monadnock

Film still from Week-end at the Waldorf, 1945 (USA).  There is a scene in the first season of Mad Men where Pete Campbell is reluctantly checking out a new apartment in Manhattan at the insistence of his wife, afraid that his account executive salary is in no way going to cover the expense of the purchase.  But in the final shot of the episode the camera swings to the window to show a magnificent view, all of the lights of the city twinkling away, and I found myself shouting at the screen: "Just do it!  Do it!  Sell your firstborn if you have to!"  That's the effect NYC has on me, where the idea of watching cocktail hour approach from a balcony at the Waldorf-Astoria makes me feel all tingly inside.  I'm already scheming a trip to the city this spring, and since I can't afford a room in the hotel I'll happily settle for a shmancy beverage in their terrace bar.  It'll be swellegent.