(Post) Weekend Report

Wow, I'm sleepy. I don't get it. I was asleep by 10:30 last night, awake at 6:30 this morning, gym for an hour, one cup of coffee for the day--my usual routine. So why am I so tired?


This weekend was full of lovely things.

Friday night I had dinner with friends and then went to Paranoid Social Club at Revolution Hall in Troy for a night of rock. It was great. Those guys are FABulous every single time I see them.

Saturday I went to River Street in Troy to pretend to browse for antiques for a scene piece I'm writing for this week's paper. Saturday night: dinner at this new place called Avenue A (the name of which can only conjure images of Avenue Q for me), where I had some excellent Korean steak. Then to the Egg for a hip-hop dance revue, which rocked as well.

Yesterday I went to Kristie's old house to see her mom and brother-in-law, Steve, and little niece Maeve (whose hair is getting soooo long!), and to pick up a very nice table that was unwanted by them but desperately needed by me for my dining room. That was followed by regular Sunday activities: grocery shopping, cooking for the week, cleaning. And I had a nice afternoon nap with Asa while watching The Labyrinth.

My brother has reported to me today that our landlord came and fixed our garbage disposal, which has been broken for almost a week--a situation that was really bumming me out. So I'm extremely pleased about that.

Off to find some food. . .

Quote of the Day

"Wow, creativity is such a flighty little bastard."

--courtesy Laura Boggs, via her blog.

NOW Conference in Albany

Albany was the place the National Organization for Women decided to celebrate their 40th anniversary--Ani Difranco spoke, and I went down to cover it. Read my little story here. Thanks to Alicia for taking pics.

Sorry I Haven't Posted in a While . . .

"Busy" doesn't even begin to describe my life.


That, and my camera broke.

Best Of

In the middle of Best Of Hell. See you on the other side. Hopefully.

Together Again

Kristie's in town, so she and Kate and I went out for dinner and drinks last night. We discussed, among many other things, marriage (specifically, Kristie's new one, Kate's potential one, and all our parents' crumbled ones). I love those girls.

Goin' Out in Binghamton

I was home this weekend and hung out with Laura and our friend Joe on Saturday night. I swear Laura has the whitest teeth in history. That day, I took Dylan to out to lunch, and then we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean (and loved it!).

Nate and Frank

These two fed me waaay too much wine last night!

Work Work Work

I hate that I have to work today. Hate it! I want to be home making hazelnut rugalach! (I was planning on making it yesterday--I bought ingredients and everything--but found I was without extra-fine granulated sugar, damnit.) Oh well, there is way too much to do to make sure the paper comes out this week to be home today. We have tomorrow off, and I'll be taking my Little Sister to the Fourth of July festivities at the plaza. See you there?

Bitter Single People

You wouldn't believe it by looking at this pic, but we are three bitter single people. Nah, not really. But here Mel and I are posing with Greg, who writes the syndicated column Bitter Single Guy. He was an exhibitor at the AAN conference, and this pic (taken at the gala at the Arkansas Arts Center) just came through from Kim, our production manager.

Multi-Talented? Why, Yes, I Am!

Look! I got a photo credit in another alt-weekly! Read the column that goes along with it (it's by Steve from Exit Weekly about the AAN conference in Little Rock), it was hysterical! It's probably funnier to me because I was there and witnessed practically everything that he wrote about, but I think people who weren't there will find it funny, too, and very well-written.

Tuesdays With Travis

Had dinner in Washington Park with Trav last night. We tried the new vegetarian place on Lark Street, called Peas & Beans, and it was yummy (for you local folk who haven't been there yet, it's right by where Shades of Green used to be). Trav had the veggie falafel and I had organic rice and beans, of which they gave me enough--for $3.50-- for two meals. So we recommend it, if you were curious. Then we went to the M'Land office so I could be a guinea pig for his presentation for the Princeton Review, for whom he'll be instructing an SAT prep course. Good luck Trav, you'll do great!

Pool at the Palais

Admittedly off my game! But still fun.

I Fear . . .

I may have gotten myself into something of a pickle.

Uhh, Yeah!

I'm debating whether or not to tell you men how on point this article really is.

Once in a while, Maxim manages to impress me.

*Note to all you peeps who thought I was crazy for making a big deal out of the guy calling me an hour later: See No. 88.

FUNNY Rotten Scoundrels!

Oh my god, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels could very likely be the funniest thing I've ever seen. And I've seen some funny things in my time. In addition to making the audience hoot and howl, Jonathan Pryce and Norbert Leo Butz (who just won a Tony for his role) kept cracking each other up, which made watching them even funnier. It was absolutely, perfectly hysterical.

And the Darwin exhibit at the Museum of Natural History was great--if you go, allow yourself a LOT of time to make your way through the exhibit. An hour minimum, I'd say. There's a lot of information to absorb and lots to see. Including some giant turtles and iguananas. Which, I now know, are both pretty yummy as dinner.

I added to my book collection this weekend. *Cringe!* I'm so bad. I keep promising myself the madness will stop! I think I'm really going to have to break down and buy another bookcase. This weekend I acquired two T.C. Boyle books and The Ghost of Hannah Mendes by Naomi Ragen (thanks, Gram!!); while in the city we also bought The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, Newjack by Ted Conover, and The Jewish Kitchen by Clarissa Hymen (this one in particular is super, because this book will actually teach me how to make hazelnut rugelach! I can't even tell you how exciting this is).

We had a nice, respectable kosher lunch at Fine & Shapiro in the Upper West Side, and dinner at Ollie's. Yum. Till next time. . .

My New Desktop Background

This is the tube stop at Gloucester Road, where I stayed when I was in London a couple months ago. (Well, not in the tube stop, exactly, you know what I mean. . . ) My friend John (who I met in the Millennium Gloucester with his whole Midwest contingent) sent me this pic just the other day, and I love it. I neglected to take a picture of this artwork myself, so I'm glad to have it. Thanks, John!

Cutie

Jonah, my 20-pound monster of a cat, dreaming of pirouhettes.

It's Thursday. . .

. . . and I've been daydreaming . . . all day long . . .

This weekend I'll be in the city to see a matinee of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (starring Jonathan Pryce!) and to visit one of my favorite places on earth, Zabar's. And to see the Darwin exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. (And the butterflies if I have time--I love the butterflies!)

I'd love to stop by the New York Press office to visit my new friends, but I doubt anyone will be there on a Saturday. I'm just going to have to play hooky from work one day and go down during the week.

First Day of Summer

I am celebrating by sitting glued to my seat on this sunny production day. Thursday would be so much more appropriate, in my world, for the first day of summer.