wow

I have been slacking on the blog this week. I've been cutting loose. Here's the rundown:

Monday night I went to Cafeteria in Chelsea with a friend and then we met a bunch of people we know at Whiskey Town in the east village because we just found out our friend spins there Monday nights (which means I will probably be there this coming Monday as well).

Tuesday I went and picked up the new Vonnegut, Armageddon in Retrospect, which is simply amazing, of course, and then I read in Central Park until it started to get chilly. And then I bought a bunch more books, including Meet Me in the Moon Room by Ray Vukcevich, which was one of those books that I randomly picked up because the cover is cool, flipped to the middle of, read the first few words of a story (in this case, "My Mustache"), and immediately had to take home with me. It's incredible. If you like surrealism and/or surprising and surprisingly good fiction, go read it immediately. I will be reading it again as soon as I pass it to the three friends I told simply must read it now. Then my friend and I went to dinner at Curly's on 14th st by Second Ave, which was vegetarian yumminess (I had plantain chimichangas), and we got to sample a slice of spinach alfredo pizza from the new place next door, Artichoke, and it was the best pizza I've had in a while - not in a New York City slice kind of way, but in a yummy things baked onto dough kind of way. Very good.

Wednesday I turned in the final copy of my thesis (woohoo!), which my adviser had already signed off on, and then I met my roommate for a free screening of Forgetting Sarah Marshall. When I saw the trailer for it, I thought it looked funny but that I would probably not like the actual movie, but wow, it was really funny. I want to see it again in a room where I can rewind it a little if I'm laughing too hard to hear the next line, which happened a lot in the very crowded theater. Totally predictable plot, but that's not why we go. Then my roommate and I went to Via Della Pace on E 7th St, where I had the lobster ravioli in pink vodka sauce and a glass of sangiovese, and we split the bruschetta sampler and for dessert the white chocolate profiteroles, which were as amazing as they sound.

Thursday I spent the afternoon in Central Park (again!) with friends, some of whom also finished their theses this week, where we played Scrabble, and then we went to my favorite sushi restaurant in the city, Sushi Park (aka May's Place) on Second Ave just north of 7th St, and then to Yaffa for some more Scrabble. Their rioja and tiramisu were both delicious.

Friday I hopped on a train to Harrisburg, where I am spending the weekend. My grandmother turned 90 yesterday, and we had a big party for her, like 50 people, it was really pretty fantastic. I wish my sis and nephew (and her husband, of course) could have been there, but I'm sure I'll get down to see them soon. I certainly got to see lots of pictures, and I got to meet my cousin's new baby, who was born the day before my nephew - the first two great-grandchildren born the same week! How wild is that? And tomorrow I go home for a little less than 48 hours, and then I board a plane to Scotland. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. But I wouldn't change anything for the world. Am having a blast!