Déjà vu

I’m on the Long Island Railroad heading away from Manhattan and out to Patchogue, NY.

Know where that is?

Yeah, me either.

I do have some idea...I have been out this way before.

Recently I've become addicted to Google Earth...check it out some time (visit: http://earth.google.com) . Look up Long Island, NY. I believe it's the country's biggest island. It's stretched out and NYC dwarfs in comparison.

I warm you now that Google Earth is addicting.

I’m on my way to Gateway Playhouse (visit: www.gatewayplayhouse.com) to see Antuan in Dreamgirls. The Off-Broadway show he's been in, In The Heights, (visit: www.intheheightsthemusical.com ) has closed to get ready for it’s move to Broadway and during the hiatus Antuan has opened in Dreamgirls. He's playing multiple roles in the ensemble and is also the show’s dance captain.

The show runs another week or so but this coming Wednesday I’m off to Richmond for the arrival of my nephew. So…making up for last weekend, I’m getting to see the show tonight.

It was almost a year ago that I was on the LIRR to see Antuan in La Cage aux Folles. Our first real date was the two hour train ride back to Manhattan. So… I’m sensing a bit of déjà vu as I ride a long. The train is slow moving, with a lot of stops, but it's a nice ride. We just passed the famed town of Amityville a few stops ago.

My Nephew’s still just a bun in the oven but he’s due any day. If he doesn’t arrive in the next day or so the labor will be induced on Wednesday.

My Mom and Dad arrived from Africa last night. So we’re all gathering for the kid’s arrival.

From what Tim tells me…the kid is a biggum’. A true “Hood.” Janet started having contractions 15 days ago, so we all thought he’d arrive early. I told Tim and Janet if they wanted to get all this over with they could just coax the kid out with a pork chop. It is a Hood after all.

Yet, still…the baby is staying put. So…he’s stubborn too (like a Hood).

On a totally unrelated note…

Man, I’m getting old. It seems to have happened all the sudden. I was trimming my facial hair yesterday and I noticed that I have a lot of grey/white hair coming in. I can trick myself into believing that it’s blonde hair.

When did this happen? It does seem like it happened over night.

And on another, completely unrelated note…I'm jumping all over the place with news this time...

I’ve finished my first week working in White Plains. I’ve got the commuting in my grasps. That’s not to say that I’ve got it mastered – I still end up either being really early or really late – but I’m getting it.

I’ve doing a lot of reading on the train. I just finished The Alchemist and I’m half way through Kevin Sessum’s amazing memoir, Mississippi Sissy. It is a very honest look at growing up gay in the South. Reflecting back on his childhood during the Civil Rights movement he shares the reality of living on the outside looking in. I'm really enjoying it.

I’m still not on the whole Harry Potter kick, but if I was, I’d have the new one almost finished - I'm telling you the commute is a great way to work through your own personal library. I’m actually a few books behind in the whole Potter-craze. To not allow myself to buy into the hype, I made a deal with myself that I would only ready them in paperback. So I’ve still got the Order of Phoenix to get to…eventually.

And that's it...

More from Richmond, VA.