Only in New York, part 2

Last night I took my cousin Anna to the Met. Placido Domingo was singing Orestes in a new production of Iphegenie en Tauride by Gluck, and it was sublime. However, experiencing the actual opera is only half the reason to go to the Met. Really, you go to the Met to get dressed up and drink champagne on the grand tier and look over and see Renee Fleming.

Anna had never been to the Met, and she enjoyed every minute - especially since she herself had played Iphegenia in one of her acting classes. However, the air was thin at the top of Olympus and rather than retire to an elegant lounge across the street, we decided to go downtown and see what interesting things we could find....

And what did we find? Lesbian burlesque (OH MY GOD...she's making a vulva out of balloons)...bisexual soldiers on leave (is he flirting with you or with me? If we're drinking the same drink and he bought only one, who is it for?) ...a blues bar where the musicians wore French maid outfits and sang in German... the best 2 dollar cheese pizza ever(okay...we're only getting one more slice, but we have to share) .... limousines parked in front of mountains of garbage.... and, last but not least, a situation where a police officer stopped the car and pointed a gun at us...well, really they pointed the gun at the hoodlums BEHIND us, but I digress.

Overheard on Madison Avenue

Woman 1: "Oh! I love your dog...how much does she weigh?"
Woman 2: "About 15 pounds....why do you ask?"
Woman 1: "Well, we're looking for a dog - one that can handle the rigours of constant international travel on our jet. I think the limit is 15 pounds, actually."
Woman 2: "Really? I thought it was 20...well, I guess we'll have to start monitoring Bridget's diet. Thanks for the tip."
Woman 1: "Oh, no problem at all. Lovely to meet you... (in a cutesy voice): Bye Bridget!"

Food, Glorious Food!

Here is an email that I sent to my friend Rebecca - gustatory goddess and foodie extraordinaire....

Oh my God. New York is just, well,aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh... I don't know where to start, so I will start with food. This is what I have eaten:

bruschetta with gorgonzola cream sauce - served piping hot...
Linguini with oven dried tomatoes, chicken, garlic oil, spinich, pine nuts and goat cheese - this was at an Italian place near Lincoln Centre - and guess who was sitting at the next table? Kramer from Seinfeld!
BRUNCH AT PASTIS! We saw Curtis Stone - that cute chef from from Australia who has a show on the Food Network.....we started out with Champagne cocktails that were bright pink and flavoured with rosewater...than a basket of baked goods that included:

raisin cardamom sticky buns
brioche with orange zest
VALROHNA CHOCOLATE BREAD - eaten with bitter orange marmalade
dense fruit-nut bread with dried cherries and walnuts....
then I had "eggs hussard" which were poached eggs over toast with ham and mushrooms and hollandaise, covered in SAUCE BORDELAISE (brown sauce with wine and shallots)...SO GOOD
wild mushroom ravioli with truffle oil
frangelico chocolate mousse
skirt steak served with arugula and shaved Parmesan
hot chocolate with ancho chillies and cinnamon!!!!!
the best cheese pizza...ever....
BAGELS.... with like a foot of cream cheese.
and I have only been here for 2 days.
I also went to this gourmet food market that had artisanal butter from france and more kinds of fish then I could ever imagine...and a black transsexual hooker buying fillet mignon???? And women in fur coats buying lobsters and
oozing brie and cherries in December and I went to Williams Sonoma where they have copper fish kettles and a candy floss attachment for a kitchen aid....and a demonstration kitchen where you can watch them make marshmallows.

Tomorrow I will slow down in the food department. Jackie O used to subsist on broth and fruit after she had overindulged. That seems sensible...and one should emulate Jackie O while in New York.

Anyway, lots to tell.... I have seen a lot, and experienced a lot... I had a lesson the morning after I got here at 2 in the morning! AAAAH...it was very cool, though....New Yorkers are very friendly and direct and they talk to you on the subway...about a great many things. My cousin is wearing a mini dress and stiletto boots and a vintage fur coat and is going out for tea at midnight ...she is very Sarah Jessica Parker. I think I am going to a concert of Medieval Christmas music tomorrow.... and then maybe to see some paintings by Klimt? Or my cousin and I may stay in bed and watch Annie Hall..... who knows!

love to you...

-b

Only in New York?

I knew I loved New York within 5 minutes of landing at JFK. I knew I loved New York because because by the time I had collected my luggage, more people had talked to me then in my entire time in Vancouver, or so it seemed. People asked me the time, people commented on my new coat - people smiled and looked me in the eye asked me where I was from.... I told them I was from Canada, and they wondered aloud why I didn't add "eh" to all my sentences. One woman selling Hot Chocolate asked me if pot was legal back home, and told her that you could get high just walking down the street. She wants to move - but I don't see why, because New York is everything you could ever wish for. In fact, as I was walking down 5th avenue last night, arm in arm with a friend, I said to myself "this is how I always imagined life should be"...for I always imagined that life should be loud and crazy, and clothed impeccably. I always imagined that life should be full of people, and full of good things to eat. I thought that life should be direct and honest and laughing and perhaps even a bit pushy.

Most importantly, life should have windows at regularly spaced intervals: Windows full of light that illuminate the darkness - windows with beautiful things in them that cause you to dream.

Today I feel like I never want to leave New York - I know that I will have to eventually, but I will always look for the New York in every place I happen to find myself - I will seek out that which is original and causes you to stop in your tracks; that which is unconventional and beautiful -- that which is real...

I will look for these windows wherever I go.

Please leave a message

Ah, the joys of being 28 and temporarily unemployed. I have found myself at a crossroads - I am at the juncture of the diverging paths of the beginning of the rest of my life! I am the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.

Actually, I have no idea what the hell I am doing. And in situations like the one I find myself in, it is best to skip town. So, I have bought at ticket to NYC, the city that never sleeps - and since I am not sleeping right now, it seems like a perfectly logical destination to me. It beats drinking warm milk.

You know, they always say that you should not call on New York - that you should wait until New York calls you. Very wise. To be perfectly honest, I think there MUST be something wrong with my phone, because I think New York has been trying to get through. I have just been out so much these days, and it is such a huge burden for a city of 9 million to leave a message after the tone. I will just have to contact information and patiently explain to them that I am expecting a call and that they should do everything in their power to ensure that ALL of my correspondence gets through.

One must take care of one's correspondence. One must take infinite care with messages of all sorts, methinks.

Let me just go and make that call.