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July 31, 2005
Reasons this weekend has been annoying
1. There's been problems with our hot water since Thursday and even though we've spoken to and left messages with the superintendent and building manager several times since this started, the problem still hasn't been taken care of.
2. The washing machine I used this morning is broken and did not spin during the spin cycle, which meant my things were soaking wet when I took them out.
3. I discovered the other supermarket near our apartment requires customers to check in any bags and I had to walk all the way back there after discovering the bag check person had forgotten to give me one of my bags.
Added: 10:00 pm
The strawberries and raspberries we got for the fondue I did tonight got moldy. The fondue was very good though.
Posted by Jennifer at 05:57 PM | Comments (0)
July 30, 2005
Five Year Anniversary
Five years ago today (or, actually, yesterday since it's past midnight) I had a chance encounter with the man that would become my husband. I don't think I knew about blogs at the time and I was still publishing my zine when I heard about a zine fair being held at The New School. I got there early and Adam ended up sitting at the table next to mine. I judge books by their cover and was disappointed when I saw his zine at first (the covers featured people I wasn't into and his issues were published on newsprint at that time and I generally didn't like newsprint zines) but he managed to win me over and the rest, as they say, is history. We celebrated by going to Al Di La Trattoria. I'd heard good things about Al Di La for years but didn't really like their menu when I first saw it but so many people have raved about it that I gave in and decided to try it. And I'm glad we did--the food is very good. We liked the paccheri with pork ragu so much we got two orders of it. I wanted to try their pear cake with Valrhona chocolate chunks but I was determined to save a small portion of my stomach for The Chocolate Room. Unfortunately, even after walking down a number of blocks and stopping in stores like this one, which we were pleasantly surprised to discover carried ciders by our favorite local winery, I only had room for a mocha but, as hoped, the mocha was a very good one. Because Park Slope is a schlep for us, we don't go there often, but after our experiences tonight we decided we should return more often. You Brooklynites are lucky--Queens may be known for its ethnic food, but authenticity doesn't always mean better food.
Posted by Jennifer at 01:13 AM | Comments (0)
July 23, 2005
I admit I cry at movies...a lot. I watch a lot of sad movies and I'm always the one in the theater who's wiping away tears or sniffling during the sad scenes. There's been some movies where I've cried multiple times but I don't think I've ever cried as much as I did seeing the movie Adam and I saw today, Crying Out Love in the Center of the World. The film was shown as part of the second Asian film festival this month. There are movie scenes in which you cry and then there are movie scenes in which you're virtually sobbing--this movie had a number of scenes involving the latter. It was such a tearjerker, you could even here male audience members crying. The movie is basically about this man who becomes haunted by memories of a former love from high school and returns to his hometown to revisit the places they spent together and to listen to the old cassette tape recordings they had made for each other. She was a precocious individual and they formed an intense bond which lasted through her contraction of leukemia a few months after they meet. I like Japanese film, I like intense love stories, but I'm especially moved by good movies in which the male protagonist is haunted by a love who dies prematurely (Waking the Dead with Billy Crudup and Jennifer Connelly being a prime example).
Afterwards, Adam and I went to Asia Grill. At first, I was really struck by how similar the menu was to Saigon Grill but I was thrown off by the fact that they didn't share the same name. After eating the food and noticing it was exactly the same as Saigon Grill, I realized that they probably are under the same ownership and that it's just called Asia Grill because they also serve Japanese food. At any rate, it's a welcome addition because I love Vietnamese food and Vietnamese restaurants are few and far between!
Posted by Jennifer at 09:37 PM | Comments (0)
July 16, 2005
Saw In the Cut last night, the Jane Campion film with Meg Ryan and Mark Ruffalo. I didn't really like Mark Ruffalo's character so much (though I normally do love the characters he plays, as I did in Eternal Sunshine, You Can Count on Me, and My Life Without Me) and found the movie a little strange but I thought it was o.k. I was surprised that Meg Ryan agreed to take on the role that she did but, save for the graphic sex scenes, it wasn't a radical departure from her role in Flesh and Bone, one of my favorite movies from the '90s. But what I found really interesting is that, apparently, the costume department for the film bought the entire wardrobe from The Job, one of my favorite shows of all time. I also found this interview with Jane Campion, Meg Ryan, and Mark Ruffalo intriguing, particularly this part:
We talked about Mark's facial hair, can I ask Meg about your normal hair in the movie. It's a very different look for a very different kind of character - how did that evolve?
MR: It was fairly organic really. The first step was that Jane and I were walking round the city and we saw a T-shirt with this nihilistic cartoon character called Emily the Strange. Everything contributes.
Anyway, onto some links:
Probably an extreme example of the New York City real estate market.
$6000 does seem steep for this but can I still say I want one? Make sure to check out the video clip! The writer also mentions the World Expo we went to but we didn't see the robots the writer mentions!
Posted by Jennifer at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)
July 11, 2005
Baltimore
Adam's brother and sister-in-law moved to Baltimore a few months ago so we went down to visit them this weekend. We'd never been to Baltimore before--it strikes me as being a pretty low-density city--their skyline is one of the smallest I've seen and the majority of buildings are in the three-story range. Also, while some areas like the Inner Harbor and this place were pretty crowded, there were a number of places that you'd expect to be well trafficked that were surprisingly unpopulated. However, there did seem to be a lot of construction going on.
I was actually pleasantly surprised by Baltimore--lots of wooded areas, historic sights, cool cafes and eateries. And I finally got to eat at this place--the best breakfast chain I've ever been to.
Onto the pictures..
Baltimore is crab crazy in case you didn't know--check out the last item on this menu--gross!
Posted by Jennifer at 09:28 PM | Comments (0)
July 03, 2005
After spending several hours with this cute puppy, our apartment seems to be missing something.
Adam really wants a cat. I'm a little allergic so I'm kind of hesitant and, because of their steep price tag, this doesn't seem to be an option. Anyone know of any cat breeds that are better for people with allergies? (besides Siamese or hairless cats)
Posted by Jennifer at 11:40 PM | Comments (0)