And the living is eeeeeeasy.... I never get tired of that song, especially Billie Holiday's version, and it was playing in my head since the start of this 4-day Memorial Day weekend. It's been (almost) all good things in the last week, and with much to do, who wants to sit inside and blog??
Things that made me happy: a "personal day" on Friday after not wanting to come home on Thursday night; driving in the hot summer sun with sunroof open; vodka, lime and sodas; oysters with smart ladies at happy hour; a bolstering, kind, and hassle-free booty call; folks stopping by for cocktails on the veranda; Sunday AM coffee klatsch on the veranda; the gottdamn veranda in general; baseball; hitting Bloomingdale's with a new credit card; the first day of the season and 75th anniversary of Riis Beach; a date with a fella who just dished out the compliments; a birthday party (groaningly turned too lengthy) locals-only night out; the baby pool filled up again at TQH; and M. and I both hitting trifectas on Met Mile day at Belmont, allowing us to come home solid winners.
Although this is the first summer in five that I won't be renting at my beloved Shelter Island, I have rediscovered that summer in the city soothes my spirit, ups the energy, improves my appearance, and quiets the discontent. I'm surely crowing and clanging a bit, but it is nice to be back.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
No Longer Filling in the Blank
Charles Nelson Reilly, star of the brilliant Match Game shows of the 70s has died. Obit says he never hid his homosexuality; but I feel like a total dumbass, like I did when I suddenly realized the Village People were gay when I was about 12. How did I not know this? The pipe and the cravat should have been dead giveaways.
Whatever. He + Brett Somers + a half in the bag Richard Dawson = pure comic genius. And still viewable on The Game Show Network.
Whatever. He + Brett Somers + a half in the bag Richard Dawson = pure comic genius. And still viewable on The Game Show Network.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Open Space
The East River State Park down on Kent btw N 7th and N 9th is finally going to open this weekend. Will be nice to have some green space along the riverfront. Very midwest like. And can't wait for the soccer players to kill all the grass and wildflowers. Now could someone please put in a sand volleyball court??
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Taxis Going Hybrid by 2012
I oddly enough don't have a strong opinion about Mayor Bloomberg one way or the other, but you certainly can't fault him for his measures in taking baby steps toward a healthier, greener city. And smoking friends, I'll admit it: I love smoke-free bars and restaurants. Although the transfat ban is a a little too nosy.
NEW YORK - Every yellow cab in this city will be a fuel-efficient hybrid by 2012, and stricter emissions and gas mileage standards for taxis will be phased in starting next year, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday.
There are now 375 hybrid vehicles among the 13,000 taxis rolling on New York City streets. Under Bloomberg’s plan, that number will increase to 1,000 by October 2008 and will grow by about 20 percent each year until 2012.
The standard yellow cab vehicle, the Ford Crown Victoria, gets 14 miles per gallon. In contrast, the Ford Escape taxis get 36 miles per gallon.
Automakers said hybrids are uniquely well-suited to be taxis. Many of them, like the Ford Escape, run solely on battery power while stopped or at low speeds, so they don’t cough exhaust while navigating through city traffic. At higher speeds, the gas-powered drive system kicks in and the two work together.
NEW YORK - Every yellow cab in this city will be a fuel-efficient hybrid by 2012, and stricter emissions and gas mileage standards for taxis will be phased in starting next year, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday.
There are now 375 hybrid vehicles among the 13,000 taxis rolling on New York City streets. Under Bloomberg’s plan, that number will increase to 1,000 by October 2008 and will grow by about 20 percent each year until 2012.
The standard yellow cab vehicle, the Ford Crown Victoria, gets 14 miles per gallon. In contrast, the Ford Escape taxis get 36 miles per gallon.
Automakers said hybrids are uniquely well-suited to be taxis. Many of them, like the Ford Escape, run solely on battery power while stopped or at low speeds, so they don’t cough exhaust while navigating through city traffic. At higher speeds, the gas-powered drive system kicks in and the two work together.
Selective Memory
Had a most animated conversation last night with my old Ohio chum Texas Liberal, after we had barely spoken over the past 20 years for some asinine reasons that he remembered much more of than I did. I had not a clue, but certainly knew I had been mad. And that it was probably his fault.
Memories are interesting stuff: He did not remember calling me at home in SF in about 1996, or contacting me again right after 9/11 when I was quoted in his now-hometown Houston Chronicle, but clearly remembered me spurning a mutual friend of ours at age 19; I forgot he went to Xavier for 7 years, only hanging out in UC's student center for socializing reasons, and why I stopped speaking to him. Yet I vividly remembered his job running the lottery machine, and his predilection for curly-headed women with large breasts. He married one, in fact.
The NYC streets do this to me on a regular basis. Recently, I've been walking through Washington Square Park regularly for the first time in a couple years after my class twice a week at NYU. My Irish ex-boyfriend used to live on Thompson and Bleeker, and I still associate that area of the West Village with him. With the smell and feel of NYC's almost-summer air, I'm recalling the times we pulled ourselves out of our mutual self-destruction to sit in the park in the late evenings and people watch. I haven't forgotten that that there was a lot of heartache then due to the recent loss of my dad and nearly 2-yrs of back-and-forth with said bf, but the light in the park this May only makes me remember the good, and how crazy we once were about each other.
At any rate, I am told that I am officially back on TL's A-List. Ah yes, the internets, bringing people together.
Memories are interesting stuff: He did not remember calling me at home in SF in about 1996, or contacting me again right after 9/11 when I was quoted in his now-hometown Houston Chronicle, but clearly remembered me spurning a mutual friend of ours at age 19; I forgot he went to Xavier for 7 years, only hanging out in UC's student center for socializing reasons, and why I stopped speaking to him. Yet I vividly remembered his job running the lottery machine, and his predilection for curly-headed women with large breasts. He married one, in fact.
The NYC streets do this to me on a regular basis. Recently, I've been walking through Washington Square Park regularly for the first time in a couple years after my class twice a week at NYU. My Irish ex-boyfriend used to live on Thompson and Bleeker, and I still associate that area of the West Village with him. With the smell and feel of NYC's almost-summer air, I'm recalling the times we pulled ourselves out of our mutual self-destruction to sit in the park in the late evenings and people watch. I haven't forgotten that that there was a lot of heartache then due to the recent loss of my dad and nearly 2-yrs of back-and-forth with said bf, but the light in the park this May only makes me remember the good, and how crazy we once were about each other.
At any rate, I am told that I am officially back on TL's A-List. Ah yes, the internets, bringing people together.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Water Sports
Thus far, 4,740 Brewers fans have pledged to pee their pants if the Brewers make the playoffs for the first time in 24 years.
Wow. Milwaukee is hot in the first quarter of this season, and also a huge a beer town, but I have been stunned into silence. I am clearly not a die hard baseball fan.
Wow. Milwaukee is hot in the first quarter of this season, and also a huge a beer town, but I have been stunned into silence. I am clearly not a die hard baseball fan.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Preakness Preview
Too much going on and not enough sleep to give my own preview, but an excellent wrap up can be found here. I've never been to the Preakness, much less Baltimore, so you won't find me rhapsodizing about the redheaded stepchild of the Triple Crown. I'll leave that to Ope. I surely do need to go to the one Triple Crown race I've never seen. And I say that every year.
Betting a $5 tri box on Street Sense, Curlin, Circular Quay. I will, perhaps foolishly, bet the Pletcher/Velazquez combo for eternity, and I still don't buy Hard Spun.
Betting a $5 tri box on Street Sense, Curlin, Circular Quay. I will, perhaps foolishly, bet the Pletcher/Velazquez combo for eternity, and I still don't buy Hard Spun.
Eatin' Out - Momofuko Ssam Bar
207 Second Ave@13th
The much heralded Ssam Bar was the site for my last overly-indulgent weeknight meal with the soon-to-depart- for-London Lisa (B)H. Since I'm still semi-refusing to mentally acknowledge my dear friend's move next week after 12 years in NYC, I'll move onto the food.
We went in at about 7, and were seated quickly at the bar right in front of the lovely Julie Farias, in her first week at the new job. We shared the pickles (a can't go wrong dish from David Chang), steamed pork belly buns (again, can't miss), grilled veal sweetbreads (yum) and the hanger steak ssam. The steak was cooked perfectly medium rare and god knows I like wrapping any kind of grilled meat in lettuce. All in all, everything was tasty. Really courteous service, too, very friendly and helpful while we tried to figure out how much to order.
That said, I think after reading all the hype about this place, I was expecting truly transcendental, and what we got instead was really good for about $50 each. And that's just fine. I'd go again, but if there was a line, I could skip it without much fuss and go to Dok Suni instead.
The much heralded Ssam Bar was the site for my last overly-indulgent weeknight meal with the soon-to-depart- for-London Lisa (B)H. Since I'm still semi-refusing to mentally acknowledge my dear friend's move next week after 12 years in NYC, I'll move onto the food.
We went in at about 7, and were seated quickly at the bar right in front of the lovely Julie Farias, in her first week at the new job. We shared the pickles (a can't go wrong dish from David Chang), steamed pork belly buns (again, can't miss), grilled veal sweetbreads (yum) and the hanger steak ssam. The steak was cooked perfectly medium rare and god knows I like wrapping any kind of grilled meat in lettuce. All in all, everything was tasty. Really courteous service, too, very friendly and helpful while we tried to figure out how much to order. That said, I think after reading all the hype about this place, I was expecting truly transcendental, and what we got instead was really good for about $50 each. And that's just fine. I'd go again, but if there was a line, I could skip it without much fuss and go to Dok Suni instead.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
The Big Oyster
I'm really enjoying The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell by Mark Kurlansky right now. Full of useless facts that will help me dominate Trivial Pursuit, and old ephemera including maps, recipes, photos, drawings, this title traces the history of New York via the rise and fall of the oyster. The author also explores how NYC began to lost touch with the waterways that surround Manhattan Island, in tandem with the dwindling, poisoned and rapidly depleted oyster population. Did you know that in the 1600's, New York Harbor was estimated to hold HALF of the world's oysters? And that the Lenape Indians, Manhattan's first inhabitants, loved oysters as much as the encroaching Europeans, as evidenced by the giant centuries-old shell piles (called middens) found all over the five boroughs? Damn. What a loss. Imagine being able to buy some fresh ones down the street right now: All you can eat for 6 cents on Canal Street.
On that note, Spike Hill up on Bedford now has a 5-8 Happy Hour special with oysters selling for a buck a piece.
On that note, Spike Hill up on Bedford now has a 5-8 Happy Hour special with oysters selling for a buck a piece.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Happy Daze
Warm weather is here, the garden is planted and growing, softball is back, friends are out and about in full force, my French class at NYU starts tonight, pork banh mi for lunches, Anne arrives tomorrow, and the new veranda was inaugurated on Sunday via sharing a bottle of prosecco with friends at twilight (shoulda busted it over the prow?). Some real living-in-the-moment for a change. Bliss??
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