What I'm Reading Now -- Young Men and Fire

A long while back, I heard something the Mann Gulch fire.  I can't even remember what it was -- some news story of bit of a podcast or something.  It was probably inspired by one of the summer wildfires of recent years.

In any case, the news/podcast was was interesting enough that it led me to purchase Young Men and Fire, the Norman MacLean book about the Mann Gulch fire.  That was some time ago now, and it has been sitting on my shelf for a while, unread. 

I have done a bit of recreational reading about the fire.  There's a site with pretty decent images here.

I'll report back on the book once I've finished it.  Hopefully it'll go faster than Franny and Zooey -- so far, so good!

Franny and Zooey -- Take 2

I finally finished Franny and Zooey, five months on.  (That means I'm reading, on average, at the blistering pace of 40 pages per month.  Whoosh!)

And probably the reason it was such slow going is that I didn't like it at all!  I got through the Franny portion quickly, but holy cow, I just wanted to punch Zooey in the face!  What a snot-nosed, naval-gazing, uselessly intellectual brat!

So, that's how I felt about that.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Goal #52

Goal #52: enjoy the rest of the year.

Because why not?

Recap of goal #51: done and done.

Random Links -- The Dogs Edition

The incredible dog shrinking machine.

42 reasons dogs are better than cats (really just funny dog videos).

Crowdfunding to the rescue, v. 1.0, Sweden.

Crowdfunding to the rescue v. 2.0, Thailand.

I don't know if this is real or fake.  I sort of don't care.  (But of course it's French.)

Dog gets himself a Christmas present.  (This is an old one, but timely.)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is Coming!

I am the first to admit that my pre-Christmas celebrations have been somewhat less extravagant this year than in previous years.  I've been sick, I've been busy at work, and I'm going out of town for the holiday proper, so I'm mostly just pleased I've been able to get anything done at all!

First, the most atrocious of all transgressions: I've lost my Love Actually DVD.  "How is such a thing possible?!" you might inquire.  I have no idea.  But I have.  I'll get one at an after-Christmas fire sale.  Although honestly, I'm not sure how much that matters, because I also haven't watched my other holiday classic yet,  Little Women.


I did manage to squeeze in a viewing of It's A Wonderful Life (instead of packing), so that helped get me in the mood.  [Aside: for a weirdly interesting legal history of the copyright woes of the Jimmy Stewart classic (which woes are related to another Jimmy Stewart classic), check out the video here.]

T and I went to SLSO's Christmas concert at Powell Symphony Hall on Saturday though, and that was fun as always.  I loved the sing-along portion, as usual.  This year, there were a number of movie additions: a medley from the Tom Hanks Polar Express, the Christmas Eve finale from It's a Wonderful Life (sheesh, that movie is everywhere), "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" from Meet Me in St. Louis, and T's favorite by far, "Let It Go" from Frozen.  The kids loved that one too.

I've finished all my cookie making, and even made some peppermint fudge as well!

Campbell House Museum

There are endless stories about how terrible Groupon and Living Social are terrible for businesses, especially small ones and ones that don't have a big profit margin they can cut.  There's some consumer responsibility required in using these coupons properly, but I won't get on that soap box right now.

What I will say is that where I think these sites are worth their weight in gold is in discovering new things which might be right in your backyard but somehow escaped your notice.

My most recent such discovery was the Campbell House Museum.  It's a delightful little (okay, 10,000 square foot) single family home planted right in the middle of the city. 

I like things like this.  Remember how, earlier this year, I went to the Pabst Mansion in Milwaukee?  And to Barrington Hall in Atlanta?  In related news, the Busch family estate opened temporarily for tours this summer, but you didn't get to see the inside of the house, just the grounds.  I didn't go, because I'm holding out to see the house too.

Anyway, back to the Campbells.  The family bought the house in 1854, and the last of the children died in the house in 1938.  During the intervening years, the city grew up around them, but they held fast in their refuge of Victorianism.  Hugh Campbell was the son primarily responsible for the maintenance of the home and preservation of its contents after Robert and Virginia died.  He also cared for his "peculiar" (probably schizophrenic) brother Hazlett until Hugh's death in 1930.  Hazlett was then tended to by a servant around the clock and received medical care paid for out of the Campbell estate.

Around 90% of the contents of the home are original to the Campbell family, and the stories behind some of the pieces are fascinating.  So fascinating, in fact, that I went to the museum twice in two weeks!  The first time, I went with T.  We were the only two on our tour, which took about an hour and a half.  Our tour guide gave us all sorts of interesting tidbits of information.  The following weekend, I went back with G&G.  We had a different tour guide, but another long and fact-filled tour.  Different tour guide, different information, but just as interesting.

I'm just sad that I didn't know about CHM sooner -- I missed the opportunity to drink out of President Grant's cup!  Maybe next summer.

And, as I have told many of you already, I am now a member and will be dragging you all there when you come visit.  So come visit!

Goal #51

Goal #51: buy the last of the Christmas gifts.

What?  It's not too late for that, is it?

Recap of goal #50: Christmas cards are not finished, so some of your cards might be late. Oops!  I did get a large number written over the weekend, just not all of them.

Clifford the Sad Red Dog

If I told you that Norman Bridwell died, you might have no idea who I'm talking about.  But if I said that Clifford the Big Red Dog lost his owner, you'd probably know.

I don't know why I liked the Clifford books so much as a kid, except possibly that I was a dog person even when I was six.  It makes me a little bit sad to know that the last of the Clifford books have been written.

A Sign You Might Have Too Much on Your Mind

You leave the house without shoes.

Goal #50

Goal #50: Christmas cards.

I'm taking a break from my "finally get the place in livable condition" series of goals to make Christmas happen, and this week, that means Christmas cards.

Recap of goal #49: I've made two types of Christmas cookies (a double batch of each), and have been busy sharing!  And those are all the cookies I have ingredients for right now, so it's a total success!

Apollo

RIP, Kitten.

Random Links

Long-exposure LED photography.

The boyfriend apologizes.  (I don't care about fantasy football, but a little self-realization is always good.)

You know you've made it when you become a parody.

A bit of seasonal humor.

In case I didn't want to be friends with her before, this face makes me want to be Kate's BFF.

Now that's an obit.

What I Watched -- American Flyers

The second movie from the Bicycling magazine list of biking movies that I watched was American Flyers.

It was written by Steve Tesich, the same guy who wrote Breaking Away (and the screenplay for The World According to Garp); I have to say that, of the two biking movies, I much preferred American Flyers. I'm not even totally sure why.  American Flyers is, to steal a phrase from one of my favorite pop culture commentators, "a great big wad of sentimentality."

There are two brothers, somewhat estranged.  They share a common activity, and I bet you can guess what that is.  Their father has somewhat recently passed away, and they've handled his death, and the implications that it might carry for them, differently.  It all comes to a head when they join forces for one last race against the elder brother's arch rival.

Bottom line: if you're up for that wad of sentimentality, it's great.  If not, it's predictable and boring.  Your call.

Goal #49

Goal #49: start the Christmas cookies!

I love Christmas cookies.  There's really nothing about them that's any more special than regular cookies, except that it seems like Christmas every gives you a pass for making and eating a ton of them. So . . . yay for that!

Recap of goal #48: CDs did not get finished.  I had a busy week - which included getting up some Christmas lights!

What I Watched -- Breaking Away

T and I both independently signed up for Bicycling magazine recently.  (That is something we probably should have coordinated a little bit better.)  In any case, the first issue I got had a list of reader-voted best cycling movies.  The first one I got around to seeing was Breaking Away.

Released in 1979, Breaking Away tells the story of an Indiana kid obsessed with an Italian cycling team.  He and his three high school friends are trying to find their place in a go-nowhere town when Dave discovers that his Italian idols will be nearby for a race.  When he meets them, everything does not go as Dave hoped.

I have a hard time believing this movie won the Oscar for best screenplay (1979).  It's not bad, it's just not remarkable.  Today it might be produced as an after-school special.

I did very much enjoy the biking though.  There's a good race at the end, the famous Little 500, and I'm reminded how awesome it would be to be able to ride a bike everywhere in town.  And it does feel oddly . . . "classic" is overstating it, but maybe important?  I think that's because of the young Dennis Quaid and Daniel Stern who play two of Dave's friends.

Bottom line: I learned some stuff about the "Little Five," but I'm not likely to watch it again.

Quote of the Day

"There are few occasions on which champagne is not a good thing to be opening."
-- Ray Isle, Executive Wine Editor, Food & Wine magazine

What I Watched -- The Dark Valley

SLIFF movie #7 was The Dark Valley (trailer), the second movie of my double feature which began with The Major.  T joined me for this one.

The Dark Valley is set high in the mountains.  It's Austrian.  It's heavy.  There's a lot of snow.  (Have I said something similar before?  Perhaps yesterday?)  It's a classic Western-style revenge tale, transplanted into the an isolated, foreign landscape.

A mysterious and not-very-talkative stranger finds his way to the village and secures lodgings for the winter with a young girl and her widowed mother.  The villagers are fascinated by his fancy new daguerreotype, but we come to learn that the real reason for his visit is not to take pictures. It's to wreak vengeance on the band of nasty brothers who run the town with iron fists.

One brother dies, and it's believed to be an accident.  Another brother dies, and the evil patriarch discovers the stranger's treachery.  A manhunt ensues, culminating in the classic shoot-out.  (I could warn about spoilers, but really, if you've ever seen a western, you already know how this goes.)

The scenery is stunning.  The stranger, Greider (played by Sam Riley), is hard to know.  He rarely smiles but is always impeccably dressed.  There is a lot of silence.  The plot is predictable and slow.  But for some reason, the slowness didn't bother me.  It seemed to fit the movie, like that sense of isolation that accompanies a winter storm.  Not to mention that I love a good shoot-out and the film is pretty to look at in the meantime.

Bottom line: probably the best vigilante justice flick I've seen a few years, but you have to be patient, and you have to like that sort of thing or the blood and gore will put you off.  Even I cringed a few times.

What I Watched -- The Major

SLIFF movie #6 was The Major (trailer), which I saw by accident, and accidentally for free!  Here's what happened: T had sent me some links to films that looked good on one particular night.  T only had time for one, but I planned a double feature: one at 6:40 and one at 9:00.

I got to the Frontenac theater, and discovered what neither of us had noticed when we were looking at the website: the 6:40 show for this particular film was Sunday only.  It was Friday.  No dice.

I considered my other options, including (thanks to T, because this didn't occur to me) the non-SLIFF movies which were showing.  In the end, though, I settled on The Major, which was the other SLIFF film.  So that's how I saw it by accident.

While I was still on the phone with T, I saw a guy approaching some of the people in the ticket line.  I couldn't hear what anyone was saying, but I noticed him.  When I got oThe Major.  I spotted him down the hall, about to throw them in the trash.  I caught him before he did, and offered to buy one from him.  Turns out that he had gotten them for free, so he just gave one to me.  And that's how I saw it for free.
ff the phone and got in line to buy my ticket, I overheard someone say that the mystery man had tickets to

Now, on to the movie itself.  It's Russian.  It's heavy.  There's a lot of snow.  To quote Variety, it has "a very Slavic sense of miserabilism."  True that.

It opens with police major Sergey Sobolev racing to a nearby hospital after receiving a call that his wife is in labor.  He hits and kills a 7-year-old boy.  The boy's mother saw the whole thing.  Sobolev and calls a couple of his cop buddies, including Pasha, to help him clean up the mess he's made.

Sobolev and Pasha get orders from a non-descript higher-up to make the whole situation go away.  The boy's father has other ideas, and things start to spin out of control.

Plot-wise, this is not a ground-breaking movie.  But what was great about it is that the bad guy isn't really the bad guy.  Sure, he makes the phone call to his buddies, but then he has second thoughts.  You see him struggle with wanting to do the right thing, but knowing now that it's not only his career that is on the line if he comes clean.

Bottom line: calling it enjoyable isn't right.  But it's worth watching: a deep, dark movie for a dark, snowy night.

(In case anyone is wondering, the movie I had originally planned to see was Human Capital.)

Goal #48

Goal #48: finish the CD sorting.

I got most of the way through the CD sorting prior to the holiday.  I have about 50 CDs left to pick through, I would guess.  Options: keep, upload all, upload some, discard, some combination thereof.  I should be able to handle this.

Recap of goal #37: success!  Chips and queso, ancho sweet potatoes, jalapeno corn, chicken enchiladas, sangria, caramel rolls, three flavors of ice cream, Mexican hot chocolate.  I may be forgetting some things, but that's most of it.  Many thanks to my sous chef, K!

What I Watched -- Muscle Shoals

On P's recommendation, I picked up a music industry documentary called Muscle Shoals (trailer).  I am a music lover, but not a devotee of music history.  Regardless, the film is fascinating. 

It is a chronological profile of the development of the recording industry in the nowhere town of Muscle Shoals, Alabama.  The funny thing is that, despite spending nearly two hours investigating the mystery of the magic, no one seems to know the answer.  I certainly don't have it.  But there was something about the musicians, the town, the time -- it just worked.

It all started with Rick Hall, who opened the first recording studio.  Rick was just a kid then, and so were his musicians, a mish-mash of local boys called The Swampers.  They recorded Percy Sledge, Wilson Pickett, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Clarence Carter -- some of the greats.  And he recorded all that soul with a white studio band.  In the 1960s.

Eventually, though, his studio band left him to open their own studio, where they did just fine, recording Alabama, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman Brothers, Jimmy Cliff, Steve Winwood, Bob Seger, Paul Simon.

The Stones, Rod Stewart, Joe Cocker, Willy Nelson, Carlos Santana, Dire Straits, Jimmy Buffett, all the way up through Alicia Keys (yes, still with some of the same studio musicians).  And those amazing musicians are just a tiny percentage of the total, but I got tired of keeping track.

Bottom line: a fascinating little bit of history I didn't know, and lots of great music.

"Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers, and they've been known to pick a song or two...."
 -- Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Sweet Home Alabama"

Random Links

Who wants a pet lamb?

Usually it goes better than this.

Cause of death? Beer flood.

Turns out Paul McCartney wrote some good stuff.

The Washington Post's exposé on St. Louis County's municipal revenue generation.

My current favorite British actor, acting like other people.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What I Watched -- Miele

SLIFF movie #5 was an Italian import called Honey (Miele) (trailer).  The title character's real name is Irene, but she goes by Honey for work.  And her quite illegal work is providing veterinary-strength barbituates to people suffering from a terminal illnesses.

Things begin to change for Honey when she finds out that one of her recent clients wasn't sick after all.

The movie is a refreshing, not-too-preachy look at the issues surrounding euthanasia.  It's critical, but not judgmental.  It's understanding, perhaps because it considers not only the toll of the illness on the patient, but also the toll of the job on Honey.

Bottom line: dark subject matter, but I really enjoyed it.

What I Watched -- The Frontier

SLIFF movie #4: The Frontier (trailer).

I did not love this movie.  I liked a lot about it.  I liked the actors.  I liked the ambiguity in the relationships.  I liked the music.  But the premise is that a long-gone son returns home at his father's request.  Their relationship is strained at best.  Then they have one 30-second fight and -- SPOILER ALERT -- everything after that is hunky-dory.  Almost.

That's not how things work.

Bottom line: skip it.  Maybe get the soundtrack.

What I Watched -- Animated Shorts

SLIFF movie #3 was really a dozen different movies -- the animated shorts!  (Not to be confused with animated pants, which are a totally different thing.)

Le Gouffre (trailer): two friends on a hiking trip run up against a seemingly uncrossable valley.  Their determination to get to the other side inspires the nearby townspeople, and they return the favor.  Verdict: loved it.

The Ledge End of Phil (trailer): a lonely cubicle dweller accidentally locks himself out on the window ledge of his office building.  Verdict: okay.

Canuck Black (trailer): this film uses an interesting combination of animation styles to tell the story of a bear cub who was adopted by a hunter.  When the hunter turns up dead, the bear is questioned by the police.  Verdict: dark and messed up, so of course I liked it.

Deep End (Bill Plympton site): this sketch celebrating topless girls sets a hilarious Bill Plympton song to film.  Verdict: quite amusing.

But Milk is Important (trailer): a wacky stop-motion animation about a recluse and his uninvited imaginary friend.  Verdict: some funny bits, but not a favorite.

Holding Brother's Hand, or How the Jelly Explodes (trailer): the sort of cute but also weird story of two brothers fighting and sticking up for one another.  Verdict: just okay.

The Centipede and the Toad: a graceful centipede and a cranky old toad cannot seem to come to terms.  Verdict: I didn't get it.

Dwarf Giant (trailer): a young Inuit trying to catch a bird gets more than she bargained for.  Verdict: okay.

Oh Willy... (trailer): very interesting cloth animation tells the very strange story of a man who returns to his nudist colony roots.  Verdict: um, what?  I'm confused and a little repulsed.

Imposteur (trailer): a man and a deer switch identities.  Verdict: another one I didn't understand.  (Maybe I was getting tired?  It was late, after all.)

Last Resort (trailer): two sisters are left in charge of the family resort and have to face their worst enemy, the four-year-old littlest sister.  Verdict: amusing.

Rabbit and Deer (trailer): another dual-animation-style film, this time about friendship's ability to endure change.  Verdict: loved it.

So we started and ended on a high note, with some questionable choices in the middle.  There was one film that wasn't shown, Somewhere Down the Line (trailer).  If you happen to see that one anywhere, let me know how it is.

Goal #47

Goal #47: cook a good meal.

As I mentioned, people are coming over on Friday.  It's less pressure than having to do a traditional Thanksgiving meal, but still.

Recap of goal #46: huge progress this weekend!  It's still not 100%, but enormous improvement.  (Which is not to say some stuff didn't just get jammed into my storage locker, but still....)

What I Watched -- The Homestretch

SLIFF movie #2 was The Homestretch (trailer), a documentary about three homeless teenagers in Chicago trying to finish high school.

The three kids are Roque, the undocumented son of an undocumented immigrant, Kasey, who was thrown out by her family for being a lesbian, and Anthony, a refugee from the foster care system trying to make it on his own.

Each kid's status as "homeless" is different.  Roque was taken in by a big-hearted teacher who noticed his plight.  He lives with her through his last year of high school and into college.  He still does. Kasey got a plumb spot in a great homeless shelter, but it doesn't last.  Anthony finds himself at the same shelter as Kasey, and is able to move from there into a small apartment.

The kids get some support from their schools in the form of bus passes, school supplies, and a "homeless coordinator" (it's that big of a problem) to keep an eye on them.  The kids get little to no support from their own families, and varying amounts of support from adults they meet along the way.  It's up to them whether to take the help that's offered or not, but it's not as easy as it sounds to accept.  They have a lot of baggage.

The screening of the film was followed by a Q&A with one of the filmmakers and the Homeless Coordinator for St. Louis Public Schools.  (Yes, we have one too.  SLPS has one homeless coordinator for the entire school system, despite having a higher percentage of students who are considered "homeless" than Chicago does.  But the Chicago schools were doing such a bad job taking care of their students that they were sued, and now have to have someone in each school building as a contact for the homeless kids.)

Bottom line: eye-opening, sad, but more hopeful than you might think.

What I Watched -- The Grand Budapest Hotel

I was killing some time one night last week at T's apartment, and he humored me by letting me watch The Grand Budapest Hotel.

I am not such a die-hard Wes Anderson fan that I went back and watched everything in his canon once I discovered him.  (I'm not a die hard fan in that vein of many things, particularly not having to do with films.  Who has the time?)  But I do like his stuff, so I try to see it when it comes out.  My introduction was to The Royal Tenenbaums, which I like more each time I see it.  I tried to watch Life Aquatic, but fell asleep.  Since then I've added Moonrise Kingdom and now Grand Budapest to the collection. I would like to see The Darjeeling Limited, but I just haven't gotten around to it.

Anyway, The Grand Budapest Hotel was all the things I love about Wes Anderson.  The cinematography was weird and interesting.  The colors were super saturated.  The actors were half a beat off. 

Bottom line: quirky and great.

What I Watched -- The Sum Total of Our Memory

It's SLIFF time again!  I took a break in the middle of the work day to go see my first film, a documentary called The Sum Total of Our Memory: Facing Alzheimer's Together.  The film profiles three couples, where one of the partners in each couple has received an Alzheimer's diagnosis.  Alzheimer's is just one of a handful of different types of dementia, but often the presentation of the different types of dementia is similar: first memory starts to go, then visual-spatial abilities fade (this is usually when people stop driving, or should stop driving), then analytic abilities weaken.

There were a few things about this film that struck me.  The first was that all three of the couples profiled appeared to be fairly affluent.  I talked to E a little bit about why this probably was.  The biggest risk factor for Alzheimer's is aging.  Affluence positively correlates with longer life span, for a number of reasons, including better nutrition and better health care.  That obviously doesn't mean less affluent people never get Alzheimer's, but it is probably less common, and has less of a chance to develop through all stages of the disease. 

The second was the grace of the caregiver in each couple.  There is a short segment specifically about caregivers towards the end of the film, but throughout it's amazing to see the patience with which the caregivers handle their day-to-day tasks, and how gracefully they've accepted their new role.  (One thing that the movie just mentions in passing is the population of elderly people with Alzheimer's who do not have a family member who is a primary caregiver.)

Though this movie didn't shed any new light on dealing with someone suffering from Alzheimer's, it is always good to be reminded of the importance of an emotional connection and practicing patience (not my strong suit).  Another big topic was the importance to an Alzheimer's sufferer of being useful.  One man, who had always been an animal lover, took a volunteer position with the San Francisco SPCA.  His duties weren't complicated -- just laundry.  But the job gave him somewhere to go every day, and it was still within his abilities.

The title of the film comes from a quote of one of the caregivers.  He wonders to what extent the loss of a person's memory equates to the loss of the person.  His wife, who can no longer remember her own history, has become the designated photographer for the friends in their boat club.  How ironic that she is now responsible for everyone else's memory, when she has virtually none of her own.

Bottom line: as with most SLIFF documentaries, not a happy film.  But always a good reminder.

What I'm Reading Now -- Wolf Hall

I know loads of people who have read Wolf Hall, but it was one of those ones that I just didn't have the fortitude to dive into.  I have it on CD, and since my last book on CD was such a failure, I went in a completely different direction.

My background knowledge is that it's historical fiction, and the first of what I think is a trilogy.

With that minimal background, here I go!

All Blacks v. Eagles

Three weeks ago, something awesome happened.

Are you on the edge of your seat?  (Hint: the answer is in the post title.)

That's right, I saw the New Zealand All Blacks play the USA Eagles.  T and I hopped in the car early on Saturday morning and made the trip on the first really cold weekend of the year.  And what a day to spend out in the fresh (cold!) air at Soldier Field!

We were there in plenty of time to enjoy the tailgate, and managed to catch up with M&M, the friends I was going to visit.  (Ahh, the wonder of cell phones and a good old fashioned jersey on a pole.  Makes it so easy to find people.)

Listen to this small world story: the game was sold out.  That's over 61,000 people.  Some significant percentage of that number were out tailgating in the parking lots around Soldier Field before the game.  Other than the group I was there with, I knew exactly one (1) person who was going to be at the game.  And he was at the tailgate right next to us!

We departed our tailgate about an hour and a half before start time to be sure we had plenty of time to get to the stadium, through the gate, and to our seats.  We undershot that by a lot.  We stood in line forever, and might still be standing there if people hadn't started pushing past the purse-checkers and ticket-takers because no one wanted to miss the Haka!

After having a few beers and standing in line all that time, I was in a bad way.  As soon as we got through the gate, I immediately found and employee and asked where the closest restroom was.  There were a few people who ended up pretty far behind me in line, so I just said that I'd meet them at the seats and dashed up the stairs that the woman had pointed out.

The stairs ended right at the last row of seats one level up.  Lucky for me, as soon as I got there, a Kiwi standing behind the seats saw me looking around.  "You want to see?" he asked.  "Yes!"  He and a buddy each grabbed me by an arm and lifted me right up over the last row of seats and stood me on the chairs so I could see the famous war dance.  For a video of the Soldier Field Haka and some history, click here.

The game was pretty much a slaughter.  74-6 was the final score, but the utter defeat of the Eagles didn't make it not awesome. Even the Eagles agree that it was just an awesome experience.

Just a couple quick pictures, because it's late and I want to go to bed.  And also, it's really something you should see for yourself!

And there was some other stuff in Chicago too, including brunch the next day at Dixie Kitchen in Evanston with J, T, &A.  And of course it was awesome to see M&M!

Random Links

Yes, a funny cat video. With awesome music.

10 hours of walking in New York.  Or, what it's like to be a woman.

The famous wire walker is at it again.

London commemorates the centennial of the closing day of WWI.

Finding your own perfect chocolate chip cookie.

The sounds of space exploration.

Goal #46

Goal #46: pre-Thanksgiving clean-up.

What I'm left with now in my apartment are the last odds and ends of things.  The ones that you really need to deal with, but they don't seem all that important, and you've sort of lost your motivation -- you know the things I mean?  Well, the week of Thanksgiving proper is going to be crazy, so this pre-Thanksgiving week is when I have to do some final cleanup.  And it's a busy week already!

There's a chance all this stuff might just end up in my storage locker.

Recap of goal #45: I have a pretty good idea of what the day-after-Thanksgiving menu is going to be!  But you'll have to come try it if you want to find out!

What I'm Not Reading -- All Gone: A Memoir of My Mother's Dementia, With Refreshments

I've read some books about aging.  Generally I find the topic to be interesting and educational, if somewhat sad.

I love food -- cooking eat, eating it, reading about it.

This book should have worked.  I got partway into chapter 3 before I called it quits.  Maybe I should have given it more time to get rolling, but life is short (reference paragraph 1, herein).  So I'm moving on.

Gold -- Take 2

Imagine my delight to discover that Gold is a novel about bike racing!

It's the story Kate and Zoe, friends and rivals.  They were both invited to an elite development camp, and been training together for thirteen years.  Each race brings their relationship to a head, highlights Kate's motherly instincts and Zoe's cruel manipulation.  They live lives off the track too, but even there, everything is a competition.

They dance this dance for years.  Their lives become ever more intertwined and their friendship balances on a razor's edge until their final contest.

Warning: there is a child with cancer, which can feel a bit like it's too easy of a tool for a writer to use.  But nothing's perfect.

The Man Who Loved China -- Take 2

The Man Who Loved China is one of those stories so fascinating stories that it's hard to believe you haven't heard it yet.

The only real character in the story is Joseph Needham.  He was a quirky Brit (the only other kind being incredibly dull) who fell in love with a Chinese woman, and then with China itself.  Despite that China was not his background, his training, or the reason for his employment, he parleyed his professorship into lifelong employment immersed in the subject he loved most.

I found the narrative a bit repetitive, but the story was so enjoyable that I didn't mind much.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Goal #45

Goal #45: plan the post-Thanksgiving feast, and tidy up the odds and ends as best I can.

I'm having some folks over for a meal on Black Friday, because none of us believe in shopping, apparently.  (And hopefully I'll have my food shopping for that day done before that!)  I think we have a theme, so now I need a menu.

Recap of goal #44: I still have a ways to go, but I made major progress on my CDs this week.  Hooray!

What I Watched -- Hotel Rwanda

In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, I decided it was high time I watch the award-winning Hotel Rwanda.

I don't feel like there's much you can say about a movie about genocide.  It's dark.  It's heavy.  It's stressful.  But it's well done.

Bottom line: worth watching, but be prepared.

Art at the Table

I recently learned about a new thing that they're doing at Panorama, the restaurant at the St. Louis Art Museum called Art at the Table.  My friend M and I attended the "Whiskeys of the World" dinner to see what it was all about.

The main seating area of the restaurant is closed for the evening, although I believe the small tables along the two sides are still reserved for regular guests.  Seating is family style, so M and I were at a table of six.  The other four knew each other, and we got to know a bit about them over the course of the evening.  Two of the courses (1 and 4) were served family style as well.  Introductions to the food were given by chef Ivy Magruder; introductions to the whiskeys were given by a guy from Major Brands.

Course 1: fried oysters, buttermilk marinade, sweet potato puree, Andouille BBQ
Paired with: Tyrconnell Single Malt Irish Whiskey

Course 2: braised pork belly, grilled asparagus, apple mustard, poached egg, togarishi-spiced creamed corn
Paired with: Knob Creek Rye Whiskey

Course 3: grilled filet, smoked Gouda, caramelized onion-porcini gratin, glazed beets, whiskey demi
Paired with: Suntory Hakushu 12-Year Single Malt Whiskey

Course 4: candy plate (pecan pralines, chocolate fudge, peanut butter fudge, bacon fudge)
Paired with: Glen Garioch 12-Year Single Malt Scotch Whiskey and Canadian Club Small Batch Sherry Cask

My favorite whiskeys were the Irish and the Scotch - not the two I expected!  In restaurants, I tend towards the American, but I guess that's why something like this is such a good idea.  What's more, all the food was delicious; I've been back to the restaurant since just for a nibble, and I will go to another Art on the Table event for sure!

What I'm Reading Now -- Gold

I don't know how Gold came to be in my audiobook collection.

Strange though it may sound, this is a relatively common frustration of mine. Here's how it happens: someone recommends a book to me, so I added to my "list" based solely on their recommendation.  But there are problems with these "lists," which is why I'm putting them in quotation marks.

One version of it is an Evernote note to myself.  Another version is a Goodreads list.  A third version is my saved requests at the library (city or county).  A fourth is books I've downloaded into my iTunes.  Fifth is books I've uploaded into my iTunes, usually because Mom sent them to me.

I'm sure there are others, but that's all I can come up with right now.

Whatever form the list takes, though, there is very little in the way of opportunity to note who recommended the book or why I thought I might like it.  So often, I end up diving blindly in with no idea what to expect.

As for this particular book, the reason I need to get it out of my library is because iTunes, when it did its last update, lost the ability to distinguish between the book Gold, by Chris Cleave, and the CD Gold, by Ryan Adams.  I'm not sure what glitchy thing happened that caused that, but it's an easy fix and solves the problem for me of which book to listen to next!

TV Wins the Day

Sorry I haven't been writing; catching up on the new seasons of Mad Men and Downton Abbey has been taking up my evenings!

Goal #44

Goal #44: CDs, take 2.

Recap of goal #43: CDs are all still in boxes.  But I moved the boxes to a different area of my apartment!  Does that count for something?

Happy Halloween!

Random Links

How doctors die.

The dog with the world's strangest allergy.

Chocolate-covered candy corn is a thing.

Possibly the coolest plural in the English language.  (Thanks, E!)

Do you know what a tittle is?  (It's not what you think!)

Marcel makes his return!

Uglies -- Take 2

This is almost as bad as the Twilight series.  But that doesn't mean I don't need brain candy every now and then.

What I Watched -- The Big Kahuna

As he so often does, C came into my office the other day to ask me if I had ever seen whichever movie was currently on TV.  This time, it was The Big Kahuna.  (He knows I like Kevin Spacey.)  I had not.  "I'm leaving for a meeting, but I'll leave it on in my office if you want to watch it."

He left and I forgot about our conversation until I had to go raid the supply room on the other side of the floor about an hour later.  C was still gone; the movie was still playing.  With my pile of post-it notes, pens, and binder clips, I sat down at the table to watch a few minutes.  For those of you who have seen it, the bit I saw was where Larry (Kevin Spacey) is laying into Bob (Peter Facinelli) for talking about Jesus at the sales meeting.

It was intriguing enough that I rented it so I could see the whole thing.  Not much more happens in the entire movie than in the clip I had seen in C's office.  It's a little bit like The Station Agent in that way - the movie is about the characters, not about the plot.  Because there is no plot, just a skeleton on which to hang the dialogue.  Here, there are two seasoned salesmen (Larry and Phil, played by Danny DeVito), and the greenhorn (Bob).  Bob happens to meet the target of this particular sales conference (and discusses Jesus with him).  Larry and Phil wait around for Bob's return after they send him out to see if he can close the deal.

That's it.  That's the whole story.  And even in terms of characters, there are really two scenes of note: one is the dinner conversation between Larry and Phil while Bob is away, and the other is the talk between Phil and Bob upon Bob's return. 

Bottom line: this movie is strange.  Unless you're a big Spacey or DeVito fan, you should probably skip it.  But if you are a fan of either of theirs, it's worth seeing, because it probably wouldn't have worked with anyone else.

Goal #43

Goal #43: CDs.

How many times has picking through my CDs been a goal?  Lots I think.  But over the weekend I took a shelf and radio to my office.  So the CDs are the next logical step, right?

Recap of goal #42: I wasn't so good during the week at getting sleep, but this weekend was much better.  I slept in on Saturday until about 9:30, which was delightful.  Then, after a full day of running around doing errands, I went to sleep around 10:30.  All was well until a car alarm started going off around 2:30 in the morning, and it wasn't until after 3 that I was finally able to get back to sleep.  (See, that's the one downside to not being sleep deprived.  You can't sleep through stuff like car alarms.  Or, you can't get back to sleep immediately.)  On the whole though, I'd call it a success.

Bruce Hornsby

Fact: Bruce Hornsby is a damn good pianist.

I learned this a few nights ago at the Sheldon, where he played a solo concert.  I couldn't find anyone who wanted to go with me, so I snagged a great seat in the first row of the balcony, just left of center, and took myself to the show.

But first things first.  I arrived with enough lead time to check out the very neat, if small, exhibit on architectural drawings: American Buildings: Architectural Drawings from the Collection of Kyrle Boldt III.  I have no idea who Kyrle Boldt is, why he has such a fancy name, or why he has so many nice drawings, but it was kind of him to share them.

Once I saw the entire gallery (that's right, one whole gallery!) of  architectural drawings, it was time to head for the concert.  (Note: if you have a seat in the first row of the balcony at the Sheldon, especially if you're near the center, do not plan on leaving  your seat during the show.  There are no aisles, so you have to get all the way to one side or the other in order to escape!)

There was a Steinway in the center of the stage, and out came the man himself.  He started with "Preacher in the Ring," and the crowd went wild.  Feeding on the energy, he played one of his high-energy songs, "Where's the Bat?"  He followed with his solo version of the Don Henley classic, "The End of the Innocence." As it turns out, it's not a Don Henley song.  It's a Bruce Hornsby song.  Who knew?

There was lots of talking between songs, very casual and easy.  And riffing on the piano between phrases too.  At one point, Bruce started tapping out "Friend of the Devil," but forgot the words and just went back to talking, probably about his years with the Grateful Dead.

He played a number of requests, including "Sugaree" (another Dead number), "Lost in the Snow," and "Pastures of Plenty."  Bruce started chatting again, and mentioned, "my old friend, the
Cincinnati Bengal," and someone in the audience shouted out, "Mike Reid!"  Sure enough, he was introducing the Bonnie Raitt song "I Can't Make You Love Me," which Bruce played piano on when she recorded it.  A couple of songs later, another reinvented classic showed its face, this time his own: "Mandolin Rain."

There was a lot more talking, jamming, humming along while he played, just generally having a good time.  The concert ended (supposedly) with a piece called "La Grive Musicienne," inspired by Olivier Messiaen's classical pieces inspired by bird songs.  He stood to leave the stage and got a standing ovation.  He smiled, bowed, got about halfway through the door to leave the stage, and changed his mind.  "Normally we do this dance where I leave the stage, but we're just not gonna mess with that.  More music?"  We got a three- or four-song encore, including "The Valley Road."

I didn't realize how many other great musicians Bruce Hornsby has played with.  I mentioned Bonnie Raitt, the Grateful Dead, and Don Henley.  But there was also Ornette Coleman, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Robbie Robertson, Phil Lesh (independent of the Dead), and loads of others.

In a nutshell, it was a great show!  (But I'm not going to link all those songs and other bands, because it would take forever.)

The Song I'm Loving Today

Song for Zula (Phosphorescent)

I first heard a snippet of this song on my favorite pop culture podcast, Pop Culture Happy Hour.  My first several dozen listens were to the studio version (linked above), which may still be my favorite.  However, the live version from Pitchfork Music Festival (linked here, with a video below) is also wickedly good.  There's a radio show version here, although I'm not as impressed with it.  I do like that you can see the many, many musicians, but the song loses the slightly haunting quality that the studio version has.

And beware, this song is not a happy one.  It's not sad, exactly; melancholy is probably the best word I can come up with for it.



Some say love is a burning thing,
Say it makes a fiery ring.
Oh but I know love as a fading thing
Just as fickle as a feather in a stream.

See honey, I saw love,
You see, it came to me.
It put its face up to my face so I could see.
Yeah, then I saw love disfigure me
Into something I'm not recognizing.

You see, the cage it called,
I said, "come on in."
I will not open myself up this way again.
Nor lay my face to the soil, nor my teeth to the sand.
I will not lay like this for days now upon end.

You will not see me fall,
Nor see me struggle to stand,
To be acknowledged by some touch from his gnarled hands.
You see, the cage it called,
I said, "come on in."
I will not open myself up this way again.

You see the moon is bright
In that treetop night.
I see the shadows that we cast in the cold, clean light.
My feet are gold, and my heart is white,
And we race out on the desert plains all night.
See honey, I am not some broken thing.
I do not lay here in the dark waiting for thee.
No my heart is wild and my feet are bright,
And I am racing out on the desert plains all night.

So some say love
They say it's a burning thing,
They say it's makes some fiery ring.
Oh but I know love as a caging thing,
Just a killer come to call from some awful dream.
Oh, now you folks, you come to see,
You just stand there in the glass looking at me.
But my heart is wild and my bones are steam,
I could kill you with my bare hands if I was free.

What I Watched -- LA Confidential

I finally got around to seeing LA Confidential.  For a long time, I thought I had seen it.  I'm not sure what movie I was thinking of, but it wasn't this one.

I've mentioned before how much I like Kevin Spacey in House of Cards.  Really though, I think what it comes down to is just that I like Kevin Spacey.  He's so good!  In everything!  The Usual Suspects, anyone?  American Beauty.  Se7en.  I just saw about 10 minutes of The Big Kahuna on TV the other day, and he looked pretty good in that too.

And he's good in this.  As is the whole cast, really: Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, Kim Basinger, David Strathairn, Danny DeVito, James Cromwell.  Aside from Kim Basinger and Danny DeVito, all those other actors play cops in LA in the 1950s.  Each has his own style of law enforcement, but strange bedfollows are created when corruption surfaces.  As the investigation continues, things get ever more dangerous.

I don't want to say more, lest I spoil anything!

Bottom line: a must see, but a dark one.

What I'm Reading Now -- The Man Who Loved China

One lovely side benefit of all this work I've been doing around the house is that it gives me lots of time to listen to my books on CD.  (Have you noticed there have been tons of book posts lately?  That's why.)

The Man Who Loved China is another one that Mom sent me.  I daresay that I know nothing about it, although I will take a stab in the dark and assume it is a biography of a man with an unusual affinity for all things Chinese.  I'm not a betting person, but that seems like a safe enough one to be worthy of exception.

Goal #42

Goal #42: sleep!

I have a pretty busy week ahead of me this week, so I'm going to take a break from the pressure of working on my place and instead just try to make sure I get sleep.  Hopefully I will also make some progress, but it'll be whatever I want it to be.

[Aside: What?!? There are only 10 more weeks in the year?  That can't be right.  Oh, but it is.]

Recap of goal #41: I cannot honestly say that the miscellaneous mess has been cleaned.  I did make progress, though it may not look that way to an outsider.  But it's true!

Random Links

A fascinating article on how lightning strikes affect brain chemistry.

Little Hermione is all grown up.

A few things you might not have known about The Princess Bride.

Technology is going to the birds.

Happy birthday, Internets!

What's your state's best beer?  (Warning: this list seems to heavily favor dark beers.)

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore -- Take 2

I'm not quite sure what all the hype was about with Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore.  Maybe people who read books just liked the idea of a book about a bookstore.  But it was okay at best.

I listened to the audio, and it had the narrative feel of Ready Player One, though it was significantly shorter.  And I admit that I did find it more interesting in than RPO in that it was about books rather than video games.  Through the middle of Mr. Penumbra, I wanted to keep listening, so that was at least a partial success.

However, I wasn't disappointed by the end of RPO the way I was with this.  I just asked myself, "That was it?" when the last CD ended.  (The fact that I loaded everything only my iPod rather than listening to the actual CDs probably contributed to that element of surprise, because I had no idea how close to the end of the story I was.)  It felt abridged, like someone had hacked off the second half of the story, even though it wasn't and they didn't.  Skip it.

What I'm Reading Now -- Uglies

Uglies is the first in Scott Westerfeld's series of the same name.  It's teen sci-fi/fantasy, yet another dystopian future story where everyone is becomes a Pretty when they turn 16.  Prior to that, they are an Ugly.

Honestly, I'm not really in the mood for this book right now; I'm pretty tired of this genre.  But I ran out of podcasts and finished my other book, so this was all I had left to listen to on the long drive out to Chesterworld and back.  (And c'mon, I needed something for that drive!)

The Mysterious NYC Sailboat

Cyclocross!

As if I needed a new activity to fill my time, right?  Well I finally got the entree I needed to cyclocross, or just cross, for short.  This is something I've been wanting to do for a couple of years, and I kept hearing about this clinic put on by one of the local bike clubs.

Cross is a weird sport, and probably requires more technical skill than most types of biking - bike handling skills are important, but any rider can pick those up with enough practice.  But all the mounting and dismounting and carrying and running takes some instruction or you'll just hurt yourself.

Because of that, I've been checking this group's website regularly, but there was nary a mention of the cross clinic.  Months go by.  Nothing.  More months.  Nothing.  Then, after almost two years of just peddling around on my bike without really knowing what I was doing, the clinic arrives!

It started early on Sunday morning, and it was cold.  But the instructor and assistants did a good job of keeping us all moving, and within an hour or so I was stripping layers (though there were a lot of layers).  The clinic itself covered some basic techniques and what you need to know to get through the course: dismounting, remounting, getting over barriers, proper carry technique both in your hand and on your shoulder, and hairpin turns.  It was so much fun and I seemed to have a decent handle on some of the skills, though there are a couple on which I will have to fight bad habits - I can tell already.

After the clinic there was a race, and folks who took the clinic were invited to attend.  The sun was coming out and it was turning into a nice day, so I decided to hang around for the race.  There was a girl named J who had been there for the clinic.  She looked like a biker, tall and thin.  She was clearly in better shape than me, and she started out ahead of me during the first lap.  But every time we came to an obstacle, I made up ground on her.  So that was my secret.

I hung with her for the first lap and a half, then passed her.  We ended up doing six laps (the lap count is strange - I may get around to explaining that later), and on the last lap, I fell!  It was a completely dry spot, but a hairpin turn that was dry bordering on dusty.  My tires were caked with mud from the wet portions of the track, and I hit that dry dirt just a little too fast.  J gained some serious ground on me, and ended up passing me.

But we had one more obstacle, followed by a huge uphill, and I closed some of the gap.  Lucky for me, J really wasn't paying attention, and didn't push all the way to the finish line, and I passed her with about 10 feet to go.  Whew!

Battlegrounds Mud Run

On a very cold Saturday morning just over a week ago, L and I braved the cold weather and faced down the Battlegrounds Mud Run.  Her firm had put together a team, and thank goodness they let me join!  I've been trying to convince someone to do a mud run with me for some time, but the answer was always no, until now!

And boy did we pick a day!  It was cold and windy, and we went anyway, despite knowing we'd be in water and mud all morning.

Brrr!

Despite the near-freezing temps, we headed out into the muck, and the maze of obstacles which awaited us.

Being in the muck and water wasn't quite so bad as having to get out of it again, and stand there waiting for the rest of the group in the bitter wind.  That was cold.

Once it was all said and done, and I was in dry clothes, I realized that I had had a lot of fun. I might even be crazy enough to do it again!

Goal #41

Goal #41: miscellaneous mess.

In all of my reorganizing and digging through boxes, I've ended up with a lot of little junk all over the place.  It's starting to make me crazy, and this week I should have a fair amount of time at home to deal with it.  So I will!

Recap of goal #40: did I get rid of all the furniture I intended to? No, I did not.  But I did get rid of some of it, so it's a big step in the right direction (and I say "big step" because now I can take big steps in my apartment without fear of running into something!

The Shaved Duck

Uncle P was in town a couple weeks ago, and he too A and me out to dinner at The Shaved Duck, which I've heard so many good things about and have been dying to try!

On the way there, I was pretty sure I had taken a wrong turn.  I was driving the little roads of a South St. Louis residential neighborhood, and not a particularly lovely one, at that.  But sure enough, about 2 corners past where I was sure I had gone wrong, there were the sidewalk tables, and a parking space right in front!

I was just getting out of my car when A pulled up, and we found P sitting inside at the bar.  We headed to our table right away, and I got one of their seasonal beers to wet my whistle.  As I recall, we all got the two meat combo platter for dinner; mine was burnt ends and brisket, with Brussels sprouts as a side.

Straight up delicious!

What I Watched -- Gone Girl

It had been some time since T and I saw a movie.  After much gnashing of teeth, we settled on Gone Girl.  I had already read the book (and, as you might recall, disliked the ending), and T is a fan of movies over books, so it worked for both of us.

This was the perfect role for Ben Affleck as Nick: smarmy, smug, trying to act nice even though you know he's not.  It's exactly how I imagine him in real life (though for Jennifer Garner's sake, I hope it's not true.) Rosamund Pike as Amy was also a good choice.  She's lovely, but in a way that can look downright evil, which she needs for this role.  (And she can do ugly surprisingly well also.)

As with the book, I don't want to say too much about the plot, for fear of spoiling it for anyone who hasn't seen it.

Bottom line: if you liked the book, you'll probably like the movie.  If you didn't, you probably won't.

New York!

Settle in, this is a long one.

A week and a half ago, I readied myself for my latest (and long overdue) trip to NYC.  I was headed up to visit L, and we had planned quite a weekend for ourselves.  And, as per usual for me, it started out with a delayed flight.  Dad: "I will never fly with you."  Honestly, I can't blame him.  But I spent the delay as any good traveler should: at the bar!

Despite my delayed landing, we rose early on Friday morning to head up to Hunter for our zip lining adventures.  We had gone back and forth about whether we would zip line or sky dive; I had been zip lining but not skydiving; L was the other way around.  Eventually, because these misadventures were her idea, we went with zip lining.

So we headed out Friday morning and picked our way through the traffic and arrived at Hunter with about 10 minutes to spare.  We were fitted for our harnesses and helmets, signed away our lives, and hopped on the ski lift which would take us up the hill.

L (hiding in the shadows) and me

The lovely view (and what happens if a zipper doesn't make it all the way to the end of the line)

We had a blast!  The first line was the longest, at over 3,000 feet.  It's a little too bad it's the first one, because you're thinking so hard at all the things the guides told you you had to remember, so you do a little less enjoying of the view than you otherwise might.  Each of the five lines in our tour was a little bit different in setup: some you had to cannonball on the way down to pick up speed, some you wanted to spread out to slow yourself down, one you got to spin around and do whatever you wanted, because the end point was in the middle, so you just slid back down the other side and climbed down a ladder, rather than worrying about slamming into the ending platform.  And on top of it all, it was a stunning day, and being outside was the best place to be.

Although afterwards, L did say we should have gone sky diving.  Next time!

We made it back to Jersey City and picked up L's boyfriend J, then headed off to Park and Sixth Gastropub for dinner.  I have known L for a long time, but I had no idea she had such an obsession with fries!  We got an order of garlic fries as an appetizer for the table, and she couldn't keep her hands off the fries that came with J's entree.  For my part, I had the salmon special (a variation of the salmon on the menu) and a Moscow Mule to sate my thirst.  The verdict: tasty and reasonably priced.

The NYC skyline from Jersey City (and a little teeny sailboat that's hard to find even if you know what you're looking for)

Saturday we did the most touristy of all things: went to the top of the Empire State Building.  In all the times that I've been to NYC, and for all the years that L has lived there (and she works just two blocks from the Empire), neither of us have ever been up to the observation decks!  Well we took care of that by taking in the stunning views on a stunning day, with stunningly few lines!

Did you know there are 40 miles of NYPL book stacks underneath Bryant Park?

Each bracket is stamped with identifying letters.  Apparently this one has changed locations.

The lobby

The lobby ceiling, which took I think a month two do originally, and two years to reconstruct later

We didn't really have a plan for the remainder of the afternoon, but we did have an early dinner reservation, so we just started wandering south.  We came to Madison Square Park, which was hosting Mad. Sq. Eats.  We both got deliciously refreshing drinks and kept wandering . . . until we found more food, in the form of the Union Square Greenmarket!  I got another refreshing drink (all that walking will make a gal thirsty), and L got a tasty chocolate bergamot muffin.  We found a shady bench and watched the people go by until we felt like wandering some more.

Root vegetables at the greenmarket

And boy, we were unprepared for what we found in Washington Square Park.  There was a guy set up with a piano, but we walked past as we entered because he wasn't playing.  But then he started Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, and how can you not listen to that?  We turned back to find a spot on a bench, and wandered down a side walkway.  Oddly, in the middle of the afternoon, there was a rat in the middle of the walkway.

We sat and looked, and it became clear that the rat was sick or injured.  Its breathing was very shallow, and flies were swarming all around.  It had a bloody foot.  We weren't there more than 30 seconds, trying to figure out what to do, when my new girl crush came by.

She was dressed like she was straight out of the 50's: a navy romper with white polka dots, wedge espadrilles, a curly bob, bright red lipstick, and a structured handbag.  She saw the rat, put her purse on the ground nearby and started digging through it.  Then she went over to the nearest trash can looking for something.  Whatever she was looking for, she didn't find.

"Does anyone have a plastic bag?"  One guy was out walking his dog, but the - ahem - doggie bags were too thin for her purposes.  Another guy happened to have a couple of plastic grocery bags, but he held them hostage until she answered his questions:

"What do you want them for?"
"I'm going to break his neck."
"You're what?"
"He's suffering, and he's going to die.  I'm going to put him out of his misery."
"How do you know what to do?"
"I work in a lab with rats, and I've had to do this before when something goes wrong."
"What do you do?"
"I'm a neuroscientist."

Of course she is.  I love her.

Eventually, he gave her the bags, and she did just what she said.  She layered the bags, grabbed the rat, let him stop squirming, got a firm grip, and twisted -- hard.  We were all transfixed.  L shed a few tears.

Needing a change of pace, we decided to have our palms read by the elderly Japanese woman sitting near the arch.  Things I was told about myself:
- I'm stubbornly independent;
- I'm a good communicator (?);
- I'm fated for two chances at love -- both at ages that already passed.

Well.  So much for my neuroscientist.  Or anybody else, for that matter.

Upon the completion of my palm reading / dream crushing, we had to get moving to dinner.  L wanted to go back to a place called Aldea that she had been to once before.  It was an excellent choice, because everything about our meal was spectacular.

We had an early reservation (5:30) because we had an evening engagement, so we were the first customers when they opened.  But they were ready for us, warm bread, cold cocktails, and all.  Speaking of cocktails, I had the Penny Lane, and it was delightful.

First, we were treated with an amuse bush: a toasted rice cracker with cucumber chutney (mine had yogurt, L's was dairy-free).  For dinner, L and I split the Alaskan king crab appetizer.  It was delicious, with a couple of little candied flowers on top that opened up your sinuses so you could really taste the delicate crab.  My entree was the arroz de pato, and L had the Colorado lamb ribs and braised shoulder.  It was all quite tasty, but the braised shoulder probably won the evening.  We skipped dessert (although I would have loved to try the yogurt and almond cake), but did get little tasters from the kitchen: an egg custard tart for me, and a gluten-free passion fruit jelly for L.  The verdict: worth every penny.

Then, to the ballet!  We hopped the train uptown and disembarked at Lincoln Center, which is a busy place on a Saturday evening!  Our show of choice was the Stravinsky & Balanchine production, and it was a stunner.  I especially loved the Monumentum Pro Gesualdo and the Duo Concertant, the latter of which told an amazing story with lighting.  Prior to the show and during the two intermissions, we explored Koch Hall and took in the view of the rest of Lincoln Center from the balcony.

Metropolitan Opera House

Avery Fischer Hall and the fountain

 Inside Koch Theater

Sunday morning I finally went for the run I promised myself I would take, and it's a good thing I did because then we went to Shopsin's for brunch.  Shopsin's, folks, is unlike anywhere I've ever eaten.

It's hard to find.  It's actually inside the Essex Market hall, way at the south end.  And if you're looking for a restaurant, you're probably overthinking it.  Look for a couple of tables instead.  Plan to wait.  We were the second group in line and waited about 45 minutes.  Remember, they don't seat parties of more than four, so don't even think about inviting all your friends.

That time in line is not wasted, however.  Despite having all that time (less my run to get a cup of coffee) to review the extensive and insane menu, none of us had decided what we wanted to order by the time we were seated.  (J came alone, as did one of my former coachees.)  I ended up getting the #12 Silvercup Breakfast Stack.  I didn't really know what to expect.  Here's what I got: all those things actually come in a giant silver cup, which is plopped down in the middle of the plate.  Even once I had it, I wasn't totally sure how to eat it.  I ate out of the top of the cup for about 1/3 of the volume, then just upended the entire thing onto the plate.  It seemed like a good idea at the time, and frankly still does.

The one waiter who was working the six small tables and three bar stools was the quintessential angry New Yorker, with a black bandana on his head and a Megadeath t-shirt.  Heaven forbid we ask for a clean fork when someone dropped one on the floor, or a refill on the coffee!  The verdict: overpriced, but fun to do on occasion.

And that (as if that weren't enough) was it.  Time to head home.