A busy Tuesday night in New York. And a beauty. Down at the Rubin Art Museum of Art at 150 West 17th Street, there was a cocktail and awards presentation, followed by dinner in the galleries.
Up on Second Avenue and 88th Street, at Genesis, there was a book party for AJ Jacobs’“The Year of Living Biblically (One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible”). That’s some challenge. I know this guy and I know he really tried for it. Whether or not or how he succeeded I still don’t know because I haven’t read the book yet. But more on that later.
Meanwhile down at Michael’s on West 55th between Fifth and Sixth, Karl Wellner Hilary and Wilbur Ross and Lauren and John Veronis hosted a party to celebrate the publications of “Thank You Power; Making the Science of Gratitude Work For You” written by Mr. Wellner’s wife, Deborah Norville. Ever heard of her?
I missed the party for reasons I’ll go into shortly, but I am sure they had a good turnout, for the Wellner-Norvilles, the Veronises and Rosses know everybody and have a lot of friends. As it happens, I know this author too, and even more specifically, I am personally featured within, as an example of what the book is about. No, it is not about me. It’s about the the enhancement of gratitude in our daily lives.
I got involved with Deborah’s project quite accidentally through a conversation she and I had at Joan Rivers’ dinner table one night about a year ago. She told me she was writing a book on Gratitude. I wss intrigued because I’m not aware of a book on the subject and it is a subject that runs through my consciousness, especially when something is troubling me to the point where I’m having a hard time dealing. I happened to tell her of a personal experience related to the application of Gratitude. She asked if she could use it. I agreed. But again, more on this later.
Last night I was otherwise preoccupied from very early in the evening with the 4th annual Fete de Swifty up on Lexington and 73rd Street, an event that I’ve been involved in since the get-go when Liz Smith proposed it to a group of us a few years ago. This year was the biggest party (held in a tent) so far, with more than 800 attending and more than $750,000 raised for the Mayor’s Fund. The Honorary Chairs include Nicole Kidman who gives a major donation each year. Mayor Bloomberg made an appearance and unlike years before where he spoke about the project and then dashed off to another event. There was a group picture taken with the mayor of those of us who are part of the committee. Sarah, the duchess of York was also present, not quite sure why, but it seemed as if the mayor was going to make good use of her goodwill.
This time he arrived about 7:30 quarter-to-eight and when I left at ten to nine he was still moving on his way out. It was that way for a lot of people, a very eclectic and goodlooking group. A fun party. It was a real photo-op and both JH and I were busy throughout the evening, with the bulk of the collection on tomorrow’s NYSD. |
