Wingman - a new definition
Most of you are familiar with a guy's dating necessity: the
Wingman. But did you know a gal can have a "wing"man too? Granted, its a different sort of dating necessity. This guy is the one with whom you keep in contact, but aren't actually dating yet.* Its important to have this dude around so if the man you've been seeing expresses his interest in no longer seeing you, you have no time to be sad, because the (in-the) wing(s) man is there with a recent anecdote and a desire to buy you a beverage of sorts.
* This may be an Internet dating phenomenon since one can pretty much set a clock to how long between initial contact with a boy and the number of emails/calls before a date is offered (5 emails/3 days of phone tag)**
**Oh, I didnt mention the match.com scene? how did you think I was meeting all these boys? Ahh, the wonders a fist full of cash and an email account can get you!
one man, two opinions
Today at work there was a patient, X, whose fiance, Y, joined her in the exam room and he asked me questions about her eye health. While she picked out glasses, he insisted on only the best frame, lenses, coatings etc. and he was paying for them.
When they left, my boss turned to me to exclaim what a caring man he was.
hmm, I was thinking more along the lines of what a controlling man he was.
Apple of my eye
Just thought this was a rad photo
- found on Flickr by Sixy, beast
lazy sunday
No, neither Narnia nor Magnolia's were involved, but I feel like this was a quality NY Sunday. Start off with brunch at Belleview with JS and onto some funky finds at Beacon's closet. Then we continued on to look at real estate. Am I planning on moving anytime soon? No, but JS is, so we took this opportunity to tour some prime slope-side homes. Fan-C. I believe it was JK who pointed out that NYers love to look at real estate and are always thinking of where to move next . . . *
Later I went for a turn around the park; it smells fantastic there since old Christmas trees were recycled to mulch . . .
After a breif siesta, I headed to the east village to check out The Cherry Orchard. I went by myself, but before the doors opened, ran into JK (of
Fresh meat fame). I love that in a city of 8 million people I can run into one of the 12 people I know here. Anyway, the play was a fantastic. The acting was superb and let me just say if I knew that Russian literature could be so racy, 12th grade's AP lit class would have gone a lot faster.
And finally, here I am abloggin' to "These are the Days", ain't life grand?
*If I recall correctly, he said this in a poo-poo manor, but I think, like my mom's late night catalogue browsing obsession, its a form of fantasy, of how life could or just-might be.
Village centers versus the village
In the past few weeks I've found myself trying to describe my hometown to various people. For the most part these people have been native NYers and I had been taking any rolling of eyes as a sign of the general highbrow notion of anything non-ny as lame.
But the other night, as I described Columbia as a place designed to be where people of all different socio-economic, religious, and ethnic backgrounds lived together, someone challenged my cheesy tale of a utopia-has-been, and I realized how idiotic I sounded. While poor James Rouse has been in a permanent spin in his grave over the new "development" of Columbia, here I was living in the original thing, NYC.
- different classes/ethnicities/religions: check, check, check
- villages: pick any 2 streets and make a new word, you've got a village
- village centers: can I say 7th Ave, B'way, Bedford Ave . . . ?
- poet-inspired street names that are laid out in a fashion to assure as many dead-ends as possible? hmm, no! damn that cross-grid of numbered streets and avenues.
. . . I guess as long as there is no "Forty Winks Way" NYC will never hit that utopia status.
dont drink the water
Brooklyn (well, Kings County) has some of the grossest water around. Its water is in the top 10% of dirtiest/worst water in the US. Kings county is also in the top 30% of air releases of recognized carcinogens and reproductive toxins in the country.
In fact, the top polluter in the area is the Brooklyn Navy Yard, releasing 52,459 pounds of environmental pollutants each year.
BUT, this is no where near the big dog of US: Red Dog Ops. in Arkansas produces a whopping 481,578,816 pounds/year.
check your neighborhood's scorecard
I'm google famous!
So, I'm continuing my search for a more stimulating job (yesturday a big ZERO number of patients . . . I finished my Sudoko book, finally won at Dope Wars and knit 2/3 of a hat)
Anyway I typed in "optometry hiring Brooklyn" to google, and the very first hit that came up, was me!
brooklyn gal for a year ... in my CV (that's dr speak for resume) to someone hiring a full time optometrist. ... Name:gordian knot: Location:Brooklyn, NY. View my complete profile ...
brooklyngalforayear.blogspot.com/ - 35k - Cached - Similar pages |
Very exciting blog-wise . . . probably not great job search wise.
museum marathon
Sunday I had a date to go see the Darwin exhibit at the Museum of Natural History.
This is what actually happened:
11:00 Got picked up and drove (dont ask) to the museum and searched for parking
12:30 arrive and buy tickets
1:00 Planitarium: not one, but 2 shows: Passport to the Universe* and The Search for Life
2:00 Heilbrunn cosmic pathway**
2:30 Darwin Exhibit***
3:00 Hall of African Mammals and NY State Mammals (an odd combo, if you ask me)
3:30 IMAX of Galapagos Islands - the story of a marine biologist's research while on the island****
4:00 Asian peoples and Asian mammals
4:30 Butterfly exhibit (LOTS of freakin' butterflys, some very ugly)
4:45 Dinosaurs and extinct mammals
5:15 Hall of ocean life, first floor
5:30 Hall of ocean life, second floor and in the corner in the back:
the squid and the whale of
The Squid and the Whale fame. I cant believe this got in a movie. It kind of looks like a 5th grade diaorama.
5:45 the museum closed. darn.
When I finally got home I began to reclassify the day. Perhaps this wasnt so much a date, as a field trip. The dude obviously thought I wasnt going to become a NYer without hitting the pavement, or err, linoleium flooring of 79th st.
*actually, pretty fucking cool. Definitly makes anything you care about seem just silly.
** also pretty cool. a great example of hard to fathom sizes from nanometers (10^-9) to tetrameters (10^12)
*** if you ever took an evolution class in college, you know this information already
**** Based on RW and MJ's stories, this is entirely NOT what field research is like
old hose / new T
In my office the other day, I glanced down at my tights and thought, "my, I've had these awhile (and still cute, if I do say so myself)." Then I really thought about it (hey, I had 3 patients the whole day, plenty of time for pondering hoisery). I have had these for 14 years.
In other words, more than half my life.
And I wonder why my wardrobe is in such a sad state.
But, never fear! I am in the midst of aquiring some new duds (and clothes) via soho and self-help. That's right, just tonight I made an Anthropologie pants purchase and went to a t-shirt making party. I got about 1/3 of a shirt done (this silk screen buisness is for the birds, I'm going to go back to iron-on). At this rate, in a couple of weeks, watch out! I will have created an ensemble that is not only slope-side-chic, but one that isn't old enough to attend the high school reunion.
hot water in the house!
I took a hot shower this am! in my apt! For those of you following the lack of heat saga that is my life, we've been without a hot shower since the ceiling fell, before Thanksgiving. ahhhhhh!
Sunny day, sweeping the clouds away
On my way to where the air is sweet
Can you tell me how to get
How to get to Sesame Street?
Well, yes. Head up Flatbush, left on Tillary and right along Henry St.
You see, as Wikipedia educated me, "The brownstone architecture of Sesame Street,
a fictional neighborhood in New York City, as well as the concept of neighbors from different backgrounds living in the same area and sharing their life experiences, is based on a neighborhood in
Brooklyn called
Brooklyn Heights*, where the creators of Sesame Street lived when the show began. "
So now when I see a tall dude in yellow with feathers on the subway, I dont bat an eyelash, for these are the people in the neighborhood.
*also the home of the Huxtable family
blog mitosis
Its happened. No longer is one blog tasty enough. Inspired by
Sara*'s* embrace of multiple blogs, I have decided to attempt a food related blog. My hope is to make a review of restaurants for myself as well as post recipes that have fared well. ** I've pegged it as
Resplendent Refreshment. Check it out and please feel free to comment with your own best/worst!
*Sara*, or fully known as "the diary of Sara*" was the instigator of the line of blogging I follow. Sadly, I have no newbies to support the pyramid approach to blog entertainment . . .
**While I am too tired to start tonight, look forward for Dad's soon to be not-so-secret meatloaf recipe!
the "Koza" dinner
Back in high school a friend of mine would occationally stay over for dinner. After a while she realized that we always had the same thing when she was there: chicken, rice & a green vegetable. From then on it was known at our house as the Koza dinner, in her honor.
Since then I've been over to her and ME's home for dinner on occation and they (ok, ME is the real cook in the family) make interesting meals. The last time I was visiting we had a very tasty Moroccan dish involving preserved lemons.
Well, last night I had a mini-dinner party of my own and was inspired by ME's cuisine adventures and made: Spicy Moroccan Chicken, Almond Couscous & Lemony Asperagus.
Funny how I tried to spice things up and also made the usual "Koza" dinner at the same time.
scary factoid
"The average American consumes over 730 lbs of paper/yr – enough to construct a 12-ft high wall from NYC to LA. " - as posted on the
idealbite today. If that doesnt make me want to ration my TP, I dont know what would.
Her eyes were watching God
Not to plug another book, but
Lamb, by Christopher Moore was rather amusing. It is the tale of Jesus's younger years through the eyes of Biff, his childhood buddy*. There are a lot of references to various stories about Jesus and the disciples . . . John the baptist eatting only locusts and honey (the original fear factor?), for example.
In any case, it got me thinking about my Bible "education," AKA CCD. For all you not in the know about CCD, this is something for which childred are wisked from their Saturday morning cartoons, inorder to get to know God and prayers a little better. I think I'm not the only one who prayed to God to have CCD switched to Tuesday nights.
But, as with many things in my life, I dont really remember a lot of details of the stories in the Bible. So after reading Lamb, I decided that any good lapsed-Catholic gal worth her weight in guilt ought to actually read the Bible.
Only into chapter 1 and I'm confused. Genesis: 1:28 "Then God said" Let us make human beings in our image, to be like ourselves . . ." What? who is this US? all this time I thought the Judeo-Christian part of the world thought about only one God, so who is he talking to? The angles? The devil? the other aliens who are a part of creationism? Any insight would be appreciated.
*While this book is officially catorgized as "horror" at
booksfree, I think historical/religious fiction is best
roger rabbit reasoning
it was called an 80s dance party . . . i wore a style a la 90s and danced to hits from the 70s . . . I guess it all worked out
go ahead girl, taste the tofu
In my quest to up the soy intake, I bought Yves veggie ham with which to make sammi's or top salads. Yes the picture makes it look like almost normal ham. Unfortunatley, not the case. Of all "real" meats, I think it tasted closest to salami, but in any case, pretty darn gross.
Tonight, however, I did experience some wonderful soy, a la, tofu Pad Moo See (?) at
SEA in Williamsburg with LA, B and mulletC. I love this restaurant. JK was giving me shit about it being the only place I will venture to the burg for, but it is a bit of a scene and quite tasty. Plus, the mojitos are inexplicibly divine.
unlucky day
In my recent spurt of job-hunting, I faxed in my CV (that's dr speak for resume) to someone hiring a full time optometrist. No location other than Manhattan listed. This morning when I went to make a follow-up phone call, I was told that I had been expected at 9am for an interview at NY Presbyterian Hospital. What? apparently, they scheduled this interview right after getting the fax, only no one phoned me about it. I asked about re-scheduling an interview, and the receptionist said it was a possibility, but . . . (as far as I know) not re-scheduled. damn, that was the first "real" job listing I've seen since I moved here.
In more unlucky news, after the shenanagans of last night I was looking forward to my date tonight with a new guy (oddly, same name as last night's dud). However, 30 minutes untill go time at the Gate, the new guy left a message that he was bailing out.
Here is my question, is there a barn somewhere in NYC where they are raising all the boys?
the makings of a wonderful night
The plan was to check out some openings in Chelsea with some acquaintances then head to Blue Ribbon in Soho for a date. I got decked out artsy-chic, heels and all, and headed west once above ground on 25th st. The galleries had mostly weird art, as they usually do. Its interesting how (in my humble opinion) the uglier the art, or harder to understand, the stronger the drink at the opening, and vice versa (range from vodka shots to budweiser).
At
Roebling hall gallery they were serving wine sorbet (surprisingly pleasant to the palate in a mobbed gallery). So here I am trying to take in the photography without spilling my cup of sorbet or falling on any art or people. Seen and be seen kind a thing. And then I turn and who am I litterally rubbing elbows with? None other than the designer of the very heels I am wearing,
Issac Mizrahi! I played it cool, and got out of there as fast as my dogs could take me (less anyone noticed my shoes were from Target).
After a few more galleries, I bowed out a little early and headed down to find the restaurant. The date had said on Prince St. "the main section" of Prince St. He said he'd call when he got there and give me the address.* I called 411 to get the number, but was given their fax number.** I tried to
text google the name of the restaurant, but it wouldnt go through. *** Finally, someone said the corner of Sullivan and Prince. By then, I had been walking up and down Prince for 30 min. Needless to say my feet hurt, so I sat on a bench and waited for the clock to strike 9, the official date time. At 9:17 I called AH (my gal Friday) and asked what the ettiquette was on lateness for first dates. She said 20 min. Still, **** Finally, the dude shows up. And we walk to Blue Ribbon (NOT on Prince St, mind you) and he says there might be a wait (we didnt even go IN the restaurant) so he wants to go to ACME instead (for non-NYers, a bit of a hike). So we start walking and talking. When we round Houston and B'way, roughly 12 minutes into the date, I feel a pat on my arm and the "date" says "So, I think I 'm going to take off."
Jackass. What a waste of foot pain.
*I should have taken this as a sign.
** I should have taken this as a sign.
*** I should have taken this as a sign.
**** I should have taken this as a sign.
Overheard in the slope today
- "Wait, I lost my shoelace. I've gotta find it." -a boy on 8th Ave. I looked down and sure enough the kid had one Catholic-school-uniform shoe fully laced and tied, the other AWOL. How does that happen?
- "I don't know why she is so serious about her PhD. . . look where mine got me." Lady to another lady and a man all pushing strollers up 3rd St.
- "I'm not going out with him, he's UGLY." - a 12ish gal to a group of gals on the corner of 7th Ave and 4th St, all heads pointed across the street where a group of guys were hudled.
- my fav . . . "this is the year of the blog." said by one construction guy to another on 2nd st.
Christmas money well spent
I recieved some $ for Christmas and decided to spend some, ok, most, of it. I tried to vary my purchases to things I would never normally buy for myself. One might tak
e this as a suggestion that I went uber lux and I sort of did for one product, a
charcoal body wash that I heard about at
idealbite. It is supposed to be de-toxifying, and I figure in this town, that would be a good thing. I also got
snowshoes for my upcoming trip to Maine. And finally,a vacuum! I know its kind of lame to be excited about a vacumm, but its so light and and cute and actually works . . . added bonus, it scares the bejesus out of the roomie's cat.
in a past life . . .
| In a Past Life... |
You Were: A Diseased Alchemist.
Where You Lived: Alaska.
How You Died: In Childbirth. |
hmm, sounds like a pretty crappy life . . . glad i've moved on
You In a Past Life?
green-house hooey
Who are these so-called scientists trying to scare everyone with their "global warming"? Where is the proof? 62 in January in NY is perfectly normal.
brunch transportation debacle
YES, I am a babe who brunches! OK, perhaps one Sunday brunch every 5-6 mos wont get me on page 6, but it was a tasty meal with family and not one, but 2 kinds of bacon.
On my way uptown, I was so focused on when to transfer to what train (F-6-4) that I forgot my actual destination (I blame an uncaffinated mind) and went to 91st and 3rd. This turned out to be a mere 20 blocks off from the actual meeting location,
71st and 3rd. But I grabbed a cab down Lex and got there without too much delay.
After the fine meal and post-brunch drinks, dessert, and devestating football, I headed out to meander the streets of the UES. An hour or so later I decided to find the F stop at 63rd. only to find that there were no downtown F's that day. So I walked down to where the 6 wa
s on 59th (?) and caught the 4, planning to transfer at 14th to the 6 and then onto the F, as I did coming uptown. But I was immersed in my book and missed my stop. So I looked at the map and saw the 4 went to Atlantic Ave (where there is a good grocery store) so I got off there did a little shopping and was going to catch the bus back to park slope. And of course, wouldnt you know it? As I walked toward the stop, the bus pulled away and now being after 6 on Sunday, there wouldn't be another for 30min. So I treated myself to yet another taxi ride. When he pulled up to my building I managed to clock myself in the face getting out of the car! ahh, now I have a "natural" blue shadowing to my right eyelid :) But all and all, definitly worth it to have a tasty brunch with fam.
future Guam gal for a year?
Every month or so I decide I really need to get out of my current job. I do very little work, get as many days off as I'd like and my patients are almost always appreciative (atleast I take what is being said as good things, since I dont speak Cantonese and my translators like to do very little work too). Those dedicated blog-readers out there know I was considering moving back to Boston to take a teaching job, but luckily that job didnt turn out to be offered to me, so I'm still at Chinatown optical. The latest search has turned up this:
Job Description: Guam, where America's day begins! Experience the island life style while practicing your profession on the tropical island of Guam, a U.S. territory. If you enjoy travel and would like to venture into the Asia Pacific region, then Guam is the perfect starting point of all great trips and recreation. FHP Vision Center, a state of the art facility for over 20 years and remains the leader in the Western Pacific Island of Guam, has an immediate opening for a qualified, highly motivated U.S. licensed Optometrist to provide quality eye care to a diverse patient base. Enjoy year round tropical weather, easy access to many Asia destinations, and live in a friendly community. We offer a competitive salary, excellent benefits that includes relocation and covers professional liability.
I love how its mostly about how to leave the actual location to visit other places.
E woks among us
Sure, NYC has its own fashion. From time to time we may borrow from styles seen in Paris or Milan . . . but why are we now borrowing from Endor?
links
hmm, my links seem to be done incorrectly (how can that be, I'm SO computer savy!) hopefully up again soon
Mila Drumke Band
I headed down to the
living room tonight to see a show*. I hadn't heard of the band, their music, nor did I know any of the people I met up with before heading to the back room. This may not sound like the makings of a fine evening, but 'twas indeed. The
Mila Drumke Band was one of the best bands I have heard live in a while. Soulful rock? jazz alternative? not sure of the "genre" but I for one enjoyed it . . . and the white russian I sipped during the show!
*there was an electronic violin involved that kind of looked like this one
Resolutions
Now is the time to re-evaluate your life, make some changes. Yes, now, well, Jan 4th. You see one does not have to actually reform behavior untill all "new years" associated car sales have ended. This also allows plenty of time just to recover from the "eve" and grasp the hit of there being a whole new number to write on your checks*. My resolutions for 2006 include:
- eatting more soy products
- drinking more Manhattans
- flossing daily
- winning at Dope Wars
what are yours?
*wait, who uses those things anymore?
wait a second?
from technology news:
The start of 2006 will be delayed on Saturday night by a full second. A leap second is added to take account of the Earth's rotational time, which can speed up or slow down because of many factors, including ocean tides. Leap seconds can create problems for computer programmers. Without them, however, astronomers would lose track of distant stars and spacecraft.
who knew?
Happy New Beer!
This was our salute to strangers last night. my, weren't we clever!?!
Well, I feel I finally had a night that might rival that of my NYC partying brother*. well, maybe.
It started in the slope with 6 lovely ladies, moved on to a fabulous apt in the east village. We drank CB's booze, tried on all his hats, a papermache rooster was involved, toasted in the new year and then headed out with these 2 rather young dudes we had just met.
Now the original "plan"** was to go dancing at some place on 23rd. But now it seemed we were going to go to a bar on 52nd that these guys liked. You may ask yourself, as I did then, WHY are trucking all the way up there when there are a lot quality establishments near by? Well, it turns out we did it for the ride. One of the dude's had a driver with a huge car (Expedition?). So we all piled in and upon arriving to said bar, finding a $20 cover, promtly left the boys to go to the irish pub across the street.
There were actual Irish people in this bar and they were singing/chanting something or other. When we tried to inquire about the song and join in the fun we were met with several evil eyes. So we went back to our table and tried to think of something WE could sing . . . it turns out that 6 gals from the MD/VA area could only come up with "Hail to the Redskins" which we promtly belted on repeat for everyone's enjoyment. When that got old we headed back downtown. (bummer, had to take a cab like regular folk)
We went to Doc Holliday's *** This part is a bit of a blur, but there was dancing, on the bar by some, mooning by others and a kinda green J. So J and I headed to the street again in search of a cab to Brooklyn.
there was some sleep
then, re-meet the gals on the F to Coney Island for the Polar bear swim! We hesitantly made our way in, joined a congo-line through the water, and shimmied ourselves to shore. I really thought a dip in 42 degree water might shock the hang-over out of me. And it did for a bit.
On the train back to the slope with LA I thought about my adventure the last day and how much NYC can offer . . . now, if only it had a greasy Buiscuitville, my body would be happy too.
*BK, I'll never meet your standards . . . but I did meet someone else who had lived the edward fortyhands experience
** Do 6 drunk girls ever truely have a "plan" other than to follow the fun?
*** Everyone else had not only heard of this bar before, but been there, even the out-of-towners. Myself, not only was it new, but I kept thinking of that Michael J. Fox movie
Happy new year
Happy new year to all!
I will say this: Thus far, it seems 2006 looks alot better if you keep one eye closed.
Hurray for gypsy cabs!
