Friday timestamp

Posted on February 6, 2009
Filed Under Blather, Literary, the pusses | 1 Comment

It’s a pretty cold day, but it’s supposed to warm up this weekend. It should be a good weekend for walking around, which I am very much looking forward to doing. Ezra’s birthday was Monday, and though we grabbed a bite to eat, I’m hoping to properly celebrate my sweetie’s birthday this weekend. So we’ll have reasonable weather for that–in February, no less!

Moments ago I was the lucky recipient of a fishy cat bath. Thank you, Suki. I love you, too.

I don’t have much to do for work today. I’m waiting for a lot of things to come in from authors and clients. I did get a new project recently, and I have a feeling a bunch of work will be arriving on my doorstep all at once. Typical!


A Mercy I’m reading Toni Morrison’s latest novel, A Mercy. I like it, but I’m already almost 75% of the way done with the book and I feel as though it’s just getting started. I guess it’s sort of a novella. It feels a bit like a very long short story. I’ll have to see how it goes before I give a final verdict. I am enjoying it. It definitely pulls in a lot of Morrison’s typical themes and devices–a triad of women, female friendship, a woman’s (potentially–we’ll see what happens>) destructive love/attraction to a man, naming and identity, the creation of a self and an identity (especially after slavery strips away an existing past/identity), etc. That makes it fun for me, with all of the bits and pieces from my thesis still bumping around in my head. I have a feeling this book won’t be as satisfying as a book like Song of Solomon. It just doesn’t seem like it’s going to go that far–it hasn’t engrossed me that much yet. But I still think it’s pretty good and maybe easier to get into than any of Morrison’s novels since Jazz.

If you want to have a look at what I’ve read and am reading, my little home at Goodreads is a good place to start (a lot of you probably already know about it). You can find me and my books there, and I update it pretty frequently. Everybody should join, methinks! It’s easy (I swear) and free and I enjoy seeing what people are reading!

Crystal Stilts-Departure

Posted on February 6, 2009
Filed Under Song of the Day, music | Leave a Comment


(Feels like) a long weekend in New York

Posted on February 1, 2009
Filed Under Blather, art, dining, family, friends, sports in general, wide world of vacation | 1 Comment

It’s been a long and very good weekend.  Ez and I spent Friday and Saturday in New York.  On Friday Ez worked and I wandered around, checking out Tinsel Trading Company and spending a couple of happy hours browsing (and eventually buying) at The Strand.


Spotted after lunch

On Saturday Ez was kind enough to walk with me to the vegetarian cafe S’Nice in the West Village, where I know they have delicious steel-cut oatmeal with all the trimmings.  There I ate said oatmeal with dried fruit and honey and enjoyed one of the tastiest glasses of apricot-orange tea ever.  We went to The Strand again because Ez needed to get his fix (he didn’t really have to twist my arm to get me to spend more time there), and then Ez took me to the Chelsea Market, where the New York Lux office will soon be moving.  It’s quite a nifty building.  I’ll have to upload a picture or two.

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I fell in love with this spot at the Chelsea Market.

Then we met up with Ezra’s old friend Jen Williams in the Cooper Union area (Jen went to Cooper Union and now teaches there).  I’d never met her before, though I’d heard a lot about her.  She seems pretty great, and we had a really nice time chatting with her, wandering around the Lower East Side, popping into a small gallery to check out her friend’s show, and just basically hanging out.  For dinner, the three of us went to the tasty Pan-Asian vegetarian (and largely vegan) restaurant Wild Ginger (it’s just as good as Ez and I remember).  We’re hoping it won’t be another 10+ years before we see Jen again.

And oh, hey, the Steelers won their NFL record sixth Super Bowl (that’s about 14% of all Super Bowl games that have been played).  And the game was actually exciting.  I am not a big NFL person, but we’re Steelers people in this house.  (And, incidentally, it was a day of more pleasant sports news, as PSU men’s basketball upset ninth-ranked Michigan State, the Celtics won again, and Rafael Nadal beat Federer to win his first Australian Open title.)

Every time I go to New York I want to spend more time there.  I like its energy and pervading spirit of creating new things.  I think it improves my health to be around that vibe more often!

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