Day: September 16, 2007

Anniversary fest

This week is birthday central, with 5 bdays to celebrate – P’s best friend and maid of honor on the 12, P and my mom on the 15th, and P’s dad, brother and other friend on the 16th.

Wednesday: Essex. Judeo-Hispanic cuisine. Sentimental favorite because that was were P and I met for brunch for the first time. Best deal: Wednesday lobster night – $16 gets you a delicious complete lobster dinner. Also, you can’t miss the potato pancakes with gravlox and salmon caviar! Recommended.

Saturday: Sammy’s Fish Box . We’ve come to this famed City Island emporium of seafood a few times before, and know about the big plates, so we decided to go for a shared plate. Little did we know that the shared plates are even more ridiculously spectacular. Monstrous portions of fish, lobster, king crab, and assorted shellfish on a bed of linguine, all sitting on a plate suitable for a flounder or a jumbo turkey. I think we have a week of leftovers. Recommended if you like seafood and don’t mind the trek.

Afterwards we had desert/birthday wishes at the Black Whale. The back garden was great. Recommended if in the area.

Sunday: East Manor for dim sum later today. The last time we were here, in episode 14, we were ushering at my friend’s 650 person wedding. Eager to see if it has changed.

New banner – the aerial photo of Brooklyn wasn’t off of Google Maps – it was taken by me out the side of an American Airlines jet. Have to work on changing the photo more often.

Have to find something extra spectacular for the Four for Triscribe anniversary… any ideas?

Weekend!

A Happy Anniversary to Triscribe, a bit in advance, I think, but all sincere.

Sooo looking forward to the vacation this Thursday to Los Angeles and San Diego. Sooo need to get far, far away from my office. May possibly blog from Cali, but no guarantees.

Wednesday night – joined friends to celebrate a certain friend’s birthday at Caffe Carciofo on Court Street, across from the Cobble Hill Cinema. Great for for weeknight prixe fixe. Good cheap wine. Recommended.

Finished reading The Power of a Positive No, by William Ury, the co-writer of the “Getting to Yes” book that is a must for those who want to improve their negotiating skills or wish to be in mediation/ADR. Huge thumbs up – great book, very clear message on how to say no, firmly and clearly, without burning your bridges and affirming you, your needs, and your relationship with the person to whom you’re saying no. I read a library copy of the book, but I’m definitely planning on buying it eventually.

Facebook has an application to play Scrabble with your friends, created and operated by the folks at Scrabulous. Scrabulous is fabulous all right – sooo addictive to play it in solitaire format, but the Robot is so annoying, because it has greater access to words and tactics than I do. If I get that infuriated with the Robot, maybe I’ll overcome this growing addiction (this week’s obsession anyway) to Scrabulous.

Event to note: Brooklyn Book Festival, this Sunday!

Articles to note:

On Slate: A look at what makes a good modern monument.

In the NY Times: a Megan Marshall’s book review of Linda Colley’s biography of an 18th Century woman who traveled far more than anyone would have imagined in those times. Marshall’s review made the book sound fascinating, and I’d love to read it. I had read Colley’s “Britons: Forging the Nation,” in college, when I had taken a British history course – just great writing.

An inside look at Ken Burns, just before his World War II documentary airs the next Sunday (9/23).