Thank You For Your Submission

Fine Dining in Park Slope

I ate a deep fried Twinkie tonight. It was great! Chris had a fried Mars bar. And I had several margaritas. At Lobo. And I bought a hat. And a Darth Vader bank. I need sleep now. Wait, Terminator I is on ION. Ok, I'M UP.

Free Entertainment

On moving to New York and finding a job

Coming to New York with no job lined up has been the most frightening part of the moving experience. It was a calculated risk, but the fact that the second after we arrived the country spiraled into a terrible economic downturn did not exactly boost my confidence on how this would end up. I didn't foresee that, or the effects it might have on the job market, but that's why you set emergency savings aside for this kind of move. Ten years ago I would have found this to be a zany adventure, but at 36, it's mostly bone chilling. Ten years ago I was an idiot, I didn't know enough to understand what can go wrong in life. Like I said, we had an emergency fund, but would it last long enough? Nor do we have families that can bail us out (not that I would even dream of being bailed out anyway). So it was a rough wait. I lost 8 lbs. (I never lose weight—but after now going to Cafe Steinhof and Bonnie's I've probably gained it back), I stressed, I panicked, I could not sleep. But I got hired yesterday, and today Chris got a temporary museum job, on Wall Street of all places. He's also been on a few interviews for a builder manager job at museum in the Upper East Side, and so he's a front runner for that. That's great, because even though he's very qualified, museum jobs are scarce now.

It took 36 days of looking for me to find a full-time permanent position. 25 resumes were sent out, and I went on 2 interviews (a 3rd at Brooklyn Academy of Music was canceled when I got hired). My new day job is a staff position in academia, and I'll be working in an interesting Gothic building from the early 1800s. Let me state the obvious and say I'm glad this is all working out so far, especially at this time.

Late afternoon at Coney Island

What a beautiful fall afternoon walking around Brooklyn with Chris. We discovered Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill, and ended up getting on the train and going out to Coney Island. Kind of a surreal day. I've been to Coney Island once before, last summer late at night (an old friend of Chris introduced us to The Cyclone and we had after hours beers at some nasty pit called "Cha-Cha's"). Parts of Coney Island are silly sleazebaggery, while other things I saw genuinely gave me chills and made me want to bolt. I don't even want to get into it.

Had a hot dog at Nathan's. It was gross, and that surprised me, because I typically set the bar for my food standards embarrassingly low. I was extremely turned off by the fact you can buy a "frog legs platter" there. What is up with the Kenny Rogers Roasters franchise embedded within the place?  I thought that chain went bankrupt years ago, but Kenny lives on in Brooklyn.

Anyway, the ocean's beautiful.

No more corporate bullshit, etc.

Seen at 3rd Ave. & 3rd St., Brooklyn, October 17, '08.

Imagine

We're still job hunting. So yesterday we went next door to Lincoln Center for part 2 of one of my interviews. Right now is apparently not the best time to see Lincoln Center because it's being renovated. The signature fountain is shut down and the whole thing is obscured behind a maze of construction walls.

While waiting for me, Chris walked around and happened to discover the Dakota building. After rejoining him I checked it out, too. What an ominous spectacle. I've seen its front gate on the news over the years possibly as many times as I've seen the White House. We found Strawberry Fields across the street, and the memorial was covered in flower petals and fruit. There was a conglomeration of old, shady hippy characters that were tending to it, picking out dead leaves and so forth, and I guess taking "donations" for their efforts. Maybe I'm too cynical, but it rubbed me the wrong way.

It was an odd coincidence to come across these sights on what we later learned was the eve of John Lennon's birthday.

Tadashi Kawamata, Tree Huts

Saw these installations in Madison Square Park today--several were up, and a crew was installing another while I was there.

Tadashi Kawamata, Tree Huts
Mad. Sq. Art, Artist-in-residence: September 23-October 1