Thursday, November 22, 2007

I just met a girl named Maria

You are so jealous, because guess who I saw on the street yesterday, just a block from my apartment? Maria from Sesame Street! I was dragging myself to Duane Reade -- I woke up with some sort of short-lived ailment yesterday, possibly a reaction to something I ate -- and I heard a familiar voice (not talking to me), and when I looked up I saw: Maria! I felt better right away.

I know she's not really Maria. In fact, a small, geeky part of me was excited to be walking past Sonia Manzano, member of the original Off-Broadway cast of Godspell (you can hear her singing "Turn Back, O Man" on the OCR). But the child in me was more excited to be spotting Maria in the flesh. I fondly recall her wedding to Luis (although I did not remember that it involved appearances by Jose Ferrer and Lillian Hurst), and the birth of their daughter, Gabriella. And what human-puppet pairing is more compelling than Maria's love-hate relationship with Oscar the Grouch? (See, for example, both videos linked to above.) And there we both were on the Upper West Side (though not on one of its most Sesame-like blocks, I admit). So can you blame me for being excited when Maria herself walked by?

Last night I had a recaplet to turn in, so I didn't head home to Scranton until this morning. On the way home, my iPod Shuffle called up an appropriate showtune: "All Good Gifts" (speaking of Godspell). Now I'm home, looking forward to a weekend of food and family and a few wedding-related errands, and feeling grateful for all my gifts. I'm happy to be blogging, and I'm grateful that you're reading! Wherever you are today, I hope you've got lots to be thankful for.

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