Thursday, April 1, no time for tricks as I feel lousy upon awakening; could be a flu or just stress from work. The day is mainly taken up with the church newsletter and by the end I’m fairly run down so we spend a relaxing evening at home.
Good Friday, April 2, I skip going into the office and spend most of the day relaxing and doing a laundry. By the time Bryan gets home, I’m feeling much better but after sushi at Mie I still wind up going back to sleep.
Saturday, April 3, by the time we finally make it out of the house, it’s 4 pm so we decide on a late lunch at Café Centosette on Second Avenue where we have perfect food.
By 6 pm, we’re on the road to New Jersey to meet up with my brother Mario and some of his friends to see “Wuthering Heights” at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn NJ. Well, the sets were good! Yes, it was somewhat goddawful with the downside that none of the characters were appealing. Once it was over, Bryan and I zipped back into the city.
Easter Sunday, April 4, a very late morning and no church for either one of us. I keep meaning to start at either St. Mark’s nearby or another church but it hasn’t happened yet. I was especially disappointed, because of a cold, to have missed the Presiding Bishop celebrate and preach at the principal services of St. Luke in the Fields. It seems that he and his wife have made it their worshiping parish (David Little will like to hear this).
We’re up around noon and on our way to my parents’ house around 2 (the clocks have moved ahead for Daylight Savings Time so everyone’s a little late). Joining us this Easter dinner is my brother Mario (alone this year as the divorce proceeds), my parents and Aunt Jean, and Uncle Emil along with Carol and Nicole (see February diary). Nicole has made lasagna for her first Easter; she will now carry on the tradition for Aunt Annie and does a very fine job her first time out! She also brings a spiral cut ham which pleases Bryan as he wanted ham for Easter. Along with the two dozen minature pastries from Veniero’s (near us on 11th Street since 1894), dinner takes about three hours and then we’re back on the road.
We’re quite lazy by the time we get in, around 7 pm, and other than a late night snack at McDonald’s and browsing at St. Mark’s Bookstore, we do nothing for the whole evening and finally crash around midnight.
Monday, April 5, I have an interesting conversation with entrepreneur Stan Sacks about getting a Hamburger Mary’s franchise for NYC. It's extremely popular in San Diego and we think the concept is right for the city. I’m sure there will be many roadblocks to this but, hey, why not call?
Since B has to bowl, I grab a quick sub and then settle in to watch the beginning of the end of Melrose Place. The musical guest is none other than Chris Isaak (you can tell because his name is plastered everywhere - side note, he also once did two great radio station i.d.'s for me on WFNX).
Tuesday, April 6, Bryan and I decide to have a very lazy night; we eat a simple Thai dinner at Lavo on Third Avenue but the food isn’t up to snuff. I wonder if they’ve changed cooks.
Wednesday, April 7 After work we decide to stroll down Second Avenue and have Mexican food at MaryAnn’s; while walking we see our next door neighbors, Mike and Stacy. They’re on their way there also.
Thursday, April 8 … Bryan had scheduled himself for a day off awhile ago; we don’t remember why but who’s complaining as it’s an incredible 80 degrees outside and beautiful. After a quick lunch at the Lunch Box, we decide to walk around the East Village.
The original plan was the Auto Show but the boys are just too pretty on a day like today; let’s walk our neighborhood! By 4 pm, we fall into Pangea for pina coladas. They love us so much there that Stephen, one of the owners, actually goes to the store for coconut mix! We go back to the apartment and nap until around 9 pm; then it’s back to Pangea for dinner. Bryan is making a hat for Ronnie; she’s having her 50th birthday party there on May 1.
Friday, April 9, Bryan and I meet back at the apartment around 6 pm and have a relaxing evening at home.
Saturday, April 10, it’s lunch at the Lunch Box before hitting Union Square for Bryan to get plants and flowers. After a brief stop at home, we head off to the Jacob Javits Center and the International Auto Show. At the show, we’re impressed with the next generation Infiniti I30, it would be an easy change when this lease runs out. And we’re still impressed with Audi and Volkswagen. Interestingly, Bryan’s favorite car is the new Cadillac Evoq.
Around 7 pm, we refresh ourselves at the Infiniti customer reception room before deciding on a long walk to the West Village. By this time, my feet are definitely tired but it’s such a nice day that my body will just have to adjust!
Down in the Village, we make a stop at Leo Gallery on Jane Street where we’ve bought such interesting things in the past (including our big picture in the living room). We were going to have a drink at Julius, but they’re too crowded so we stop into the Duplex with the desire for a pina colada. They only serve them in the afternoon so it’s screwdrivers before finally settling down for dinner around 9 pm.
We eat at Hasta La Pasta on 8th Avenue across the street from the library; the only reason I tell you about this place is so you don’t go! They just keep bowls of pasta in boiling plates so it’s bleached white and tasteless by the time you get it; not that the sauce straight out of a can would impress. Quite disappointing as I’d always suggested eating there because of its menu and convenient location.
We grab a cab back home to Dick’s and by 11 pm we’re back in the apartment falling asleep to Saturday Night Live. When we got home, there was a call from my cousin Carol; she and her friend John were in the city and were having dinner at Pangea! But she called the apartment instead of the cell phone!!! Bryan says we must make her feel guilty (just joking but folks, if you're in the city call the cell phone).
Sunday, April 11; our original intent for dinner was the Café Yola on 10th Street between Avenues A and B. But we get “that close” before deciding on dinner at Orologio (“clock” in Italian so they’re all over the restaurant) at 162 Avenue A between 10th and 11th Streets. Highly impressed. We hadn’t gone in before because it’s often crowded and rather straight but it was well worth it. I had carpaccio followed by breaded chicken breast covered in salad (a la Milanese); Bryan had a grilled calamari salad that was impeccable – the calamari weren’t tough at all and had been thrown for just a moment on the flame grill – amazing. He followed that with decent salmon with a side of ratatouille. We were quite impressed and we’ll be back.
Monday, April 12, work as normal while awaiting the arrival of Tom Lane. My old radio compatriot was supposed to come to NYC for the day but then around 1 pm I get a call from him saying that his plans have fallen through and he won’t be making it after all.
At 5 pm, I pick up Bryan at work and then we relax until it’s time for him to go bowling. While he’s doing that, I watch Melrose Place and then meet him for a late night dinner at Pangea.
Tuesday, April 13, actually, 13 is my lucky number, but not today as absolutely nothing happends; indeed, for dinner we go to McDonald’s and fall asleep around midnight.
Wednesday, April 14, in stock news, I have sold my Nextel stock which I bought at $32 in January while I had the flu; I let it go at pennies over $40 (times 375 shares profits me about $3000, offsetting this year’s tax bite of slightly more than that). Now I have to decide what to buy!
After work, I pick up Bryan at work and we take a nice walk to the West Village for dinner. It turns out he had an ulterior motive, to show me a possible present for my birthday but the store seems out of business. We take a long walk through many stores, finally getting a couple of cosmopolitans at Julius, one of the oldest gay bars in the country.
Then dinner at Bandito Ditto at 33 Greenwich Avenue, where the food is only so-so but the margaritas better than I remember. We taxi back to Dick’s for a nightcap.
Thursday, April 15, Tax Day and we join Dangerboy and Susan for dinner at Orologio, having had such a good meal the other day; the weather is nice enough for us to sit outside. Susan and I have carpaccio and Bryan starts with calamari salad; for dinner Susan and Bryan have the pasta special (lamb-filled agnolotti in a spicy tomato sauce), Danger has a somewhat bland pasta in white sauce with salmon (of which there isn’t much) and I have penne with chicken and artichokes which is quite tasty.
Friday, April 16, after work we go to Dick’s around 7 pm. Well, well, a couple of martinis certainly can help matters and after a bad slice of pizza for me, we climb into the apartment by 10 pm.
Saturday, April 17, 2 pm and a late lunch at the Lunch Box. After a short walk around Union Square, we get back in time to catch one of the final episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; it’s extremely corny, especially in its supernatural touches, but still fun to watch.
A short rest and then it’s off to dinner in the East Village. Our goal is Thai at Holy Basil, but we just didn’t take into account the Village at 9 pm during the weekend. Every place is crowded so we just have a pleasant walk (the weather is just perfect although rain had been predicted for the whole weekend) until we settle into the Cloisters Café around 10 pm.
We wind up with one of the best waitresses we’ve had in awhile; someone who just makes everything happen. We start off with decent shrimp cocktails; I then have a filet mignon in cabernet sauce with extremely good pasta in a spicy red sauce on the side while Bryan has fettucine alfredo with a dosing of pesto (a perfect combination there). Sambucas and espresso and then a quick stop at Dick’s before getting back into apartment in time for Saturday Night Live.
Although a repeat, and one with bad skits, it had a great send up of Linda Tripp by John Goodman in a cameo and two amazing performances by the Beastie Boys. Now, I’m not the biggest fan of their style of music and I have certain doubts about the ability of white people to carry it off, anyway. But … For their first song (which I didn’t recognize but sounded like a standard rap), they had no accompaniment except for a dj with one turntable and one record. At first, I laughed at their white boy attempts at rhythmic dancing but then started becoming amazed at their vocal sleight of hand while, with the sound of only one record scratching, produced an absolute bombardment of music. In their second performance (“Sabotage”), they were joined by four percussionists, the dj, and themselves armed with two guitars and keyboard. There I was stunned by technical proficiency as eight players kept in perfect step with each other. Quite a performance.
Sunday, April 18, I go off to the shop and work for four hours on Ecclesia, the bishop’s newsletter (although I don’t currently have a bishop!). By the time I get home at 4 pm, we both have exactly the same thought for dinner: pizza at Orologio. We also have carpaccio (for me) and grilled calamari (for Bryan) for appetizers along with some drinks.
Monday, April 19, the work week begins again. Music on the way in is Sergei Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé Suite, Opus 60 (Woody Allen fans will know it as the music from “Love and Death”) with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra. At the end of the work, announcer Greg Whiteside (one of the best in the country) starts talking about Alban Berg’s Wozzeck at the Metropolitan Opera. There are only three performances scheduled, one of which has already passed. He makes it sound exciting enough for me to order a pair of tickets for Bryan and I for Tuesday evening’s performance.
So what did I do with the money from the Nextel stock? Based on Bryan's recommendations, I put it into AOL (at 118) and Yahoo (at 161); I pass on Priceline at 60 [note from the future ... on april 30 it is already at 133, yes, more than double].
The rest of the day is taken up with Ecclesia, almost to finishing. I pick Bryan up at work at 5 pm; he’s purchased a pair of 2” matte white ceramic cornucopia to add to our collection from e-bay. Since he’s supposed to go bowling, we order Domino’s Pizza which makes Bryan very happy (and it’s really not as bad as I’d like to say – indeed, my thin crust is quite good).
Tuesday, April 20, back to work in the rain. But at least we have the opera to look forward to! By 7 pm, we’re safely parked under Lincoln Center and enjoying a drink and some finger food before James Levine leads the Metropolitan Opera in Alban Berg’s Wozzeck (three acts, no intermission).
Wozzeck is well sung by Franz Grundheber but I really want to see Hildegard Behrens, although she would not be singing conventional arias in this opera. This is more Bryan’s type of music than mine, and even the set design is somewhat severe. But it does give us the opportunity to wear our tuxedoes and boy do we look good in them!
It’s a beautiful evening out, so after the opera we grab dinner at Shun Lee, a rather upmarket Chinese at 43 West 65th Street. I really enjoy my Beijing duck but Bryan’s shrimp has a somewhat “interesting” coating, somewhat akin to pork rinds. Nonetheless, the mai tais are very good and the bill (at $85) isn’t bad. By 11:30, we’re back at the apartment and fast asleep by midnight.
Wednesday, April 21, Ecclesia gets finished. After work, I decide Indian at Haveli is in order; coincidentally, while we’re getting ready, Donn “Waiter Boy” calls and decides to join us for a drink at Dick’s which stretches out to joining us for dinner which is fine by us.
We get to the restaurant (at 100 Second Avenue between 5th and 6th Streets) around 9; the leisurely pace of the service keeps us there for more than a couple of hours but it’s quite worth it. Haveli is more “royal” than many of the other Indian restaurants in the area (and there’s a whole street of them around the corner) and the food quite good.
I start off with succulent and large tandoori shrimp followed by an assortment with lamb korma, chicken saag and chicken tandoori along with a tray of condiments and chutneys. Bryan has shrimp cocktail served coated in cornmeal over potato salad which is more German than Indian, all stuffed into a perfect avocado. Donn has the mixed vegetable pakora and a Southern Indian dish which I don’t remember the name of (a masala if I recall) that is much like a giant spring roll stuffed with potatoes. They have martinis and I have a tasty pina colada; the whole bill is slightly less than $100 without tip. By 11 pm, we part ways.
Thursday, April 22, a gray morning; I make last second reservations for us through Bob at Turner World Travel at the Hotel Hampshire (a Clarion Hotel, don’t get too impressed) in Washington DC. It would have been fun to have stayed at the Brenton, a gay bed & breakfast near Dupont Circle that I stayed at a few years ago but of course they’re booked. Even these rooms are hard to come by, but it’s just as close to the circle.
So tomorrow it’s on the road in the Infiniti for a road trip. Today is also the 25th birthday of Scott “Dangerboy” Reich so after work (and picking up some huge wrought-iron candlestick holders for their fireplace) we meet them at the Standard Bar on First Avenue near 10th Street. We’ve always looked inside of it; it’s very clean and modern.
Then it’s off to Sapporo East at 245 East 10th Street; it’s actually on the corner of First Avenue but anyway. Plenty of sake is absorbed in addition to great Japanese food. Appetizers include steamed clams in sake, spicy asparagus rolls, tempura and eggplant. Then it’s varieties of sushi and sashimi for dinner. By 11 pm, we’re all tired and split for our respective homes.
Friday, April 23 to Sunday, April 25, our DC weekend. To make things faster, this link includes not only the diary but all the digital photos from the Sony Mavica camera. More photos will be added when Bryan's pictures come back. Some advice: open up another browser "window" and let the pictures load; continue the april diary and then return when the page is loaded.
Upon arriving home from DC, we have dinner at Pangea (mozzarella and tomato salad followed by a portobello mushroom salad for Bryan, bruschetta followed by my traditional spaghetti bolognese) where we see our old friend Jennifer Olive (the Swedish beauty with Jamaican ancestry). By midnight, I’m under the covers watching a classic episode of Star Trek: Next Generation. This is one from their second season and stars John de Lancie as the very fey Q along with a cameo by Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan. Since he’s the comic relief, she plays high drama queen. The writing is top notch, with great verbal sparring between Q and the others. I promptly fall asleep once I set the vcr to record Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (one of the last new episodes of the series).
Monday, April 26, Bryan takes the day off; I get to work around 9 am. This morning, the restaurant review on WQXR (by the new kid, Eric Asimov) focuses on Tossed, a new salad concept near Bryan’s office that he has raved about. In addition to reviews in the East Village and Chelsea, I think this man has a real chance to upstage my Ruth Reichl!
I work until 5 pm and then rejoin Bryan at the apartment for dinner at MaryAnn’s Mexican. Maybe it’s growing on me but I think I like it as much as Bryan does now. We split chalupas, a blue corn tortilla stuffed with chicken breast and covered in guacamole; Bryan then has his regular vegetable fajitas while I have carne de garza, small bits of beef with olives and capers in a delicious sauce. We’re both quite happy and full.
Tuesday, April 27, my day is completely spent on Connections, the parish newsletter and then we decide to have a very lazy evening so it’s naps and dinner at Kentucky Fried Chicken. The most we do is watch the taped episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Wednesday, April 28, it’s my 46th birthday and a rather quiet one by design. I have lunch with my mother at the Rustic Mill Diner in Cranford.
On the way home from work, the WQXR restaurant reviewer, Eric Asimov, is discussing appropriate wine lists for restaurants when he starts using Holy Basil, one of our favorite Thai restaurants on Second Avenue. Not only does he like it (the food is quite good) but it’s just another indication that he won’t be ignoring the East Village.
Around 8 pm we cab over to the West Village for dinner at the Paris Commune at 411 Bleeker Street; we’ve been there before for my birthday. Bryan has a very interesting brie in raspberry sauce with calamata olives and cornichons; sounds terrible but quite tasty. His entrée is skate in a blood orange sauce; as one diner commented “brilliant.” I had their very fine steamed mussels followed by linguine with chicken and artichokes (a little better than the generic dish). We also have a glass of champagne, martini and two glasses of pinto grigio; dinner is $95 with a $30 tip. It’s a very comfortable restaurant, maybe 15 tables and probably half gay (certainly the owners and all the waiters are – and cute too).
Thursday, April 29, it’s a short day for Bryan as he leaves early to pick up items for the hat he’s making for Ronnie’s 50th birthday on Saturday. He may become a milliner yet! Once I get home, he works on the hat while we watch Star Trek: Voyager (on tape) we head off to Pangea. Bryan wants to show Ronnie the hat’s progress; as she’s late, we sit for dinner.
Friday, April 30, the weather continues it’s incredible streak (they predict 80 degrees by Tuesday and still no rain); the parish newsletter is finished and shipped. We have lots of things on the back burner for the weekend, but as of leaving work at 5 pm it's my guess that this will be a normal Friday.
And that does that to April. Always remember that these pages are not static. Pictures can bloom on them at any time. I'm just never finished!
tvod home | write tony or bryan | |
march 1999 | may 1999 |