All The Stars Explode Tonight
Thursday was another good day. Short but productive workday, I left early and hit the pool for a very nice swim. I was feeling good in the water, strong and smooth, when a female starts zooming along in the lane next to me. I try not to pay too much attention to other people in the pool, but she was kind of a machine, super-smooth but beating me handily on each lap. I turned my head to sneak a look at her off my flipturn, and see she’s of course, ridiculously buff, and…has a tiny tattoo of five interlocking colored rings on her hip/bikini line. Complete, utter, searing jealousy. I guess if you’re going to get schooled, it might as well be by an Olympian. Bah. Put my head down, finished my workout and got the heck out of there.
Went home, cleaned house, sorted/shredded mail, started prepping dinner. S came home, we had a glass of wine and he cooked us fish tacos with mango salsa. Yum. It started raining and I so didn’t want to leave the house but my good friend R from grad school was in town (she’s a diplomat and lives in Tokyo so we don’t see her too often) so we rallied, got dressed, and walked over to Wilfie & Nell’s, which at least is close to us, even in the rain. Had a glass of gorgeous rose, served in a water glass, then headed down the street to a dive-ier bar to hang out for a bit. Had two beers, stayed out too late but not ridiculously late, then had an early morning at work on Friday. Bah.
Friday went quickly though, I got out early and headed up to the East Village for a mani/pedi. Bright classic red, and I met S at the bar across the street afterwards. We had a drink together, then headed over to Mermaid Inn for dinner. We made it just in time for happy hour, and we ordered 6 oysters, fish tacos, cocktails (aperol spritz for me, dark and stormy for him) to start. It was really nice, we’ve been going here since the first week they opened and had never sat in the garden before. After that we were still a little hungry so we ordered a tuna crudo with avocado, shrimp cocktail, and two glasses of rose. So delish. Walked to Trader Joe’s, got groceries, took the bus home. S conked out and I watched episodes of "My So-Called Life" on Hulu.
Saturday we were supposed to do the Pride Run, but my foot is bothering me lately, so we slept in instead. I was a little sad, it’s always a lot of fun and this was the first time in like 7 years I think we’ve missed it. We went out to brunch in Hell’s Kitchen instead, and brunch was really boozy. Very yummy, but I definitely walked out of there like hmm, the rest of the day is shot. And so it was…we walked home, it was oppressively hot, we ducked in to play some pool at Billy Mark’s West, and then lay around in bed the rest of the day. I think I also showered at least twice after getting home.
Sunday we didn’t do much – Dance on the Pier started at 3pm but we didn’t even leave the house until 8pm. My neighborhood was insane – tons of teenagers everywhere. So weird. Lots of streets were blocked off and it was a huge pain getting around. But we got there maybe 20 minutes before Cher went on, enough to soak in the excitement crowd before she got started.
Whoopi Goldberg introduced Cher, who then proceeded to play only three songs! ("Strong Enough," "Believe," and "Woman’s World") Super-lame – her show in Vegas was so much better and she was doing that every night for weeks on end – I think she could have brought it for such an epic and historical PRIDE.
People were a little annoyed, understandably so. But then fireworks started, and they were really pretty. We stayed to watch the whole show, but the walk home was still pretty frustrating.
They closed off the West Side Highway path and routed everyone onto just the sidewalk on Christopher Street, which is like the worst street ever even on a regular day. People were angry, getting into fights, all clustered together like rats. Like the post-NYC Marathon zombie shuffle, only with drugs/alcohol instead of endorphins. We live just a few blocks away and had to walk about a mile out of the way through these roadblocks. There was no rhyme or reason to it either – bah.
But we got home eventually, ate some rainbow sherbet, showered and went to sleep. Working from midtown today – my foot still hurts and I have a pit in my stomach – too much to do this week, work-wise and personally. So procrastination on OD makes total sense, obvs.
where in hell’s kitchen did you eat brunch?
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It feels like we should get a whole vacation week. I don’t want to do anything.
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RYN: OMG! I was wondering about that. While I’ve been reading it I’m also going through a phase of deleting entries on OD but I swear a few times I wrote some things about how the voice of the book does not ring true. I’m still interested in what she did and the ‘hood, but I’m used to balls to the walls memoirs and I can just tell she’s not being honest.
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I’m pretty much always on OD when there is something important to do.
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Man, NYC Pride puts sad little DC Pride to shame. Friends sent me pics throughout the day and it looked really fun. Wish I could have come up. I, too, am totally procrastinating right now. I have 6 different things open on my desktop and this is the only one I shouldn’t be in. 🙂
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NYC pride looks cool 🙂 ~Random noter~ xx
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My hubby and I have been DYING to eat at a Hells Kitchen (we’re huge Ramsey fans). We’re thinking of making a trip to Vegas pretty much just for that 😉
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Rainbow sherbet cures all.
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RYN: Now I feel dumb LOL (never been to the city, and I don’t know jack about it)…I know he has a few of the “Hell’s Kitchen” restaurants in the states so I guess I assumed that also meant NYC.
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Super obvs! 🙂 Have a good week!
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When I was in the USA I learned that Happy Hour has different meanings in the USA to Australia. In the USA happy hour can refer to specials on food. We had a happy hour menu in LA with my friend there. In Australia, happy hour ONLY makes reference to specials on drinks and cocktails.
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CHER!! I have been dying to see her live. I can’t believe she only did 3 songs. Lame. But I guess that’s better than nothin.
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What’s up with Cher and these ugly, crotch saggy pants she’s been wearing lately?!
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Yeah, road closures sometimes seem kinda random.
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Christopher St–I know we went there, sounds familiar. That’s the street that the Stonewall Inn is on? It was Pride in Toronto last weekend too but we sat it out this year (for the third time!!) Lame.
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ryn: LK Bennett is sold at Bloomingdale’s. I think maybe the 59th St store is one of 2 or 3 locations to have them in store. Maybe. That’s the way it was last year. If you haven’t been the the Long Island Bloomie’s outlet, you should. That location gets some good designer stuff!
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R: Hehehe… yes! It’s true! In fact, this was actually documented on one of Anthony Bourdain’s TV series, though I can’t remember which one.
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Fish tacos, Trader Joes and great show of the fireworks/city.
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ryn: That’s why I can’t handle Nordstrom. Who the hell knows what Savvy or Individualist means? Point of View? Studio 121? WTF! I have to go from floor to floor trying to find different brands because I didn’t guess the department name right. Can’t deal.
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I’m always in awe of your swimming stories – I still have trouble with it (swimming, i.e.), I’m still kind of scared of the water (I have recurrent nightmares involving the sea or swimming pool). I wanted to ask you though – how did you learn the flipturn? I am so jealous of the people who know how. =/ Those pictures look CRAZY!
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Happy Pride! Too bad everything got annoying towards the end!
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multiple fish taco meals, tuna, and rainbow sherbet? Now THAT’s being a supportive ally 🙂 But seriously, the only person who COULD pass ya in the water would be an Olympian, of course…
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My So-Called Life is on Hulu? You’re a hero, I’ve been completely dismayed that it vanished from Netflix.
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OMG OMG OMG, I just saw your note and my heart skipped a beat! I would so love to meet you – it would be like meeting a real life celebrity!!I am based just outside of Dublin, and am in Galway this weekend, but not sure when you get here? Let me know and we will totally make plans! You have made my day! https://www.facebook.com/#!/sarahknaughton or my email address is sarah.purcell@intel.com (Purcell is my maiden name) xx
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RYN* So much less sunscreen application required! Makes me life easier, and less slimey.
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I procrastinate way more than you do. Love your pics!
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I just laughed so hard at your note right now. You think you’re traumatized? Some people actually showed that to their 5 year olds lol.
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RYN* I know, right? I emailed her and told her she was a nut… and that I would send her more candy bars whenever she wanted.
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At first I thought this was for July 4 but apparently there’s other days that call for fireworks in NYC haha.
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How do you feel watching My So-Called Life? I loved it as a teenager but now, as an adult, I can’t believe what a whiny brat Angela was. I guess we all were at 15, though.. 🙂
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Probably the most awkward one: The profile asks what you’re good at… I mentioned making quick bread amongst other things. “So you like to make quick breads. Cool! I like bread.” That was it. That was his third unanswered email in a row in one evening.
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The weather back in Toronto is just as intense! I’m used to it. It really struck me that it must be annoying living in a tourist-magnet type city. On the one hand, I’m so jealous of the vision and scope of the investment in public spaces in NYC. On the other hand, maybe it’s good that my two favourite parks are ramshackle and therefore not destinations for tourists of any stripe! More for me?
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RYN* Oh, I definitely think Zimmerman doing time would have been better justice… I just mean that there is no true justice possible when a life is lost, and when we’re faced with looking at how racist the system is. It is depressing.
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ryn: the restaurant was called Quarter. It was either in the West Village or Greenwich? Super cute spot and the service was excellent. Skip the fish tacos though, they were not exciting. The Brussels sprouts were out of this world, and I also liked the Mexican corn on the cob. Tommy had the hake and loved it. But those Brussels sprouts were VERY special.
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It’s on Hudson.
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ryn: I didnt check OD until I got home from my errands yesterday; I actually opted for the rubberized red sole! I figured since these were flat sandals that I wear frequently, a more durable sole would be nice. If I like the red rubber I may to get a pair of my wedges done as well! Ive been meaning to message you about our upcoming France trip too. We will be in the South of France (Nice,Antibes, Villefrance, Cannes, Monaco, etc) for 5 days mid-August. I know you have spent some time there, any must see’s or must eat’s you can recommend?
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I love, love, love reading your entries about the majestic adventures you have in that magical city; I’ve been a couple of times & on both, the sheer enormity of the city itself and the amount of things to do totally blew me away.
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ryn: next friday! i’ll pick you up at LAX! 😀 god, how fun would that be??
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