A Tragedy of Shakespearean Proportions

The Colorado Shakespeare Festival has kicked off, and some friends and I went recently to see a production of Othello. The plays are performed in the beautiful outdoor amphitheater on the campus of CU Boulder, and I was looking forward to checking out the area. I did a 10K that ended in the stadium fairly recently, but that's the only time I'd been on campus before. I found that it is, indeed, very pretty (and improved by the absence of students, no doubt), and since we were early we got to lounge on a lawn enjoying the beautiful weather for a bit before it was time to find our seats.

Although the amphitheater's atmosphere is wonderful, the benches aren't exactly cushy. Anticipating this, my wise friend Diana brought two stadium seats for us. To the relief of our other friends, they turned out to be unnecessary, as a huge stack of them was available to the audience near the concession stand, where snacks and beverages were for sale but coffee was free. We settled into our spots a few minutes before the 8:00 "curtain." (Figure of speech - outdoor theaters don't have curtains.)

The coffee, it turned out, was an inspired idea. Othello lasted for almost four hours. The production was, for the most part, excellent, and it was fun to sit under an open sky as it turned from blue to pink to black, but we were all pretty tired by the end. My friends and I agreed that the actors playing Iago and Othello (Emmy winner Peter Macon, of Broadway fame) were excellent. Desdemona, alas, was anything but. I'm not sure whether her character is meant to be obnoxious or, if not, whether this actress delivered her lines like fingernails on a blackboard intentionally or obliviously. All of the male characters in the play talk about being in love with her at one point or another, but it was beyond me why any of them would feel that way. I was surprised that a performance of this quality would cast such a sinker as the female lead. Perhaps I am missing something, but I can't say I really blame Othello for strangling her at the end.

Despite the tragedy of a good play blemished, we all enjoyed the show as a whole very much. My friend Laura will be going to Much Ado About Nothing, another of the plays in the festival, in July with her family and has invited us to come along with them. I just may take her up on it. I love Shakespeare's tragedies, but I'd prefer to see a comedy if I'm going to head home to a dark house at midnight after the final bows.

Snappy's Voyage

I've had a lot on my plate lately and haven't been blogging as regularly as I'd like; rest assured it's because I'm busy with lots of fun things. But I thought I'd end my radio silence, at least for today, because I'm very proud of a recent creative endeavor. Meet Snappy:

Snappy is part of a devious plan I have hatched to bend David Sedaris to my will. I am a big fan of Sedaris, whose essays (particularly when he is reading them aloud) are hysterically funny. Ed and I went to see him do a reading at a theater in downtown Denver a few weeks ago, and I came armed with a book, eager to meet him afterward and add another signed work to my collection, which hasn't grown a lick since we left New York. 

The moment we entered the theater, though, I knew I was in trouble. The place was huge, and Sedaris is famous for gabbing with people in his signing lines, which makes them move at a glacial pace. I enjoyed the reading very much, and I have never seen Ed hoot so loudly and frequently at a literary event, but my fears turned out to be justified. People left the reading early to queue up outside, and the line was enormous by the time we left the theater. It was 10:00 P.M. and a 45-minute drive stood between us and Boulder. If I'd been alone, I may have toughed it out, but I didn't want to subject Ed or our friend to the line. So I left, feeling sad but resigned. 

I figured I'd send my book to Little Brown, Sedaris's publishing house, but my hopes weren't that high. He's a busy guy, and I figured I had little hope of getting him to take the time to sign my book. Then I had an idea. Along with my book, I would send him a gift so wonderful and quirky that he would be charmed and sign my book out of gratitude rather than obligation. And that gift was Snappy.

The longest story Sedaris read that night featured a snapping turtle with a large tumor on its head that he has observed many times in the creek by his beach house. On Amazon, I found a life-like, if small, plastic snapping turtle that would fit the bill. But then I got a better idea: to truly replicate the turtle in Sedaris's story, I had to add a tumor. 

I went to the craft store with Snappy in my purse and chose some polymer clay in several colors so that I could customize the tumor to match his scaly hide. Then I set to work. I was proud of the bulbous lump I created, but when I went to peel it off for baking I found it was impossible to remove it from his head without mangling it. I started again, this time pressing the clay more gently against his head while forming the lump. Pulling it off was still difficult, though, and when the finished product came out of the oven its edges weren't flush with Snappy's head and neck. I couldn't send Sedaris a sub-par tumor.

I was worried that Snappy would melt if I put him into a 275-degree oven, but I was out of ideas. So I attached a third tumor to his cranium and preheated the oven. My plan was to submerge him in ice water with nothing but the tumor protruding. This, I hoped, would keep him cool as the clay baked. 

Snappy was pretty buoyant, so I had to weight him down with an apple slicer.

Unfortunately, the ice bath worked a little too well. Snappy stayed chilly, but the clay did too. At the end of 15 minutes, it was as soft as it had been in the beginning. So I decided to scale back the ice. After all, I had no use for a plastic snapping turtle, so if he melted all I'd wasted was time. I was worried about his underside contacting the hot dish, so I balanced him on top of a sardine can filled with ice, stuck him back in the oven, and hoped for the best. 

Post-sauna.

 To my relief, Snappy survived unscathed. The tumor on his head hardened nicely, and though his shell was a little soft when I gingerly pressed it, he hardened back up as he cooled and looked perfect.

I shipped him off today, rubber banded to the book I hope Sedaris will sign, with a note and a pre-paid envelope so that one of Sedaris's minions can easily send the book back to me. Even if Sedaris doesn't have the time to sign my book, I hope Snappy will at least make him smile.

Beer Pairings at the Sanitas Brewery

Hardly a week goes by that I don't have at least one email from my new friend Candice. She always seems to know of something fun that's happening in the Boulder area and she loves to get groups together to see what the town has to offer. Her most recent invitation was to a dinner at the Sanitas Brewery, and Ed and I decided immediately that we were most definitely in.

The Sanitas taproom. 

After purchasing tickets for $30 a pop, we showed up on Monday night at a row of warehouses just off the highway. If this were any other town I'd have thought we were in the wrong place, but craft breweries in Boulder tend to set up shop in warehouses so I wasn't worried. Sure enough, after parking in view of forklifts and roll-up doors, we walked into a cavernous room containing several high-top tables and a modern-looking bar with large steel tanks and silvery pipe networks visible in the background. Young men, most sporting beards, walked by every few minutes, sometimes carrying lengths of tubing or buckets and all wearing t-shirts and galoshes.

Our group of about 12 was seated at a square table instead of a typical long, skinny rectangle; this wonderful set-up was perfect for whole-group discussion. Only one other small group had signed up for the pairing, which would normally seem ominous but I wasn't worried because this was Sanitas's first pairing dinner. Both of our tables were in a small room separated from the main bar area by large sliding doors. 

Zach and Clay took us through the evening's proceedings. Zach is one of the co-founders of Sanitas and Clay runs the McDevitt Taco Supply truck with his brother. Lots of breweries in Boulder are supplied by food trucks because, as Zach explained, in the beer sales world the difference between a second beer and a third beer is food, but most brewers don't know anything about the food industry. So a lot of breweries bring in mobile food providers, like food trucks, to supply their customers with sustenance to be washed down.

I'd drunk about half the beer when I took this.

Zach told us about the origins of Sanitas Brewing and Clay walked us through the history of his taco truck before we got to talking about the menu. Then the fun really began. We went through three courses plus dessert and each was served with a too-generous portion of beer. (Most people, thinking ahead to the drive home, left their glasses only partially emptied.) Before each course, Clay talked about the food and then Zach explained why he chose each beer to compliment it. Both had interesting things to say, but the acoustics in the room weren't great and I felt lucky to be sitting fairly close to the front. I liked the tuna course we started with, though I would have been grateful for more of the delicious pineapple pepper sauce. The jalepeno butternut squash soup was a fresh take on the old staple, but it was not for the faint of heart; Clay was generous with the jalepenos and it was very spicy. Just as Zach promised, though, the black IPA served alongside it put out flames with a single sip. The two complimented each other on other levels, too, however, and it was wonderful. I think this was the first time I've ever really experienced true synchrony between beer and food and I was surprised to find it almost as complex and pleasing as a good wine and food pairing. I was served a last-minute tilapia fillet while everyone else set to work on a massive portion of ribs; mine was delicious and Clay made sure to stop by to ask me how it turned out. Next time Sanitas hosts another such event, they'll have to be careful, especially in a town as liberal as Boulder, to have vegetarian options available. The dessert course, a dark chocolate chipotle brownie paired with a coffee-infused beer with hints of vanilla, was an inspired ending. 

This casual yet decadent dinner was wonderful. It was both an enjoyable social gathering and a learning experience. The portions, both of food and beer, were generous and everyone agreed that the meal was well worth the price we paid for it. 

I look forward to visiting Sanitas again, for a casual beer or for another wonderful, multi-course dinner.

Tips for New New Yorkers

A friend's daughter will be living in New York for a few weeks as part of a college course she's taking and I decided to pass on a few tips. This project, naturally, morphed into many pages of advice so that it's now more of a manual - but hey, New York is big. Since I ended up putting so much time into it, I figured I might as well share in case it comes in handy to someone else. Those not heading to NYC may want to skip this, though; it's pretty detailed.

Part of the fun of living in New York is exploring it for yourself. That said, since you have such a short time to be there some tips may help you with the necessities so you can devote your energies to the good stuff. Setting out to write this, I imagine it will be quite long, but I hope reading this stuff before your adventure will help prepare you so you can make the most out of your time in my favorite city. You can always skim it now and refer back to it later as you need it.

GENERAL TIPS AND HELPFUL RESOURCES

I'll start with the most important thing, which doesn't fit in any category below: Fulfill your obligations, but remember that you can sleep when you're dead. You will almost never regret joining friends for a cup of coffee at 1:00 A.M. instead of going home "early." You need to be rested enough to do what's expected of you, but (if your gut is telling you that things seem safe, of course) embrace opportunities to go to new places, meet new people, and have new experiences.

Getting around

·       Get a month-long Metro card; it works on both buses and subways and you'll be using both enough that you can get a better deal than if you refill your card each time it runs low.

·       Speaking of Metro cards, practice swiping it through the machine so that you can do it like a pro. There's a picture of the way to hold the card right by the slot. If you turn it the wrong way, you'll be prompted to swipe it again and feel like everyone is staring at you.

·       Bookmark the MTA Trip Planner website to help you navigate public transit. (It's possible that there's an app available, too, so look into that.) It's way easier than reading the subway map. It will give you step-by-step directions from one place to another and, even more valuable, it will tell you what time you need to leave if you have to arrive by a certain time. Check it well in advance of when you need to be somewhere, and remember to do it before you go underground into a station. Some stations have WiFi now, but not all of them do, and when you're on the train and it goes into the tunnel you'll get no signal at all.

·       Even though the Trip Planner is great, learn to read a subway map. The most confusing part for me was figuring out which stations were express (i.e. all trains stop there) and which stations were local (i.e. only local trains stop there and express trains go through them without stopping). Many times in my first year I'd get on the right line and then watch in horror as my train went right past the station I wanted. Pro tip: Express stations are marked by a white circle on the map. This means that all trains will stop at them. Go online and check out a map right now. See Times Square? That's an excellent example of how an express stop is marked. Local stations are marked by a black circle. Check out 110^th Street on the 1,2,3 line (which is red). See how there's a black dot there? That means that if you need to get to 110^th, take a local train. An express train will go right by it and won't stop until it gets to the next express station. (The signs will tell you which trains are express, and the conductor will also make an announcement as you're boarding the train so you'll be able to tell.)

·       Don't be afraid to ask someone waiting on the platform next to you if the train you're about to get on is going in the right direction. (Just say, "Does this train go to Grand Central?") Ditto for if you're worried that you may be getting on an express train when you need a local. New Yorkers have a bad reputation for being unfriendly, but they secretly love helping newbies because it stokes their egos. Do not, however, wait until you're about to step on the train to ask; if the person doesn't know the answer you'll want to leave yourself time to ask someone else.

·       A word about buses: Take a look at the subway map and notice that nearly all the lines in Manhattan run north to south. Traveling east to west, i.e. across Manhattan, is known as going "crosstown" and crosstown transportation in Manhattan is inadequate to say the least. The subway lines that will take you crosstown are few and far between. I found buses in New York to be really slow and preferred walking to taking the bus in almost all cases, but crosstown transportation was the exception. There are lots of bus lines that run east to west. Learn to love the crosstown buses.

·       Always allow yourself plenty of extra time to get somewhere. Best case scenario: You show up early and have time to look around the neighborhood or sit and read your book. Worst case scenario: You have time to recover when you miss your stop or get on a train going in the wrong direction. (If that happens, don't panic. Get off the train at the next platform and it's easy to fix.)

·       If the light on top of a cab is on, it's available. If the light is off, it's occupied. Don't waste your time trying to flag cabs with lights off. It always amazes me how many people attempt this. To flag a cab, stand on a corner and hold your arm straight up. No need to yell, "Taxi!" When you tell them where you want to go, give them a corner (e.g. "The corner of 8^th Avenue and 20^th Street") rather than an address or location. You may need to check Google maps before getting into a cab so you're ready to tell them where you want to go. If they ask what route you want to go (this is rare) just say, "Whatever you think will be fastest." You can pay by credit card or cash. Don't forget to tip. Sidenote: I almost (almost) always love talking to cab drivers, especially if they're foreign, which is almost always the case. Many are chatty and pleasant and have interesting things to say.

·       If you use Citibike, wear a helmet. Lots of people don't. They are all idiots.

Safety and Sanity

I virtually never felt unsafe in New York. There is always someone around (but if you find yourself on a sketchy, dark street at night and don't see another soul, find another street to walk down) and it's well policed. But you should still keep your wits about you, if for no other reason than you don't want to get stuck talking to a weirdo. There are lots of weirdos in New York. There are lots of cool, eccentric people, too, and you may worry that by following my advice to keep to yourself you will miss out on opportunities to get to know them. Consider this: Cool, eccentric people don't generally start conversations on the subway platform with strangers. Conversation with a stranger at a private party? Do it. Conversation with a stranger on the street? Most likely a weirdo. Move on.

·       Be aware of your surroundings. The very, very few muggings you hear about all start the same way: "I was looking at my phone and then, out of nowhere…" If you must check your phone, step off the sidewalk and stand with your back to a wall while you do it, and don't get too engrossed in what you're reading. Look up every ten seconds or so. If you wear earbuds in the city, particularly in a neighborhood you don't know well, keep only one of them in so you can hear what's going on. Look around you as you walk. Scary people target those who they can surprise. If you see someone who looks iffy, make eye contact with them. If they can't surprise you, you're not an easy target and they'll look for someone else. I don't want to scare you; I have every confidence you'll be more than fine. But it never hurts to stack the deck in your favor.

·       Keep your purse zipped.

·       Never carry your credit card and your debit card at the same time. It sucks to be in NYC without access to money, so on the off chance that you get mugged (again, I can't stress enough unlikely this is) or lose your wallet (much more likely), leave one of those cards safely in your apartment. If disaster strikes, you'll be able to eat and get around until you can get a replacement from the bank.

·       Develop a thick skin. Everyone in New York thinks they're very important and they all seem to be in a hurry. They will be curt and may snap at you, probably without just cause. Don't take it personally. Learn to roll your eyes, laugh to yourself, and move on with your life.

·       That said, be aware of when you're in the way, which takes a lot of concentration in a city as densely populated as NYC. For the love of god, don’t stop walking at the top or bottom of stairways, and if you need to look at your phone or a map on the sidewalk, pull over. Think of walking in NYC like driving. You have to look before you enter traffic, and you have to pull over if you're going to slow down suddenly or you'll cause a collision. Oh, and before you get on a subway car, stand to the side to let people get off it first, then walk into the middle of the car if you're going more than one stop.

·       Look into renter's insurance. It may not be worth it for just a month, but many plans will cover loss/theft, too. A friend of a friend had a cell phone stolen in Union Square (because she was probably being an idiot and set it down somewhere – don't do that) and her policy covered the cost. It'll cover your stuff in case a water pipe in your apartment bursts or something, too.

·       If someone strikes up a conversation with you, don't give them any personal information about yourself (e.g. your name, that you're new to the city, that you're alone if you are, where you live, etc.). If you ever feel that you're tired of talking to them or are getting a weird vibe, don't feel bad about ending the hurting someone's feelings. Don't worry about them; worry about you. You should always be polite, but it's totally fine to be curt and extricate yourself ("You know, I'm running late. Have a great day." Exit stage right)

·       People will ask you for money multiple times a day. Sometimes they will be pushy. Get good at saying no. You'll feel like a jerk sometimes, but if they're persistent, smile, say, "I'm sorry I can't help you. Good luck," then avert your eyes and walk away without waiting for them to respond.

General

·       In your purse, always carry the following: reading material, your phone charger, a small water bottle, a folding umbrella, a packable scarf (so you can wrap it around you if you get stuck on an overly air-conditioned subway car), a notebook and pen, a pocket pack of tissues (Starbucks is almost always out of toilet paper), and hand sanitizer. You may want a granola bar and some aspirin, too. If this stuff won't fit, get a bigger purse. You'll find that you leave your apartment in the morning and may not be back again for twelve hours or more, so you want to be prepared for anything. (You can always buy what you need on the go, but that can get pricey.)

·       Use your student ID for discounts wherever possible. Always ask if you're not sure whether you can get a discount. NYC is crazy expensive, so hit up deals every chance you get.

·       Always make reservations whenever you can. Get movie tickets in advance (using Fandango) and get to the theater early to score decent seats. Call restaurants ahead of time. It's beyond frustrating to have your evening plans foiled because everyone else in the city decided to go to the same ramen place you wanted to try. If you can't make reservations, show up early.

·       Use every clean bathroom you find, even if you don't really have to go. They are few and far between when you're out and about. In a pinch, Starbucks bathrooms are an option, but they're usually gross. (See above for tips about tissue and hand sanitizer. NYC is filthy. You will often be tempted to bathe in your hand sanitizer.)

·       Shoes that are comfortable in dry weather will kill your feet in humidity. Carry Band-Aids for blisters unless you've tested each pair of shoes you own over several miles. Don't wear heels – nothing is worth the price you will pay. Instead, invest in foldable flats and carry your heels in a tote until you get to your destination, then switch.

·       Don't eat around Times Square unless you long to pay top dollar for mediocre food from chain restaurants.

·       Do buy fruit from street vendors. They're legit, and you'll get good prices. Smile and they may throw in a free apple or something.

Now for the fun stuff!

Places to Sit for a While – free unless noted

One of the joys of living in New York is people-watching, but there aren't many benches around. Here are some good places to post up and read, write, or just watch the world go by.

·       Bryant Park – right next to the main branch of the New York Public Library. A small and charming oasis in the madness of midtown.

·       Reading room in the main branch of the New York Public Library – You don't need a library card to get in and you can sit all day in this beautiful, meditative place.

·       Poet's Walk in Central Park – The whole park is great, but I particularly like this tree-lined, gravel avenue, and there are tons of benches.

·       Riverside Park – You can sit in the grassy part or on one of the benches along the river. There's usually a nice breeze, too.

·       Grounded – My favorite coffee shop in the West Village. It's low-key and they don't mind if you hang out all day as long as you buy something.

·       Union Square – There are benches in the center. I love this area.

Free Stuff

New York is expensive, but there's a lot you can do for free if you know where to look.

·       Shakespeare in the Park – You can't buy tickets to this free series of performances in Central Park; they're only available gratis if you go in person or enter the online lottery. Check their website to see whether performances will be running while you're there. If so, create on online account and log in to try your luck each day. You can also get up at the crack of dawn to stand in line, but who wants to do that?

·       Shakespeare in the Parking Lot – This gem of a company is much smaller and so doesn't have to manage mobs of people like Shakespeare in the Park does. The quality of their performances is outstanding. Visit their website to see what's playing when and where. Sometimes they do actually perform in a parking lot in the center of a square of benches, but sometimes shows are in one of the city's smaller parks.

·       Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. I never get tired of doing this. The views are fantastic. You can take the subway back across the river once you get to Brooklyn, or walk back. (Don't bother walking across other bridges; they're not nearly as nice.)

·       The MOMA is free on (I think) Fridays. Brace yourself for a zoo, though.

·       The Metropolitan Museum asks for a donation of your choice rather than charging a set admission price. So technically you could get in for free, though I always felt weird not throwing out at least a few dollars.

·       Staten Island Ferry – More great views, though there's not much worth doing once you get to Staten Island. Ride the ferry out, get off the ferry when you arrive, then board the next one headed for Manhattan.

CHECK OUT

Restaurants

There are SO many good ones it's a little mind-blowing, but these offer not just great food but also memorable experiences.

·       Kenka – This is the most authentic izakaya (Japanese pub) I've been to in the States. Look carefully on a map before you try to find it; the sign is not in English. It's casual, inexpensive, and a little racy J Show up when they first open or be prepared to wait a while; they don't take reservations. At the end of the meal, you'll get a small cup of colored sugar, which you take to the cotton candy machine outside to make your own.

·       McSoreley's – Can't remember whether you're 21 yet. If you are, go to this place, which is the oldest continuously operating bar in the city. They have only two kinds of beer, light and dark, and they sell you two small glasses of either (or one of each) for $5. Don't ask for one glass for $2.50 – for some reason they don't do it that way, and the glasses are really small so you're not going to get smashed by drinking both. Be sure to note the gross dusty things hanging from the light fixture above the bar. They're wish bones. Apparently a bunch of local boys all hung them there the night before reporting for duty at the start of WWI. They all vowed to come back and remove their own wishbone at the end of the war. Some of them never came back, though, and so no one has taken their wishbones down. Pretty amazing.

·       The Cloister Café – I love this place. Sit in the garden under the grape arbor and it's like being transported to a Mediterranean country.

·       Murray's Bagels – This is the best bagel place in NYC; ignore anyone who tells you otherwise. Don’t ask them to toast your bagel; they'll snap at you that they don't toast their bagels because they're so fresh. Fair warning: You'll be ruined for other bagels for life once you taste theirs. Totally worth it, though. *Update: As of 12/2016, Murray's toasts their bagels. I expect that things will begin falling up instead of down any day now.

Museums

Yeah, the MOMA and the Met are nice, but don't miss these smaller ones, which are, in my opinion, far superior.

·       The Frick – Housed in the mansion of a Gilded Age tycoon-turned-art-collector, this is my favorite art museum in the city.

·       The Morgan Library – Girl, hold on to your hat. You will want to live here. When he wasn't running the world, J.P. Morgan collected manuscripts from every country and era. I have seen the actual handwritten first draft of A Christmas Carol here, a letter written by George Washington, and a short story Truman Capote wrote in pencil on binder paper when he was in middle school. There are also old Bibles, sheet music, and all kinds of other wonderful things and exhibits rotate frequntly. And you get to see Morgan's library and office, which are simply stunning.

·       Cooper Hewitt – This is a brand new museum, devoted to design (not fashion necessarily) in Andrew Carnegie's mansion. It's tough to describe what's in there exactly, but trust me: go. My parents and I spent hours looking at every single exhibit when we were there in February. It's fascinating, interactive, and really thoughtfully designed.

·       Jewish Museum – Check to see which rotating exhibit is on tap. They often have really outstanding art collections passing through, and the setting is more intimate than at some of the larger museums so you really have time to enjoy the pieces.

·       Tenement Museum – Walk through some of the old tenements that people used to live in during one of the two immigration booms in 1800s. It's incredibly interesting and feels a bit like you're in Gangs of New York.

Experiences

·       Go for a run in Central Park (the outer loop is six miles, but you can cut parts off of it and do shorter routes if you want). There is also a great running path along the Hudson River. Don't run over the Brooklyn Bridge; it's way too crowded and gets frustrating.

·       Register for and run a race with the New York Road Runners (www.nyrr.org). There's nothing like it even if you're not in the best shape of your life, and you'll get a cool souvenir t-shirt. Sign up early; they tend to sell out.

·       Shop at the Union Square Farmers' Market on a Saturday.

·       Spend time in both the West Village (posh) and the East Village (gritty) checking out boutiques and ducking into coffeehouses. Let yourself get lost—not tough to accomplish in these older parts of the city where you leave the grid of streets behind—and enjoy wandering.

·       Have a picnic in Strawberry Fields in Central Park. It's an area dedicated to John Lennon who used to live in, and was killed outside of, the Dakota, a huge apartment building right across the street.

·       Need some more green? Morningside Park, the north part of Central Park, and Riverside Park are all so close together you can walk through all of them in one afternoon.

·       Visit Rockefeller Center (beware, it's always crowded) to admire Diego Rivera's murals and go to the Top of the Rock. You can go to the top of the Empire State Building, too, but I'm partial to Top of the Rock. Don't do both, though; one is sufficient to give you a bird's-eye view of the city and the trips up are expensive.

Miscellaneous

·       Brooklyn Botanical Garden – Not free, alas, but worth every penny. Bring a picnic lunch and plan to spend the day sitting under trees and wandering the different gardens. Don't miss the greenhouses.

·       The Strand – Super cool, huge bookstore off Union Square that sells both new and used books. Be sure to buy one of their iconic tote bags.

·       Little Italy/Chinatown – Very different flavors, obviously, but they're right next to each other, which makes for an interesting experience. I don't recommend eating in Little Italy; the restaurants are mediocre and over-priced. (Let me know if you want me to recommend some great Italian food.) In Chinatown, though, eat at WuHop. It's cheap, authentic, and fantastic. And it's a great place to shop for cheap produce, tea, and that sort of thing, too.

·       Eataly – Part marketplace, part upscale food court (that’s a terrible description but I can't think of how else to say it), this enormous place is wonderful. It's fun to check out all the different imported food products, and you can eat at any of the restaurants inside it. There's pasta, pizza, fish, steak, etc. The cheese counter is unparalleled. You can shop with a glass of wine in your hand or visit the rooftop beer garden, too. And it's right next to Madison Square Park, which is a nice place to stop if you're in the neighborhood, though not so cool that you should go out of your way to see it if you're not already close by. Be sure to look for the Flatiron Building while you're in the area. They don't do tours or anything, but it's a really cool building to admire from the outside.

Performances

There's no shortage of great, and terrible, performances in New York. Here's a list of my favorite venues/performance series; check out their line-ups and get tickets for literary/musical/cinematic events you want to attend ASAP:

·       The 92^nd Street Y

·       Symphony Space (not just music)

·       The Moth

·       Cooper Union

·       Lincoln Center

Many bookstores arrange for visiting authors to come speak and you get top-notch writers in New York, so search for people you want to see that way.

It seems obvious to list Broadway, but you should see not only a musical but also a play while you're there. Check out off-Broadway shows, too. They're cheaper and are usually just as good. If The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is still there when you are, see it, and get seats as close to the front as you can.

Resources

·       The best source of information for events in New York is New York Magazine. It's an excellent magazine altogether, but even if you don't read a single article it's worth looking into just for their weekly event calendar. Either pick up a copy (it's at every newsstand and in every drugstore) or go to their website.

·       Also, check out my blog (www.bguadagni.blogspot.com). Use the tags "NYC Arts" and "New York" to skim through posts I wrote about the thing I did while there. You may get more ideas about things to do, and things to avoid.

I'm quite jealous; one has only one chance to fall in love with New York for the first time. Enjoy every moment!

Winter Travel Advisory

Nearly anyone who glances at the news now and then knows that New York has been having a pretty brutal winter. I laughed about this in Colorado, remembering my New York friends' dire predictions that a winter in the Rockies would finish me off; instead, I basked in abundant sunshine and watched reports of them being buried in snow drifts. It's less funny now.

My parents and I spent a quick weekend in New York and I was prepared for the cold. It was predicted to be quite chilly indeed, but I was relieved to see that snow was not supposed to be part of the equation. This made packing, especially with regards to footwear, much easier. In defiance of the forecast, though, flakes began to fall as I walked my parents to the subway for their flight on Sunday. Mine was due to take off at 4:15 the same afternoon, and after spending a bit of time with a friend, I navigated through thickly falling flakes to get on the subway myself. My mom texted to say that they'd been delayed by de-icing but were on their way. My flight was showing reported to be on time, however, and there was, it seemed, little reason to worry that I'd miss my connection in Dallas.

Curse you, hubris.

-My 4:15 American Airlines flight turned out to be so delayed that it was certain I'd miss my connection in Dallas. Ed's brilliant cousin Sandy, the travel agent who'd booked my flights, advised me via phone to ask the gate agent to book me on a Delta nonstop to Denver leaving at 6:15 instead. Dallas, impacted by ice storms, had no flights to Denver available and it looked like I'd be stuck there, probably for more than a day.

-The gate agent complied and I changed terminals—which at JFK entails leaving the secure area and then going back through security all over again—feeling lucky. Even with the two-hour delay, I'd still get to Denver at about the same time as if my original flights had gone without a hitch.

-A large glass of wine later, I showed up at the gate to board. No dice. One posted delay followed another. Our original plane had been rerouted to Boston, where it was waiting to try to get to us. Finally, several hours later, we boarded another plane that had shown up from the Dominican Republic.

-We waited on board for five hours. The snow had turned to freezing rain and de-icing was taking ages. Because of the passenger bill of rights, airlines are not allowed to confine people on board for more than 2.5 hours; they have to go back to the gate and give people a chance to get off if they're stuck on board that long without departing. So we waited at the gate for our turn to get in line for de-icing. (The cabin door was left open and I took the opportunity to duck out for a snack at one point.) It was after midnight when they finally closed the cabin door.

-There was a loud clunk as we began to back away from the gate. We stopped moving and sat for about 15 minutes. Finally, the captain announced that we all had to get off the plane.  A mechanical problem had occurred and if we waited for it to be fixed, the crew would go over the number of hours they were legally allowed to work. That crew wasn’t going anywhere that night, so neither were we.

-I rushed off the plane and ended up about 6^th in line at the counter. Although it was now 1:00 A.M., Sandy called in response to my text. Twenty minutes into his research and our discussion about the best course of action, we were interrupted by an announcement: Instead of being cancelled, the airline had simply rescheduled our flight. Everyone was rebooked on the new one that would leaving JFK the following morning at 9:00.

-Sandy booked me a spot at a Comfort Inn about 20 minutes away and I waited on an icy sidewalk in a mass of milling, frustrated, exhausted people for a while before finally fighting my way onto one of the free cabs Delta had arranged. I arrived at the hotel at 2:00 A.M. and learned I'd gotten the last available room at the hotel; a slough of cancellations had filled rooms all over Queens.

-I slept for a little over three hours then woke up to shower and call a cab back to the airport. The airline's free cabs were going to take too long to arrive, though, so I paid $40 to go with another company, arriving at the airport just in time to charge through security, take a shuttle to the next terminal when they changed it last-minute, and arrive, puffing, at the gate.

-...but all of this was unnecessary because of course the flight was delayed yet again. The plane was at the gate, cleaned, fueled, and ready to go, but the crew was in Detroit. The other passengers, beginning to look like old friends by this point, and I took advantage of the free egg sandwiches, snacks, and coffee Delta had provided and waited. We were now scheduled for a 10:00 departure, but with the crew landing at 9:40 no one believed it. A smattering of applause broke out when part of the crew arrived.

-I refused to celebrate when we boarded the plane. It wasn't until our wheels were actually off the ground that I finally relaxed and fell into an exhausted sleep. I landed in Denver around 2:00 P.M. local time, drove home, and collapsed in bed.

What can we learn from all this? Traveling light is certainly necessary, as it makes last-minute changes easier to navigate. Use a good travel agent (contact me if you'd like to work with Sandy for your next trip and I'll put you in touch) who can go to bat for you if things go awry. Have cash available, and either invest in an extra cell phone battery or plug in your phone whenever you're near an outlet. And bring more underwear, socks, and reading material than you think you'll need.

A Sweet Visit from a Snow Bunny

My brother David and my niece Ember came out to visit Ed and me for the weekend and we had a great time!

I accompanied David from the Bay Area to Denver to try to make the trip a little easier, as it was Ember's first flight. Since she's not two yet, she qualifies as a lap baby and so we didn't need an extra seat for her. I did quite a bit of research and polled friends with kids for tips so that we'd be prepared, even though the flight is a short one, just under two hours. Things got off to a dicey start because our flight was delayed, but David and I took turns running around the terminal with Ember, who had a great time. She was particularly fond of the moving sidewalk, and we did lots of laps on that. Passers-by made lots of comments about how cute she was in her cowboy boots.

On board the plane, Ember received a certificate, signed by the pilot, to commemorate her first flight. We fed her a steady stream of snacks as the plane took off to keep her ears popping. It was dark and we'd opted to take the middle and aisle seats, but Ember still pointed out the window as we took off; I guess she saw the lights falling away below us anyway. Her eyes got big as we rose into the air and she beamed. Between snacks, magazines, and a few minutes spent playing with iPhone apps, she was pretty content the whole flight, to everyone's relief. She eventually fell asleep. I offered to take her because David had gone to work really early that morning and was exhausted, but she did not want to be handed over, and I was rather glad when we discovered how much she had drooled on his shirt... In Denver, she perked back up and we let her out of the stroller at baggage claim to run around while we waited for the car seat.

The original plan had been to drive up to Rocky Moutain National Park on Saturday so Ember could play in snow for the first time, but that turned out not to be necessary because the snow came to us. It had started to snow by the time we landed and it did not stop until after I dropped David and Ember off at the Denver airport on Sunday. We had a few inches on the ground on Saturday morning, and after breakfast we bundled Ember up and went onto the porch.

 Ember is a big fan of stairs, and after walking around in the snow on the deck for a while she went up and down a few times, then settled into walking around the yard.

David wasn't quick enough; she was ready to go!

She seemed to really like the snow, though was a bit disconcerted when it stuck to her mitten and flapped her hand around trying to get it off. Then she took off down the street and David and I followed her for a lap around our neighborhood.

Again, the grown-ups are far too slow.

She particularly enjoyed stomping in puddles in her new boots. 

This was accompanied by a "rawr" sound.

We even explored the nearby community garden. As the wind picked up and the flakes got larger, however, it was clear that things were not as much fun as they had been. Ember is a good-natured baby and so did not cry, but she got a bit clingy and we hurried to get her inside, take off her wet mittens, and warm her up. (I was chilly myself after about half an hour outside and was ready for a reprieve, too.)

At North Boulder Community Garden

We were excited to take Ember sledding on Sunday and were pleased to find extra mittens and snow pants at Target, marked down for the end of the season, no less. We also bought a sled. After dinner downtown and an impromptu table-side dance party, we hit the hay, excited about the next day. Ember had a great time running around the house in her snow pants. Alas, she found sledding to be less enjoyable. We found the perfect hill in a park next to a shopping center but failed, run after run, to coax a smile out of her. David hypothesized that her feet may have been cold in her uninsulated galoshes, and it turned out that she needed to be changed, too. Or perhaps a few inches of snow had been fun but nine inches was too much. Whatever the reason, sledding was a bust, though the hot chocolate we bought her afterward was a huge hit.

After a hot bath for the baby, I helped David pack up and drove the two of them to the airport. He said the flight back wasn't as good as the flight out but that it still went well. I was sorry to see them leave and will miss seeing Ember toddling around the house. I'm already looking forward to having them back when the weather is a bit warmer so they can see more of Boulder.

This just in: New photographic evidence suggests that Ember enjoyed sledding more than she let on. See Exhibits A and B, below, where it if one looks very closely it may be concluded that the stern mug she showed as at the bottom of the hill was not a reflection of her enjoyment of sledding. Perhaps it was just retaliation for making her get up early?

Hester and the Bully

This morning, Hester got into a bit of a scuffle. She's going to be fine, ultimately, but she's a little worse for wear.


I was at an intersection, waiting to make a right turn against a red light when it happened. I started to pull out, then decided that the oncoming car was a little closer than I'd thought and so stopped to let it go by. There was a sudden jolt from behind accompanied by a crunch, and I looked into my rearview mirror to see a hulking SUV directly behind me.


The car that hit me was a Toyota 4 Runner driven by a woman who seemed nice but rather irritated. We both called our insurance companies and hers sent a policeman to write up an accident report. They also advised her to move into a nearby parking lot, which we did. While waiting for the cop to arrive, I inspected both my car and the other woman's. It appeared that hers had only a bent license plate frame. Poor Hester hadn't been so lucky. She's quite dirty, so it took a while for me to spot all the damage, but the more I looked the more I saw. Most of her injuries are limited to her bumper, though there is a small dent on the door of her hatchback, too.

The dust actually helps to show the points of impact. Along the top of the bumper you can see a crack running parallel to my license plate (though it's not a great picture).

The policeman finally arrived, took down all of our information, and made sure we'd been wearing our seatbelts, corrective lenses, etc. I spent large parts of that morning and that afternoon on the phone with both the other woman's insurance company and mine, the body shop both companies recommended, and Hertz and Enterprise. The other driver is at fault so all of this will be fixed at no cost to me, but the only appointments I could get for the estimate and then the work are pretty far down the road. Oh well. At least poor Hester is drive-able.


This was my first accident, and I found the experience unexpectedly unsettling. Even though it was clear from the moment of impact that the damage was very minor, it was still about ten minutes before I stopped feeling somewhat shaky. Even though I was not the one that caused the accident, I am driving extra carefully now, looking in all directions multiple times before making any sort of move. The woman at the body shop told me to do something nice for that night, which seemed like very sound advice. I settled on a glass or three of wine and a few episodes of The Wire. And a few chocolate peanut butter cups.