Sunday in NY

Today should have been the last day for the US Open, but unfortunately the men’s semi didn’t’ finish yesterday, so Nadal and Murray will finish today. The good news is that they are not scheduled until at least 4PM, so I have the morning free to check out the Washington Square Art Fair. It’s a beautiful sunny day with not a cloud in sight so I decide to walk, it’s about 3 miles from 54^th and Park to Washington Square, so I’ll work off that bagel and cream cheese I had for breakfast.

Walking along the streets surrounding the square, browsing the various art and crafts, strains of jazz coming from a alto saxophone, is a very nice way to spend some time before going to the site. I’ve been working on making collages out of my photos, and there are a few very interesting collage artists here, and some nice jewelry. I love things that are made by human hands. Something with a person’s fingerprints on it, something that someone loved making, something that is a product of someone imagination. I buy a beautiful pair of gold earrings for my sister’s birthday, and a hand made book for my little four year old cousin. Then it’s back to the hotel to get ready to go to the site.

A lot of the media people just go to the Open, and back to their hotel everyday, but I like to take in the sites, experience whatever city I’m in has to offer. What’s the use of traveling if you aren’t going to see new things, have new adventures? Meet new people.

I still have the leftovers of my great noodle salad from last night, but darn... do not have a fork and the breakfast is no longer being served so I’m going to have to be cleaver. There is an old saying that necessity is the mother of invention... ok... I’ve got it... and this is a good tip if you are ever stuck without eating utensils. Two coffee stirs make very usable chopsticks. They are a little short and thin, but I manage to eat my salad without making a mess. Of course, I’m very good with chopsticks, so you might have a little more difficulty than me, but if you’re desperate it does work.

The Brits are going mad... Sir Richard Branson is in the player box with his Mom and girlfriend watching as Andy Murray defeated world number one Rafael Nadal, to reach his first Grand Slam final. He’ll be facing Roger Federer tomorrow at 5PM. Murray is really a Scot, but the English don’t have Henman to cheer for anymore, so Andy has become their man. They are totally different players from my point of view. Henman very much the proper, well mannered Englishman, and Murray the wild Highlander.

Okay, that’s finished, now for the women. As I predicted, Serena defeated Jelena Jankovic in two sets, and with this win will also become number one in the rankings. Jankovic played a pretty good match, but was totally out powered by Serena. However,

JJ, as people call her, definitely won the fashion contest. I love her yellow dress, (I talked about this in an earlier blog) and tonight she came out with a really cute sheer little jacket over the dress, this outfit is cute enough to wear to go out, and with hemlines so short this year, it wouldn’t look out of place off the court, and the gold sparkles sprayed on her dark hair were a cool touch. Very nice Jelena.

As for Serena, her dress was a disaster in my opinion. The dark red color was not flattering and looked horrible when it got wet and stuck to her. On the plus side, she wore a BEAUTIFUL diamond bracelet on her left writs. No huge earrings, which was a surprise... these are usually won of her most prominent accessories.

Well, that’s it for tonight; I’m catching the 2AM bus back to the city.