Even More About Sofonda.

The Posey Peep Show went on tour in 2009 to NYC. We played some dive, the Slipper Room in Manhattan, The House of Yes in Brooklyn, and Coney Island. It was tiring and fun and wonderful and people were great and kind and all of the feathers on Aunt Sofonda's hats made it back to Huntsville safely. Every one. That was a miracle, in a way. She kept her four or five costumes in separate grocery shopping bags. There was a red costume, a green one, a white one, a pink one and a black one.

Yay for NYC. We stayed in a hotel in Soho and shopped at John Derian's Timbuktu. I still wish to this day I'd bought the Assyrian chandelier for 400 bucks, with the green light bulb in it. If only.

If only I could have done that. And get back all the things I lost. My cherry-red Liz Claiborne thick cotton skirt with the kick pleats. My yellow boots that I bought in France in 1986 for 35 bucks. Other stuff. My snake bracelet that I bought in Tuscaloosa at Manna Grocery and gave to that stupid boy that I wasn't even gonna end up with.

End up with. What a deleterious phrase. Sounds awf'ly depressing, doesn't it?

The Whole Foods in NYC was delightful. We met the proprietor of John Derian's place and followed him to there and bought Tuareg jewelry and a FLAX jacket. He showed us boxes made of camel's knees, explaining that people there love their camels so much that they use every part of them when they die, including the skins and bones and probably the teeth too. The carved screens stood around like sentries and the incense was burning and the muezzins were singing on the CD player. It was just like being in India or somewhere.

And all that from one cup of Whole Foods coffee. Sometimes you get lucky. The shampoo at the hotel smelled nice, too. I kept it for years afterwards.