On a pleasant note:
A common thread on this blog has been where we get pizza – as seen here (pizza in Chicago’s Giordano’s), here (Fornino), here (Grimaldi’s), here (Di Fara’s), and most recently (I think!) here (Franny’s). Or links to articles or websites on pizza. (even the concept of fried pizza… or how pizza’s advertised). Pizza, pizza, pizza, as the Little Caesar commercial once said.
My latest contribution: Saturday – went to Totonno’s in Coney Island (it also has other branches in the metro area) with a friend. We had a white pizza. Quite tasty. Thumbs up, I’ll say.
Speaking of Coney Island – whither Astroland? We shall see! From what I can tell, the progress of re-developing Coney Island has some kinks to work out.
Dim sum on Sunday, since we had visiting relatives – Diamond on Eight on 8th Avenue in Brooklyn (formerly known as Ocean Palace). Used to be better, I’ll say. Not nearly impressed. Last month, we had taken other relatives to Pacificana, at the other end of 8th Avenue (brand spanking new place, with nice bathrooms, I’ll say) – and the food there seemed jazzier. I’m hardly an expert on dim sum though.
Didn’t think that it’d be much of a primary election – next Tuesday – but there are some odd races in our borough. Oh, well. Guess I’ll do my civic duty.
9/11 observations tomorrow – Time magazine’s Jeffrey Kluger observes:
Grief has always been our most well-policed emotion. Mourning is painful, so we make it the stuff of pageantry –of muffled drums and riderless horses and black-draped catafalques. To suffer collectively is, if nothing else, to suffer prettily.
What’s harder to know is, When is enough enough? A lot of Americans are quietly, and guiltily, asking themselves that question this week, as Sept. 11–the sixth Sept. 11 since 2001–once again approaches. A sixth anniversary is an awkward thing, without the raw feeling of a first or the numerical tidiness of a fifth or 10th. The families of the 2,973 people murdered that day need no calendrical gimmick to feel their loss, but a nation of 300 million–rightly or wrongly–is another matter.
Some have suggested that we discontinue the moments of silence and solemn speeches and all the other ceremonies that have marked our recent Sept. 11s. While many argue that that would leave the day bereft of meaning, it’s possible that there are deeper kinds of meaning to be had. [….]
There are many ways to remember the dead. It’s hard to argue that learning how to defeat real evil, slap aside pretenders and rebuild in the face of abiding sorrow aren’t three very good ones.
Thoughts to keep in mind, a mindful time of year. Be they happy thoughts.