In the area around Bowery and Houston—the heart of my neighborhood—sits several abandoned lots, covered with trash, brush, and low talent graffiti. Scatter a few fires and it’s the perfect backdrop for when the mismatched movie cops go into the “bad” section of town. Or at least it used to be. One by one, the lots are being razed over and surrounded with shiny new, arrow-straight chain-link fence. Something is afoot. Soon the area will seem nice and not freak out my parents.
Some locals complain about the new buildings going up removing the “flavor”. I used to tell them to shut up, but now I just wait for rising rents to shoo them away.
…
RIDDLE OF THE WEEK:
Carl Jones introduced Roger Smith to his friend as his ‘Uncle Roger’. Roger Smith introduced Carl Jones to his friend as his ‘Uncle Carl’. “If you are uncles to each other,” queried one of the friends, “you must also be nephews to each other.” “That’s correct,” replied Carl.
Since there has been no breach of marriage law, how can you explain such a relationship?
Answer to
last week’s: x=16,
Email for details.
…
Drink #2
She laughs quietly and he fills her glass and turns the bottle to prevent a drip. A plate of grilled asparagus with a balsamic glaze sits where the candle was. It has been moved to the side to flicker it’s light up to a Monet print above her left shoulder and his right.
‘That’s funny,’ she says. ‘I’ve never been there but I’ve heard of it.’ She watches him cut two spears into thirds, but the next into halves. She forks one of the pieces on her side of the plate. She leans in with the right hand for the food and with the left for her drink and pauses with her chin out, listening.
‘I lived there awhile,’ he says and reaches for his drink. He maintains the forward position and looks at her fork and her hand. She has a silver ring, a gift from her father. For a second they are both tilted towards each other and the communal appetizer and then she sits back up to chew. They repeat this coordinated leaning, like slow-motion windshield wipers, with her guiding the course.
A drop of dressing leaves a piece of asparagus and lands on the cloth in front of him and she watches his left wipe it and then reach for his glass. He’s not wearing a watch.
‘Do you like your job?’ she asks, and he sits upright. He shifts for a moment in his seat and then tells her. When he changes the subject to something he does like, he leans on the table and holds very still. He looks at her eyes. While he talks, her tongue plays over a bit of asparagus leaf caught in her incisor. She responds without letting her lips raise up to reveal it.
He’s focused on what he is saying without being self-centered. He chooses short sentences and only continues when she nods. He relates the story to the one she told earlier and segues it into questions for her. He wants a piece of asparagus that is on her half of the plate.
Three sips of wine and the leaf can still be felt in her teeth. She wants to open her mouth wide to answer his question. She takes a large swallow of wine to finish the glass and boldly removes the leaf with her left index finger.
‘I was tempted to get the lobster raviolis, too. I may have to steal a bite of yours,’ she says and then responds.
…
SOTD: I just finished
The da Vinci Code, a best-selling mystery based on the theories that Mary Magdalene was Jesus’ wife, as seen on ABC last night and
here. If Jesus was born to suffer, I think it is only appropriate that he should be married.
In the area around Bowery and Houston—the heart of my neighborhood—sits several abandoned lots, covered with trash, brush, and low talent graffiti. Scatter a few fires and it’s the perfect backdrop for when the mismatched movie cops go into the “bad” section of town. Or at least it used to be. One by one, the lots are being razed over and surrounded with shiny new, arrow-straight chain-link fence. Something is afoot. Soon the area will seem nice and not freak out my parents.
Some locals complain about the new buildings going up removing the “flavor”. I used to tell them to shut up, but now I just wait for rising rents to shoo them away.
…
RIDDLE OF THE WEEK:
Carl Jones introduced Roger Smith to his friend as his ‘Uncle Roger’. Roger Smith introduced Carl Jones to his friend as his ‘Uncle Carl’. “If you are uncles to each other,” queried one of the friends, “you must also be nephews to each other.” “That’s correct,” replied Carl.
Since there has been no breach of marriage law, how can you explain such a relationship?
Answer to
last week’s: x=16,
Email for details.
…
Drink #2
She laughs quietly and he fills her glass and turns the bottle to prevent a drip. A plate of grilled asparagus with a balsamic glaze sits where the candle was. It has been moved to the side to flicker it’s light up to a Monet print above her left shoulder and his right.
‘That’s funny,’ she says. ‘I’ve never been there but I’ve heard of it.’ She watches him cut two spears into thirds, but the next into halves. She forks one of the pieces on her side of the plate. She leans in with the right hand for the food and with the left for her drink and pauses with her chin out, listening.
‘I lived there awhile,’ he says and reaches for his drink. He maintains the forward position and looks at her fork and her hand. She has a silver ring, a gift from her father. For a second they are both tilted towards each other and the communal appetizer and then she sits back up to chew. They repeat this coordinated leaning, like slow-motion windshield wipers, with her guiding the course.
A drop of dressing leaves a piece of asparagus and lands on the cloth in front of him and she watches his left wipe it and then reach for his glass. He’s not wearing a watch.
‘Do you like your job?’ she asks, and he sits upright. He shifts for a moment in his seat and then tells her. When he changes the subject to something he does like, he leans on the table and holds very still. He looks at her eyes. While he talks, her tongue plays over a bit of asparagus leaf caught in her incisor. She responds without letting her lips raise up to reveal it.
He’s focused on what he is saying without being self-centered. He chooses short sentences and only continues when she nods. He relates the story to the one she told earlier and segues it into questions for her. He wants a piece of asparagus that is on her half of the plate.
Three sips of wine and the leaf can still be felt in her teeth. She wants to open her mouth wide to answer his question. She takes a large swallow of wine to finish the glass and boldly removes the leaf with her left index finger.
‘I was tempted to get the lobster raviolis, too. I may have to steal a bite of yours,’ she says and then responds.
…
SOTD: I just finished
The da Vinci Code, a best-selling mystery based on the theories that Mary Magdalene was Jesus’ wife, as seen on ABC last night and
here. If Jesus was born to suffer, I think it is only appropriate that he should be married.
