I went to the Pasadena Bead fair today… kinda queer, I know, but inspiring at the same time. A lot of ticky-tacky, but also some really beautiful hand spun, hand died wools, interesting product, and as promised, lots of trim.
My favorite discovery is a company called French Basketeer. They sell imported, hand woven French Moroccan baskets, organic cotton mesh bags for veg storage (among other things), and gorgeous rolling woven shopping baskets. Super beautiful stuff.
I bought some lovely blue wool that I’ll make into a… shawl? scarf? we’ll see. It’s floaty and fuzzy, so something lacy in the end, I’m sure.
Came home and futzed around then went and started training at a new restaurant tonight. Collective gasp. Yes, after five years at the Dolce, I’m thinking about moving on. Nothing set yet, still there, but starting this week I’ll also be working at 8 oz, the lil’ sister to Table 8. It’s a delicious burger joint on Melrose between Stanley and Spaulding. After training tonight they fed me; I had a burger (amazing), chocolate malt (yum), and white truffled potato skins (excuse me? yeah, you heard me). I’m still full and happy. If this job works out I’ll be a chubby Schinders before long. If you’re in the neighborhood, come on in and have some meat… I mean, you could have a fish sandwich or the veggie burger if you have to, but man that’s good cow.
Not only did we have a fun of ton manning the FanLib booth, but Melanie and I had a great time wandering the Javits Center and taking pix! Here she is with a storm trooper.
We saw Jedi and Indiana Jones and sexy harem ladies. We got schwag and stickers and pins. Melanie got interviewed by David Price of The Middle Show. He asked her when nerd girls got hot; she said they always were. That’s why she’s my best gal.
The highlight of the show, obviously, was Gaiman. Bill Hader intro’ed him, talking about what a rabid fan he is, how Gaiman’s brought him career luck, and doing some impressions of celebrities in Gaiman roles (Vincent Price as Coraline was hy-larious!). Mel videoed him doing Pacino “spitballing” idea on the set of Sandman… imagine Pacino as Sandman…
Anyhoo, Neil was fantastic. Funny, charming, generous of his time and spirit with his fans. He read some short stories, and then the third chapter of his new novel, The Graveyard Book, about a boy raised in a Graveyard by dead folk mostly. The book’s due out in October. Here’s a crappy picture of Neil reading.
I found footage of Neil talking about the CBDLF, from the very beginning of the reading, but the reading itself isn’t up yet. I’m sure someone will post it, there were lots of people with handheld digital cameras.
What a fantastic day.
On a completely different note, Happy Passover all. If you’re not a Jew, and you find it hard to remember what we do at Passover, just remember that while Passover and Easter are celebrated at the same time of year, our food is the opposite of Jesus: unrisen. Good Yontif!
I interviewed Kate Flannery, Meredith of The Office, for FanLib’s blog, No Hiatus, this week. The first part is up, the second part will go up Wednesday, and the final piece on Friday. We figured since the show’s returning to air this week, now would be the time to show it. We brought her an edible bouquet; it looked delicious.
After the interview I had lunch with Parker. He ordered a side of bacon, which looked equally delicious.
This is the kind of thing that makes me glad I started a blog, hell it’s the whole reason for having a blog. Dale Ernhardt Jr. has launched a candy bar, your basic chocolate and caramel thing, but what makes the bar super special is the name, The Big Mo! How fucking great is that??
Is Ernhardt so completely middle American and oblivious that he has no idea what a Big Mo is? Apparently it’s short for Mooresville TN, from whence he come, but the fact remains no one in his entourage knows the meaning either. In fact, and this is pretty great, his hangers on call themselves, “the Dirty Mo Posse.” That is so gay and nasty. It’s as bad as if Ella Fitzgerald had had a crunchy-nut candy bar called Scat Queen.
Going a bit stir crazy now. Feeling somewhat better due to upping the cold meds, but going to lunch with my little brother at Snug Harbor – yes I left the house – really took it out of me. My big activity for this evening, make a monster.
I read today on Hoover Factory that Florent may close! Gasp! Non Merci! I did a little research, and acording to Eater, there does seem to be grave danger. Greed and the hip factor of the Meat Packing district being the main factors. Gah! Without Florent the Meat Packing district would never have gotten hot in the first place. Though I also blame Michelle Jean and Oriont, the restaurant that almost was.
One of the things I do, as a New Yorker living in LA, to make me feel connected with home and my family who are still there, is pay an extra three dollars a month to DirecTV to get the East Coast feed of ABC. So randomly, in the middle of the night, or whenever, I’ll watch local ABC news out of New York; it’s so rewarding, not only do I get to feel relieved I’m not suffering through winter (it’s only in the 20’s today), but I also get to see odd, “only in New York” moments.
A building in Williamsberg, Bklyn, was evacuated on Sunday by FDNY. Not only did they have sprinkler and loft conversion violations, but there was an illegal Matzo factory in the basement. Awesome. Illegal Matzo, completely undocumented, no prescriptions needed; just a good hook up.
This raid is just another example of New York City’s unfair treatment of the Jews.
Just got back from eating too much dim sum at Shun Lee (anyone notice a theme to my vacation?); thank you Brandon Walker for pointing out that I’m just like the rest of my brethren.
Merry merry all. I’m super full; all I’ve done here in New York, aside from go to museums and pet the dog, is eat. Lunch yesterday served by Mrs. Claus at Florent, the coffee is great there, cinnamon-ey and rich, just like I remember it.
In college, when they were open 24/7, my ex-roommate (a talented writer in her own right) Tricia Warden, and I, used to go there late night to drink coffee and play gin rummy. No matter how busy they were at 2am, they never minded us taking up a table and staying for hours.
Dinner last night was amazing; sometimes the turkey and the stuffing rise above all other turkeys. I’d write more, but there’s a leftovers sandwich waiting to be made…
I’b in Dew York wid a head code. It’s code here and rainy, and we keeb adding peeble to the xmas guest lisd. Must go bag to Barnes and Doble, for bore gibts. Sigh. Here’s a great ad that wub sent to be by by friend Lewis Fein. Thangs Lewis.
My first apartment in LA was in Beachwood Canyon, over on the East Side, a super cute little building from the 40’s (?) that was built by MGM to house starlets. There were stone lions at the top of the cobbled drive, cut out areas which used to house murphy beds, and pass doors between the apartments, which had long since been sealed. I loved to imagine girls in their 20’s dashing back and forth in peigniors, borrowing hair pins and cold cream.
One of the best things about living there was the proximity to Vito’s Pizza on Vermont; it was as close as you could get in LA to a real slice. And then they closed. And then I moved. Sigh.
So now I’m in West Hollywood and Vito’s has re-opened on La Cienega! I know it’s hard to believe, but I think their pizza is even better than before. I asked if they’d changed the dough recipe and while they wouldn’t tell me what they’d done, they said yes it is different and better.
The pizza is thin and crisp, with just the right balance of cheese to sauce. The dough is close to perfect, with crunchy crust and soft air bubbles at the top of the pie. I’ve been to the new location several times now, and the choices range from plain (perfect) to white with veg, from white pizza with pesto to basic pepperoni. I finally ordered one in today – THEY DELIVER AMAZING PIZZA!
This is the kind of thing that makes me glad I started a blog, hell it’s the whole reason for having a blog. Dale Ernhardt Jr. has launched a candy bar, your basic chocolate and caramel thing, but what makes the bar super special is the name, 
I read today on 
One of the things I do, as a New Yorker living in LA, to make me feel connected with home and my family who are still there, is pay an extra three dollars a month to DirecTV to get the East Coast feed of ABC. So randomly, in the middle of the night, or whenever, I’ll watch local ABC news out of New York; it’s so rewarding, not only do I get to feel relieved I’m not suffering through winter (it’s only in the 20’s today), but I also get to see odd, “only in New York” moments.
Merry merry all. I’m super full; all I’ve done here in New York, aside from go to museums and pet the dog, is eat. Lunch yesterday served by Mrs. Claus at 
My first apartment in LA was in Beachwood Canyon, over on the East Side, a super cute little building from the 40’s (?) that was built by MGM to house starlets. There were stone lions at the top of the cobbled drive, cut out areas which used to house murphy beds, and pass doors between the apartments, which had long since been sealed. I loved to imagine girls in their 20’s dashing back and forth in peigniors, borrowing hair pins and cold cream.
