time before Astroland joins New York past.

Meryl Rosner? Wonder Wheel? Love 'em both!!!

A very, very, very guilty pleasure...

Sylvia:

A horse and carriage just for me? And they'll pull me through the streets? Just like when Miss Louise Beavers passed in "Imitation of Life"?

Teddy

That was Juanita Moore.

Sylvia

Not the tragic Lana Turner remake, you ninny!

*******************

That exchange happens near the top of Sylvia So Far, my musical tribute to an adored friend. But last night it was the tragic Lana Turner remake TCM showed, and Jimmy and I watched --- and guffawed through --- every delicious moment.

My fave? It includes what must be the most ineptly performed number in cinema history, the irresistable "The Lonliest Word (I've Ever Heard Is Empty"). Susan Kohner sure is pretty as Sarah Jane, but a triple-threat she is not. The song, bad as they come, has been insinuating itself through my day and I have a smile just remembering Miss Kohner's airport runway choreography.

Jimmy's Rich and Famous Tours

Abigail took his bus tour recently and told me he is wonderful, but I had my first taste yesterday of what a marvelous tour guide and all-around NYC authority Jimmy Dykes is! If you have friends or family coming in the city, Jim's tours would be a wonderful treat for them. The link for his website is http://www.richandfamoustours.com/.

Morris-Jumel Mansion

The great thing about having a roomie who owns a local touring agency is the endless wealth of knowledge he has about the city. Yesterday morning was so gorgeous that Jimmy and I decided spontaneously to head out and over to the Morris-Jumel Mansion, which survives from Pre-Revolutionary days. I had never been there! LOVED IT!!! Go, go, go. It's (I think) 161 and Edgecomb, but the streets go squonky up there a bit so I'm not sure exactly where I was. Before noon admission is a dollar!

Patty Decker

I know, I know, I know... I haven't blogged since the Truman administration. Sorry! Sometimes life is just a little too busy to blog.

Anyway, the pic above is Susannah Berryman. Whom I do not know. On the right. OH!!! But the left? That's Patty Decker, whom I fell madly in love with in September of 1977. She was my first college girlfriend back in the days of Loyola University.

Can you believe it? So, Patty tracked me down recently through the internet and we agreed to get together sometime. Just like the dozens of other people I promise to get together with sometime and never do. But the difference? PATTY AND I ACTUALLY GOT TOGETHER!

Yes, we reconnected yesterday afternoon at Alice's Teacup on the Upper Westside. And she is wonderful! Like any one of my pushing-fifty friends, she has a tale to tell, but it's a good one and I loved seeing her. I also loved the herbed mayo egg salad, the sesame-infused greens, and the cupcake smothered in buttercream.

It was lovely to be together again and I want to see her soon.