Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Tinkering with knives

I was going to blog about Legally Blonde, the musical, which we went and saw last week. In fact last week we had an unusually adult social life, where we went out 3 times without my son. Usually we go out once max, and most times we take him with us. So it was a treat to go out and talk to adults without having to take younger ears/tastes/needs into account.

But I digress.

I was going to talk about Legally Blonde, but I'll report on that later. Instead this article in the NY times prompted me to recall a conversation I've had quite a few times recently.

In the suburbs, or when I grew up.. .(god, the phrases you promised you'd never say) there were/are yards, and garages, and general outdoor messy space, space where a child can tinker. But in apartments, in new york city, there's no real space to make mess. The apartments are too small and too valuable (not on the floor, carpet, sofa!) to allow much freedom in mess making, and so any truly messy projects are not encouraged.

The only place that mess is still expected to occur and cleaning up is relatively easy, is in the kitchen. Not only that, but you have the added benefit of being permitted to play with knives and fire (in the loosest sense of the word) - truly adult experiences.

So it's no surprise to me that my son loves to cook. He's allowed to pour, to add, to sift. He can chop, hold knives longer than his hands, he can stand by the pan (on a small stool) and saute. He can put things in the oven and watch them rise. Cooking is the one mess making, tinkering, experimental, experiential place that is still available to him in the hot house environment of a NY apartment. And not only that, but it's something we do every night (or most nights).

He didn't like to read very much, but cook books, with their glossy photos and interesting words, drew him. So I encouraged him to read, then we would buy the ingredients and the next day, voila, a new taste sensation. Some were more successful than others, but we would discuss why certain recipes appealed and others did not. I even gave in and made Beef Wellington one night (we saw Gordon Ramsay do it on TV. Never do what a TV chef does, they make it look effortless! ) which was a lot of work for a Friday night dinner, but it shows that family meals can be special and can be worth effort (of course, there are are more nights when I just chop bacon and add it to the tomato sauce and penne.)

So that's my ramble for today - the kitchen as the last resort of mess and tinkering, where play leads to a cooked meal. And the added benefit - my son will definitely be able to cook when he grows up.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Flavor of the week

The Flavor of the week is Pistachios.

I'm one of those people who love pistachio icecream, it's an exquisite, tantalizing taste. I eat the nuts themselves, but I don't find much use for them in cooking elsewhere... but then...

I'm trying to eat better and we went to an upmarket french restaurant and there was nothing that appealed so I ordered a salad. And it was one of the best, most flavorful salads I've had in a long time (though when I described it to a friend she said it would more accurately be described as fruit and meat, but they called it a salad and so do I)

It was a combination of watermelon, proscuitto, goats cheese, a bit of lettuce and a smattering of pistachios, but what made it fabulous was the pistachio flavored salad dressing. It was both subtle and blended everything together perfectly. I just couldn't figure out how they infused the dressing with the pistachio flavor. I'm off to google salad dressings, to see if I can make it at home.

Edited to add - I found pistachio oil which I had never heard of and assumed to be very hard to find - well I found it in the first place I looked - Fairways. So I'm off to experiment with salad dressing

Monday, May 21, 2007

Spring Awakening

So last week my husband organized tickets for Duncan Sheik's small concert at this converted Church on the Upper West Side. Duncan Sheik wrote Spring Awakening, a musical that my husband really loved, but I didn't. He loved exactly what didn't work about it for me - which was that it was set in the repressive 1890's in Germany, but the kids would break into rock songs to reveal their inner most thoughts. And I kept thinking, kids who could express themselves like that, wouldn't be as afraid or timid or trapped as they were when they weren't singing. It's incongruity didn't work for me, whereas it was exactly that exploding into song but being so timid to parents and authority figures that worked for him. Well, he loved the music, which I liked but didn't love either.

So I wasn't that excited about the Duncan Sheik concert. But it was actually quite lovely. He sang a few songs from Spring Awakening but mostly sang other stuff, which I didn't know. And he sang some love songs which were so sweet without being mawkish, moving and simple, that I really warmed to him and his style. He was also quite overwhelmed by the response of the audience (about 800 or so? I can never guesstimate crowds properly) and interacted really sweetly with the audience, in what felt to be a genuine manner. So I warmed to him and to his music. We were about the average age of the audience (late 30's, early 40's) There were a few people in their 20's but it wasn't a young audience by any means.

I'll end it with the lyrics from one of the songs he sang, and you'll see what I mean:

Days Go By

I know it's not fashionable
To be this hopeful,
Or laugh away.

I didn't think it was possible
To be this grateful,
Any way.
And I know it's not sensible
To be this passionate,
Everyday.

Days go by.
I catch myself smile
More than you'd ever expect.
It's been a long while
Since it's been okay
To feel this way.

In the volumes of history,
Have you ever seen anything
So pure?
In the wildest mythology,
Were the gods and goddesses ever
So in love?
In your own experience,
Have you ever known tenderness
Like this?

Days go by.
I catch myself smile
More than you'd ever expect.
It's been a long while
Since it's been okay
To feel this way.

These are the most precious of all my days.

Now doesn't that bring a smile to your face? He had quite a few songs like that. Those ones, I liked....

Sunday, May 13, 2007





I read this article in the new york times about Leonard Limoy and his photography. I hope I can get this image uploaded. I loved his site! There was something playful and beautiful and just visual, about these women you never usually see (without lots of coverings).




I remember a few years ago when we went to Barcelona (what a fabulous city it is!) and there was a decent enough beach there and I went with my son but the thing that caught my eye was that there were these groups of grandmothers there, the Spanish grandmotherly type you usually expect to see in black tops and skirts, just sitting at the waters edge, chatting happily and completely comfortable and topless. And I loved them for it. One of the younger men sneered when I told him about it, saying well he wouldn't want to see them. And I looked at him and said, they weren't doing it for you, they were doing it for themselves. That year I bought my first bikini, well ever, I think. And I wore it, thinking of them, and wearing it for myself, and loving the tan it gave me.


I will definitely buy the Nimoy book on the Full Body Project when it comes out!

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Eyes are Burning

Hard to be quirky when your eyes are burning... (sounds like a riff from a midnight oil song - though interestingly itunes doesn't seem to have Beds are Burning available)

It's been a full week since the fire and the apartment still reeks of smoke and my eyes are still burning/watering (though you think the two would cancel each other out) So haven't done many quirky things.

Still working on Taste of Tribeca. It's going to be excellent!

Didn't go out at all because of the eyes thing. Did babysit for a friend and realised it's been a long time since I've been near a baby. I forgot about the whole burping thing. Still he was a very sweet boy perfectly behaved. Did watch lots of TV. I love good television. For me, right now, the best television is up there with film, literature, any other work of art. I was enamoured with the Shakespearen breadth of The Wire. And am finding it hard to stick with the slow, sad ending of the Sopranos. Last week's episode just send chills down my spine. O Christopher, there is no hope for you now...

Re other kinds of TV shows (which can't even fit into the same paragraph as the above) - I'm totally over Grey's Anatomy which is just annoying to me now. Ditto Desperate Housewives (which I haven't watched in ages) and Lost (which lost me in the second series.) I'm hanging in there with Veronica Mars, just. And I'm bored with the 600,000 crime proceedurals out there. I feel the need for a new twist or something to engage me once more.

We did go and see Nixon/Frost last week. Not being American I don't have the same relationship with Nixon that the rest of the audience did. Not being British, I didn't have any relationship with Frost either. But as a portrait of 2 men on the edge of desperation, it was worth seeing. There were many parallels that I could see to Bush - a president holding himself above the law or modifying the law to serve his own purposes. Paranoia and grandiosity. And on the Frost side -when your only success is in breaking someone else, what does that do to you... Ultimately I was glad I went but dissatisfied. It seemed that the damaged life that followed was not sufficient punishment for the damage done to democracy.

And watching this just as I am following what Bush has done to the laws concerning the replacing of US attorneys. Whereas before he could suggest but the state government would have to approve his suggestions, now his suggestions have to go in, unopposed or even explored, for the life of his Presidency. A small flourish of the Patriot Act. And why is that remotely patriotic? He is destroying the checks and balances of democracy and like Nixon, can't see that that is wrong. So I watched the play entangled with my feelings about the present and walked out unsettled. Which is a sign that the theatrical experience worked.

Hopefully will go out more soon!

Monday, May 7, 2007

All Fired Up

We had too much excitiment this weekend. The building next to us had a fire. It started with us smelling smoke, then hearing sirens, then looking down at the street to see everyone there (incl the firemen) looking up at us. So we grabbed our passports and greencards (always have your papers in order!) and put on our shoes, and even remembered to take our computer back ups, and left the building.

The fire had started on the 4th floor next door. We live on the 4th floor. So we had the nerve wracking vision of flames licking awfully close to our windows. It was the worst fire that I had ever seen personally. I kept thinking, we're here, it's just stuff in there, the important things are safe. When we were in crisis I was calm, but afterwards I started to tremble.

The firemen seemed to take forever before the hose got running (apparently they originally started to take the hose to the back of the building, which is where the fire started, but had access pb's, so then had to go to the front of the building which is where all the onlookers were standing) Eventually they broke the windows and plumes of grey smoke rose up into the air, and red flames licked out, turning the brickwork black. Finally the water began to have an impact, and billowing clouds of steam and soot started to rise. The air on the street grew thick and hazy.

Luckily some neighbors invited us into their apartment, so we could stand inside an watch it all. My son was very upset. Eventually we booked a near by hotel room and took him to it, so he could crash. They let us get back into the apartment at around 1.30 am but by then the apartment was far too smoky and awful to sleep in.

The next day we spent cleaning and counting our blessings. The fire didn't jump, the sprinklers didn't go off, there was no real damage that couldn't be washed away (exept for the doors which the firemen broke, but they had only good intentions, so we don't hold it against them!) Note to self, if you are ever in a fire again, don't lock your front door!

On Sunday I did 7 loads of washing, but still the stench of smoke permeates our apartment. My eyes got very swollen and red and weepy. The boys are fine, neither of them reacting at badly as I am.

Today the house is cleaner, though you can still clearly smell the smoke. The builders arrived at the building next door, which was thankfully vacant. Hopefully by the end of this week, things will be back to normal.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

Sometime in early May (hey, at least I know what day it is!)
I lose track of the dates. Luckily the computer reveals all.

Saw a cute website today from an author- Miranda July- promoting her book - No one belongs Here more than You. It makes me want to read her book. Certainly she fits the quirky format and rates a mention!

What did I do today? Not much. The pollen and dust from upstairs are really bothering me. (they're renovating. Removing all the floor boards, which is good because the new floors should be far more insulated and thus quieter but I am suffering in the short term, working from home I'm affected by the noise but even more so by the dust. My eyes are burning. I look like I've been crying.)

But I did do some work on the Taste of Tribeca. This is a wonderful NYC event, which many attendees don't even realize is a fundraiser for 2 public schools. Instead they just think they are eating delicious foods from some of the fanciest restaurants in New York, listening to music and generally having a great time. Come and play - it's worth the time, the food is genuinely terrific (as an 'old timer' - Megu gives fabulous tastes and Bubby's give the largest portions) and the money does go to a great cause, so it's win/win.

The other quirky thing I wanted to mention is Librarything. I get so many books from the library, I lose track of what I have read and what I haven't. So when I found this website, I loved it. You list all the books you've read. You rate them. You collate them. Then you see what people who have read similar books are reading now, and perhaps pick up some good suggestions. You can talk about books in the discussion boards. You can find people who share your passions. There are a disproportionate amount of sci-fi readers there, but that's good for me, as I read lots of it. But type in your book, see how popular it is (ie how many other people have listed it too) see what they thought of it, see what books they recommend, see what books they think are the opposite. If you want, you can spend hours there.

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Saw a good episode of Jon Stewart last night, where he interviewed Christopher Hitchens about his new book - God is Not Great.
Sadly the New York Public Library, that most excellent of resources, doesn't have it right now.

I love nypl. My local library - well I wouldn't get a book out of it if they were giving them away free. It's tiny, disorganized, with borderline hostile staff. (with one notable exception, a very charming and helpful young woman whom I'm always happy to see, but other than her... well grim is not the word!)

However, being part of the far larger new york public library system means that my miserable little branch can access over a million books. Most sci-fi, an amazing amount of romances (though very little to no erotica. I think they judge the books by their covers. If they are too raunchy, they won't buy them. But the more discrete ones are available.) and usually a very wide range of non-fiction. All it takes is a little patience and you can get almost any book you want. (and remarkably, for a much longer wait, you could get pretty much any DVD as well. But you will wait a couple of months, so you have to factor that in.)

So I was sad that God is not Great is not available. I will put it in my amazon basket (can I say that I am a true amazon believer. As someone who reads mostly genre fiction, I get so irritated with book stores. They have the latest release, which may be number 4 of the series, but not the first book which started it all. Or they have the entire Robert Jordan series (all zillion of them) and no Ursula le Guin. I find it increasingly hard to get the books I want and if they're going to order it in, why, then I'll just go straight to Amazon and order it for myself. Which is what I do. But I digress...) I will put God is not Great in my amazon basket and see if it pops up in nypl in a few weeks, as sometimes can happen or then just bite the bullet and buy it.

I'm currently reading Crystal Soldier, courtesy of nypl, and enjoying it, but not in that insanely passionate way I feel about the earlier series (set far in the future, if that's confusing enough for you) I love the Liaden series which is space opera at it's best.

Edited to add that God is not Great has been found at NYPL. There are 45 copies and 234 reserve holds. I put my hold on yesterday (May 22nd) I'll report back when it arrives. All good things come to those who wait :)

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

How we came into being

I was sitting with Friends telling them of the interesting quirky things I was doing. And they told me of the interesting quirky things they were doing. And we decided that a blog listing/linking all our quirky interests as we hang about New York City, would be a good thing. So here we are...

I'll give you the 3 examples that started this conversation off:

1. Dance Dance Party Party is a weekly event that takes place in a dance school near Astor Place. Women only, you basically arrive in your gym gear at 4pm and dance, jump, even skip should the mood take you, in a darkened room lit by one of those daggy disco balls. A fabulous time is had by all. I love to dance, and hate that you can only start at midnight! Starting at 4pm (sans liquor) did seem a bit early to me, and it took me about 15 mins to get into it, but by the time Jump (for your love) came on, I was jumping with the best of them. We were all singing out loud to Gloria (I was surprised at how 80's the music was. Apparently the DJ's - any participant who wants to - makes the Ipod list - and the music varies wildly.)
I was properly exhausted after 1 1/2 hours of full on dancing but my feet didn't ache - because I had been wearing the right shoes!! Will definitely go again.

2. Didn't make it but loved the idea of going to a loft in Tribeca to listen to jazz! Someone kindly forwarded me their email and I'll definitely make it to the next one.

3. Upright Citizen's Brigade for affordable, very funny improv

And that's how we started.

Doing anything interesting and quirky? Tell us, we'll add it to the list. Someone wants to know about this stuff, and how much easier if it is all one page!