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a week in new york

minute by minute, my time in the city has been a fascinating, ever-changing experience as i have moved from neighborhood to neighborhood in search of my favorites of the city. despite my inability to critique every nook (who in their lifetime could?), here is what i have to say about the best of the city.

my nyc week's best top 10:

10. a bite to eat at snack. soho's tiny three-table eatery is the best greek comfort food you will find in the city. and it's cheap!
9. a night out at bam. brooklyn academy of music always has an interesting lineup of films, plays, and music--especially if you need to get away from the usual madness of times square and 42nd street. i was fortunate enough to see the deeply engaging performance of hedda gabler by co-stars cate blanchett and hugo weaving.
8. make it an eclectic night in brooklyn and try robin des bois for a vintage-aux-francais evening of provencial cooking and a kitschy crowd.
7. best caphirinia: ñ. that's the little soho tapas bar on crosby street with a delicious mixed drink (capirinhias and mojitos!) menu to accompany fresh (and truly spanish) food.
6. the whitney biennial. although the scope is different than that of the moma, but the whitney has its little finger firmly on the pulse of everything modern art--whether it's chaotic installation, intriguing film, or a veritable dishevled mess that somehow passes for art.
5. best cupcake: billy's bakery. filled with pies, cupcakes (vanilla, chocolate, and red velvet), and cheescake, this vintage 40's-esque bakery knows how to get the good down-home baking of yester-year into your tummy. and this 9th avenue chelsea staple doesn't fail to satisfy.
4. for a truly ovewhelming dining experience, atttend dinner at the recently opened meatpacking hotspot buddakan. the feel is a modern throwback to a cavernous mobster dinig hall, all with an asian twist. this extra posh meatpacking district eatery is a sight to see in itself.
3. whether you get the munchies you've just had a night out in the meatpacking district, nothing tastes better than a bite-sized pop burger. although all indications may be that of your favorite fast-food chain. the hip interior, at least, will indicate that this savory burger is something a little more.
2. still the nicest, hippest cuban restaurant in the city (with an unbelievably good corn on the cob dish--for real), it has to be cafe habana. the food's fantastic and the restaurant's nolita neighborhood is kickin'!
1. a visit to the lower east side. if nolita is for the day, the lower east side is for a rollicking night. here's a lineup: arlene's grocery: an up-and-coming live music venue disguised as the village grocer. next door: the stanton social, a posh ultra-fusion restaraunt, served in tasting portions. down the street: hotel on rivington: swanky manhattan hotel, in all-out *wallpaper style. even if you don't have a room, take time to sip on a cool cocktail. a block away: welcome to the johnson's: a hip little dive bar, fashioned like the neighbor's rec room. complete with faux wood paneling, a pool table, 70's stone living room wall, vintage tv, puffy couch, and a pac-man video game. man, those johnsons are so cool.

the big city

this afternoon, while eating my cuban-style corn on the cob and sipping my delicious mojito, i struck up a conversation with the kind girl who was seating people at cafe habana. when a couple walked in the door, susan told them it would be a 15 minute wait for a table; but i noticed two small adjacent tables at the front of the restaurant that were already empty, waiting for hungry lunch goers. as she turned away from the waitng couple, i asked about the vacant seats.

"those are set for someone who will soon arrive" susan said softly. with a mischievious look, i asked what i had to do to be on the small eatery's "vip guest list."

"if you want to come in every evening from midnight until 8am to clean floors, you can have that table" was her response. with a smile and gleam in her eye, she recounted to me the reason for the reserved table. juan works the overnight cleaning shift mopping and scrubbing, and his wife has just arrived from columbia. juan and his wife have not been able to live together for the last ten years, but she has finally come to the states. this is a celebration for them.

we commented on how they must have much to catch up on, so that explains why juan and his wife were late. after all, it had been ten years.

every time i come to new york, i always have to stop for a visit at the cozy cuban corner nestled in the nolita neighborhood. i knew i loved the food, but i always suspected it is the people who work and frequent the joint that warrant the many visits. despite the absent smiles on the sidewalks and trains of gritty city that surround the cafe, i now know its true.

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good morning, atl

piedmont park, atlanta, is what i like to call "parktastic." the past few mornings have been a change from the cold mountainous snow of aspen to the cool spring-like fresh air mornings of the south. perfect, i'd say, for a little morning exercise. jogging, to be exact.

even if i didn't have my scooter here, i might be satisfied just walking around the neighborhood. midtown has it's own community of restaurants, shops, and--not least--the venerable piedmont park. and it is the park that has been continually drawing me the last few days. a walk through the park in the sunny afternoon, a brisk run first thing in the morning (for me, that's usually...10am), and perhaps an evening bocce ball match with mark.

according to the united states bocce federation, bocce requires the "proper psychological frame of mind." thanks, piedmont park. that is what you have given me.

i HEART a good tune

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got my ride back

1) fly to atlanta
2) say hi to mark
3) say hi to jessie
4) say hi to henry

that's my ride.
and i'm stickin to it.

down from the mountain

i finished my last days in aspen with one last hike up highlands, dinner wih friends in the valley, and a few hours of work at the ballet office. at least i put in a few hours of work. i deserve it after having the rest of my aspen experience handed to me courtesy of all of my good friends in aspen.

that life can't be lived forever (at least for me: i don't have a trust fund). so, i took a drive down the hill into denver: a sign of my impending llifestyle change). as my craigslist transportaion didn't pan out as i had intended, i was able to get a cheap flight to atlanta, therefore making my destination just in time for a st. paddy's day celebration with mark.

however, in dedication to my last two years of colarado life, zander and i fed our eating frenzy at my favorite denver restaurant potager. somehow, i don't think my near travels will be filled with fine wine and expensive food. well, maybe they will, i just might actually have to work to pay for it.

i HEART a good laugh

once again, snow is drifting down upon the sleepy town of aspen. except, aspen is beginning to stretch it's rested arms and open its bleary eyes. the hbo comedy fest is comin' to town. for my 3rd consecutive year, i will be attending films, sketches, improv, and standup with the rest of the la crowd flown in for the week. not altogether unlike sundace, the comedy festival brings together national comic talent with producers, distributors, and agents who mix together to create a big happy bang of laughter.

among this year's notable performances are louis ck, a prarie home companion's garrison keillor, and a swingers reunion.

well, here it goes: a week full of fun, laughs, and sneaking into venues i don't have tickets for.

a job well done

it looks as though pcc succeeded in its efforts to train up socially mindful and culturally aware students. years of required vespers, fine arts performances, and blackie scott etiquette lectures as a pcc student have paid off.

last night, i was in rare form sitting still before master pianist peter serkin as he performed wildly chaotic and entrancing pieces by schoenberg, bach and beethoven. while i have a feeling that many former pcc students were sitting at home watching american idol or battling halo enemies on xbox, this former student was happily habituated at the harris concert hall heeding the beautiful sounds happening onstage.

in one way, pcc has done it's job. it has trained at least one student to enjoy a few of the finer cultural allowances life has to offer. however, i think the school could have done a better job in one thing: it could have told me how to deal with all the gays i would encounter at such events.

last night at the oscars

my two-year tradition joining aspen filmfest for an indulgent evening celebrating a new year of oscar winners will mostly likely end next year when i am in hollywood for the event, but i doubt aspen's premier oscar event will disappoint, even if i am not present.

last night, zander and i joined others at aspen's ritz-carlton club for a delicious evening of food, cocktails, and televisions on the red carpet. champagne greated me at the door, as did plates of delectible hors d'ouevres, including incredible foie gras raspberry sandwiches. a most tasty round of bananas foster followed for desert...but--enough about the food.

with an amazing lineup of films, the 78th annual academy awards, in my opinion, did not disappoint. i was most happy to see reese witherspoon onstage as the recipient of best actress. ever since i read that reader's digest article in which she was interviewed (fyi, reading rd was due to a momentary judgment lapse. it doesn't happen often, i promise), i have somehow had a soft spot in my HEART for who i think she is. not to mention that she reminds me of a good friend whom i haven't heard from in along time...

my single disappointment was philip seymour hoffman, and his lack of canine phoenetics during his acceptance speech. on february 22nd, hoffman appeared with david letterman on the late show*, telling of his long-standing pack with friends. "best actor oscar nominee for capote, philip seymour hoffman, the film's director bennett miller, and their friend steven schub, made a pact years ago when they were in college: should any of the three of them ever win an oscar, their acceptance speech must consist entirely of barking, and nothing but. the barking must continue for the entire speech and until the winner is dragged off stage." [source] despite his roles is the big lebowski, magnolia, cold mountain and everything in between, hoffman--on oscar night--was a disappointment. how sad.

*late show video clipviewable only with realplayer plug-in.

i'm a free man

at the risk of opening up a little too much and sounding even more unintelligent than some who read my blog believe i am, i will detail in the following paragraphs why i am a free man.

yesterday, my 17" powerbook came back from the repair center, waiting for me on the front porch of my aspen residence. the problem: my motherboard was jacked. before i had taken my computer into the apple store to get it fixed, i had backed up my hard drive: years of photos, years of design work from school and my personal life, hundreds of documents, files--the works.

well, i thought i had backed it up. today, i connected my $150 external hard drive to my newly refurbished computer, to realize that i actually had backed nothing up at all. honestly, i don't know what i had done. it took hours to transfer whatever was transfered to this storage device, and yet none of my documents ever made it.

i'm a free man: it's like starting with a clean slate. no pre-concieved notions of who i am, what i do, or even what my identity is. i have the freedom to start now, work it out from here, and create the future i want with nothing in my past to oversahdow that. which, i would say, is a beautiful thing. and here is the bonus: my computer was dented and scratched as i sent it away, and it came back in one perfect piece, totally restored and undented. this was a surprise that (shouldn't have been covered under warranty) i didn't even pay for.

so here's to life and all of its unexpected surprises. here's to a new, uncluttered slate, and whatever will become of it. here's to being free. cheers.

a weekend at the ranch

my time in aspen has not been onlyfrolicking in the snow, eating delicious (and expensive) food, hitch-hiking in place of vespa transportation, making money at the expense of aspenite millionaires and raging all night at aspen's 'hottest' venues. oh no. i have worked. i have worked hard.

several weeks ago, zander and i ventured north 3 hours to his family's ranch near the awkward town of craig, colorado. although i managed to squeeze in an hour on cross-country skis, most of the time was spent in hard manual labor: feeding the horses, opening up watering holes for the livestock, and toting bails of hay on the tractor. oh yeah--that was me driving the tractor, all right. this little city boy is a rough-and-tumble cowboy.

well, for a weekend at least.

drunkblogging

i know i've done this before, but never with the fulfilling taste of new york pizza settled in my tummy. although you have your aspenites who swear by crepes and gyros at the popcorn wagon, there are the few and truly local who swear by the merits of the delicious thin-cruted greasiness of the pepperoni slice at nyp. oh, sweet 2am delight like none other, thank you, pizza guy, and here is 75 cents tip for you as always.

whether a night at caribou, chelsea, or eric's, your pizza always satisfies.

oh, and i just decided that i actually love nyc so much that i bought a ticket to visti. a cheap flight from at lanta to the big apple should be just what i need in a few weeks. now it's time to go to bed...

i HEART nyc

and it's time that i go back.

i need to go see bam's showing of hedda gabler, staring cate blanchett.

a night out

last night, in classic aspen style, i was off the mountain and into the theatre for a compelling performace by the ailey II dance company.

hosted by the aspen santa fe ballet--recognized for its presence as an emerging dance company--ailey II gave an energetic performance in an evening of mixed repertory. especially moving was Doug Varone's piece beauty, an emotional piece about the subtle and intimate nuances that form the relationship between a man and a woman.

technically, the dancers faltered to reach perfection, but any missteps were overshadowed by their crowd-pleasing sparkle in both bitter suite and the ailey staple revelations.

with a nod to its older sibling, the alvin ailey american dance theater, ailey II continues to inspire and enliven audiences, even in the mountains of colorado.

a good day on the mountain #2

despite the fact that my snowboard was stolen earlier this week (who in aspen doesn't already own skis or a snowboard?), i have cruised the mountain on zander's board (thank you, zander, for the use of your pass, too).

early this afternoon, with phone camera held closely (i'm still waiting for my sanyo xacti to get back from the fix-it shop), i headed for ajax -- the affectionate, local name for aspen mountain.

after my own private supermodel documentary hour in the gondola, i was greeted atop the mountain by two very happy skiers and their dog, diego.

i took a few sunny runs, sent out a few chairlift texts, downed a corona at bonnie's (would've rather had fat tire), and looked around at all the beautiful skiers.

thanks aspen, you've been good to me. here's to you.

unusual place #2

following the precedent set by my blog from denver's apple store, i think it is a fine idea to continue blogging from a new place--unusual, obscure, risky--wherever it may be.

tonight i am in a million-dollar home with sweeping views of snowmass mountain. for a mere $30 an hour, i am the single valet parker for a handful of dinner guests. after parking no more than 10 cars this evening, i find that i have time to wait. and wait. and eat left over hors d'oeuvres. and hopefully eat leftover dinner prepared by chefs from european catering.

after dinner and pressing 'refresh' on my email a few times, i will defer once again to the frozen cold to return the bmw's, lexus's, and audi's to their owners, wishing every guest a fond farewell. with 6 crisp twenty dollar bills in my hand, of course.