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29 October 2006
Farmers’ market report:
duck sausages, mizuna, tat soi, apples (Swaar, Spitzenberg, Winesap), a few dry-farmed tomatoes, some kind of tropical fruit
whose name I cannot recall (it’s in the Annona genus, like cherimoya, custard-apples, fruta-do-conde, soursop,
etc., but it is none of those), and chrysanthemums.
Toward the late afternoon on
Saturday, the wind shifted, moist ocean breezes returned, and our Indian Summer ended.
I had an intense dream about
Steve last night. The first in a long time.
I may have a difficult career
decision to make this week. I did not expect that I would ever be so tempted by lucre, but since I have been underpaid for
most of my careers, perhaps it is time to tip the scale in the other direction.
I went to a Hallowe’en
costume party tonight sponsored by all the popular guys at the gym. Lots of familiar faces. Almost all the costumes were butch
(cops, prisoners, construction workers, tradesmen, superheroes, angels (both dark and light). I left early.
26 October 2006
This would have been Steve’s
45th birthday. It’s hard to imagine that I met him almost exactly 16 years ago.
Sometimes I look around in the Castro at the guys who are around his age and wonder what he would have become had he
survived.
And, on a less melancholy note,
guess who got a job offer today? Not his first choice, perhaps, but at least
he won’t be going on welfare six months after finishing trade school.
24 October 2006
It could be worse. At least I
don’t have Morgellon’s disease.
(And yes, I refuse to spell it without the apostrophe.)
22 October 2006
Farmers’ market report:
Rome Beauty apples, pork, turnip greens, Muscat grapes, peppers (pimentos and Italian fryers), fresh walnuts, and bronze lilies.
Next week: chrysanthemums. The walnuts, which were harvested last week, were
delicious, though they have triggered an unappealing cold sore.
It was hot, hot, hot, so I went
to Dolores Park for a bit of sun and shirtless guys. I then bought a new cell
phone. Maybe now I’ll be able to figure out that “text messaging” thing that all the kids are talking about.
It’s that time of year
where I begin to save the Sunday funny pages. I hate spending money on wrapping paper, and I see no need to do so. By xmas,
I will have a nice stack of pretty, colorful paper with which I can wrap all my gifts.
18 October 2006
I’m still here. It has
been a busy week. I’m on call in two classes on Friday. I had an all-afternoon interview today for which I needed to
prep. I edited a long article by a non-native English speaker, and I’ve skipped the gym and grown pudgy. And I had my
first IM "chat." It was so exciting. It was with my one-time Future Canadian Husband in Toronto.
Please keep your fingers crossed
for me on the interview front. I really liked all the people I met at the firm. I think it would be a great fit. Send good
vibes my way.
A friend asked today: if you
could only pick one, would you rather be pretty or have the right to vote? Really, how often to you get to vote? Once a year?
Does it even make a difference? You’d get to be pretty every day.
14 October 2006
Yesterday I made it to Thé Adoré
and had a delicious chocolate croissant and a pot of Assam tea. I’ve gone there almost every time I’ve visited
New York since 1990. I walked over to the Union Square Greenmarket (and got slightly lost because I’ve forgotten the
relative positions of Fifth Avenue and Broadway way down there). Farmers’
market report: apples (Cox’s Orange Pippin, Winesap, and Macoun); a quince; chard ($3 for a tiny bunch); a delicata
squash; and some wood-fire bread.
I took my bags of groceries to
the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art and checked them in the coatcheck. I wanted to see the exhibit of Sikh art (since they are
my people). I got sidetracked on the excellent second-floor exhibit that described
the where, what, who, and why of the art on display. I had a short but surprisingly deep discussion about my meditation practices
with the earnest young guide. He advised me to focus my attention lower in my body to become more grounded. Hmmm.
I then stopped by the new (to
me) mall at the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle
(soulless as expected). Then I bought a nice fat hen at Citarella, came home, at lunch, and headed over to Chelsea to see
the Fred Tomaselli exhibit at the James Cohan Gallery. I met Fred almost twenty years ago, when he was the roommate of a guy
I dated. They lived in a huge warehouse in Greenpoint, back before it was chic.
I walked down the Hudson River
to the meatpacking district; goggled the fancy shops now there; had a bit of apple pie at the Little Pie Company (don’t
bother), and stopped at an Earnest Cut & Sew shop, which was so sham and overpriced and self-consciously hipster that
I nearly stopped breathing. A new landmark in marketing excess. Check out their website. [Warning: the preciousness and bogosity of the prose there may induce such severe eye-rolling that seizures will result
in sensitive readers.]
From there I walked to the Crunch
gym on Lafayette, where I saw several new potential husbands. Golly, is all I can say. Beautiful brown suit, light green tie
(don’t ask, but it worked). buzz-cut hair. And then I saw him in the locker room, changing into red boxer shorts (the
real shorts that boxers wear, not underpants). He had a fantastic body, not too big, great proportions, and more than a few
tattoos of unusual shape and coloration. I like the fact that he looked like he had a nice professional job (the suit) and
yet preserved something more personal underneath. An inspiration. My New York muse.
I made us dinner: a roast chicken,
roast squash, the chard with plenty of garlic, and an apple and quince crisp. We had a nice Sancerre to start and then an
excellent Dry Creek Valley zinfandel (Fritz).
Today: a new cell phone. My
current one barely works any more and I’ve had it for five years. It’s time.
13 October 2006
Howdy from NY. I arrived yesterday
morning on an uncomfortable red-eye. I came for an evening conference that occurred last night. It was much more interesting
and thought-provoking than I had expected.
I hung out with my friend most
of the day. We did little touristical. I did not even leave the Upper West Side until almost 5:30 in the evening. The conference was near Union Square. I still look down 6th and 7th Avenues and expect
to see the World Trade Center.
Today: lots more sightseeing,
the gym, the Union Square Greenmarket for chicken, apples, and some kind of vegetable (I’m making dinner).
I’ve seen lots of potential
husbands. Maybe it’s just vacation BF syndrome, but my mind is much more open to the possibilities here.
What else is on the agenda? Thé
Adoré, Russian tea at Dean & Deluca, a visit to a gallery or two, a nice walk across an autumnal Central Park (although
the trees are still mostly green), the Cimabue exhibit at the Frick, Kitchen Art & Letters (the best cookbook store in
North America), und so weiter.
The only disappointment so far
was being just 20 blocks from him but not being able to meet. Next time.
9 October 2006
Here are a few shots of how I
turned a half-flat of San Marzano tomatoes into sauce last weekend. I’m
not a food stylist. I didn’t tidy anything for the camera. This took about
a half-hour from beginning to end. I have about four quarts of sauce now, frozen for a winter's day.
| San Marzanos meet the knife |
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| Half-way done with the slicing |
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| They've come up to a boil |
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| Peel and seeds remain behind in the food mill |
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| Cooling off on my back porch |
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8 October 2006
It finally got warm again. I
got caught up on my sleep again. Two naps.
Farmers’ market report:
beef, assorted peppers, eggs, a flat of Early Girl tomatoes, Muscat grapes (at last!), Swaar and Spitzenberg apples, and white
lilies. I did not buy much because I’m leaving town in a few days.
I was preparing a frugal and
monastic supper (meatloaf) for myself on Saturday evening after the gym when a friend called. I invited him over, put a bottle
of Sancerre in the fridge, made some cornbread, and stewed the peppers (garlic, plenty of olive oil, a few chopped raisins,
salt, and lots of pounded coriander seed). We had Muscat grapes for dessert.
Today: somehow the day disappeared.
I spent the whole day by myself until about 4 p.m. I had no conversations with anyone until I made it to the bike store (new
rear light). I tried to buy a phone chez Sprint, but no luck. The store was out
of the model I want (Samsung A400M).
I had a great back workout at
the gym. Came home and went to see Shortbus. It’s not a great film, but it's a good one. The cast is very easy on
the eyes. It left me feeling very optimistic. We’ll be OK as long as there
are enough freaks to carry on. Check it out.
6 October 2006
It's a full moon. Crazy driving in my neighborhood last night killed a
bicyclist. The bike itself was dragged several blocks under the car. The police spent a long time tracing its
path to make sure no body parts lingered on the streets. Be careful out there.
3 October 2006
Did you remember to pay the rent?
Insomnia again. It makes for
long days and short nights.
I had an interview today. Keep
your fingers crossed for me.
On the way home from school,
at about 7:30, I walked by the Opera. Well, I walked in to the Opera and up to the box office. I bought a student ticket.
(Why not? I had a suit on; my huge, ugly backpack was at home; I’m not
going to be a student much longer; and I have to take advantage of living only three blocks from the Opera.) I lucked out.
I sat nearly in the dead center of the orchestra (but not under the scary spiked chandelier).
It was Rigoletto, which I had never attended before. A much better choice than tax homework.
1 October 2006
OMG. Another month has gone by.
Farmers’ market report:
more assorted peppers and squash, Comice pears, Spitzenberg apples, a flat of San Marzano tomatoes, assorted plums, and a
bunch of bronze sunflowers.
I went to the Scissor Sisters
concert last night. It was fun but not fabulous. I just did not feel the love. It was a full house and a cute house. I saw a few potential muses.
I turned the tomatoes into sauce
today.
The weather has shifted. It was
overcast all day, but more cloudy than foggy. Could it be? Are the rains coming? It would be the first time we've had rain
since May. I’m almost ready for it.
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