A Collection of Thoughts

1. If you haven't read my recent Facebook update, last night I tried not one oyster, but two, at a soft opening of Akariba, an oyster/sake bar owned by one of the guys who owns Small Wonder. I went with Tyler, knowing he loves oysters, and was perfectly content with just sake. Turns out the soft opening included a *complimentary* (though we left a very generous tip) four-course meal and delicious drinks made of lychee puree -- edamame, cucumbers and daikon (maybe?) with a delicious sauce, the most amazing seared tuna that melted like butter the second it touched your tongue, and...oysters. Oysters that were alive earlier that day but then lay pathetically torn open on a bed of ice. We sat with my co-workers, who are Jewish (as in, from-Israel-Jewish) and don't eat shellfish. So we had two platters of oysters. I tried two and gagged. Tyler slurped down the rest. BUT at least I can say I've tried oysters, and I can also say I will never eat oysters again. It's like eating a slimy tongue that's been in the ocean.
   
2. My dad just informed me that years ago at the Rusty Pelican, the seafood restaurant where he and my mom worked/met, he ate 130 oysters in 2 minutes.
   
3. Dad, the thought of eating that many slimy sea creatures makes my stomach do somersaults! I literally GAGGED trying to swallow the second oyster and had to cover my mouth so I didn't gross out everyone else at the table. I thought I was going to throw up.
   
4. Today as I flipped through the last pages of Rolling Stone and read the iTunes top 10 songs -- and didn't recognize any -- I realized with sadness that my knowledge of bad-but-good pop/rap hits is rapidly dwindling. Why? Because the reason I knew all of those songs was from listening to the radio in my car. And now I don't have a car, so I don't listen to the radio. Which means I don't know the new Lil Wayne hit, and for some strange reason that makes me sad a little bit. I liked shocking people (read: Tyler, when we'd drive to Baker's and listen to 106.9) by knowing all the lyrics to all the songs. No longer...
5. Also, because I don't have a car and hence don't listen to the radio, I've been listening to NPR a lot less. Which disappoints me, because NPR is a really great radio station. I loved listening to Morning Edition news in the morning driving to work, to jazz on my lunch break, and to All Things Considered in the late afternoon driving home. I had the schedule memorized. The New York NPR has shows I've never heard of and a schedule that throws me off. Plus, we get horrible reception in our apartment, so I can't listen to it unless I want to listen to static.
6. The workday here is way later than anywhere else I've ever been. People go to their 9 to 5's at 10 and leave at 6. Businesses open at 10 or 11. If you're an early bird in the city, you're outta luck, because all you'll find are closed business with their locked-up gates.
7. Tyler has another interview at WH Freeman on Tuesday. I hope this is the one where they just reaffirm he's the perfect candidate and offer him the position on the spot. But that might be wishful thinking.
8. This is what I've noticed about New Yorkers:
   
9. All -- and by all I mean 98% -- New Yorkers drink their coffee with milk and sugar. Not half and half. Milk. Whole milk. Even the roughest, toughest dude will order a coffee with milk and sugar. It's the de facto cup of coffee.
10. Speaking of milk, whole milk reigns supreme in these parts. I had never even tried whole milk until moving here. Having been raised on 2% and then buying skim for a couple years, whole milk just seems -- well, like a meal. An artery-clogging meal. But everyone drinks it, every coffee shop makes their lattes with it, and you are an outsider if you drink anything else.
    
11. Tyler and I still drink skim. Except the other day I bought 1%. They're sucking me in!
12. Also really popular here: croissants. Man oh man! In Omaha I couldn't have cared less about croissants. I think maybe I'd eaten a couple in my entire life and didn't think they were that interesting. But people are crazy about 'em here. Crazy. Croissants and whole milk, what a healthy breakfast.
    
13. You can see the Twin Tower beams of light from our street in Brooklyn. Tyler mentioned that we'll be here for the 10 year anniversary next year. That's pretty crazy, and it makes me feel old. Nine years ago today I didn't even know what the World Trade Center was.
    

Goodnight!