Stayin alive

Well, it's not much better now than it was before the other assistant started. Not sure how long I can do it. I sleep all the time, if I am not eating delivery (too tired to light the stove) or working. I sleep in the subway, then I sleep on the sofa for hours, then sleep for hours more in bed, often amounting to 10+ hours on days off and then I get up feeling like I've just recovered from the flu, tired in my limbs, dizzy, and feeling drugged, and I simply cannot budge for hours after waking,

Apart from the hypoglycemia, you all know how much I love food. Whenever I go out to eat now, I'm almost obsessed with it because at work it's something I have to sneak in - a granola bar in one minute or a bit of pasta in five minutes. So before I'd go, "Mmmm, food!" but now I'm all, "Foooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

This work, it's just relentless and not a place where you can walk off for 5 minutes unnoticed. There's no buffer of people or space. And as I have Friday off, work Saturday, and have Sunday off, there is no time buffer either. I can't do anything out of the ordinary because I don't have two consecutive days off. Whereas on weekends you spend a half day recovering if you need to, and then get on with things like having a life, now I simply have no time. So I can't stray from my routine. I can't stay with friends or go out of town or stay out late...

So now the question is, how do I find something that balances the repetitious boredom of a desk job with the repetitious variety of this job?

In other news, I had dinner with Captain America (remember him??) on Wednesday as he was in town this week for work. It was nice to catch up and he wanted to meet me a couple more times but I was usually too tired or the scheduling was wrong.

Because I'd been trying to meet up with Jo and Dave since Thursday, and we managed that on Saturday evening. You should have been there, Matt. It was so great to finally meet them! I had meant to last March when I was in Dallas but was prevented due to family crises. Jo is so chatty and amiable, and she can really tell a story.

We were in the East Village at a tiny wood panelled pub with religious murals on the wall (because it was called a Cathedral of Beer). There was an orderly line at the bar, wonder of wonders. What's more when the voices got too loud and shouty as they usually do at pubs, someone or two would Shhhhhhhhhh and the volume would go down for a while until the next shush was needed but nobody got angry or annoyed.

(I'm discovering that New Yorkers are good at following rules: I can't find any of the free commuter newspapers lying around anywhere! People actually read the public announcement ads in the subway: "your city, your litter". Not honking except in cases of emergency. Not eating on the subway. Not spitting where people will walk on it. Not cussing in public that much. Still haven't seen anyone get arrested, mugged or shot. Most of the sirens are fire department or ambulances. Lines at bus stops remain orderly even when the doors open, so you keep your place in line. And people have more patience.)

Anyway, back to meeting Jo and Dave.



Along with two of Dave's childhood friends who also happened to be in town, after the pub we went to a Mediterranean bar and restaurant which smelled so good I wanted everything on the menu. I had a French martini (had chambord in it) and two yummy starters:



tuna tartare with avocado, cilantro and fresh chili on thinly sliced fresh beet and cucumber, topped with toasted slivers of baguette and lambs lettuce



deep fried baby artichoke on a bed of romaine lettuce with shaved manchego cheese and spicy marinara sauce. Addictive!!!

I became so engrossed in enjoying these delicacies that every time Dave addressed me he had to call me more than once out of my little world and once Jo had to poke me! This has HONESTLY never happened to me before. Sorry, y'all!

On Friday the weather was very English, which was ironic as I was meeting someone from a London media co in SoHo. It was about 70 (which feels chilly after the hot summer) and the sky was letting out a substantial autumn rain, rather than the usual short storm burst.

However, over the weekend we were back up there and had the same temps as Houston (86F, about 30C) and it's humid.

Speaking of Houston, they were pounded by Hurrican Ike, but apart from downed trees, wind and lots of rain, they escaped most damage and everyone I know is fine. It's Galveston Island that suffered the most starting with storm surge flooding while Ike was still all of 500 miles away.

Anyway, on to lighter topics, my friend Vera came to spend Labor Day with me. She's having a stressful time right now with a photography exhibit in France which she is not present to oversee. So once she'd made her phone calls, she was thankful that we had a quiet and peaceful time just relaxing and being in each other's company.

We went for a walk by the water of course. I love taking photos of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge:


SAILBOATS


VISTA WITH TREE


NORWEGIAN CRUISE SHIP KNOCKS DOWN BRIDGE (just kidding, they build them purposely low enough to pass underneath)


CARNIVAL CRUISE SHIP HAS SPACE TO SPARE


UNDERNEATH THE BRIDGE

---Which is your favorite?

Sunset Ramble

I went for a walk yesterday evening, despite having a sore foot, I know not why. I walked 30 blocks up the length of Shore Road Park overlooking the Upper New York Harbor. Then I returned home on the subway. Needless to say, I am home nursing said foot and my knee hurts, and I feel quite decrepit...


View to the south of Verrazano Narrows Bridge and part of Staten Island



View to the north towards Manhattan



One of the cargo ships moored for the night in the harbor


View of Manhattan

A Long Holiday Weekend

Well, here I am again. I've been trying to blog for days now, but wi-fi is not set up in this apartment so I've been borrowing someone's from nearby, which means it's intermittent. I could use the shared desktop computer with cable internet, but I need my phonecam/laptop Bluetooth connection. I love Bluetooth, yes I do.

So, let's get started!

********************
FOURTH OF JULY

We were supposed to go on an historic walk through the Revolutionary sites of downtown New York (centered around the old Wall Street area), but having stayed up until 5am comparing travel photos and artsy shots, it was after noon by the time I got out of bed.

If you don't leave the house early, it becomes harder to get out after a certain hour of the afternoon has passed, but I made it. Roomie and I are dangerous, both being only children and therefore sharing a few similar weaknesses. I went to the South Street Seaport to see the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks, visible from most parts of the city. There were three barges along the East River and many public viewing points.

The explosions were so powerful that when one went off, the shockwave caused my clothing to move, although they didn't sound as loud as you would imagine. There were new displays that floated on the water, but I didn't see them because I wasn't at the front. I did see the new ones that changed color in mid-air.




The first set (0.45)

If you can't see the video, here are a couple of photos:






After this, I couldn't keep the raindrops off the lens and it went blurry when the camera decided to focus on the droplets rather than the fireworks.

********************

THE DAY AFTER INDEPENDENCE DAY

In the evening, I went on a long walk in the cool following the afternoon rain.



The sun really does go down right there, at the end of the bridge. And most of the sound you hear ahead of the traffic is the waves lapping against the rocks below me.



********************

LAZY SUNDAY

Roomie took me to her fave French cafe a few blocks away for brunch. Sunday Brunch at small cafes is a hugely popular tradition out here, and it may be difficult to stay home next Sunday. I had a Croque Monsieur, and wow it was so yummy I didn't want it to end; came with a mesclun salad sprinkled with vinaigrette and fresh black pepper. The brunch menu for $16.95 includes a hot and cold beverage, a main, and a dessert. For a few dollars more you can add a morning cocktail! (Maybe next time.) My dessert was a pear, almond and pistachio tart. The portions were perfect and we were full up. I was both bemused and encouraged to see two teens, a boy and a girl about 15 years of age, come in to the cafe and order escargots swimming in garlic butter with a sliced baguette for sopping it up, and ooh it smelled good.

Full stomachs called for a walk around the neighborhood. It is difficult to imagine this is Brooklyn, much less within the New York City limits. Roomie says it is "very Long Island".

Here is one example of New England colonial in a street of varied but stately architectural styles, all raised quite high over the sidewalk.



But the famed local gem by far is this place built in 1916 and nicknamed the Gingerbread House. I could not choose just one shot to show you!












Roomie's parents had brought a giant watermelon for just the two of us...! So we knuckled down and decided to cut into it. One shelf of the entire refrigerator is dedicated to its storage and I suggested making watermelon soup to get rid of some of it.





Afterwards, I was in the bathroom when I heard a shout and a stool fall. I emerged to see roomie standing on a chair pointing at a hideous looking centipede in the middle of the kitchen floor. She said, "I threw a chair at it and it's still alive!" My normally logical and sanguine roommate has a weakness after all.

Now, I thought I was scared of bugs, but I guess my years of exposure to the giant tropical critters along the Gulf of Mexico have inured me somewhat, though I admit that I did scream once when he nearly got away from me. I covered him with a glass vase, stuffed stiff cardboard underneath, tipped him into the vase, drowned him with kitchen cleaner, and flushed him down the toilet.

After we'd calmed down, we went for another walk.