Friday, October 1, around 1 pm, I walk down to Sixth Street for Indian food; I don’t have a destination, just a particular appetite.  Surprisingly, every single place on the street is vacant; I’m not sure why, as it’s Friday afternoon but there literally aren’t four parties on the whole block.  I choose Sonali at 326 East Sixth Street; the only reason is there’s a couple having lunch there.  Wow, half of all the diners on the street!   My original plan was to find a buffet but it’s really not wise to have buffet when there aren’t any people to turn over the food!  So I go for cooked-to-order and, being somewhat lazy, have the combination meal.  It starts with soup, the house coconut in my choice, which is tasty if not exceptional.  It’s followed by a piece of vegetable samosa hiding under a balloon of poori bread and a shrimp dopiaza (cooked with onions, tomato and green onion) appetizer and then a double entrée of chicken korai (mild curry sauce with onions, tomatoes and green peppers served on a sizzling platter) and vegetable curry.  It was all very good if not top notch; total was $18 which included a lassi sweet (a yogurt drink with sweet masala), coffee and firni (a pudding made from mild, Indian herbs and fresh coconut in rose water) for dessert.

Saturday, October 2, we have brunch at Life Café near Tompkins Square Park.  This seems to be another place going that’s going downhill with weak margaritas (which used to be their speciality) and a terrible brunch selection.

And another quiet weekend night as I watch The Pretender and The Profiler on NBC until 10 pm.  TV news?  The Pretender soldiers on; the producers obviously don't want him to be a saint so he now punishes the wicked while before he just saved the innocent.  Doesn't work.  Next, on The Profiler, there's something unusual going on.  For the last few years, one woman has played the lead role as an FBI investigator who, uh, profiles.  Anyway, I don't know the back story, but she's out and one of the lunatic women from Melrose Place, Jamie Luner, has taken the position.  And in a two-part, bad acting conclusion!  Also, the website has recently been over-hauled, the last woman's name is not even mentioned.

At 10, we go have one drink at Dick’s in honor of owner Johnny’s 50th birthday and then I fall asleep by end of the season premier of Saturday Night Live (painfully joke-free in spite of Jerry Seinfeld).  And didn’t David Bowie look old?  That long hair looked good on Kurt Cobain but even with the auburn color it looked like one of Warhol's wigs on Bowie!  Plus, the two songs just weren't up to snuff, the first as song and the second because of performance.  Oh, well.

Sunday, October 3, Danger and Susan join us for lunch and a movie.  Our first stop is the Cooper Diner (where I hid my face in case they recognized that we were the ones to walk out last week); and who is the special guest star there?  Gay Icon Quentin Crisp!  Curiously, he’s joined by two men who look like they could be furniture movers.

Then it’s off to the movies to see “Three Kings” with George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg (did you know he used to work out at Gold’s Gym on Lansdowne Street in Boston?  I used to see him there – very polite) and Ice Cube.

Also performing (but not headlining) was video director Spike Jonze; none of us recognized him until the credits.  I guess that’s not surprising; did you know that at the MTV Music Awards, when Fatboy Slim performed with the dance troupe from Torrance, California, he played the leader of the troupe?  We all thought it was real with his eyeglasses with leash and the dancers looking like they came from the home for the mentally ill.  Oh, how nice Fatboy is for having them, we said!  And here it was another Spike Jonze joke.

As for the movie, the three of them enjoyed it much more than I did.  I found it quite gratuitously violent with shifting moralities in the plot.  Again, though, they enjoyed it immensely.  The we took a walk to Restoration Hardware, Bed Bath & Beyond and Pier One,a triumvirate of household improvements.

We decide to have dinner at 6:30 at Flamingo East on Second Avenue; it’s probably the last time for any of us; even though they brought back the original chef they still haven’t really fixed their menu and I think that the model/actor/waiter attitude is quite passe.  After dinner, Bryan and I have a quick drink at Dick’s and watch part of the Animal Farm on TNT; it's a new cable adaptation of the George Orwell political satire.  It's gotten fairly good reviews but we found it hard to keep our attention to it.  The most fun was identifying voices like Kelsey Grammer, Patrick Stewart and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Monday, October 4, a rainy day; we have Chinese dinner at Jade Mountain around the corner on Second Avenue … yeach!  We didn’t expect much (we’d been there once before) but it’s amazing how bad Chinese restaurants can be.  And after I used the bathroom, I believe our health was probably at risk also!

Back at the apartment, Bridget Mason and Jude Goldberg, our friends from England, arrive at 10 pm to a nice cold and rainy New York night.  We figured that would ease their transition back to their native climate.

They had been in the heat of Arizona for a couple of weeks, visiting Bridget’s sister; Ellie has just started teaching philosophy at Arizona State University.

Bryan has decided to take the night off from bowling and we’re napping when they arrive.  But we get up quickly and all go for late eats at Pepe Rosso on St. Mark’s Place.  The service can be quite slow but it’s the nature of the place, not bad training.  Both Bridget and Bryan have the pasta bolognese and all agree that it's not on a par with the pasta bolognese they made for B and I in London.

Tuesday, October 5, very gray but at least it doesn’t rain much.  Bridget and Jude are off to Sixth Avenue to go clothes shopping.

At 6 pm, Bryan’s boss Michelle Petersen is having sushi at Sharakii (the address is 14 Stuyvesant Street but it’s easier to say Third Avenue and 9th Street).  We've eaten there before, most recently with Danger and Susan in August; it’s extraordinarily clean and the presentations are quite beautiful.  As I said then, much as Mie is my favorite in the East Village, Sharakii probably is a bit better, just not as homey.  With her are her two German guests.  Bridget and Jude had met Michelle briefly the first time they were here, in order to get the keys to the apartment and a "once over."

Are you following?  So Bryan, Bridget and Jude walk to Sharakii to meet Michelle and her two German guests.  Now here's a small circle.  Miranda Wylie is the daughter of Judith and the Rev. Craig Wylie, rector of Trinity Church of Cranford, New Jersey (my home town).  Some of you already know this.  She has just moved to England for six months and has met Bridget and Jude there.  I connected them all, of course, and it’s worked out quite well, I hope!

At 7 pm, Craig+ and Judith arrive at the apartment; they've never seen our place.  With good taste, Judith picks up immediately on the Roseville art pottery.

I call Bryan to meet us at Pangea at 7:30 at the six of us have a very nice evening of good food and mojitos, a Cuban drink that owner Arnoldo makes for us personally.  It requires mashing the sugar and mint leaves into the rum.  Incredible.  And the additional drinks didn't hurt!

Wednesday, October 6, Jude is up early but the rest of us sleep late until almost 11 am.  The four of us have lunch at the Lunch Box at noon; hey, they’ve got to see the important sites right?

Then we subway to Battery Park and take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Because it’s rather late, we don’t get off at the Statue of Liberty [this is a different link, btw] but do spend some time at Ellis Island.

This is where most of the immigrants arrived in the early 1900s and it’s quite fascinating.

Plus the boat stops at the Statue of Liberty [oh, and this is even another official site - they don't quite have it together as Ellis Island does.] on the way back so we got a couple of nice photos there.

[Oh, if you didn't have enough links to it, there's even one from the Park Service.]

Back on land, we walk to the South Street Seaport (see September if you need more of a description of it) and then cab to Standard Bar on First Avenue for cosmopolitans.  Funny, it's not very old but is getting to look somewhat frayed in the daytime light.

By now we’re hungry so it’s off to Mie for sushi at 7:30; I’ve been telling them about this place so it’s been one of the destinations of their trip.  So there you go, the Lunch Box during the day, Pangea when you can't think of what you really want, and Mie for sushi.

Of course everyone there treats us extra-special which is nice.  By 10 pm, we’re back at the apartment talking until 11:30 when the three of them go out.

Yes, they still had energy where I did not so off they went, hitting the four gay bars of the East Village:  Wonder Bar, Starlight Lounge, the Cock and Dick’s.  I believe that Bridget had at least one cosmopolitan if not more at each location.  Suffice it to say, they were all very happy when they came home at 4 am!

Thursday, October 7, it’s a late morning for everyone.  And yes, Bridget has a hang-over.  Sorry, dear, it had to be told!  After they’re done packing, we have a quick lunch at the Lunch Box (where Jude is adventurous and has the bison burger) and get into the car around 2:30 for the trip to Newark airport.  Bridget had wanted to see NYC from the eastern side of the Brooklyn Bridge but when we got there rush hour traffic was already beginning so we aborted that plan, headed off towards the Holland Tunnel and off to New Jersey.

Airline Bias:  They hated their Continental flight and praised Virgin Atlantic to the skies; we've been having great flights, even domestically, on Continental.  However, they had the NYC to Phoenix cattle flight which might have made a difference.

Their flight was scheduled for 6:30 pm, so I got them to the airport right on time at 4:30, two hours before take-off.  Would you be surprised to learn that we had a quiet evening at home?  Not that we had tickets for the evening's final performance of Schoenberg's Moses und Aron at the Metropolitan Opera (see how I slip some culture into you?).

Friday, October 8, around 5 pm, I got a call from Donn the "waiter boy"; he’s in town for the weekend and working at John’s.  So off we go for a martini there followed by a martini at Dick’s around 7 pm.

Saturday, October 9, I'm up earlier than Bryan, so at noon I take myself to Pangea for rigatoni with sausage and fennel (and a mimosa) and come back home.  Ah, the important stuff.  And since it's Saturday, and I believe you must notice by now that Bryan and I are most active during the week (as with Jude and Bridget) and quiet on the weekends unless we're out of town.

Sunday, October 10; it was 21 years ago, in 1978, that I did my first radio show on what was then WTBS in Cambridge MA (now WMBR – they sold their call letters to Turner).  Yes, the origin of TVOD.  From the song of the same name (it means "television overdose) by the Normal.  The band was actually one man, Daniel Miller, who with that record became Mute Records.  I dropped most of the letters of my last name and became TONY V (note that there's no period).  So there you go.

Bryan gets us coffee and pastry from Taylor’s around 10 am and then we slowly get moving.  He calls Scott and Susan around 11 and we meet for brunch at Cooper Diner at 12:45; things there seem to have fallen into a middle position - not quite as amazing as the first time we were there but at least we're getting our food.  They walk back with us as Danger is clothes shopping at a nearby store; we all part company by 2 pm.  And that my friends is the way we end this extraordinarily lazy weekend, doing nothing for most of the rest of the day.

Monday, October 11, Columbus Day so Bryan has the day off - hey, so do I.  Once he’s up, we go to McDonald’s on First Avenue for lunch and then bloody Marys at Dick’s.  It’s perfect weather so we decide on a walk west down 12th Street, the idea being to walk to the Hudson River as the light over New Jersey (probably because of the pollution) is just gorgeous.

However, we don't make it all the way to the river; we stop a couple of blocks before the Hudson River for margaritas at Tortilla Flats; my god, this is a bar from the 70s - and probably not been cleaned since then!  Thousands of pieces of multi-colored tinsel hang from the ceilings and they're playing Rod Stewart in his Maggie May period.  But hey, the drinks are good and cheap.

Then down to Christopher Street and east to the Stonewall for another drink.  Guess what?  There's probably more authenticity in Tortilla Flats than there is here.  Yes, this is the actual location of the Stonewall Bar, the legendary spot where gay riots broke out in 1969.  However, there's no relationship between this place and the original.  Yes, it's a gay bar and the address is the same but that's about it; no connection between owners or anything.  Plus, it's totally antiseptic.  I don't think a drag queen has been there in ages; indeed the bartender looked at me like I was crazy when I asked for a peppermint schnappes - and it's certainly not a macho bar, so I didn't get that.

But we don’t even finish our drinks as we’re ready to go back home.  Our friend Donny, the waiter at John’s Italian who has been staying with his grandfather up north, is in town for the weekend and working.  We go for martinis around 8 pm; I actually order a plate of spaghetti marinara.  Warning - don't order simple in an old-fashioned joint like this; they only know from putting lots of stuff in.

Tuesday, October 12, dinner is at 6 pm after aimlessly wandering the East Village.  It's like musical chairs and today the music stopped at Dok Suni for Korean food.  All the restaurants seem quiet this evening, possibly due to a baseball playoff game, possibly because it's so early.  But that's fine because Dok Suni is normally quite packed.  Because neither Bryan or I are very adept at this cuisine (but we know that we like it) we normally have the same things so I'm adverse to claiming any accuracy in the cooking.  But it is tasty!  Side note:  Bryan has a house cocktail; it's made with bourbon, ginger and I think Korean vodka.  Whatever - it was almost poisonous.  Don't try it.

We get mail:  we received two postcards from Paris today; the one on the left is from our friend Ronni Leopold (see the story of her birthday and the hat Bryan made for her in the May diary).  It's quite classy as you can tell; it's from the Theatre Le Renelagh.  Quite nice.  The one on the right is from our friend Joe Fiore on Bryan's bowling team (and the man most responsible for Bryan and I being together).  It's a bit, well ...  Anyway, the basic translation is "you have the right to go book shopping in your underwear."  Yes, it's for a book website, bol.fr,  as far as i can tell.

Wednesday, October 13, I subway up to mid-town to meet Bryan for lunch.  He often grabs lunch at Hale and Hearty on 42nd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues; it's specializes in soups and sandwiches - in particular half orders of each.  But it's not a great introduction for me; his "sloppy joe" soup is bad chili and repeats on him all day.  My carrot and ginger wasn't bad but nothing special either.  The sandwiches were ordinary.  Sorry, no recommendation.

In the evening, the highlight is Star Trek: Voyager.  Granted that many episodes are mere vanity pieces for the actors, in this case Robert Picardo's doctor.  But it's still an enjoyable way to spend an hour.  I particularly give it credit for having a strong woman at the helm (regardless of how one feels about Kate Mulgrew's portrayal) and even adding a second, Second of Nine.  OK, the costumes are a bit over the top, but it's still tv.

Thursday, October 14, it’s a short day at work for Bryan as we are going to see Laurie Anderson tonight!  This is the second iteration of her multi-media interpretation of Herman Melville's Moby Dick.

Anyway, I pick up Bryan at 4 pm and we’re on our way to Brooklyn by 5 pm.  There’s a slight mix-up over our tickets for the first portion of the evening – the BAM Dialogue.  Laurie Anderson is being interviewed by her biographer and taking a few questions from a small audience.

But our tickets for it aren’t with our show tix!  Luckily, the woman running the show knows there are problems and let’s us have those set aside for “Dakota Jackson.”  Thanks Dakota!  Although not the best speaker and not veering too far from speaking specifically about Moby Dick, it was certainly fun hearing her speak extemporaneously.

Then after a quick break it was off to the main room for the performance; and great seats too!  Just about fifteen rows back in the center.

And while it may not be the best thing she has ever done (United States I-IV was more ambitious and Home of the Brave more accessible), it certainly had some great moments.  The whole show was an hour and a half with no intermissions and probably marks a defining moment from pop artist to classical artist.

Some other links about Laurie Anderson and that were active in October 99 are a very comprehensive site by one Jim Davies (I think in Georgia); he gets a commission on albums that can be purchased from the site but there's extensive documentation including lyrics plus it's even praised by other sites including O Superwoman; short commentaries and more can be found by Pamela McCorduck, Innerviews and Donald X.

Dinner afterward at Lucien Blue around the corner was quite disappointing I must say.  And why are we having a bad week of food!  Bryan’s appetizer of grilled asparagus and portabello mushrooms is the best thing we have.  My gazpacho is merely ok and our entrees … well, Bryan had the grilled shrimp but was convinced that they weren’t properly cooked; my steak was ok but tasted like it had been marinated for days.  We made a hasty retreat out with a bill of $66 (including a couple of glasses of wine and a martini).

Friday, October 15, I work on Ecclesia, the diocesan newsletter.  We have cosmopolitans at Dick’s before pulling in the drawbridge around 6 pm.

Saturday, October 16, we take a long stroll all the way down Second Avenue to Houston and then back up First Avenue; it’s another glorious fall day in the city.  Also, we can’t make up our minds where to eat!  But once we hit 6th Street, we decide to eat at La Balconata; we haven’t been there in awhile.  The owner, Vicky, is there; she seems to feel that business is finally getting more solid.

Bryan had the mozzarella wrapped in roasted peppers and covered in pesto sauce; yes, this is the dish that I used to have but they’ve so changed the proportions (the roasted peppers now being the star) that it’s more suited to his tastes.  I had the calamari instead; even though the coating reminds one of Italian-style bread crumbs by Progresso or Kraft, it’s still clean and fresh with a nice light marinara for dipping.  For entrees, Bryan takes a different route again with the chicken cacciatore, which he enjoyed, while I had the rigatoni alla panna, in a cream sauce with sausage, squash and zucchini which was quite good.

Sunday, October 17, a small, late night dinner at Pangea around 11 pm.  And the treat for me is that spaghetti bolognese, which had been removed for the summer, has reappeared.  Ah, my comfort food!

Monday, October 18, Bryan's boss, Michelle Petersen, is on the plane to London; I spend part of the day cleaning the oak tool box, as well as finishing up the diocesan newsletter.  However, I am rewarded with another go around of spaghetti bolognese at Pangea.  Boy, I’ve missed that.

Tuesday, October 19, Bryan and I have dinner at MaryAnn’s and then drinks at Dick’s, where we chat with our friend Aaron.  Now, for those that are following the restaurant reports, I didn't get sick this time.  And although the food is competent, we remind ourselves that it's the comfort level of the place (if you can stand the volume) that brings us back - not the quality.

Wednesday, October 20, a domestic day for all.  Bryan actually cooks at home - he even had the Joy of Cooking lying by him on the bed while he watched the news!  He runs over to Fresco’s for the makings of chicken but came back with Kraft macaroni and cheese and frozen veggies which is just fine by me.  It truly is a day at home so we might as well have the proper accoutrements!

A note about Fresco's:  originally another small supermarket a block away, the owners left the franchise and positioned their new market a touch more upscale.  It's on the south side of 14th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues.  It would probably work for us if we ate at home more - of course that may be their undoing if all couples are like Bryan and me!

I watch Star Trek: Voyager which is another vanity vehicle, this time for Ensign Paris.  And why is one of the top five crew on a vehicle not likely to gain many more Federation officers still only an ensign?  Otherwise these shows could be ok.

Thursday, October 21, while Bryan works at a real job, I play with the oak tool box, finishing it nicely.  Around 1 pm, I meet Bryan for lunch (hey, I’m a regular subway expert now); he actually wants McDonald’s and gets it.

We stop and see the latest exhibit at the NY Public Library (I remember Robert Indiana figuring prominently in many of the collaborations) and then I take the long walk home.  This time my route is straight down Fifth Avenue and to 14th Street; yes, I’m checking on the computer furniture again.

Tops isn’t getting anymore and are willing to sell me their floor model for $137 assembled.  The only problem is it’s the light wood and I have a mahogany on order – but for $217!  I could use that $80 savings and one doesn’t really see a lot of the wood anyway.  Plus we’d have it tomorrow.  I’ll take a day to think about it.  At 5 pm, I pick up Bryan at work; Michelle is with him so I thank her for the chocolates she brought me back from Harrod’s in London.

Friday, October 22, I go to Tops and make the final negotiations; of course it leads to tax (final cost $148) and even $30 (so of course $40 with the tip) to have someone bring it over to the apartment.  Now, that just means a guy to wheel it over; just what I had asked them to let me do.  But I guess it gives him something to do; plus I find out that he himself assembled the unit.  Not only did he take pride in putting it together, he’s also taking better care of it while rolling it through Manhattan!  Plus five separate people take the time to compliment me on it.  It is an unusual shape, almost Art Nouveau inspired.  Gusdorf would do well to make more.

After dropping it off, I go to Zito’s East, an Italian restaurant at 211 First Avenue (between 12th and 13th) for lunch.  I’ve heard of this eastern branch of Greenwich Village’s bakery but we rarely go north of our own block!  The menu is extensive, if all southern Italian.  They’re famous for their pizza but, to be honest, I usually disdain coal ovens.  I might make an exception in the future as that does seem to be the specialty here.  Decor is somewhat sparse but clean and nice; service perfunctory but good.  So I go the same route:  a small salad, very good bread, and chicken parmigiana with penne marinara on the side.  Everything was just about as perfect as one would want, with all the caveats taken into account.  Try it if you’re in the neighborhood, don’t make a trip for it.

Saturday, October 23, 5 pm, it’s drinks at Phoenix, the relatively new faux gay bar on 13th Street where we see our friend Steven.  He actually suggests dinner at Oggi, a new restaurant next door at 211 Avenue A.  It’s very Tuscan looking with tin ceilings and thick stucco walls but very pretty; ah, the gentrification of the East Village.  But the menu does look good and it is getting windy and chilly and ...

Bryan has the vegetable tartin appetizer special; it’s eggplant, zucchini and roasted peppers with crumb topping.  He also takes the pasta special – ravioli with porcini mushrooms.  Both are exactly as advertised and, although I might not order either, recommended if those caught your eye.  I order from the menu – bresaola salad (hard, dark pieces of flavorful, prosciutto-like roasted meat with parmesan shavings over arugula) and ravioli alle noci (ricotta-stuffed spinach ravioli in a cream walnut sauce) that were extraordinary if unhealthy.  Then quick espresso and cappucino before nightcaps at Dick’s.

Sunday, October 24, around 5 pm, we heard from Danger and Susan; he’s just back from a large VH-1 concert in Washington DC.  He was in the White House!  He was in the same room as the President of the United States!  Plus seeing Garth Brooks for the second time.  Oh, the first?  Last month, Garth gave Scott a lift to his hotel room on his way home after a gig in Nashville.

Yes, our Dangerboy has come to the end of his ability to whine.  Indeed, I consider him to have come so far as to use Scott as a reference for my resume; it wasn’t so long ago that it was the other way around.  I’m quite pleased.

They have called to invite us to dinner at Sala, a new Spanish restaurant at 344 Bowery at Second Street.  We get there moments before it opens at 6 pm although it never gets busy while we’re there.  That shouldn’t be for long however.  First of all, the sangria is great with large amounts of fresh apples in it.

Then we share an assortment of pinchos (small appetizers) including grilled vegetables, a spicy cod with Sevruga caviar, seared tuna in saffron aioli, a puree of mushrooms with cabrales cheese and, of course, lots of jamon (serrano ham) for me.  We also add a bowl of steamed mussels, fried potatoes and a platter of meats.  I think there must have been more as well.  We just keep eating and eating – well, I do at least!

Instead of dessert (ok, the four of us did split one flan) we have dessert drinks.  Since the hostess is from Madrid, Bryan and I tried to describe the interesting dessert coffee that we had last year at a Galician restaurant there.  It was coffee, brandy and sugar flambéed and constantly ladled until done – after which we were!  I’m not sure we described it well enough but her two substitutions were well received.  We had two of both varieties.  Here are the recipes, which she hand-wrote for me on the back of a menu:

“Ponche – boil a cup of milk (better than steamed), add honey and then a good shot of Duque de Alba or any good cognac or brandy.  Tip – Duque de Alba is the best cognac that’s why it tastes so good and good for a cold.

Carajillo – double expresso, a spoon of sugar and then aguardiente or chinchon.  Tip – the best aguardientes are from Spain; they are very difficult to get that’s why you have to go to Spain and buy a few bottles.”

Hey, whatever you say!  The full cost of dinner was $147 plus $33 for tip.

Monday, October 25, dinner at Pangea.  Bryan goes traditional with calamari and spaghetti bolognese while I have the vegetarian meatballs (I forgot that they’re middle eastern, not tofu) which were quite good and the farfalle special with butternut squash.

Tuesday, October 26, across the street from our apartment, on the west side of Third Avenue next door to my parking lot, is a new Chinese restaurant.  There had been two restaurants in that location before, a Chinese and a Mexican - both fast food and terrible, terrible.  But this new incarnation looked clean and open.  Once we found out that they had no association with the previous tenants we decided to give them a try.

At the under-whelmingly named Yummy House - Noodle & More something we had perfect scallion pancakes, broiled chicken on skewers, egg roll (for Bryan – it didn’t get the best review), and sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves served in a bamboo steamer.  A great start.  The entrees were a bit more generic but tasty.  I had ginger beef.

Now, here is my rant … is there no one that the owners know who speaks perfect English and would help design a self-explanatory (and spell-checked) menu?  I should almost think it would be a good side business.  For instance, while I enjoyed my dish (and received the additional ginger I requested), how hard would it have been to have a description in the menu that read:  “ginger beef – marinated slices of beef and ginger in a brown sauce with steamed red and green peppers.”  I remind you that I enjoyed the dish and might not even have ordered it if I had seen my own description as I don’t particularly care for bell peppers.  But it could have turned out otherwise; and the menu already included many dishes with some explanations.  But they were haphazard and often ambiquous.

Bryan ordered the orange chicken but felt that the orange left something to be desired.  Nonetheless, he took the remainder home along with an egg roll and brought it to lunch with him the next day.  Finally, I believe that they used MSG in their food; as we returned home after a drink at Dick’s I felt as if I could barely stand.  I got into bed (by this time it was around midnight) and fell right out.  That would seem consistent with my reaction to MSG.  And it was only one small drink!

Wednesday, October 27, we have vague dinner plans with Bryan’s boss, Michelle Petersen; she has a friend from Switzerland (and working in Moscow) with her.  Since Michelle has just heard of our visit to Sala with Danger and Susan, she wants to try it also.  So I pick her up along with her friend and Bryan and, after dropping off the car at the lot, walk down Third Avenue to the restaurant.

And while the food might not have been as absolutely perfect as last time, it’s still very pleasurable.  Of course, the sangria would help most any dinner but Michelle and her friend Carol are lots of fun themselves.  Along with a large platter of pinchons (small appetizers), we split some entrees as well.  I still think that one is better off just ordering the small portions in tapas-like restaurants.

Thursday, October 28, dinner is at Mie; we tried something new this time – instead of custom ordering each piece of sushi and sashimi we order the sushi deluxe and sashimi deluxe combinations.  But the savings in money really isn’t worth it.

Friday, October 29, lunch at Burger Heaven near Bryan’s office; very New York but also quiet enough to hear each other.  I have, well, a heavenly burger (with cooked onions on the side – no extra charge) but Bryan goes for the pulled pork sandwich.

Saturday, October 30, Danger calls at 1 pm; he and Susan are going for brunch at Cooper Diner so I join them as B is sleeping late.  I guess I’m not quite with it either, though, as Quentin Crisp is there when we arrive and I don’t even notice.

Sunday, October 31, Halloween and after a slow afternoon we have a drink at Dick’s at 6 and walk west down 12th Street.  We’re meeting Michelle Petersen, her boyfriend, Art Tsavaris and her friend Carole from Switzerland at 7 pm at E.J.’s Luncheonette on Sixth Avenue between 9th and 10th Streets.

For some reason, this place is always deserted on this particular evening even though it’s directly in front of the parade route (the only parade permitted in Manhattan after dark).  Bryan had discovered this years ago and it’s still true.

Now, the menu is small; basically any variety of burger and topping or any type of pancake.  But again, it's directly in front of some very beautiful floats.  And as opposed to the Macy’s type of large and overdone float, these are delicate puppets reminiscent of Broadway’s The Lion King.  After a short walk around the Village, we say our good-byes and our good-bye to October.

The blind avant-garde composer and street performer Louis "Moondog" Hardin died of heart failure in Germany on September 8; he was 83.  Moondog was an accomplished composer whose credits ranged from Janis Joplin to jams with Charles Mingus, Steven Reich and Philip Glass.  He spent the 50s, 60s and half the 70s as the "Viking of Sixth Avenue" reciting poetry in mid-town Manhattan - complete with robe, horned helmet and homemade spear - before spending most of the rest of his life in Germany.  His last album was the acclaimed 1997's Sax Pax for Sax on Atlantic.

Why Moondog?  When my cousin Lorraine Dizzia would take me to NYC as a teen-ager I would actually see him there!