Andrew J. Lederer

as i sit back down at the tea lounge, the guy to my right has a gigantic notebook computer with an additional, separate keyboard -- i'm surprised he didn't bring his stove to cook himself lunch -- and he's using the monstrous desktop replacement to . . . look at baseball statistics.

meanwhile the guy to my left has disgusting, little, crumpled-up napkins (i'm usually good at generating them) edging into my area.

outside, though, it's much nicer.

the leaves have mostly abandoned spring's light colors and turned the deep, dark green i associate with new york.

the dark foliage was like a "welcome home" when i used to return here from l.a. and it was particularly welcoming at governor's island the other day.

seconds away by ferry from both brooklyn and manhattan, the island was, 'til recently, the home of the coast guard, but it's been sold back to the city by the federal government for, like, a dollar or something and the city is now trying to figure out what to do with it.

i'll tell you what they should so with it -- nothing.

it used to be you had to have permission to go to there, so most people have never been. (i did a gig at the officer's club once, so i'm special.) why not just let people romp quietly amidst the beautifully landscaping and lovely, old structures and not build the casinos and luxury hotels that have been suggested?

of course, i know why -- the place has to generate money; to pay its way.

but i can dream, can't i?

anyway, i was there to catch a performance by the venerable folk singer, odetta. i didn't know what to expect, but she was awesome, as much a blues singer as a folk artist.

she did a "house of the rising son" that was both chilling and heartbreaking and as she moved toward her soulful conclusion, some security guard was standing to the left of the stage with walkie-talkie blaring.

i asked if it was possible for him to turn it down or move further away.

he ignored me.

i called him an obnoxious idiot or something similar and, a moment or two later, i noticed he had moved farther away.

god, the idiot to my right just nearly spilled his drink all over the table where everybody is using their computers.

then, having narrowly averted disaster, he left to be a bull in some other china shop.

now, "dirty napkin boy" has also departed.

i wonder if i'm capable of getting anything done today. (ulp -- now the girl to my left is talking on the phone and obliviously gesticulating with papers, banging 'em down onto the table repeatedly, abandoning them, hitting the table with her hand, then going back to the thing with the papers. now, a wizened woman with an enormous baguette has joined the assembled. oy, also a separate keyboard.)

i gotta get some iced tea.