Salacious Books & Three Tim Currys
Two of the Most Perfect Days
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On the day I figured out I was likely to be unemployed soon, I texted my friend Sam (not me). “What is happening this week?!” was her response. Turns out another one of our friends had also gotten laid off. Sam actually left her job shortly after that. Then, two additional friends either got laid off or left their jobs. All at the same time.
I swear, I know more people looking for work than not these days.
Sam, in her infinite wisdom, thought this would be a perfect opportunity to form a support group of sorts—a gathering of people who could help each other through this transition of finding work and, more importantly, figuring out what we want to do next.
Side note: Sam is really good at stuff like this. Career stuff. Trust me. Really good.
Other side note: This is a long way around to get to the actual bulk of today’s post. But hang with me, we’re getting closer.
Our first couple of Zoom meetings were about getting to know each other and setting up goals, parameters, and a timeline for the group. Of course, that meant there were a few personal exploration exercises—existential questions to create practical pathways. And no, I absolutely did not cry when I realized the answer to, “What do you think your trusted people would tell you to be doing?” was “They would tell me to write.” Why would you even ask that? That is not why we’re here! Shut up! I am not crying again thinking about it! Ugh.
All of the questions and exercises made sense in the context of our lives, and most of the questions and exercises were easy enough to work my way through. However, there was one that ended up stumping me and confusing me at first. It was: “Describe your perfect day.” It feels like that should be something easy enough to describe. I live in my body, I know myself, I know what I like to do. But what I wrote down was automatically outlined in relation to a job. It was a “perfect day” of an employed person, not a perfect day of stuff I’d actually want to do.
I remember listening to someone else describe their day, before I had shared, and work was nowhere to be found. Their answer severed my brain from the automatic capitalist impulses; I frantically rethought my own day before my turn. What I said for my answer I almost immediately forgot but I’m pretty sure the day I described is more leisurely without work and left far more time for my own creativity.
Honestly, I’m still not certain that I have figured out exactly what a “perfect day” would actually be for me. There are so many possibilities to overthink. Activities come in, activities go out, and a perfect day for just myself lives on the back of a unicorn. …or something. What I am saying is, I’m not sure my perfect day for just myself is grounded in anything tangible.
Of course, there is more than one way to have a perfect day. More contexts to exist in. More approaches to take.
Yesterday, I was on a Zoom with two good and badass friends, one of whom is coming to the city in a little over a week. She was talking about activities on the list and at a lull in the itinerary, I said something like, “Jesus. If you want the most Samantha day you could have, that’s it.” There was some laughter and then a little bit of a pause. And since I know smart and fun people, one of my friends pointed out that that was an interesting question: What would be your perfect day that you would share with someone? Then the question expanded into two questions: “What would be the most perfect [insert you name here] day that you would share with someone?” and “What would be your perfect day to share with someone?” The distinctions are small but they are important.
So, that’s what I’m going to do here. (Told you we’d make it eventually.)
First, a couple of notes. I am approaching these days as if they were exactly my perfect weather: early fall, sunny, mid(ish) 60s, a little breeze here and there, just the right kind of weather for the best fall clothes. I am also approaching these days as if myself and whoever I am sharing the day with have boundless energy and bodies that are functioning enough to carry us through the day with no pain. All our joints are working! Our backs feel great! It’s like we haven’t aged at all! We’re in tip top shape…to do these days specifically. And, finally, I am approaching these days as if money weren’t a barrier to anything. One less thing to think about to make a perfect day.
I’m going to take both approaches and I’m going to start with:
My Perfect Day to Share with Someone
The day starts leisurely, of course. It is a great night’s sleep followed by no alarms. In real life, I wake up naturally between 9-10a which, honestly, I love. I’m not much of a morning person so this perfect day takes it easy on the morning.
Whoever I am sharing the day with and I have brunch plans at noon, more than enough time to stop being a zombie, pick out a great outfit, and apply the perfect shade of lipstick. Once all that is done, my travel to wherever we meet is easy and fully on-time. (Okay, some of this is a perfect day for just me.)
We have brunch at a place that is notoriously delicious, a little nicer, but not exceedingly busy. The music is not so loud that we can’t hear each other talk. Bottomless brunch is definitely an option. If one of us does that, both of us do that. If one of us doesn’t want to, neither of us do. Either way, we have a delicious meal, a few drinks, but do not go so overboard that we cannot mosey on to the next part of the day.
After brunch, we take a stroll through whichever neighborhood we ended up in. Much like the brunch place, the streets are full but not exceedingly busy. We pop into a bookshop and spend at least an hour browsing. I’ll probably spend a lot of time in poetry. We’ll probably both end up finding ridiculous or salacious books to show each other. Both of us leave having purchased something.
It’s been a couple of hours since brunch so we stop into a coffee shop for a pick-me-up and a sit down. We chat. We both pull out our books for a bit. One of us notices the time and we’re off to the next thing.
That thing is a theatre show of some kind. Probably a play of the Off-Broadway or more downtown variety. In the most ideal world, it’s a play written by a friend getting the recognition they so so deserve. Being able to support that would make me so happy. But also…the play is 90-110 minutes no intermission with no later than an 8pm start. Hey, I said a perfect day!
After the show, we post up at a nearby bar to debrief, have a few drinks, and a snack or two (definitely french fries). It’s a bar with nice cocktails, some of the old standbys and some of more innovative but still accessible drinks. The conversation is long and winding, totally comfortable. Before we know it, it’s later than we noticed. And it’s time to go.
We say our good-byes and we both have incredibly easy travel home. Once I get home, I watch an episode or two of something (a cartoon or a food) and get to sleep quickly and easily.
*
The Most Perfect Samantha Day I would Share with Someone
My two perfect day mornings are basically the same. Good, easy sleep. No alarms. Up between 9-10a. This will be a pretty lounge-y day so the getting ready is quick. I still look cute though. Obviously.
Whoever I am sharing the day with and I meet outside the cemetery in my neighborhood around 11a. The cemetery is a manageable size and has both older and newer parts. We take a walk, stopping in one of the older parts to find the funniest epitaph we can. And the most heart-breaking. And also, a little competition to see who can find the oldest headstone.
We wander our way out of the cemetery and take the long way back to my apartment. Along the way, we either pick up pastries from Bench Flour Bakers or bagels from Brooklyn Bagel. (Maybe both.)
Back at my apartment it is time for a Tim Curry triple header. That’s right, three Tim Curry movies: Muppet Treasure Island, Clue, and Rocky Horror Picture Show. …okay and the 1982 version of Annie, if we get ambitious. I’ll be honest, I talk through and/or recite and/or sing through most of these movies. They pretty much run through my DNA at this point. This person would enjoy it though. It’s fun to watch someone watch something they love.
A little before the sun starts to set, we decide we need to stretch our legs; we take the nice long walk down to Socrates Sculpture Park. It closes at dusk so we walk through the art as long as we can and then move outside the gates to watch the sunset over the East River.
It is, of course, time to eat again. On our way back we pick-up burgers from Burger Club or BBQ from Butcher Bar. If we stop at Butcher Bar, we also grab a quick drink but ultimately take the food back to my apartment. We set up the spread of food, put something that is good background noise on the TV and chow down.
Oh, and I’ve made a cake! Multi-layer, very delicious, everything came out wonderful and set perfectly. It’s hard not to eat the whole thing.
We notice what time it is and they get ready to leave. I send them home with a good portion of cake (obviously) and they head out.
My two perfect day endings are also pretty much the same. A few episodes of something and get to sleep quickly and easily.
**
And that’s it. Both pretty simple days. One with a lot more Tim Curry than the other.
I should have also mentioned that I was approaching both of these days from the viewpoint of where I live now—my apartment, Astoria, NYC. It’s funny, I didn’t even necessarily set out to put my perfect days here but it seems fitting that this is where they ended up.
It’s good to remember that there can be perfect days wherever you are.
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