Last night Katie and I had the pleasure of seeing Mark, our friend from high school. Actually, Katie and Mark went to elementary school together. Wow. I didn't meet him till Mountain View HS. Mark is now working for a PR firm in Portland, OR. He was in NYC representing Microsoft among other tech companies. He stayed at this really Euro-style hotel on 58th called the Hudson. We took him to see the new Time Warner building and figured we would go to the West Village for dinner. It was Mark's first time ever on the NYC subway. Had really yummy Italian food and afterward we went to the Magnolia Bakery for dessert--cupcakes of course.
Katie and I had been there many times in the past, but it recently became famous in a very funny Saturday Night Live skit involving the new movie based on CS Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. And yes, they do have incredibly delicious cupcakes. Katie and Mark were overwhelmed by the richness of the frosting and couldn't eat it all, but I was able to overcome the mighty challenge the über-rich frosting posed, eating my ENTIRE cupcake while STANDING UP and ENJOYING EVERY LAST CRUMB. Take that Magnolia Bakery cupcake! Mark was able to pick some up for his client, who had also seen the SNL skit (now making the rounds on the internet) and had expressed desire for the cupcakes. So we helped Mark score some points. We then saw him off on the subway and went home.
I am getting back into the school grind--Mannes classes have been running since Jan. 3, but now Hofstra is starting Monday, Jan. 30 so I will be back to basically full time. Katie is working a ton and working on polishing her interview questions for schools. We'll write more on certain things (such as my comprehensive exams and her interviews) in the next few days or weeks once they are totally complete (for example, I have taken the written exam, but I won't know if I pass until I take the oral exam on Friday). After that, we'll give you the post-mortem. So stay tuned....
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Female Partridge Found, Housed
Things are finally getting back to normal for us after the craziness of the holidays. Although “normal” for us is right around mach speed, so I will get on with the update. Gayle, Dan’s lovely sister, was lucky enough to have a business conference in NYC recently. And since her company was picking up the airfare, she decided to extend her stay at our place and soak in the luxury that is Casa Dan and Bird. Okay, so I am using the term ‘luxury’ loosely, a point to which Gayle can attest should you ask her about our shower, especially after she experienced the Marriot Marquis in Times Square. In our defense, I told her that if the water pressure changes she must immediately remove herself from the stream. Aside from all of that, we managed to have a lot of fun beginning with the formal gala dinner Gayle was able to invite me to at the end of her conference. Sorry, Dan, you do this stuff all the time. Gayle and I got dressed up and took advantage of the cocktail hour before the dinner, during dinner (five courses) and after dinner (at the after party held in a two-level hotel room on the 43rd floor). We stumbled our way to the subway with Gayle’s bag in tow and back to Brooklyn at around 3am.
The next day was pretty relaxing for the girls, as we needed to recover a bit from the festivities. We made cinnamon French toast (and I do mean cinnamon, thanks to Dan who neglected to gently shake said cinnamon into the batter, and instead poured half the contents of the cinnamon bottle in) and bacon for breakfast, played a few games and basically sat around. I should mention that Dan was in a flurry of studying for his comprehensive exam (which he finishes today) and was rarely heard from during Gayle’s visit. We included him in certain things, like eating and ice skating. For the most part, Gayle and I shopped and chatted, played games and watched the Sound of Music sans the Dan.
Speaking of ice skating (were we?), the ice rink at Bryant Park in the city was in its last days of winter operation, so we took advantage of the 60 degree weather, donned rented ice skates and blazed into the rink. And by blazed I do mean wobbled, lurched, careened, reeled and bumbled, threatening to take out anyone who might dare cross our path. Generally we were successful skaters and became more confident with each turn around the rink. The one actual contact with the ice came when Dan unsuspectingly said to me “I love you, Bird” to which I replied “AIYAAAAAAA!!!” and proceeded to plummet to the icy ground. My attempt to bring him down with me as retribution failed and he has since been instructed never to say those words again while I am on ice.
Alas, my rambling narrative is nearing its end. We should have something new to post later on in the month, once Dan gets the results of his exam and I have (mentally) healed from the ice incident.
The next day was pretty relaxing for the girls, as we needed to recover a bit from the festivities. We made cinnamon French toast (and I do mean cinnamon, thanks to Dan who neglected to gently shake said cinnamon into the batter, and instead poured half the contents of the cinnamon bottle in) and bacon for breakfast, played a few games and basically sat around. I should mention that Dan was in a flurry of studying for his comprehensive exam (which he finishes today) and was rarely heard from during Gayle’s visit. We included him in certain things, like eating and ice skating. For the most part, Gayle and I shopped and chatted, played games and watched the Sound of Music sans the Dan.
Speaking of ice skating (were we?), the ice rink at Bryant Park in the city was in its last days of winter operation, so we took advantage of the 60 degree weather, donned rented ice skates and blazed into the rink. And by blazed I do mean wobbled, lurched, careened, reeled and bumbled, threatening to take out anyone who might dare cross our path. Generally we were successful skaters and became more confident with each turn around the rink. The one actual contact with the ice came when Dan unsuspectingly said to me “I love you, Bird” to which I replied “AIYAAAAAAA!!!” and proceeded to plummet to the icy ground. My attempt to bring him down with me as retribution failed and he has since been instructed never to say those words again while I am on ice.
Alas, my rambling narrative is nearing its end. We should have something new to post later on in the month, once Dan gets the results of his exam and I have (mentally) healed from the ice incident.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
New Year's Update
Happy 2006 Everyone!
Katie had to work New Year's Eve until 11pm so we had a late dinner. I made a cheese soufflé with bay shrimp, a creamy onion-parmegian-cheese soup with mushrooms and parsely, and peas. There was also champagne involved as we ate dinner until midnight and watched the ball drop on TV. They said on the tube that something like 85% of the people at Times Sq. are from out of town. I believe it; no way am I going to wait 9 hours in the freezing cold to watch a ball drop for 1 minute in the middle of the night.
Katie and I also wait until New Year's to "open" our "Christmas" stockings (long story). I got some Hickory Farms sausage and cheese (mmmmmm......sausage...drool drool), some chocolate, new ear buds since my old headphones broke, a very small bottle of wine (more of a vial really), and various other things. Katie got some stickers, a very small bottle of Champagne, some arts/crafts stuff for her card-making hobby, the new Paul McCartney CD, a cinnamon candle in a red glass holder that looks like a Christmas ornament, and some other stuff. Fun times!
Also, Ben and Jara came over this morning and took their birds (Cleo and Alfie) back home. We will miss those little squawkers....although not really. (Note to Ben and Jara: we will be happy to watch them again at some point in the future, probably NOT next week.)
My huge huge huge exam is in exactly 2 weeks. I am studying like a crazy man who loves to study. Wish me luck. It is unfortunate that this exam coincides with the NFL playoffs. I guess I'll just have to read box scores in the paper and enjoy watching the Superbowl in Feb. (go Seahawks!).
That is all for now.
Katie had to work New Year's Eve until 11pm so we had a late dinner. I made a cheese soufflé with bay shrimp, a creamy onion-parmegian-cheese soup with mushrooms and parsely, and peas. There was also champagne involved as we ate dinner until midnight and watched the ball drop on TV. They said on the tube that something like 85% of the people at Times Sq. are from out of town. I believe it; no way am I going to wait 9 hours in the freezing cold to watch a ball drop for 1 minute in the middle of the night.
Katie and I also wait until New Year's to "open" our "Christmas" stockings (long story). I got some Hickory Farms sausage and cheese (mmmmmm......sausage...drool drool), some chocolate, new ear buds since my old headphones broke, a very small bottle of wine (more of a vial really), and various other things. Katie got some stickers, a very small bottle of Champagne, some arts/crafts stuff for her card-making hobby, the new Paul McCartney CD, a cinnamon candle in a red glass holder that looks like a Christmas ornament, and some other stuff. Fun times!
Also, Ben and Jara came over this morning and took their birds (Cleo and Alfie) back home. We will miss those little squawkers....although not really. (Note to Ben and Jara: we will be happy to watch them again at some point in the future, probably NOT next week.)
My huge huge huge exam is in exactly 2 weeks. I am studying like a crazy man who loves to study. Wish me luck. It is unfortunate that this exam coincides with the NFL playoffs. I guess I'll just have to read box scores in the paper and enjoy watching the Superbowl in Feb. (go Seahawks!).
That is all for now.
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