San Diego Comic-Con

This is the view from the Pacific Surfliner Train as you roll to and from San Diego.

Downtown San Diego is what happens when you leave the Crate& Barrel in charge of urban planning. It's filled with restaurants and nightclubs that are so tastefully decorated, you want to kill yourself out of the boredom. Two pretty good restaurants to check out: Ch1ve, a restaurant so pretentious it uses numbers as surrogates for vowels (I didn't just have fries, I had spicy feta cheese shoestring fries), and Rama, a Thai place with excellent decor and decent food.

I found San Diego's pedicab subculture fascinating. It's something I haven't noticed in any other American city: immigrants from some indeterminate Central/Eastern European nation (they always have thick accents) pedaling bicycle taxis through the streets of San Diego for exoribtant prices.
You even have female pedicab drives, which is pretty amazing and unexpected in and of itself.

The best days to go to Comic Con are Wednesday and Thursday. By the time the convention hits Friday, pedestrian traffic inside the convention center resembles a pedestrian version of the 405 freeway. It took me about ten minutes to walk from one end of the floor to the other on Friday, which was compounded by the definite, inescapable man-stench about the event.

The show floor is a melting pot of corporate commerce, indie artists, vintage pornography, and obsessive nerdery. It's a much more overwhelming experience to sensory faculties than even E3, which is simply a collection of large media conglomerates showing off their home stereo systems.

I attended a panel on Star Trek, in which an eleven-year-old boy asked the show's creators about slight differences in the visual effects of phasers in two different episodes of Star Trek: Voyager. Star Trek fans never disappoint.

For research, I saw the pilot of the new NBC series "Heroes". It was solidly mediocre, although the Japanese otaku-telekinetic has some funny moments.

It's definitely worth your time to walk through the rows of indie artists who have set up shop on the convention floor. You'll most likely discover something you like - I picked up quite a few indie comics at the show, and while they're not completely successful, they all contain at least a few interesting ideas.

Somehow, American culture has meandered from the Great American Novel to the Great American Screenplay, and now, to the Great American Comic Book. I spend plenty of time reading novels, watching movies, and I am impressed by the surplus of young comic book writers who have interesting ideas, and actual stories to include them in. It's a medium that isn't drowning in its own orthodoxy and pretentions, and allows young writers to grow and develop their talents. I don't think I've ever read anything by Brian K. Vaughn that actually works as a story, but I don't know if I'll be saying the same thing five years from now.

Surprisingly, the most popular cosplay character isn't any Marvel or DC superhero, but rather various characters from a certain hidden village in the country of fire. Naruto is such a juggernaut that he singlehandedly takes up an eighth of the convention center floor. Judging from the massive array of Naruto merchandise on offer in its booth, the Mattel corporation owes its current solvency to Mr. Uzumaki, it seems. Anime chicks love wearing the Konoha forehead protector in the style of Sakura. Surprisingly, nobody dresses up as Naruto himself, probably owing to the extremely loud orange jumpsuit that he is always attired in.

Barbeque in South Central Los Angeles

One of the nice things about not doing the job thing is that you get invited to more social gatherings. The surge of invitations is due mostly to the brazen assumption that you are always available.

And guess what? You are. I've gone to more parties in the past three months than in the entire year preceding them.

Tonight I found myself gnawing at a pile of baby back ribs in the parking lot of Phillip's BBQ in south central Los Angeles, as a group of folks gathered underneath the tailgate of someone's Mercedes SUV.

Phillip's BBQ is such an exceptional (for LA) joint that they can completely omit any seating space - the restaurant consists of two windows: ordering and pick up. There's a sign next to the ordering window that reads: "Yes, the hot sauce is really hot." You can get the obligatory ribs and pulled pork with said hot sauce, or opt for a mild one or a mixture. And they have an intriguing array of uniquely Southern desserts on offer as well, including 7up Cake and Sock It To Me Cake. You know the place is authentic when you can smell the place before you can see it - heck, you can even see the place before you can see it, due to the thick plumes of smoke rising from the smokestack.

In south central, everyone seems to know each other, or at least act as if they do. Everyone greets everyone else with a surprising degree of familiarity - the security guard for the parking lot, the homeless guy, the lady in line in front of us, the random customer pulling up in a Cadillac. Despite what you see on the evening news, it's a friendlier place than the rest of Los Angeles. At least in the vicinity of Phillip's, anyway.

Packing For San Diego

I am charging four peripherals at once: phone, camera, iPod, DS. There's something weird about that.

I'm headed for the world's largest comic book convention, Comic-Con. Having never been to one of these things before, I'm really not sure what to expect.

I'm particularly excited about taking the train back from San Diego to Union Station; I haven't done that since... a very long time ago. And Sea World is close to the hotel - so that's a definite possibility.

When I return, I should have at least a few photos, and a series of somewhat contemplative posts:

• Living in Los Angeles


• Writing the Hollywood Blockbuster


• A Recap of this Experiment in Living

Nerding It Up and Dorking Out

Recently, I was trying to decide which writing project to pursue during the downtime of my primary writing project, Pillow Crisis. I finally settled on a project (one of three I have on the backburner) called Lobsters Vs. Butterflies. This was a decision fraught with consequence, so I was somewhat uncertain of tmy course. But impelled by no small amount of synchronicity, I made a choice and sided with the Nephropidae and the Papilionoidea.

A month or so later, it's becoming increasingly evident that I made the right decision. Other projects would have required research of an intensive nature, utterly exhausting any residual powers of concentration unconsumed by Pillow Crisis. Many dry primary historical accounts, many creaky old genre movies with shopworn cliches.

Lobsters vs. Butterflies, however, merely requires that I do what I do best.

That is, nerd it up and dork out.

Impossibly Nerdy/Dorky Things Done In The Name of Researching This Script

Events: Comic-Con in San Diego (July) - the world's largest comic book convention. My room is subsidized and my meals are paid for, and I have a free ride down. That's my excuse.

Hardware: In order to facilitate the enjoyment of a Dungeons & Dragons(!) game called Baldur's Gate 2, I recently reformatted a computer hard drive and installed an obsolete operating system (Windows 2000); along the way, I adjusted some CMOS settings, and attempted to flash a motherboard BIOS. You know, just to remind myself why my newest computer is an Apple.

And to play the fourth installment of a video game series - one that concerns not the overwhelming problem of global evil, but rather the more manageable quandry of residential evil - I endeavored to repair my roommate's Nintendo Gamecube, which has been broken for over a year. This involved melting a Bic pen and molding it into the shape of a proprietary screwbit screwdriver, disassembling the console, and adjusting a LASER POTENTIOMETER. Amazingly, I did it, but I don't know how long this Gamecube will live on borrowed time, especially given the intermittent and spooky clicking noises it makes.

Television: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - so far, watching this show is like being stuck in a trigonometry class full of annoying chicks who spend the hour comparing brands of tampons. I really don't want to be there. But I've made an agreement to watch at least the first 48 episodes, so what can I do?

Also... OMFGNaruto!!!11 ^_^ I can say two things about this show, having watched SEVENTY-TWO episodes. One, it's easily the greatest cartoon I've ever seen in my life. Two, I will no doubt watch at least 60 more episodes before I give it up. In order to do so, I joined Narutofan.com, which charges the mere pittance of five dollars a month in order to provide access to unlimited downloads of Naruto effluvia.

Comic Books: The Long Haul, Runaways, Powers, and countless other comics you've never, ever heard of. I am bidding on lots of old comic books on eBay, and I don't even read comics.

Video Games: Resident Evil 4, Red Dead Revolver, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. Well, this isn't so bad. You could probably find some frat boys somewhere playing the same stuff.

Dude, I could make the scariest Myspace page ever.

Purpose and Intention

Today the bikini lady yoga instructor asked me to demonstrate the upside-down "L" pose for the entire class. About the L pose: I suspect, despite a severe lack of foreshadowing from my instructor, that this pose is preperation for a full-on handstand. It involves coming onto your hands and knees, and then walking your feet up the wall, forming the aforementioned inverted consonant with your body.

I was somewhat apprehensive abou my instructor's request for several reasons. First of all, I'm not accustomed to performing any act of physicality before an audience. Secondly, the instructor usually recruits some incredibly limber chick wearing Hard Tail pants to demo a pose, which is an arrangement I much prefer, quite frankly. Lastly, I only learned to do the L pose about two weeks ago. It's absolute murder on your hands and arms.

But I agreed to demonstrate, and I was able to slowly walk up and down the wall without losing my balance. I was rock solid, in fact. And as I was performing, the instructor said:

"Look, do you see his hands? They are filled with purpose and intention!"

That's right, y'all - my hands are vessels bearing the catalysts for action. (Like Naruto!)

(There's actually a very pragmatic reason why I spread my hands shoulder-length apart and flatten my palms. Because if I don't, the L pose is going to hurt like hell.)

I'd say I'm about a month or so away from doing the first handstand of my life.

Little French Girls Love Pillow Crisis <3 <3 <3

So the latest (well, the latest that I can tell you about) on the Pillow Crisis front is that Huili pitched the story to a 12-year-old French girl who's a big Harry Potter fan.

Imagine Huili pitching, in Spanish, a story written in English to a girl whose native language is French.

She loved it, and more importantly, shared our belief in the coolness of our favorite characters and moments. That's a huge relief, as we slowly whittle the number of unanswered questions to an integer that can be counted on one hand.

Much bigger and more regular updates regarding my life and everything beginning tomorrow.

Reasons Not To Move to New York

Street fair on Amsterdam Ave. These street fairs shut down traffic.

1) Public Transit Really Doesn't Save You That Much Money

Public transit was supposed to be New York's saving grace financially, the one reliable method of saving money in the city. A monthly subway pass pretty much covers it, right?

No. Sometimes there's subway construction and your stop is closed. Sometimes you want to go crosstown and the buses are too slow. Sometimes you're carrying something expensive and you don't want to take a late night subway. All of the above means your ass is taking a cab at around ten bucks a pop. Transportation costs in New York easily equal or surpass my $90 / month gasoline budget here in LA (and by the way, I haven't come close to spending that much since I quit my job).

But you're still not paying auto insurance, you point out. True, but any savings on auto insurance are cancelled out by the increase in rent.

And I haven't even gotten to higher cost of living yet. What kind of economy asks me to pay $1.75 for a bottle of Vitamin Water?

Perfect fatality, Los Angeles. S+ rank. Would you like to continue, New York?


2) My New York Roster Will Lose Many Key Players To Free Agency

My time in New York was such that I literally didn't have to make any plans. Everyday I'd wake up, and I'd get a text message or a phone call from somebody telling me where to be at a specified time. Then I'd eat whatever food had been decided on by other parties. This worked out quite well, as I got to see a great deal of the city in a relatively short period of time.

It's certainly easy to have a good time in New York when you have a deep bench of friends in the city. But starting in about a year, I'd say this thick posse is going to be halved, with people departing for new careers and new lives. My friend George says this is a staging ground for people on the way to their actual lives. For half my friends in New York, he's right.



Danielle walking across the Brooklyn Bridge.


3) I Can Live In New York, But Can I Work In New York?

I like New York. Some parts of the city (such as my friend Danielle's neighborhood in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn) have a sense of community you'd never get in Los Angeles. You don't have to drive, and you're surrounded by lots of fun old stuff - museums and books and buildings.

On the other hand, the city is beginning to feel like a time capsule of itself - kind of like Paris. You just get the lingering, uneasy sense that New York's most exciting days are behind it. I love many writers and artists from the city, but I have absolutely no desire to be part of that tradition, which I suspect is beginning to diminish anyway. There wasn't a single author from New York among the books I purchased from the Strand. And the Whitney Biennial couldn't find enough American (read: New York) artists this year, so they threw it open to the internationals. This is all anecdotal, but still.

Also, it's not a quiet place, and that's kind of a prerequisite for my job. Yes, I am aware that I can seek quiet in New York, but that's not exactly the same thing.

What I'm saying is, it doesn't really feel like a place where I would write.

Fiscal Report: June 2006

Man, I was THIS close to not buying any clothing at all this month. Then I saw a ten dollar messenger bag at Urban Outfitters, (even the sale is on sale!), so it all went to hell. What's worse, I went to another party last night and some girl was like, "Nice bag!" And that's not helping at all.

Also, when you don't commute to work, you save a lot of money on fuel.

With all these massive surpluses, I've clearly overbudged a bit. A wise strategy, because here come some brand new monthly expenses.

NEW MONTHLY EXPENSES

Unlimited Yoga Classes at the Center for Hot Moms: $90 a month
Increase in Health Insurance Premium: $15 a month
Netflix Upgrade to 4 Out at A Time: $12 a month

I don't add new debits to the monthly budget lightly, so rest assured that these are justified. Yoga is a bit pricey, but bear in mind that I attend classes five days a week, and that I can cancel the plan at any time. For comparison's sake, a ten class series at the same studio costs about $110. Netflix is crucial for research, and the four out plan allows me to spend more time watching movies, and less time waiting by my mailbox. And without health insurance, how could I care for all the infants I've fathered out of wedlock?

UNDER BUDGET SPENDING CATEGORIES

Unallocated: $170.00
Dining Out: $105.06
Clothing: $49.50
Auto Fuel: $96.98
Phone: $30.00

Total: $451.51 under budget

Fierce Grape

Photo by Flickr user Walsh.

A brief snapshot of everything that is happening right now:

• The Bruce Wayne regimen has commenced. Five days of yoga. and three days of weights a week. Some running, too. It's going well, but I haven't needed this much electrolyte replacement since I was in high school lacrosse. Time to buy some Gatorade. Some FIERCE GRAPE perhaps?


• Lots of secret activity. Secret projects with secret collaborators. A secret workout partner (wow, that sounds so very gay). Super secret movement on the Pillow Crisis front. It's like my life is an episode of Naruto.


• Pillow Crisis is definitely taking its toll. Closing the last thousand yards on this project is agonizing. Here is what every morning is like: I wake up, I roll out of bed, make some eggs, and then sit down for a four hour chat with Huili. Ugh. Oh wait. That still sounds way better than the job I quit. I WIN.


• Have been spending much time marvelling at the remarkable similarities between Uzumaki Naruto's life and my own. Also noting how appropriate that theme song is in serving as background music to my day.


• Some warning shots being fired across my bow by destiny right now. Like Busta Rhymes says: pay attention.


• As research for a script, I conducted a great interview with a former employee of a prominent offline dating service, and have some truly horrifying stories now. In short, don't join one. It's no better than chance. The social humiliation you'll endure by striking up an awkward conversation with a stranger off the street is nothing compared to what you'll face with a dating service.


• Have been absolutely devouring media at a rate I haven't seen since Lower School Book Club. I put Naruto on hiatus to finish off the entire run of Cowboy Bebop, am about to begin the entire 144 episode run of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (don't ask), am watching about four movies a week, and finishing a book every week or so. There's just too much good stuff out there.


• Went to a party and swept the room, which is defnitely a first. By swept, I mean I talked to every individual with whom I wanted to, uh, talk. Must have spent five hours working my way through the place. Kind of exhausting, though, to be that engaged for that long. I did pretty well, though. Got compliments on my biceps and my shoes. Got hit on by attractive members of both sexes, so I guess whatever I'm doing, it's working.


• Gave some Naruto episodes to Mark. Gave some to Brian. Am forming Los Angeles Naruto Fan Club (proposed name: Hidden Larchmont Village). Naruto, Naruto, Naruto!!!

Ringtone No Jutsu

Hay guys! OK its time to talk about the best anime EVAR, NARUTO!!!11

Naturo is liek so def better than harry potter and buffy and fallout boys combined, cuz he ROX!! hahaha am i rite?

Naruto is a student at ninja school in japan which is a real place my cousin goes there. he is from hidden leaf village and he knows all these jutsus that's jp for technique. he can even turn himself into a naked lady LOLZ

girls suck at being ninjas btw thats why Sakura cant do crap in any episode ever. but she is hot so its ok

HERE IS TEH MAIN NARUTO SONG

Song: Naruto Main Theme [Excerpt] (MP3)

Daaaaaaamnn the Naruto theme is sooo CRUNK hahaha

Check it here is a ringtone I made so you can put on yr cell.

Ringtone: Naruto Main Theme (MP3)

Here is another ringtone I made plz dl it

Ringtone: The Raising Fighting Spirit (MP3)

Ringtone: Turn Over (MP3)

This is the song they play whenev Naruto is making a comeback and you think he died but he's all liek oh no i didn't here i am im Uzumaki Naruto!

oh and i made another ringtone

Ringtone: Bad Situation (MP3)

This is when the bad guy ninjas are gonna jutsu Naruto and you are hoping Naruto will pwn them. and then he does and the bad guys are like what

Brooklyn

Danielle is a stalwart defender of Brooklyn, and so she spent much of our time together showing me the virtues of living in the borough.

We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, and then stopped at the local Coop for snacks, and then took in the sky at Prospect Park. Quite an impressive sky for New York City - voluminous enough to give you the momentary sensation of living somewhere quieter and greener than New York.

The Coop is a completely foreign concept to someone raised in Dallas, home of the most beautiful strip malls in the world. So I'll try to explain it. Essentially, much of the markup in Ralph's prices comes from 1) good old fashioned capitalism and 2) the cost of processing, storing, sorting and selling products. The Coop neatly sidesteps both; it's owned and run by the neighborhood residents.

In order to earn the right to shop at the Coop, you have to commit to work there a few hours of month, during which you might cut wheels of cheese into wedges, or sort bags of trail mix. Owing to the strident community spirit that is rampant in Brooklyn, there is actually a waiting list to work at the Coop. That's right - you have to wait a few months before you can work at the grocery store, so that you can be allowed to buy groceries. This would never fly in Texas.



But the payoff is sublime. The prices are unbeatable, even in the mass-market items, and the choice of gourmet items is easily comparable to Whole Foods. I bought a large bag of the best raisins I've ever had for a dollar. Danielle showed me a large packet of handgrown spice being sold for fifty cents. My favorite European cookies were being sold at a price I've never ever seen.

Is there a downside to the Coop? Most definitely. The store is small and crowded by supermarket standards, and the checkout procedure is arcane in the manner of an Eastern European motor vehicles bureau.

But you can't argue with the prices, and the warm and fuzzy feeling of defending your municipality against the onslaught of self-checkout machines and privacy-invading discount cards is definitely a plus.

Personally, the Coop's selection is more suited for those who spend a lot of time cooking. For someone (such as myself) who is a mere dilletante in the kitchen, Trader Joe's still represents the best balance between gourmet offerings and convenience.

Whitney Biennial 2006

The Whitney Biennial is meant to anthologize the most significant American artists currently producing work that is of the moment. But mainly, it serves as a public relations instrument for the Whitney museum - the show seems to generate more press for the institution than the selected artists.

I interned for the Whitney when I was in college, a fact I opportunistically mentioned when standing in line for tickets. The clerk was kind enough to comp me, and so in I went, accompanied by my friends Matt, Brett, and Brett's boyfriend.

The Biennial curators included international artists in the roster this year, a significant choice given that the museum is dedicated to showcasing American artists. Whether this event was an an outlier in the annals of American art history, or a portent of a slow decline in American art was not something I could determine.

That uncertainty didn't prevent Matt from issuing his initial assessment of the show: "Dude, this is fucking art school." I had to agree - most of the pieces felt conceptually dubious. There were barely any memorable works, but I am proud to have captured some completely illegal video of one by Paul Chan called "1st Light".

You have to tilt your head to the left in order to view the video with the proper orientation, as I am covertly filming it by palming my digital camera. What you're looking at is a projection on the floor meant to depict the shadows falling through a bedroom window on a moonlit night.

Life Happens Pretty Fast

Apologies for the paucity of posts lately - life has been fairly full and busy lately. No chance of a slow fadeout on the blog, since 1) I've never successfully kept a journal, and have always regretted it and 2) There is no shortage of topics to write about.

Huili and I have been spending my afternoons and his late nights talking for five hours a day, trying to sweep up all the loose threads in the Pillow Crisis outline. If I didn't have a good number of years of writing experience, I'd want to kill myself.

I've also been automating my work flow, using a combination of high-end productivity software. I'm more machine than man, now: twisted and evil.

Meanwhile, a number of unlikely and surprising possibilities have bubbled up lately:

• taking a public speaking course with MBA students from the Marshall School at USC
  


• infiltrating the inner-workings of one of most prominent offline dating services in the country


• acquiring the film rights to someone else's intellectual property

I keep saying that I can't believe this is my life, but dude, seriously.

A Fork In The Road

So the Pillow Crisis outline is nearing completion. It's looking quite lean and mean, and I think we've got something quite special herre. The movie appears to be greater than the sum of its two co-writers, which is the best possible outcome for a collaboration.

Meanwhile, the Academy's screenwriting competition (the Nicholl) is in early May 2007, and assuming that I am eligible for entry at that time, I intend to win it this year. That gives me ten-and-a-half months to complete two scripts. Pillow Crisis (none of these titles is real) is obviously one of them, but I need an additional project to occupy the downtime. PC is a project that happens in fits and starts, due to the fact that the co-writers live in different countries and one is raising a young child.

I have spent the past year assuming that my next project would be Waxahachie Air, a work of historical fiction. But synchronicity - in the form of my friends' collective opinion and random encounters with apposite media - suggests that I instead write the most ridiculous idea I've ever had. A movie that can be pitched in three words, and combines two of my most gleefully juvenile preoccupations: Lobsters vs. Butterflies.

The utterly puerile nature of Lobsters Vs. Butterflies seems to suggest a simpler story to write. It draws upon very classical archetypes and stories, which makes the job a little easier. It certainly doesn't require as much research as Waxahachie Air, although it will still require a lot. But the research will be more fun.

What gives me pause is that Waxahachie Air is clearly an easier sale to Hollywood. On the other hand, I think it's quite likely that WA won't be ready for showtime by May 2007, especially given the pace at which Pillow Crisis is moving. PC is going to be a huge time sink.

Lobsters vs. Butterflies feels like something I can have fun with and more importantly, get done quickly. I would be more than a little disappointed to emerge from 2006 with only one complete script, and looking at my current timetable, PC and LvB fit snugly (but not tightly) in the calendar.

But predicting what your writing experience is going to be on a script is near impossible, in my experience.

Monday Update

Last Week (or Two)

• Eight movies, eight episodes of Band of Brothers, 20 episodes of Naruto, four novels


• Resumed weight-training three times a week


• Met with collaborators on side project


• Phase One of apartment spring cleaning


• Pillow Crisis outlining - I say this every week, but we are really THIS close


• eBay auctions to fund Asia and Europe excursions - profit: $100/hr.


• Went to stylist's house(!) to have hair cut in living room

This Week

• Resume yoga classes after month-long hiatus due to travel and weight training


• Six movies and one book


• Commence new writing project to be completed during Pillow Crisis downtime


• Side project brainstorming


• Second and possibly final round of eBay auctions - projected profit: $30/hr


• Follow up with director who requested my script


• Phase Two of apartment spring cleaning


• Learn how to use OmniOutliner Pro software so I can stop abusing bullet points like a game designer

New York Restaurant Roundup

A roundup of eateries I dined at in New York:

Beard Papa (recommended by me)
Japanese Cream Puffs - Various Locations
Surprisingly, few of my friends had tried this, despite the fact that Beard Papa has been open at several locations in NY for over a year now. So I took it upon myself to introduce them to the delicacy known as the Japanese cream puff. Beard Papa is a popular chain imported directly from Tokyo, and their puffs consist of a creamy custard, sweetened to perfection, injected into a delicate and flaky puff. Just the smell of the place upon entering is enough to keep you coming back. Just be careful not to inhale the powdered sugar.

Peanut Butter and Co. (recommended by Danielle)
Peanut Butter & Jelly - Greenwich Village
Ok, let's get the obvious out of the way first. Would you like something other than a peanut butter (and jelly) sandwich? This is NOT your place. But there is something to be said for specialization. I can wholeheartedly recommend the Elvis - peanut butter, bananas, honey, and bacon, grilled on two pieces of wheat. Paying $7 for PB & J seems a bit precious, though.

Veselka (recommended by Danielle)
Ukrainian - East Village
Ukrainian food for hipsters having a post-club snack. Los Angelenos, think Swingers, but with pirogis and stuffed cabbage and borscht. My first time having all three, as well as my first time imbibing the New York institution known as the Lime Rickey.

Bombay Frankie Roti Roll (recommended by Matt)
Fast Indian - Morningside Heights
Now this is one of those things that gives NY an edge over LA. (Don't get uppity New Yorkers - we don't have to take a number here just to ENTER Trader Joe's - we just walk right in like we own the place.) Fast Indian food - brilliant! Imagine a non-fried samosa burrito thingy filled with chicken (marinated in cream and spices) or spiced potatoes and sweet peas. All for less than four bucks.

Good Enough To Eat (recommended by George)
Comfort Food - Upper West Side
According to George, this is one of the top ten places to eat breakfast in the United States. The menu consists of exceptionally well-executed breakfast staples - nothing too fancy here. I had the turkey hash with eggs, and thought it was just about perfect.

Taam-Tov (recommended by Matt)
Uzbek - Diamond District
Chicken schvarma so tender it just falls apart in your mouth, releasing its subtle flavors in the process. Good stuff.

Shake Shack (recommended by Matt)
Burgers & Shakes - Madison Square Park
A faux-retro roadside stand located in the middle of a diminutive city park. Often cited as the best burger in New York, but Fairway is better, so whatever with that. The burgers and fries are decent, but the shakes and the frozen custard - in an impressive array of flavors - are incredible.

Fairway Cafe (recommended by Matt)
Supermarket Steakhouse - Upper West Side
This is a fancy steakhouse on the second floor of a supermarket. They serve a pretty damn good $12 burger, served on brioche with some excellent fries. We're talking the thick and juicy patty, not the thin and crispy variety that some people tend to favor. Best of all, they cook the thing medium rare, which I'm not sure is even legal anymore. But damn the law - this is my burger we're talking about.


Edit: a few last minute additions.

107 West(recommended by Matt)
Yuppie Southern food - Upper West Side

Tomo Sushi and Sake
Yuppie Japanese - Upper West Side

Queen of Sheba
Yuppie Ethiopian - Hell's Kitchen

It's Midnight, What Are We Going To Do For The Next Three Hours?

The Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in a hostage, in which the hostage exhibits seeming loyalty to the hostage-taker, in spite of the danger (or at least risk) the hostage has been put in. It is also the end result of undermining Matt's sleep cycle with a demanding nightly regimen of hanging out until three in the morning. As you can see, he sports this "beard" - a harbinger of his subsequent mental state, or perhaps a symptom of a dermatological condition.

When it actually came time to sleep, the blanket Matt gave me was the very same one he used to sleep in as a college freshman. It looked a little worse for wear, but is still very comfortable.

Matt appears to be doing well. I highly recommend that everyone apply for a Ph.D. in sociology at Columbia University, because the sociologists there like to throw parties and have dinners at fancy restaurants, which seems a bearable way to spend five years of your life. There were, not one, but two sociologist parties during my stay in New York, and half of them involved dinner at 107 West, where I had a magnificently-executed blackened catfish.

His life is also somewhat cyclical in nature - within a twenty-four hour period, he took me to a bookstore, an Italian restaurant, and a bar, presenting all of these venues to me as if they were novel and unprecedented experiences, when in fact he had taken me to every last one of them during my previous visit. These places were quite nice, so I didn't mind.



One new place we visited was St. John's Cathedral, where we sat in order to eat some roti in the scupture garden. We attempted to surmise the subject matter of the garden's fountain, and Matt floated a guess: was it a apocalyptic depiction of the book of Revelations? Alas, no. It was a tribute to the friendly power of a child's imagination, a power which will apparently unleash a terrifying doom of giant crabs upon us all.



We also visited the new Apple Store on Fifth Avenue, which is notable for both its architecture and its hours: twenty four hours a day, 365 days a year. Matt and I decided to mosey down to the store at midnight in order to exchange a defective Macbook for a new one, a decision which garnered a serious WTF from his girlfriend. Surprisingly, the Apple store at one in the morning looks pretty much the same as the Apple store at four in the afternoon: crowded and busy.

Matt also taught me this bachelor's recipe for Black Beans and Rice, which is to be celebrated for its frugality, ease of preparation, and taste. I question its nutritional value, but as an individual who is about to embark on a workout consisting of yoga five days a week and weight training for three (a workout I will christen "The Bruce Wayne"), I must consume all the convenient servings of protein I can. I am a aficionado of Heating and Stirring Random Ingredients In A Pot, a culinary taxonomy which includes risotto, and this recipe is one of the sterling examples of the form.



Matt's Black Beans And Rice

2 Cans Black Beans
1 Can Corn
1 Can Diced Tomatoes With Peppers
1 Can Long Grain White Rice
1 Can Water
2 Teaspoons Cumin
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
White (Non-Yellow) Cheddar Cheese
Sea Salt

Rinse the black beans, and dump them in a pot.

Add the diced tomatoes, corn, cumin, and olive oil.

Measure 2 cans of water and add to pot.

Bring to a boil on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.

Salt to taste.

Measure 1 can of rice and add to pot.

Then simmer for 20 minutes. Do not stir.

Rice may or may not rise to the surface. Leave it. Again, do NOT stir or Matt will have an epileptic seizure and/or grow a ridiculous beard.

Serve with a few slices of cheddar and stir. The cheese is crucial.

Housekeeping

Not only am I girl-proofing the apartment, I'm also cleaning up around the site.

The Last Five (see this blog's sidebar) is a running log of everything I'm reading, watching, and playing. You can find miniscule capsule reviews of each item on my personal site.

The idea is to finish seven movies and a book every week, which means I need to move, move, MOVE. I won't be finishing many video games this year, but I'll report on the ones I try out.

For research, I'm also watching the first seventy episodes of Naruto (think Hogwarts for ninjas) and Band of Brothers, and both are excellent.

Rob: naruto is awesome
Rob: it's my favorite anime
Brian: you're weird

What New York Was Like

Matt flosses (heh) in a Mercenaries t-shirt. This has absolutely nothing to do with anything, I just thought it was funny and had to post it somewhere.

When I was a senior in college, I had completed my requirements, I was pretty sure I was going to be admitted into grad school, and I had a scholarship that paid for my dorm and my meals. This was a recipe for awesomeness.

I decided to treat my year as if I were attending summer camp. I took the goofy courses like Psychology of Love, Nature Writing, and Stress Reduction, made a bunch of short films, and spent a lot of time hanging out. This behavior seems to be a recurring theme in my life.

Nature Writing was the ONLY class I took as a second semester senior. It consisted of reading great outdoor books such as Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Walden, and Deliverance, going camping, and journaling about our experiences.

I will always remember this girl named Jill in that class, not because I was crushing on her, but because of a journal entry she wrote, in which she said: "I want to wake up and spend the day. I want to truly SPEND it." Ever since I heard those words, they've rung continually in my head ever since. I even incorporated them in more elaborate form into The Last Whatever.

One of my favorite feelings is the one that comes at the end of a day I have spent. It's not an easy thing to accomplish. Spending the day does not mean you grind the day away with productive busy-ness. Nor does it mean you allow leisure to steal the hours away.

It's about finding the proper pace, the proper amount of engagement, the proper quantity of stimulation. It's about the most proper way to move through the entire day, from moment to moment, as if you're a citizen of a small town in Holland, and you just had a some tea with your friends and now you're going for a canal ride at sunset, and later you'll light a fire with wood you chopped yourself.

That's what New York was like. The pace was absolutely perfect: meandering from place to place, leaving one friend and meeting another, sharing meals and conversation, pausing to see the sights.

Definitely one of the best trips I've taken.

Coming up:

• A list of the things I ate
• More photos
• Greater detail about the time I spent with Matt and Danielle
• The Whitney Biennial
• Why I'm Staying In Los Angeles

Fiscal Report: May 2006

I'm a very conservative budget forecaster, I guess.

I'm underbudget again this month, despite going to New York and eating like the chubby parents at the beginning of Spirited Away. I think going to Dallas helped, because my mom and dad fed me for a week.

One thing I'm surprised by is how difficult it apparently is to NOT spend any money on clothes each month. I'm not going to get too down on myself, because I'm only buying things I need. Like the official badminton shoes of the greatest athlete to ever play the game.

I haven't yet decided what I will spend the surplus on, mainly because I have a pretty good feeling there will be no shortage of opportunities to spend it on any number of frivolities.

Here's what I WON'T spend it on, however:

• A Dell widescreen LCD display.
• A Playstation 3, Xbox 360, or Nintendo Wii.
• An Apple Macbook

There is simply no reason why I can't wait until 2007 to purchase any of these things.

Unallocated: $188.80 (out of $188.80)
Dining Out: $66.64 (out of $250.00)
Clothing: $10.31 (out of $150.00)
Entertainment: $35.55 (out of $123.00

Total: 301.20 under budget