On Thursday night, Stephen and I went to Times Square to burn off a few minutes between our pre-theater dinner and the show we were about to see, a preview of Follies by Stephen Sondheim.
As always, Times Square was teeming with people, all of us immersed a constant onslaught of big-screen advertising. In one of the billboards, you could see yourself among the crowd if you positioned yourself in front of the cameras. Mostly it felt like being in a giant, outdoor mall, which isn’t to say that it was all bad, because there’s often a kind of beauty to be found in any kind of extreme, assuming you’re not witnessing/participating in some kind of slaughter I guess. Mostly I thought about how large-screen video technology has really come into its own over the past decade lol.
I wondered what Times Square will look like in 100 years, and whether the Olive Garden will still be here at 47th Street. Maybe wind/solar/geothermal energy by that point will be powering the entire country, and public transportation will be efficiently whisking us to wherever we need to go.
About the only thing I would bet money on is that the sun will still be setting.
And that people will still have regrets about the way we’ve lived our lives, but every now and again transform this regret into something aching and beautiful and funny, as with the musical we were about to enjoy, which interestingly enough makes all the hassle/pain seem worth it.
