Thursday, July 2,  Bryan and I walk to Mary’s on Bedford Street, to meet my cousin Lorraine Dizzia and her daughter Gina (the younger of her two daughters, both of whom are Cornell-ians).  They were going to see Quentin Crisp at the Grove Theater so we took the opportunity to introduce Bryan.  And what a great meal.  A small restaurant but nice, white tablecloths and the like.  I had smoked salmon and a seafood ragout, Bryan had crabcakes, Lorraine a pate with peach chutney, and Gina was disappointed because she tried to stay healthy; not good in a French restaurant!  Plus 2 very good bottles of Veuve Cliquot brut.

Friday, July 3, I had the bishop’s newsletter; our shop is taking Monday as the holiday.  And speaking of the Rt. Rev. Joe Morris Doss, he called Craig+ to tell him how pleased he’s been with our work; in fact, he’s considering having us do a personal letter from him!  Hmmm, working our way up!

Jeff Marshall and Alli Wong arrive at the apartment, and then go to the Amazing Royal Crowns soundcheck at Coney Island High, the club on St. Mark’s Place, where they will be performing at night.

We walk over to Dok Suni for Korean food.  Finding a very long wait, we go to the Cloister Café on 9th Street instead, where we all have shrimp cocktails for appetizers, I get fettucine alfredo, Jeff the chicken parm, Alli has a wonderful chicken marsala and Bryan has shrimp scampi.

Getting to Coney Island High, the whole show is pretty good, and all the young kids aren’t too tough to look at either.  Dangerboy is there, but working so we don’t have much of a chance to talk.

Saturday, July 4, we all leave for IKEA in NJ.  There are surprisingly few people for their 4th of July sale; we get lots of stuff for under $30 per couple!  Back in NYC, we have lunch at the Telephone Bar & Grill.  We all have brunchy things, but their quality is quite good; unfortunately, it’s normally the suburban tourist crowd.

We catch Bruce Willis in “Armageddon” which they all like much more than I do.  In the evening, we subway to Brooklyn to a roof deck party thrown by Michael.  Supposedly, he sees fireworks from 3 locations, but the overcast weather makes it very hard to see much.  Nonetheless, the people are nice and we get fairly trashed before grabbing a slice of very good pizza in Brooklyn.  I suggest Japanese at Mie; very good.

Sunday, July 5 and I caught the chef from Campagna on Martha Stewart’s morning show.  They do shopping in SoHo, while B and I walk to the West Village.  We manage to drink quite a bit on our walk, stopping for two pina coladas at the Duplex and then a drink at Pieces on Christopher Street.  We also have some pretty bad food at Tiffany’s, across the street from the Duplex.  Back at the apartment by 6 pm, we go to Dick’s, then the Boiler Room on 4th Street, stopping at a fast food Chinese for some very good scallion pancakes.

Monday, July 6, we both planned on having the day off, but Bryan’s boss call’s him into work for a very long day.  I turn domestic, doing laundry and picking up the house, stopping only for lunch at Pangea.  I also pick up my leather Schott motorcycle jacket, which has new pockets sewn in; it was a gift from Mark Enos, many years ago – it’s the first cleaning it’s ever had, and boy did it need it!  Bryan gets home with food … so I’m making spaghetti for dinner.  Afterward, we took a short walk through the East Village, stopping by Dick’s for a drink.

Tuesday, July 7, around 9 we headed over to Life Café on Avenue B but the food wasn’t as good as it normally is (it’s basically a vegan place, but usually very tasty).

Wednesday, July 8, dinner at Pangea.  And speaking of that restaurant, they finally have totally completed their new menu.  It now contains various photographs of their customers.  So who do you think is in it?  Of course, Bryan and Tony!  Actually, it looks like a photo booth picture, but that’s ok; it’s also got a cute caption.

Thursday, July 9, I stop by Jim and Jamie’s for a martini at tea time.  I listen to Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances.  You know, I really like that stuff!

Friday, July 10, MaryAnn’s for Mexican.  Next door, at White Trash – a cool, retro store – we buy a Tunnel Light.  What?  A round mirror with xmas lights stuck around the interior perimeter with one-way mirror inside.  What??  An infinite depth illusion.  What???  Just come to the apartment and see!  Very cool, anyway.  After dinner, we pick up “Fallen” on video, with Denzel Washington and John Goodman.  A supernatural cop movie.  I give it D+ (the plus because the actors were good) while Bryan at least enjoys it.  At least it becomes a source of teasing all weekend.

Saturday, July 11, we’re up very early as we’re helping Michelle Petersen, Bryan’s boss, move the smaller things from her former life in Metuchen to her new gorgeous co-op over-looking New Jersey in Battery Park City under the World Trade Center.  She will have a lot of work to do, but it will look great when she’s done.

By 2 pm, we’re done and Michelle buys us lunch at the Wave, the Japanese restaurant in her building, eating outside, overlooking the Stature of Liberty.  It takes us a long time to get back into NJ when we leave her, but by 5 pm, the van is returned and we’re on our own.

So we stop off at Ray Catena Infiniti in Edison to take a test drive.  As you may recall, the Infiniti I30 is on the top of our short list of cars to get when my lease runs out on November 1.  Now of course it’s the salesman’s job to try to get me to buy it “today” but I don’t think he’ll be able to meet my requirements.  But lo and behold he does!  So, with a minimum of fuss and bother, Bryan and I have a new car!  The color is “autumn bronze” with a sage leather interior.  Very nice.

Well, since we’re on a roll, it’s off to Nordstom’s for some vacation clothes.  I get a beautiful, 3-button blue blazer (with navy buttons, not those nautical gold ones) from Joseph Abboud (yes, Tom Lane!), gabardine slacks, socks and then Bryan and I both get new pairs of shoes.  Wow!  My head is spinning as we drive back into NYC.  I’m exhausted but we go to dinner at Pangea (waitress Jennifer Olive makes us wonderful hot toddies, Caribbean style and invites us to visit Granada in the fall with her family).

Sunday, July 12 and brunch at the Lunch Box.  Afterward, we walk to Tower Records (need those new cd’s for the new car!) where I get Philip Glass’s Second Symphony (which drive Bryan out of the room, only because he’s bored!), another Respighi and a Faure Requiem, Sarah Chang plays violin to Vaughan Williams “Lark Ascending” and also some John Tavener and Carl Nielsen (ok, and the soundtrack to Bye Bye Birdie!).  Bryan gets John Cage-style music and more.

Around 8 pm, we have dinner at Jade Mountain, a Chinese restaurant around the corner from us.  We’ve never tried it, not bad, not great, but around the corner!

Monday, July 13, a day that was supposed to be very productive just wasn’t, except for one item.  Near 3 pm, thecar dealer called and said “pick up your car!”  So at 5 pm, at Ray Catena Infiniti in Edison NJ, Bryan and I (ok, he was still at work) took possession of our new Infiniti I30!

I immediately drove it to Jim and Jamie’s where we were having dinner with them and Steve Ratzel.  Bryan took the bus from NYC and I presented him with his new keys.  Dinner consisted of some tasty grilled shrimp (yes, the grill was doing yeoman service) and steaks with Dreyer’s corn and pasta salad.  This was the first meat I’d had in exactly five weeks.  And sorry, I have no major revelations to share about it other than Bryan and I tossed and turned more than normal.  After dinner, Bryan drove the car into the city and then we were asleep before midnight.

Tuesday, July 14, Bastille Day.  8 pm, we’re at the apartment of Dangerboy and Susan having vodkas; as they have a new bar, we’ve brought them a beautiful olive jar with glass olive sticks. On the way to dinner, the four of us pass by Mod World, where I bought two “bondage Kens” for Bryan last Christmas.  In the window we saw another one (the owner creates fantastical Barbie and Ken dolls), extremely sexy in a whole scenario with red lightbulb.  Had to have it and we will when it comes out of the store window.  Expensive?  Well, $120 but, well, unique!  (The picture shows the scenario along with our other two Ken dolls.)

Then it was off to the Astor Restaurant + Lounge on the corner of Bleeker Street and the Bowery.  Very old-fashioned, paneled room, expensive drinks (ok, B and I had cosmopolitans) and very decent food.  I guess it should be as dinner for the four of us was $170 with drinks.  But quite worth it.  Then the four of us stopped at the Boiler Room for a nightcap.  It’s the gay bar just down the block from their apartment.  Not surprisingly, they’d never been there; we stayed for a drink and then said our good-byes.  We’ll see them on Thursday as they will take care of our apartment during our trip to Europe.  Passing by Pangea, we see our waitress, Jennifer Olive, completing our olive trip!

Wednesday, July 15, we start off the day with a trip to John Depp, Inc. in Queens to meet owner Wesley Depp.  His great-grandfather started their glass business in 1860, he’s about 60 and his son maybe 35 or so.  Anyway, it’s from him that we will get the cobalt blue glass shelves for our endtables (yes, the ones from last summer).  This is the last material we need before construction and assembly.  So far, the raw materials have run about $1000 a table!  But they will certainly be something!  Both of us get to work around noon.  We have dinner at La Pizza Fresca, across the street from him on 20th Street.  Basically a pasta joint and not all that great but filling.

Thursday, July 16, I drop Bryan off at Passport Services in the West Village as they still haven’t processed his passport!  I think we’re both a little nervous about this.  At work, I do the data entry for our trip; Carl Goldenberg (who works for Continental Airlines) calls to say he’s working on an upgrade for us – but there’s no guarantees.  By 3 pm, Passport Services is ready to give Bryan his passport; seems they had managed to turn it into two applications!  By the time I get into the apartment, it’s off to Pangea, enjoying a cosmopolitan with my gazpacho and superb rare loin of tuna over a corn and tomato salsa.

Friday, July 17, we’re both a little groggy, plus it’s very hot and humid outside. But off we go to finalize our work before we’re off to Europe.

Saturday, July 18, at 6 pm we meet Ted Smith, along with Jim Shewalter and a woman friend of his to see “Smoke Signals” at the Angelika; it’s a movie by and about Native Americans (called colloquially in the movie “Indians”).  Although a bit of a trifle, I do find myself moved to tears at various points so that must say something good about it!  After the movie, we intended to eat at the Hotel Galvez in the East Village but find it closed, for good apparently.  So it’s off to MaryAnn’s for Mexican; surprisingly, on a Saturday night we actually find a table; with a trip to Europe less than 24 hours away, we go to sleep by midnight.

Sunday, July 19, we’re up at 9 am for blueberry pancakes at the Lunch Box.  Bryan goes to pick up a 6-foot wooden palm tree that was originally his and returns it to its rightful position on the kitchen wall and then to Lord & Taylor’s for a new pair of slacks (the other new pair is still at the cleaners!).  And by 2 pm, we’re off to my parents’ house to get ready for our trip.

And that’s where we leave off this part of the diary.  Next up … Europe!