Back from the wilds of Maine (more on that later), but just wanted to note how something as simple as hearing a good song on your iPod on the way to work can put a positive spin on your day. Blondie got my toes tapping and helped to wake me up this morning -- first with Dreaming, and then, by some fluke of the shuffling gods, with Heart of Glass. The first one put me in a general good mood and the second reminded me of John B. and his personal rendition.
I had the opportunity to eat at Peasant Saturday night -- the wine bar downstairs. Not only did I have good company, interesting conversation, and my favorite dish there (the octopus -- delicious), but I thoroughly enjoyed the music, despite it being a tad too loud for my taste. The Police, Hall & Oates, David Bowie, and my favorite song of the evening, which we heard on our way out -- "The Promise," by When in Rome. That song is tucked into one of my many mix tapes that I made back in high school, and I'm really not even sure I've heard it since, but oddly enough, the lyrics flooded right back. I'm convinced that an inordinate portion of my memory is consumed by eighties song lyrics.
The rest of my weekend was fairly relaxing, and included a trip to Ikea, a welcome back BBQ for Bill, brunch with some of the girls and some quality time on the couch. Ahhh.
I'm getting quite the collection of bridge pictures from my bike rides. Unfortunately, this bike ride was cut short due to rain on Saturday, but Lauren, Tara, Neil and I still managed to make the most of it. My bike is now taking a brief vacation across the river in Williamsburg until I can grab it next weekend (thanks, Lauren!). Saturday night I went to my first show at McCarren Pool -- quite a cool music venue -- to see the Chemical Brothers. Definitely more on the electronic side than I'm used to but I really enjoyed the show overall. I took some video of the crazy light/visual stuff that was going on -- have to figure out how to post it. Still recovering from my brief bout with the plague -- feeling much better but have a bit of a cough still. Due to sickness and general business, I am woefully behind on my Apartment Therapy, but still managed to have a few folks over for dinner on Sunday night (which is going to be a habit, hopefully), buy some flowers, clean out the kitchen "junk" drawer, get rid of a few books, and purge both the clothes on the rods in my closet and some of the shoes. I'll pick a date for my "housewarming" as well -- at this rate it will likely be an early holiday party of some sort. Have a busy week ahead . . .
So this morning I'm lying in bed doing my usual repetitive snooze disorder thing while listening to WNYC. In my fog, I hear a story about rappers Kanye West and 50 Cent, who apparently had some sort of bet going about the sales numbers for their newest releases. During the course of the story, Steve Inskeep referred to "Mr. Cent," and Renée Montagne started cracking up. I think it's the first time in all my years of NPR listening that I've ever heard them do that -- but it made me giggle enough to heave myself out of bed with a smile on my face.
I'm less than a week away from my triathlon, and I actually feel ready, for the most part. Was able to sneak in some good training this weekend, including a brick -- a bike/run back to back -- which wasn't as bad as I thought it might be.
Rob is back from London for a bit so I joined him and Sara for lobster rolls at Pearl on Friday night followed by a bottle of wine and cookies (yes, cookies) at the new 8th Street Wine Cellar, which is destined to become one of my new favorites. Was up bright and early for a trip to the farmer's market on Saturday and went a little crazy there -- brought a beautiful and delicious salad of corn, yellow and red tomatoes, snap peas, scallions, and purple basil to a picnic for Annie and Tara. After that, it was off to the Lovely Miss Katie's birthday celebration, where I saw tons of folks, including Luke, Michelle, and Jim, (I promised them a shout out).
Up the next morning for the aforementioned brick (thanks, Frank!), then a few errands before dinner at Joe's. I'll let him tell you his thoughts on it before I tell you mine. He was kind enough to let me sous-chef a bit -- as you might imagine, I'm generally not so good at just shutting up and taking orders, but I was good this time around.
From The Onion: Brain Sacrifices Survival Instinct to Make Room for Jingle.
Started off the weekend with a farewell party for Teddi, who's moving off to Seattle for 6 months. As much as we all want Teddi to be happy, we selfishly want her to hate Seattle so that she'll come back to NYC. I'm going to put her in touch with Geek and his family, who are living out there and can keep her company and show her around. After that I went to see Neko Case with Doug. I hadn't seen her before and neither of the people who had promised me a CD came through, but despite that, I enjoyed the show (and still would love a CD). Following the show, we went to Cafe Grey for a drink and a snack. We got extravagant and ordered a foie gras crostini, which literally took 45 minutes to come out after we had placed our order. The bartender comped it, which was generous, and really the best way to handle the ridiculous delay. After that, off to Otto for a nightcap with Roopa.
Saturday I spent some time purging papers and whatnot (the continuation of a process of purging paper, clothes, and other crap living in the back of my closets), had a great workout, and then headed to Rob's for raclette (a.k.a. melted cheese-fest). After a major cheese overdose, I slept like a baby. Woke up Sunday to draft a post on Gothamist (only to be trashed by our lovely commenters, who seem to have nothing better to do), then read the paper, threw in a couple of loads of laundry and headed to the gym. Met up with Jenn D. to catch up a bit, then met up with Augie, Lauren, Rob, Sara, and the little one (wearing the hat I knit for him), for dinner at Morandi. Can't say I loved it -- the things I liked the most (fried artichokes, meatballs, gorgonzola crostini) I can get at Gusto (where Chef Jody Williams formerly worked), and it was more expensive than we expected for what we got. I took pictures with my fancy new camera, but haven't loaded up the software on my computer yet, so haven't managed to get them off the camera yet. Finished up the night watching the Oscars with Rob and Sara before heading off to bed.
One of the things I love about the city is the number of people you can pass in any given day who are singing out loud as they go about their day. Really -- you should try counting one day. I think the number has gone up since the advent of the iPod, but I'm firmly convinced that there's something about the streets of New York that make people feel anonymous enough that they feel comfortable singing. And yes, I'm one of those people, so you can count me in your tally.
Things that made me smile yesterday:
- leaving for work without a jacket;
- listening to and singing along to Fidelity by Regina Spektor for the umpteenth time in a row (thanks, Ben!);
- listening to Catch Me Now I'm Falling by the Kinks yet again;
- dinner with Jimmy at Tides (go try the boulliabaise immediately if not sooner);
- a message from my mom telling me that I'm mentioned by name on page 52 of Time Out New York (the only other Vendy Judge mentioned was Mimi Sheraton!);
- watching the premiere of Top Chef 2 right before bed.
Last night, as I was walking home after having dinner with Sara, this song popped into my head. I hadn't thought of it for years, but it is just as poignant and relevant now as it was when I first heard it over 20 years ago (yikes!). Call me cheesy, but I had to choke back tears. Of course when I sang it back at band camp, I substituted "he" for "she."
I want somebody to share
Share the rest of my life
Share my innermost thoughts
Know my intimate details
Someone who'll stand by my side
And give me support
And in return
She'll get my support
She will listen to me
When I want to speak
About the world we live in
And life in general
Though my views may be wrong
They may even be perverted
She'll hear me out
And won't easily be converted
To my way of thinking
In fact she'll often disagree
But at the end of it all
She will understand me
I want somebody who cares
For me passionately
With every thought and
With every breath
Someone who'll help me see things
In a different light
All the things I detest
I will almost like
I don't want to be tied
To anyone's strings
I'm carefully trying to steer clear of
Those things
But when I'm asleep
I want somebody
Who will put their arms around me
And kiss me tenderly
Though things like this
Make me sick
In a case like this
I'll get away with it
(Thank you, Depeche Mode.)
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