{"id":1802,"date":"2007-11-29T09:09:42","date_gmt":"2007-11-29T14:09:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/a-gala-night-is-about-all-i-can-handle\/"},"modified":"2007-11-29T09:09:42","modified_gmt":"2007-11-29T14:09:42","slug":"a-gala-night-is-about-all-i-can-handle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/a-gala-night-is-about-all-i-can-handle","title":{"rendered":"A Gala Night is About All I Can Handle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last night’s “black tie optional” event turned out to be pretty slanted toward tuxedos. Rocking the black suit, white shirt and silver tie, I feared that I’d be mistaken for a waiter. Fortunately, the waitstaff wore Nehru jackets<\/p>\n

Even so, I felt pretty out of place among the tuxes and bespoke suits. I thought that it’d be nice to get suits made sometime, but realized that I’d prefer to blow my money on high-end gin, too many books, and the NFL’s HD package.<\/p>\n

Anyway, the drive into NYC was smooth, even though the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting was going on that evening. Figuring that traffic would build close to my Columbus Circle destination, I decided to get off the West Side Highway at 79th, park at a garage near West End Ave., and walk the 19 blocks down to the Mandarin.<\/p>\n

On the way, I passed Lincoln Center, which had its own (much smaller) tree on display. I liked the colors, so I insist you must, too!<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

And while we’re at it, here’s a photo of the sunset in NJ, as I cruised down the West Side. The view was absolutely spectacular as I came off the George Washington Bridge, but taking a picture from that ramp would’ve been impossible:<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last night’s “black tie optional” event turned out to be pretty slanted toward tuxedos. Rocking the black suit, white shirt and silver tie, I feared that I’d be mistaken for a waiter. Fortunately, the waitstaff wore Nehru jackets Even so, I felt pretty out of place among the tuxes and bespoke suits. I thought that … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “A Gala Night is About All I Can Handle”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-urban-issues"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-t4","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":906,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/what-20-will-get-you","url_meta":{"origin":1802,"position":0},"title":"What $20 will get you","author":"Gil","date":"April 10, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The first day of the conference was good, but I did a bunch of running around and interviewing, punctuated by a long lunch with a client who revealed that his first marriage ended because his wife was making it with the landscaper. He is not very happy that his second\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Pharmaceuticals"","block_context":{"text":"Pharmaceuticals","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/big-business\/pharmaceuticals"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4663,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/what-it-is-111609","url_meta":{"origin":1802,"position":1},"title":"What It Is: 11\/16\/09","author":"Gil","date":"November 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"What I'm reading: Same stuff as last week \u00e2\u20ac\u201d When the Shooting Stops, The Book of Basketball \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and a ton of stories that I'd been saving in my RSS reader. What I'm listening to: Graceland (Paul Simon), Boxer (The National; boy I really adore this record), In Our Nature\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "travel"","block_context":{"text":"travel","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/travel"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=virtualmemories-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001PR13NK","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15596,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/episode-509-darryl-pinckney","url_meta":{"origin":1802,"position":2},"title":"Episode 509 – Darryl Pinckney","author":"Gil","date":"October 25, 2022","format":"audio","excerpt":"Virtual Memories Show 509: Darryl Pinckney \"It's meant to be funny, but it makes me sad to remember it, because it's a lost time.\" Literary & cultural critic Darryl Pinckney rejoins the show to celebrate his new memoir\/memorial, Come Back In September: A Literary Education on West Sixty-Seventh Street, Manhattan\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/art"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/pinckney2022comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C523&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/pinckney2022comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C523&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/pinckney2022comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C523&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/pinckney2022comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C523&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/pinckney2022comp.jpg?fit=1200%2C523&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5290,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/weakly-may-4-skokie-the-germans-and-the-lost-ugandan","url_meta":{"origin":1802,"position":3},"title":"Weakly – May 4: Skokie, the Germans, and the Lost Ugandan","author":"Gil","date":"May 15, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"[This is the second in a series of long-ass rambling posts about my travels from May 3-9. Part 1 is over here.] I woke up earlyish on Tuesday (6:30 a.m. constitutes 'sleeping in' for me), took care of a little work, ironed my suits and shirts, and made an early\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Business"","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1801,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/what-am-i-a-farmer","url_meta":{"origin":1802,"position":4},"title":"What am I, a farmer?","author":"Gil","date":"November 28, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night, I was writing to a buddy about how tired I was from my autumn biz-travel schedule. I think I was attempting to elicit sympathy for going to Milan, Las Vegas and San Diego over the course of 6 weeks. \"Boy, you think you've got it tough. . .\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Business"","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1861,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/well-its-no-gherkin","url_meta":{"origin":1802,"position":5},"title":"Well, it’s no Gherkin","author":"Gil","date":"January 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I first noticed the Hearst Tower during ferry rides over to NYC about a year ago. Last April, I meandered by the building and snapped some pictures. I thought it was a neat-looking building, especially as it poked out of an existing structure like a giant f***-you: Last November, when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Architecture"","block_context":{"text":"Architecture","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/architecture"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hearst Tower","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm1.static.flickr.com\/198\/448741823_6b0962279c.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1802\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}