Cobbles

Has anyone else ever noticed that cobblers are people who fix your shoes and cobblestones are things that ruin your shoes.

Coincidence?

I think not.

Returning to Soup

This week's adventure in soup brought my cohort and I back to an old steadfast: Karen's on Astor place. As I spooned warm broth into my mouth, I spooned memories into my soul. memories of weekly lunch dates with close friends where we tipped out the problems of the week, and filled ourselves with warm soupy goodness.

This time was not too much different. I had the broccoli rabe and white bean soup and my friend had the chicken and vegetable. Now, in years previous, I have loved all Karen's soups, but today it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. I added a small packet of salt and that seemed to help. I also felt the same about my cohorts soup, but I couldn't force him to add salt to his. Mind you I was a girl raised on Campbell's soups, where the sodium content is through the roof. So I've come to believe that salty soup is the norm. Although this was never a complain on previous visits to Karen's.

All the vegetables in both the broccoli rabe and the chicken vegetable were perfectly tender and holding their shape until crushed. And the brocoli rabe's tomato broth was the perfect balance between watery and think. The chicken vegetable was a golden shiny chicken broth.

Ultimately, if you like not salty soup Karen's is for you.

The Professional

I have now entered the realm of professional writer. I got my first writing check in the mail yesterday. I'm writing for an as of yet not launched website. My editor tells me it will be launched in Russian first. So when I become a professionally published writer it will be in Russian. Yes, that's right. I'm going to be published in Russian. I know exactly 3 people who will be able to read it. And then 2 more who might be able to read it. I am in neither category. It will give an entirely new meaning to not being able to read what I've written. Normally, my handwriting is just too sloppy, but this time it will be in a foreign language. I wonder if my wit translates into Russian.

I would also like to point out to all my dramatic writing friends that because this is not a dramatic writing gig I do not need to get a tattoo as per anyone's deal. Just in case anyone asks. No way no how. Unless of course I get some wicked cool phrase in Russian that I'll never understand, cause then the tat doesn't really count.

Adventures in Soup

Apolegizes for the late review. My tuesday become incredible full.

For the premiere of Adventures in Soup I headed over to lower Chelsea and picked up my partner in soup from work and we went across the street to Rocking Horse Cafe. (8th Ave and 19th st) It's a cute, hip and sexy Mexican restaurant that aims at making mexican food haute. It was rather empty for lunch when I walked in, but it was a little late for lunch.

They only have "soupa del dia". They had a cauliflower soup and a spicy chicken. We ordered both. The cauliflower soup didn't look like too much in the bowl, but it was a creamed spoonful of cauliflower goodness, topped off with crispy duck. It was also topped with some sort of oil something, but the waiter spoke too fast for me to catch what it was. It didn't add any flavor and being a New York female my first thought was of my thighs. So if you can, order without - if you worry about things like thighs. Behind all the flavors of the soup was the slightest hint of anise. Intriguing. It's the kind of soup you'd want to curl up into and watch a snow storm.

The spicy chicken was indeed spicy and full of chicken. But not too full. It reminded me of a cross between torilla soup and minestrone. The heat lingered in my mouth a little too long, but the avocado on top helped cool that a little. I liked it, but the whole time wished it wasn't quite as lingeringly spicy. And I'm a fan of spicy.

If you want Mexican-ish soups I'd go here. But if you just want a really good soup I'd go somewhere else. Hopefully I'll find that place in the coming weeks.

The Girl with Glass Feet

One of the perks of my life is getting copies of books before they are released. This book was the best thing to come out of this life perk.

"The Girl with the Glass Feet" by Ali Shaw is probably the best book I've read in the last 10 years. When it finally hits the book shelves in January everyone should buy a copy. EVERYONE. I'd buy everyone a copy for Christmas, but it wouldn't be out so you'll have to either a) buy it yourself. or b) tell me you're willing to wait. Mind you if you tell me you're willing to wait you're making the assumption that you're on my Christmas gift list. So think before you send that email. Just kidding. If you're not on the list I'll pretend the email never made it to spare the awkwardness. I promise.

What you need to know about this book is that my best friend and I agree that it is the most beautiful kind of sad and "gorgeously painful".

As the title makes obvious the focal character has glass feet (I'm loath to say main character, because it's not that easy). The book explores the inhabitants of a small Northern island as the girl with the glass feet searches for an answer to her peculiar physiognomy. Through her journey she forces the people who she seeks out for help to confront the solidarity of the lives they have built themselves.

This book will make you both want to grab life by every piece of its existence; drink it up, slurp it down, chew it up and roll around in the glory of it. It also makes you want to stop and notice the flowers emerging from the winter snow, a fish jumping through the ocean's waves and the crinkles around the eyes of your best friends when they laugh just so. And make you cry for the joy and beauty even in the most sad of times.

Gay Marriage

In an article on Gay Marriage - or as my friend has taken to calling it "Genderless Marriage" a term I have decided to adopted - Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi are called Ms. DeGeneres and Ms. de Rossi. Normally I wouldn't have thought twice about it. But they're married. It didn't seem like the right titles. Mind you I'm not a big fan of titles generally in newspaper articles, I think all readers will understand who is meant by "DeGeneres", rather than "Ms. DeGeneres". Which, as a side note, completely relates to our cultural obsession with forcing gender identities on to living things. I mean who cares if that PERSON walking down the street is "male" or "female". Does it matter? Really? In the larger scheme of things? As long as they've found someone they can happily get freakly with in their own bedroom I don't care what pronoun may or may not be referred to using.

Returning to DeGeneres and de Rossi. Why are they "Ms. DeGeneres and Ms. de Rossi" rather than "Mrs. and Mrs. DeGeneres and de Rossi"? Did the writer think their readers would assume they were married to other people, even when the entire article was about their marriage to EACH OTHER? "Mrs." is the married female title. They are both married females. They just happen to be married to another female. So what? They're still married. They can legally commit adultery.

But let's just get rid of titles. How about it? We don't officially recognize soveriegn titles, so why these? Mind you I see no problem with academic titles as they are already genderless.

Down with gendered titles. Down with them.

Tuesday is Soup Day

As of this coming Tuesday, the 17 of November every Tuesday is Soup day. Which means Tuesday night a new post will go up reviewing my Tuesday Adventures in Soup. Now why would I want to review soup EVERY week. Well my friend, I'll tell you.

As fall descends upon us - and then bounces back into the clouds and then tries falling again, because he didn't quite do a good job the first time - the diets of New Yorkers become more liquid based. The intake of soup in the city nearly doubles during these colder months. And if you're eating that yummy liquid goodness so much more often you want to know exactly which soups are worth your time to slurp.

As a preview of what's to come, I stopped by Hale and Hearty Soups on Bryant Park yesterday, just to test run my tasting abilities. I had the Tomato Basil with rice soup. On the whole it tasted like eating tomato sauce. Which it kind of is. So if you're really into tomato sauce, then this soup is for you. You could stop into any location fo Hale and Hearty and get yourself a bowl full. However, I'm more into my soup not tasting like tomato sauce. Mind you I'm not much of a tomato sauce person when it's supposed to be tomato sauce. It did have the consistancy of soup. Soup with chunks of stuff in it, which is good for a soup. If there's not stuff in it, really it's just broth and that's such a tease. I'm not a fan of being teased by soup in this way. There are other ways soup can tease you and I'm totally down. But not like this.

I look forward to seeing all your eye balls back here on Tuesday for another addition of Adventures in Soup.

Plays I wanna see soon

In the Next Room; or the vibrator play by Sarah Ruhl
Superior Donuts by Tracy Letts

And these because I I'd much rather see a play than read it.
Oleana
Brighton Beach Memoires
Our Town

If you're interesting in seeing these with me let me know.