Tuesday, June 7
Tuesday, January 29
Spread's Spreads / Crumbs's Cupcakes
Labels: food, sweet treats, the village
Monday, January 28
Community Food & Juice
Labels: food, upper west side
Friday, January 25
While I Was Gone by Sue Miller
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That's one of my favorite things about books... how you never really know what's inside until you actually start reading. Take Sue Miller's late-1990s novel about an inexplicably (even to herself) restless middle-aged woman, While I Was Gone. I bought this, used, at a school fair probably six years ago, and only picked it up earlier this month. Now, this is definitely not a masterpiece or anything—the central plot conceit is asking too much of us, I think (and, frankly, lets our heroine off the hook at little too neatly); and for all the time Miller spends on the daughters, they remained vague and largely irrelevant through to the end—but I must say I've made my way through dozens of books I enjoyed far less during the time this has sat there on my shelf, patiently waiting.
Our narrator here is Jo Becker: early 50s, fun, fit and pretty; successful veterinarian; nice house in rural Massachusetts; three basically happy grown-up daughters; a good-looking, decent, loving husband. And yet.... when an old roommate re-enters her life—a man who knew her back in the late 1960s, a time when she learned so much about herself, and probably felt the most free—Jo finds herself obsessing about the events of that nearly-forgotten time, both the very good and the staggeringly ugly. How she deals with this unexpected plunge into the past is sad, liberating, funny, heartbreaking, necessary.
I had never read Sue Miller before—she has a relatively new book out in hardover now, The Senator's Wife—and greatly admired her smart, often subtle observations about relationships, the nature of love, family, identity, freedom, and fantasy, as well as her
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Labels: books
Thursday, January 24
Winter Movies: Part 2
Somewhat surprinsingly for mid January, it's been a very good—if somewhat light—couple of weeks at the movies.
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Labels: movies
Tuesday, January 22
Beard Papa's
Labels: food, sweet treats, upper west side
Monday, January 21
Reggie Watts: Disinformation at the Public Theater
Anyway, I was lucky enough to snag a seat at Watts's almost-one- man-show Disinformation (he was joined by some dancers for what I thought to be the night's weakest moments), directed (and co-written?) by Tommy Smith, playing at the Public Theater as part of their annual Under the Radar Festival. Given the breadth and depth of Watts's concerns, and the energy and spark with which he conveys his many themes, I was surprised that I found the whole thing a bit repetitive, and was much more engaged—and laughed a lot more frequently—during the hour-long show's first half.
Best of all, Watts is a superb human beat box, creating on-the-spot, multi-layered looping rhythms and melodies with a delayer, and then overlaying the mix with often hilarious rap/soul-ified improvised lyrics. My favorite: the insanely intricate, rapid-fire description of his camouflage suit.
Labels: comedy, performance, theater
Friday, January 18
The Ottimo™ Ciao Bella® Ice Cream Sandwich at Eleni's®
Labels: chelsea, food, meatpacking district, sweet treats
Thursday, January 17
Cafe Katja
Labels: food, lower east side
Wednesday, January 16
Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn
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Labels: books
Monday, January 14
La Rural
Labels: food, upper west side
Friday, January 11
Winter Movies: Part 1
Twenty-oh-eight begins with stragglers from aught-seven. Here's the standard quick look...
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Maybe we were just desperate for some on-screen frivolity to close out the "serious season", but Debbie and I both totally enjoyed P.S. I Love You, the Hilary Swank romantic comedy about a woman whose beloved husband sickens, dies, and then speaks to her from the "grave" in a series of letters, delivered posthumously, all directing her to do things that involve having fun, moving on with her life, finding her true self, etc.. No question, the basic plot mechanics were pretty ridiculous, but Swank turns on the charm (to go with her usual guts), the script is sharp, and the supporting cast, especially Lisa Kudrow and Harry Connick, Jr., steal nearly every scene they're in. If you're in the right mood, you can definitely have some fun—and some tears—with this one.
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Labels: movies