Chowhounds Unite!

I am addicted to Chowhound.com. I've never posted anything or even made use of any of the thousands of posts, but I just love reading them. NYC restaurants are one of the best things about living in NYC, and though I've been trying (pretty successfully I might add) to not eat out so much these days, it's so great to be able to just sit back and read all about all of these people's restaurant experiences. I swear. It's better than television. Maybe even better than...dare I say it...the Food Network.

Ok, maybe not.

Ok, so since my last post I have finally returned to health and feeling normal. Even got back to running on Friday evening (3.5 miles and felt great to be out moving around again after a 2-week hiatus), and ran a 4-mile race on Sunday. So as far as I'm concerned, I'm back to normal and feeling good about it. Unfortunately, according to my doctor, I seem to be fighting some as-yet-unidentifiable illness that has required numerous trips to his office in the past week with plenty of poking and prodding, and will no doubt require a good deal more. In fact, though he's glad that I feel good enough to get out and run and work out, he seems to think it's weird that I do. So that's that. Definitely a little frustrating, but hey, it's a gorgeous day out which is making it a little hard to feel bummed about anything at the moment.

Doing my Civic Duty in a delirious stupor.

No updates last week, because I served jury duty for three days and then proceeded to get sicker than I have been in I can't remember how long. We're talking fever, shaking, delirium. Oh boy, was it fun. Then, to top it all of, there was a death in my family, which of course kept me from going to the doctor until much later than I probably should have. What can I say. Some weeks are better than others.

Allow me to ramble for a moment.

Like most people I know, I have several friends and family members in the military who were shipped off months ago to the Middle East. Throughout the ensuing media frenzy, it's been a struggle to stay grounded and keep sight of what's "real" and what's "true" (I realize even the definitions of those words can be debated. Personal e-mail updates from the other side of the world have certainly helped in the grounding process, but I've found myself struggling to find deeper sources of what's "real" and what's "true" than what we're presented with on a daily basis by our mass media. And that process has led me through frustration into a deeper sadness. It just kills me how short-sighted and simple-minded we can be as a people and a society. Nowhere in our main channels of news/information is there anything but the most surface-level reporting and discussion. Never do we try to delve deeper and gain an understanding of the multitude of reasons this has all come to pass. Anyone who wants this type of discussion and analysis has to actively and painstakingly seek it out, which obviously the majority of the public is not going to do. And therefore, these questions are largely absent from our public consciousness. And that to me is sad. There's no other word for it. We need to ask questions. We need to actively seek information. I would never, ever say that the "fall" of a tyrannical dictator is a "bad" thing. But the lack of any desire of the majority of the American people to explore the myriad reasons that we, as a nation, went in and brought it about is, in my opinion, absolutely tragic. The widespread ignorance of Middle Eastern politics is beyond shocking, considering how long our nation has been embroiled in it.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming.

Little droplets of stupidity, falling from the skies.

I swear to God, a little rain and everyone on the streets just turns retarded. It's only water, people! Life goes on. Heads-up, and keep on moving.

It's funny how everyone I know is complaining about the weather we've been having, beginning with the snow we had on Monday, and now rain everyday since. Remember how last summer we were all praying for some precipitation?

You can never go home again.

Spent the weekend at my parents' place, helping them pack for their impending move away from the house I grew up in. Very surreal experience. It's amazing the amount of crap we accumulate throughout our lives. I found things I hadn't laid eyes on in years, as I slogged my way through the packing and the purging. By the end of the weekend, I had pretty much reduced my entire past down to a few boxes, which I guess will now remain sealed up on shelves in my parents' new basement for decades to come. Rows of little time capsules. Thankfully, my parents are pretty understanding of the fact that my closet-sized Upper West Side apartment doesn't really allow me to have any possessions. I did pretty well in my purging efforts, though. I reduced my entire college experience to a single crate. A single crate! Part of me can't help but feel that I should have more to show for those four years, given the size of the student loan checks I write every month...

There's just something about a rainy Friday. Makes me want to play video games, watch movies, and just generally slack off. Not that I do any of those things on a regular basis. Um, especially slack off. Shut up. I do not.

What is it about getting drunk on a Thursday night that makes it so much more satisfying than getting drunk any other night of the week? It's like sneaking an extra night into your weekend. I don't know - I've heard all this talk about how Monday night is the new Thursday night, but I guess I'm just a Thursday night traditionalist at heart. Don't you worry Thursday night, you're where my true loyalties lie. Though I may occasionally fool around with that little flirt Monday night, she could never hold a candle to you. She's good for a fling that one, but no one really wants to settle down with her.

Spring Fever

Wow, I feel like I'm in high school again. I just can't seem to focus on anything right now except thoughts of weekends, vacations, beaches, parties... Ah, to be 15 again. Ok, so it wasn't always all it was cracked up to be, but in hindsight it seems like it was pretty damn good. Who says hindsight's 20/20? I'd rather remember things as they should have been, not how they really were. I mean really, what is the USA if not the great land of forgetfulness and denial?

Poor smokers. Huddled together outside in the rain and the cold. I feel for them. I really do. I will say, though, that ever since the ban went into effect on Saturday night/Sunday morning, I've noticed a new type of camaraderie between them that definitely wasn't there before. United in the face of this new, ridiculous obstacle that forces them to leave their drinks at bars and their dinners on tables while they trudge outside to light up. So strong does this new bond seem, in fact, that I'm seriously considering taking up the habit myself.

Ok, not really. But I really do feel that people should be able to smoke when they're out enjoying themselves. When did we become so puritanical in our beliefs as a society? And in New York City, no less! Bear with me here. I've thought a lot about this. For as long as life has existed in the universe, so has death. (Stunning revelation, no?) And for as long as that relationship has existed, that neverending push and pull, that inseparable yin and yang, so too has the need for human beings to tinge their experience of life with reminders of their mortality and the inevitability of death. Keeps the head out of the clouds and the feet on the ground. It could be argued that it's precisely those things that give life it's lively quality. Hence drinking, drugs, war, extreme sports, thrill rides, horror films, Jackass, nightclubs, dancing... And smoking is just the latest victim of mass demonization. I guess that's what affects me most about the ban in this city. As always, I'm just wondering what will be next.