Monday, May 1, the May issue of Sound & Vision includes an interview with Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull.  And yes, I have virtually the whole Tull collection, having started my purchasing with their second album when I was at Montclair Academy with John Guttmann and the rest of the Johns.  [And also yes, this is a 'shout out' I think they call it ... I've exchanged a small bit of e-mail with my high school friend and hope we will see each other again soon.]

Tuesday, May 2 and 5 times this month I have lunch at a new restaurant, Montien, around the corner at 90 Third Avenue.  Formerly on Broadway until they lost their lease, they’ve taken over the former location of Lavo (a Thai restaurant which had gone downhill).  In addition to the Thai menu, however, they’ve also added ‘Continental’ dishes which are basically pasta.  Hmmm, Italian at a Thai restaurant?

The first time, I have a lunch special of beef in red curry served with a side of iceberg lettuce that’s quite good.  And for only $6 quite the deal.  Most of the lunch specials are that price, with an extra dollar for fish.  All come with a choice of soup or salad; the Italian pastas come with bread instead.  Dinner entrees are much more expensive, ranging from $9-14; again the continental dishes are priced accordingly.  And Sunday brunch items are uniformly $10.

The second time, an extremely spicy Thai dish of chicken and wide noodles that nonetheless was very tasty.  The third time, I try the Italian side of the menu so had the trenotte (linguine in a Ligurian-style pesto, i.e. with broccoli and potatoes).  Quite, quite good really; a large portion of pasta served with home-made bread and a dipping oil of rosemary and olives.

The fourth time, I have a very good fettucine carbonara packed with real bacon and frozen (but good) peas.   Finally, homemade spaghetti in a sauce of broccoli and whole tomatoes – could use a bit of salt though.  Have you picked up on the fact that not only is it good but my original worries about the Italian side of the menu were unfounded?

I speak with one of the managers, Pui – the other is Eid; both women are Thai as is the absentee owner.  Pui complained that the owner has not been supporting the business with any promotion or advertising which is quite a shame.  Both she and the other manager are very industrious; the two chefs have other jobs and resumes that include the Rainbow Room and fine hotels.  Although the old location had only Thai food, they felt this location needed more of a range.

Along with the standard Thai dishes, the continental menu is supplemented with a few American favorites including a fine hamburger (Pui had noticed many families in this area and wanted to accommodate everyone).  Plus she knows how to be politically correct; she showed me how the rabbit was being replaced by lamb (“looks too much like cat”).  I assured her that made me very happy as I used to have a rabbit in Laguna Beach – turns out she did too until she had a baby!  So consider this my push to try out Montien the next time you’re in the area.

Wednesday, May 3 and St. Mark’s for vespers, a quiet service that they have every Wednesday evening.  At 7:30, I walk over to Holy Basil, the great Thai restaurant on Second Avenue, where Bryan's boss Michelle Petersen, her son Matt, and Bryan are already awaiting me for my birthday dinner.  And although we can’t get her to stick a fish tail in her mouth for a picture (as she did the last time we were there with her), we have an excellent dinner nonetheless.

Other the Gewurztraminer wine, the other highlight was seeing Lou Reed exiting around the time we’re having appetizers.  I try to confirm it, but neither of the help even knows who Lou is; plus our party’s backs were turned but I know it, I know it!

Thursday, May 4, and Matt Lauer of The Today Show is at the Leaning Tower of Pisa and then Florence; it's the annual promotion for them - Where in the World is Matt Lauer?  It’s wonderful to see the city again, especially as he is standing on the square next to La Loggia, the restaurant that first hooked Bryan on steak tartare.

I join Bryan for Korean food.  So far we have been to two places on 32nd Street; this time we try Blue which also serves Japanese food.  But they also have sashimi in the same type of $8 dollar box as Korean so Bryan gets that while I go for the bul go gi.  Unfortunately, we feel that this place isn’t the equal of the other two.  The condiments were neither as plentiful or tasty, the same could be said about the food which was somewhat bland.  Oh, well, there’s still another six or so to go on the street!

Friday, May 5, Cinquo de Mayo, as usual for the northeast, the weather has gone from heavy jackets to 90°; today, one can wear no more than a t-shirt and even that is too much.

During the afternoon, I continue reading Felice Picano’s most recent novel the book of lies [sic].  I had put it down half-read over Thanksgiving; it's not a bad read although I have problems with certain liberties he takes with the English language.  On the other hand, Robert Pela's review in the Advocate was favorable.

Saturday, May 6 and still the heat is upon us; the problem with this area of the country is that one goes from cold to hot with nothing in between.  Which is quite a shame for our wardrobes!

By 11, we’re in the car and on our way to Lambertville, NJ.  Just across the border from New Hope, PA, the area is known for antiques and crafts.  It takes us 2 hours to get there, but we made many stops along the way including a typical NJ diner where one eats like a pig for only $20 for the 2 of us.  Plus Bryan has to stop at a couple of garden stores as well for our backdoor garden; how that man fits so many plants on a 6 square foot area amazes me!

We also stop at Allshapes Bonsai and Nursery in Ringoes (908.788.1938) run by David and Diane Hall (whom we meet).  It's a very interesting, well, I really don’t know what to call it except that it’s off the main road and specializes in bonsai plants; they have an amazing assortment including a 25 year old crabapple.  Bryan has been meaning to start one for awhile and picks up a book to learn about them.

We get into Lambertville and explore some of their stores before walking over the bridge over the Delaware River into New Hope.  Unfortunately we find that most of the stores are into ‘crafts’ (and I say that with all the niceness I can muster) and the real antiques are priced about 10 per cent above what they should be.  These people know their stuff and also know what type of tourist trap they have.

Sunday, May 7, we had hoped to drive back into NJ as Jim Lenney was being thrown a surprise party in honor of his fiftieth year as a professional organist but the heat conspires against us.  I give up on fighting it; I turn on the air conditioners which allows me the energy to do my diary notes.

Tabitha Neal (we have two beautiful prints of hers given to us as gifts by Matt and Paul) hates teaching but may take a job at Matt’s old school in Budapest – interesting!  We had thought the boys were coming to America in July; instead it’s July 2001 when they will celebrate their tenth anniversary.

Monday, May 8, around 11, Tom Lane called me to tell me he got his first tattoos; he was with his stripper friend and got ‘sex’ on one ankle and ‘man’ on the other side.

After ‘Antiques Roadshow’ it’s time for dinner.  I persuade Bryan to go to Paul’s Place on Second Avenue with me as I’m looking for a steak + cheese sub; I’d been there before for their famous burgers and figured I’d get a good, greasy sandwich from them.  Unfortunately, it seems that burgers are the one and only thing one should get there.  Not only is the waiter surly, but my cheesesteak is merely greasy and Bryan makes the big mistake and has a fish filet sandwich which is quite under par.

Tuesday, May 9 and it promises to be another scorcher – even a light breeze doesn’t help matters.  An appointment with an opthamologist (Dr. Craig Fern) gives me the pleasing news that my eyes are fine.  Now I just have to see the optometrist on Monday to correct them!  A quick call to Dr. Gigi Diamond confirms that my viral load is still undetectable, t-cells are at 183 (decent for me).

Wednesday, May 10, I have my 3 pm appointment with Lynn Berger.  I think it’s going really well with her; we spend half the time on the Strong analysis (interestingly it highlights broadcasting, public speaking and ministry as my greatest interests – but also suggests I’d enjoy being a librarian!).

For dinner, B makes macaroni and cheese and we settle in to watch the rain.  It’s really quite the amazing thunderstorm with some of the best lightning I’ve seen in a long time.  The cable gets slightly disrupted but not enough to kill it outright so we watch ‘Antiques Roadshow’ and a new episode of ‘Voyager’ which has cameos from Deanna Troi (Martina Sirtis) and Ensign Barclay.

Thursday, May 11 and Bryan calls to tell me that Kiyoshi Kuromiya, one of the world's leading AIDS activists, has passed away from ‘complications’ as the old phrase went.  Just a reminder to us that it’s not over until the fat lady sings – and there aren’t many fat ladies with AIDS.

I watch Friends, Frasier and the penultimate episode of this season's ER.  I’ve never really watched the show, nonetheless this is a really moving episode (by now the world knows that it ends with Julianne Margolies leaving the show to join George Clooney in a 60-second tear-jerker ending).  The closing music is quite beautiful but no amount of research reveals it; a friend later tells me it was Etta James but I'm not sure of that.

Friday, May 12 and this will be my first paid day of work for the Episcopal Church ever as I’m doing a day of work stuffing envelopes for Bishop George Packard, head of the Armed Services, Health and Prisons Ministries (I’d been introduced to his assistant, Terry, the week before by Brother Richard).

I sign in with Human Resources and went upstairs where I spent the next six hours labeling, stuffing and sealing envelopes.  During the day, I meet Bishop Herbert Donovan face-to-face; he was the middle bishop in NJ while I was doing their newsletters.  Quite a dapper man, smelling of pipe tobacco and wearing a fine red handkerchief in his breast pocket; he praised my work in front of Bishop Packard which was very nice.  Also, Mildred (the other assistant) told me I’d done the work of three people that day!

Bryan offers to take me to dinner and I opt for Chinese.  We go right around the block to Sunny East at 21 West 39th Street which has great food (if lousy Mai Tai’s).  Bryan is ‘not that hungry’  so we have two appetizers and split an entrée.  Although it’s more than enough food for two!  Actually one of the appetizers is specifically for two people; $14 comprises a couple of beef sate, a couple of ‘rolls’ – one beef, one shrimp – and a very interesting vegetarian ‘Peking Duck’ in paper thin layers of pastry with plum sauce.  To that we added the pork dumplings steamed in hot oil and the spicy beef in orange sauce.  All were perfectly prepared and presented; total for dinner is $57 plus tip – recommended (but watch the drink order).  [The rare 'post diary' note - Bryan finds out the next week that they've received some bad reports from the city's health department.  Ooops - take them off the list.]

Saturday, May 13, and New Jersey, where we will be having dinner with my mother in advance of the holiday.  Before we go through the Holland Tunnel, however, we visit Horseman Antiques; every time we drive by there we’ve meant to go in but it’s always been closed.  It’s a surprisingly big store and we find out that it’s only the satellite – the main store is on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn and has 5 floors of 500 square feet each.  A future trip is planned as the manager tells us there’s also 30 other dealers on the same street!

By 3:30 we’re around the corner from my parents because Bryan wants to do his plant shopping at Dreyer’s Farm.  He stocks up on pepper, tomato and strawberry plants as planned and adds a variety of spices as well.  At 5 we go into the house where we find my cousin Lorraine Dizzia visiting so we talk for an hour before she leaves and we have dinner with my parents.

Sunday, May 14, Mother’s Day and I head over to the Church of the Good Shepherd for their 11 am service.  Coincidentally, it turns out to be their patronal day or as David Littler calls it 'Lamb Sunday' (the gospel reading for the day is John 19: 11-16 – “I am the good shepherd, etc.”).  Since it's a special day for them, they have about a dozen musicians along with the choir.

Instead of the sermon, they perform Bach’s Cantata, "Du Hirte Israel, höre" (BWV 104) in German with soprano and alto soloists; during Communion they sing the lovely My Shepherd Will Supply My Need arranged by Virgil Thomson which I’d sung with the Trinity choir.  The link is an audio clip of the melody.

The first reading is one of my favorites and is one of the cornerstones of my personal socialist philosophy:

(Acts 4: 32-37)  Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.  With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.  There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold.  They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.  There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”).  He sold a field that belonged to him, then brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

(Acts 5: 1-11)  But a man named Ananias, with the consent of his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property; with his wife’s knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet.  “Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land?  While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own?  And after it was sold, were not the proceeds at your disposal?  How is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart?  You did not lie to us but to God!”  Now when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died.  And great fear seized all who heard of it.  The young men came and wrapped up his body, then carried him out and buried him.  After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.  Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you and your husband sold the land for such and such a price.”  And she said, “Yes, that was the price.”  Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test?  Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”  Immediately she fell down at his feet and died.  When the young men came in they found her dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.  And great fear seized the whole church and all who heard of these things.

Monday, May 15, this would have been my grandmother’s birthday; it never occurred to me that she was a Taurus as well as I.  I believe that she would have been 101 years old.

This evening, Bryan has his bowling banquet at a lovely brownstone on Leroy Street in the West Village; he’s in charge of the charity auction and does a great job rustling up money for God's Love We Deliver.  [From their website: "God's Love We Deliver, a New York City-based, not-for-profit, non-sectarian organization is the metropolitan area's leading provider of life-sustaining nutritional support services for people living with HIV/AIDS."]

Tuesday, May 16 and dinner is at Mie (sushi for me, back to sashimi for Bryan); then we’re back in the house watching Will & Grace.

On WQXR, it’s Respighi’s Pines of Rome with Fritz Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (RCA RCD1-5407 for those who need to know).  Yes, not only is it historical, but it also reminds me of laying out on the deck of 435 Ocean Walk in Fire Island and of the late John Hood.  John, the New York roommate of my friend David Littler, was one of the first with a CD player and this was one of the few discs available.  Coincidentally, a post from David mentions that they had bought the property 20 years ago on May 8!

Wednesday, May 17, I walk uptown to meet Bryan for lunch and a return to our original attempt at Korean food, the New York Kom Tang Kalbi House Korean Restaurant, located at 32 West 32nd Street between Broadway and Fifth Avenue.  This place may not be the best but it certainly is very, very good and almost the whole clientele is Korean – always a good sign.

My original plan was to make pasta for the both of us and Tony Jewiss+; Bryan decides that we should just eat at Pangea instead.  Tony+ gets to our place a little after 7:30 and having never seen the place before must pose for the standard couch photo.  Then it’s off to Pangea for a couple of hours of good food and conversation.

Thursday, May 18, a simple night of television including Friends which I thought was a great season finale (based on the number of tears shed).  The finale of Frasier was very funny and did have a couple of twists and turns near the end but was much more predictable overall.  And the ender of ER didn’t hold a candle to last week’s episode.  We also watch the Chris Rock comedy special on HBO and Are You Being Served.

Before I go to sleep, I take the time to watch parts of the videotapes that Dr. Felix Kruell, né Jan Crocker has sent me for my birthday.  They are from over twenty years ago when I was just a budding dj in Boston.  I had thought that I’d see myself somewhere in them but don’t; nonetheless it’s great to see all those (much younger) faces, particularly in the Billygoon Party Rap!

Friday, May 19, I head over to the Episcopal Church Center to see Tony Jewiss+.  While there, I meet Rick, a/k/a Brother Richard, founder of the Brotherhood of St. Gregory, an order of monks in upper New York State.

For dinner it's La Balconata at 6; we haven't been there in awhile.  They now have a guitarist performing in the evening; he really is quite good and plays all the old folk favorites – James Taylor, Simon & Garfunkel, Tom Rush, etc.

Saturday, May 20 and Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.  Having been told of the main store of Horseman Antiques, we decided to check it out.  Plus, we have the added bonus of finding out that the area where it’s located has over thirty such antique stores!  It’s paradise for Bryan and not bad for me either.

But after a couple of hours, we’re ready for the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens; Bryan wants to see their bonsai collection, probably the premier collection in America.  He’s not disappointed.

Sunday, May 21 and Grace Church for a 9 am Eucharist in the Chantry.  Knowing how much Bryan hates Woody Allen, I know our chances of seeing his new film (‘Small Time Crooks’ with Tracy Ullman and Hugh Grant) are slim; therefore I suggest going to see the 7 pm showing alone.  The film?  I thought it delightful, a real throwback to his screwball comedies with Diane Keaton.

Afterward, at 10 pm, Bryan and I have dinner at Pangea (gazpacho and salad for B, salad and spaghetti bolognese for me).  Weather-wise, it was gray and cool both days, although the weather people had claimed sunny for Saturday and rain all day on Sunday – this was more like the average which left everyone unhappy!

Monday, May 22, and a justification for the life of an idealist that I find in a letter to the editor in the May 22 edition of Time magazine from Arvinn Gadgil of Norway.  In his letter he writes,

Everyone who has tried to be an idealist knows that it means leading a more problematic life than if you chose to follow society’s dictates blindly.  The situations in which an idealist is forced to confront personal beliefs can be so draining that the will to change the world might vanish.

Tuesday, May 23, we do nothing in the evening, ordering delivery from Yummy House which is just a block away.  And it’s definitely not yummy tonight as each and every one of the dishes we order is weirder than the next.  For example, the steamed vegetable dumplings are a fluorescent shade of green - it's just not natural!

Afterward, it's the one-hour season finales of Third Rock from the Sun (with William Shatner and nary a joke to be found) and Will & Grace (not much better, although they’ve maneuvered themselves into the prime 9 pm Thursday slot next season).  Then, an E! documentary on Divine.  The most interesting thing about that is Miss Bradley whom I recognize as a performer I knew from Kentucky when I had the loft in Boston.

Wednesday, May 24 and the season finale of Voyager.  Before dinner, Bryan and I speak about the future collaboration between the MoMA and the new Tate Modern in London.  At 8 pm, we eat at Iso for Japanese dinner.  The best part of the restaurant is their collection of Keith Haring’s; even the t-shirts feature work by him!  We never find out the story behind it however.

Now for the review:  first of all the wait staff leaves much to be desired.  Not only are they Americans (and look like NYU students), they’re Japanese pronunciation is dreadful.  And beyond that, when Bryan orders chirashi the waiter even tries to change his pronunciation of it!  Idiot.  As for the food, it’s merely ok although eggplant appetizer in ponzu sauce is superb.  The raw fish is nothing to write home about and frankly the size of the portions make it too large for chopsticks, too small for fingers.  Meanwhile, the clientele (which is normally more ethnic) is filled with Chelsea boys this evening looking patently ridiculous in their gym clothes and, in the case of one person, those new silver headphones over shaved head which he leaves on while waiting for a friend to arrive!  No class whatsoever in the clientele.

Thursday, May 25 and Sorrento’s in Elizabeth NJ for lunch with my brother, my father and his friend John, the owner of Jerome Industries, who is there already and we have a very brief discussion about working for him.  I accept and will start in one week.

By then it was almost 9 pm and we were very hungry; Bryan remembered Tanti Baci on West 10th Street near Julius and they had a table available.  The food there is quite good; for appetizers we had a tomato salad with goat cheese for Bryan and fresh mozzarella balls and zucchini strips sautéed in garlic for me – both were superb.  Entrees were a risotto with mushrooms and peas for Bryan and spaghetti with mussels in a light fresh tomato sauce for me.  All were specials of the evening and accompanied by two glasses each of pinot grigio and salice sorrentino (which was superb).  Total was $70 plus tip and well worth it.

Friday, May 26, I join Bryan for lunch and then the Museum of Modern Art.  In the evening, we meet Dangerboy and his cousin Mike for 'The Filth and the Fury' which is the Sex Pistols documentary directed by Julien Temple.  It is playing at the Film Forum; the movie gets good grades from all of us and even I learn things I didn't know.  Plus, I'm a big fan of John Lydon.  Interestingly, the Sex Pistols broke up a few months before my first ever radio show in October of 1978.  Talk about ancient history!

Saturday, May 27, even though this was supposed to be the only nice day of the holiday weekend, it was already overcast and cool.  The afternoon was comprised of two short trips in our area.

Trip one:  Cooper Diner for a burger (for me) and Rueben for Bryan, then Astor for wines (particularly for Sunday brunch at Michelle’s).  Frankly, I don’t care for Astor, not only their condescending personnel but even their wine distributors.  When I asked for Luna di Luna, not only did I get a disdainful look but it was followed with a sotte voce ‘We don’t carry it.’  Well, too bad.  Years ago, Astor was famous among the gay set for their Astor Home vodka and other generics – plus they delivered.  But those were different times.

By then it’s almost 6 pm and time for Trip two which is red wine for me at a different liquor store; I settle on a 1998 Santa Christina, a Tuscan Sangiovese by Antinori which tastes quite good.

Next, the end of an earring, I mean era, no it is earring as I have mine removed after almost five years.  I’d been meaning to have it done for ages as it wasn’t a proper earring at all but the piercing ring the doctor put in initially.  I just never got around to taking it out and putting in a proper one.  And it didn’t go with tuxedoes!

Sunday, May 28 and Grace Church for the 11 am service; it’s a very Anglican morning prayer.  I had thought that I knew high church; well, like most Americans I knew upper middle class at most.  Morning Prayer, quickly, doesn’t have the Eucharist, nor the ‘peace’ (the ‘meet and greet’ of Christian services); the time saved is given over to readings, music and, in this case, a great sermon by their Priest-in-Charge, The Reverend Canon John Andrew, OBE, DD.  And may I point out that the OBE is Order of the British Empire?

The postlude is Louis Vierne’s ‘Premier Symphonie, Opus 14.  A quote from Vierne?  "I've had only one aim: to rouse emotion."  Lovely!  For the Anglophile in me, Grace seems the way to go At the end of the service, I ask the young gentleman sitting in front of me if he were a parishioner.  No, but his English accent gave him away as not being local either.  He told me that he wasn’t fond of American Anglican services and this was as near to St. Paul’s in London as he’d seen.

Bryan and I go to Michelle’s for pancakes and Prosecco.  She tells us this is very popular now in Italy, that she has it for breakfast there!  From what I understand, it’s a ‘new’ wine that’s fermented and quickly bottled.  Then we go to ‘Frequency’ with Dennis Quaid.  OK it’s ‘heart-warming’ but that really doesn’t do it for me as Quaid plays the type of father we all wish we had and most of us have no experience of!

Monday, May 29, Memorial Day and we ate at Zito’s for dinner.  I listen to Vaughan Williams’ lovely ‘Serenade to Music’ with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult (the premier interpreter).  This piece has a wonderful back story to it.

Tuesday, May 30, my first day at work is at 9 am and it’s only to be a half day as I have an interview in the afternoon.  Afterward, it’s cosmopolitans at Dick’s and dinner at Pangea.  Michelle had wanted mussels all day and has that in addition to linguine with baby clams (both are done in a light tomato/basil sauce).  I have the cold tomato/orange soup and rigatoni with sausage and fennel; Bryan and Matt both have the tuna steak as entrees (not as perfect as normal however).

Wednesday, May 31 and we watch the beginning of 'Being John Malkovich' on DVD.  I find the characters offensive, especially since the lead (to my eyes, just a somewhat unclean wastrel) is cheating on his wife.

Bryan offers to buy dinner at Brunetta’s instead of cooking; being hot I readily agree.  Plus we get our favorite table in the back of the garden.  Unfortunately, we don’t feel the food there is up to snuff anymore (the absence of our favorite waitstaff has confirmed this for us) although it’s not bad either if one orders correctly.  Tonight, I have mussels in spicy tomato sauce (tasty sauce but the mussels themselves are huge) and bowties in a pink sauce with artichokes and chicken (pretty good, actually) while Bryan has huge stuffed mushrooms (he says the stuffing is particularly good) and the vegetarian lasagna (so-so).  Along with glasses of wine the bill is $49 ($60 with tip).

I am privileged to serve you.