Je suis retourné à la maison
Late Sunday evening I found myself standing on the Blue Line train, hurtling toward downtown Chicago. The tail-end of an eleven day spree, culminating in five days in New York, dovetailing into a New Year’s eve celebration.
It’s good to be home.
New York was a nice mix of complete relaxation and bacchanal destruction. My first night was spent with my feet up on an ottoman watching something on television. I say "something" because my eyes closed almost as fast as they opened the next morning when a rather aged pug named Bosco was licking my hand.
I spent the first day - as I spend most first days in New York - shopping. I went straight downtown, Soho/Noho/Tribeca. There’s something about the people in that part of the city that make want to shop. Not because I particularly relate to them, but because it becomes a contest of who can wear the most conceptual piece of clothing. It’s usually a 19-year-old Asian gal, but who’s to say that one shouldn’t even play the game.
That evening we lit Channukah candles and I took my g-dcousin (roll with it) out for her birthday. We are both pretty adventurous eaters, so we tried this vegetarian place that I had been a few months prior. It’s called Gobo - www.goborestauarant.com and it’s really delicious. I’m a big fan of vegetarian/vegan eating (maybe after a few years of dating vegetarians) because the food is so focused on taste. I love a big steak - but there’s something about the inventiveness in flavor that really gets me going. Check out the website for some examples … and I recommend the avocado tartare.
After that, I crashed out.
The next few days followed the "Houston Cycle" - wake up late-morning, visit someone for lunch. Take a little nap. Have a way-too-big dinner, then go crazy.
Thursday evening I went with Jared (he’s a Friendster) and his girlfriend to see a band called "Assembly of Dust" that his sister manages. Their genre is "jam band" which I was a little leery of at first, but these guys are incredible musicians. And they packed Irving Plaza. It was pretty cool to watch them from the VIP balcony and everyone was dancing, and singing along.
Then I met my cousin Bebe - who is amazing - in the East Village. If I’m not finding the kind of people I like in Soho, it’s because they are all in the East Village. Maybe I’m an old rock-and-roll guy at heart, or was a speakeasy owner in a past life, because I love the scene. It’s often a combination of underground (and luxurious) or grungy. Either way, the people there are my kind of crowd.
One of my favorite text messages from Bebe that night was: Come meet us at Nublu on Avenue C. No sign, just blue light out front."
– more to come –
