Prats and Pitfalls of Being a Busybody

I'm trying to be a good, conscientious student. As I told someone last night, I can get work done just by procrastinating... by doing work I would rather do than the work I don't want to do. Work still gets done, and at some point, the work I don't WANT to do becomes work i HAVE to do, leaving me little choice. Which explains why I am at Panera Bread, enjoying soup and free wi-fi while I edit documents, manuscripts, and skim book chapters for class this week.

***POST IS NOT KNITTING RELATED. POST IS ABOUT POLITICS AND ME BEING NOSY. If you do not want to read about my political opinions, you should probably SKIP THIS POST****

A lovely family sitting in a booth across the way are having THE DISCUSSION. About politics. On one hand, I congratulate them for being mature enough to be able to discuss politics within the family. That's not how it works in my fam. I pretend my parents are voting with their pocketbooks, and they pretend I didn't vote for Clinton two terms in a row (though I think that's the closest I got to being disowned).

The son, a physician (they were talking about his job previous to the politics discussion) started talking about how Obama's minister/preacher, Jeremiah Wright is an anti-semite. How he has often had Palestinians and TERRORISTS (how I hate that word) come and guest speak at his church. How since Pastor Wright and Obama are such bosom buddies, that Obama must be an anti-Semite as well...

**convo became to quiet for me to get particulars for a minute**

Then, we move onto how the SON (the doctor) is also pro-life. In my head, I grumble, EVERYONE IS EFFING PRO-LIFE you asshole!! No one is pro-abortion! But I am staunchly pro-choice. oops. Got off topic. My anti-men thing is coming out here, b/c I am not sure that I respect the opinion of men about the topic of the legalities of abortion. Should men get a vote on what a woman can do to her body and reproductive organs? (I had more vitriolic rant going off here... which I deleted. You can tell I'm not happy.)

So, my question to you, (should you still be reading my rant here) is... is any of this true? Is Pastor Wright a known anti-Semite? Should we judge Obama based on this... allegation? Then my question becomes... how come we didn't judge the current Prez on these criteria (judged by associations and their alleged values).

-- off to Stapes to buy school supplies. Pens. Pens with a very very fine tip make me happy. Graph paper for my statistics class. I love graph paper. It helps me take very neat notes... I can be happy with the small details.

Labor of Love

As per the usual (of the past 2-3 years), I just spent a very enjoyable Labor day in NYC. My friends moved (3 mos ago) to a new apartment, and I was excited to see the new 'hood and place.

I took Bolt Bus down, which is as cheap as Fung Wah, but nicer. A lot nicer. Wi-Fi access, air conditioning, and reclining seats. I slept on the way there, but read on the way home (nothing exciting. I read a text that I'm making my students read this semester. Yalom's The Gift of Therapy, if you must know).

Upon arrival, we took the subway to the new place to drop off my stuff. It's a gorgeous pre-war condo that has a partial view of the Park. It's big, by NYC standards, but still so small. We got a quick snack to tide us over, b/c we didn't want to ruin our appetites.

Who here watches Iron Chef America? Then you are familiar with the name Masaharu Morimoto! I knew he had a restaurant in Philly, but my friends let me know that he had opened a restaurant in NYC. I was DYING to go. Every time he battles in Kitchen Stadium, I become a ravenous mess at midnight. Morimoto in NYC was everything I hoped for, and more.

We started out with some drinks. Pretty names, yummy sips. I had the hydrangea, while my friend had the snapdragon (her DH declined, as he wanted to stay sharp for the upcoming Scrabble Tourney). We shared the rock shrimp tempura, which was served in two different sauces (a wasabi aioli sauce, and a korean red-pepper sauce) which were crispy, creamy, and absolutely delish. Then, the surf and turf main course came out, which comprised of a waygu beef in hot mustard (cooked medium rare) and some yellowtail with avocado. The beef was SO TENDER that no knife was needed. At all. You barely needed teeth. The fish was fresh and buttery. On the side were some roasted fingerling potatoes that just melted in my mouth.

We followed the main course with some sushi. Spicy tuna, spicy yellowtail, and spider rolls. Even though we were not yet stuffed to the gills, we decided we should wait it out and look at the dessert menus. Roasted bananas in chocolate creme, with banana ice cream for me. Warm chocolate cake with popcorn ice cream for the friend's DH. Chocolate mousse and ganache with black sesame for my friend. NOW we were full. So full, that we passed out when we got home.

Saturday was spent exploring. We went to the MOMA, b/c a classmate's husband had been invited to design a pre-fab house to show at the MOMA (on the 54th? 56th? street lot). During the exploration of the inside exhibition (more the history of pre-fab homes) I bumped into a professor from my program. Totally random. Going outside to the street lot to explore the five pre-fab homes was incredible. One was built with NO NAILS! (that's the one my classmate's husband made). SO COOL.

we did a walking tour of the west side (midtown and chelsea) to see the neighborhood where Sarah Jessica Parker lives, where her brownstone from SATC was filmed, and just cute neighborhoods. We were way too close to Billy's Bakery not to pop in and have some cake! If you are ever in the neighborhood, treat yourself to some moist, decadent cake while watching the cute cupcake guy sing along to the radio. We enjoyed this, this, and this. Yes, my sweet tooth has been totally satiated. All that sugar helped me to win the big game of Scrabble that night.

Sunday, we did bagels (nothing like a NYC bagel) and then re-arranged the apartment. You know how when you move, you have to arrange the furniture around a few times to see where it fits best? I love doing that. So long as it's not MY apartment.

That's how I spent my lovely 3 day, pre-school starting weekend. Next year, I hope to spend some time in Flushing Meadows too, to watch some tennis.

Sorry for so many links and no pics. My friends are muggles, and unknowing of the blog. carrying around a camera to Morimoto and Billy's would have been strange.