RESTAURANT REVIEW: SUSHISAMBA * * * 1/2 (3 and a half stars out of 4).
I had dinner last night with Debbie W. at Sushisamba. This upscale sushi chain with Brazilian influences has multiple locations in Manhattan and one on Miami Beach. It has delicious creative sushi rolls, as well as a wide variety of non-sushi dishes. I want to say that it’s over-priced, but by the time we left, there was an hour and fifteen minute long wait to get in, so I guess it must be under-priced, right? But there were few maki rolls under $7, which is pretty up there. Still, the food was excellent, and I guess it is worth and extra 50% to get some really reliably delicious, fresh, good sushi.
TV-MOVIE REVIEW: LATHE OF HEAVAN (2002) * (1 star out of 4).
Graham M. made me save this on my Tivo for him, and we watched it together on Friday. The basic idea is that the protagonist has dreams, sometimes, which alter reality, including the past, but nobody other than he notices that anything has changed. A&E; was really pushing this remake of the famous PBS version, which is, according to Graham, really great. But this one was just awful. There was nothing good about it, except that some of the futuristic fashions that people were wearing were quite interesting and sharp-looking. I’d actually say that it maybe deserves an award for the costumes. But other than that one distraction, I could not wait for it to be over. Stay away!
BOOK REVIEW: HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS * * (2 stars out of 4).
This second book in the series is a tired retread of the first, and contains some pretty big holes in its reasoning. The main flaw, I think, is this. The whole book is about how someone is trying to kill the children in the school who are not pureblooded children of a witch and a wizard. This is, of course, a heavy-handed metaphor for racism. But early on, when we see that Draco Malfoy is exactly as evil as his father, we are told, without irony, that they must both have the same “bad blood”. And maybe it’s not fair to criticize a children’s book for being too predictable. But I swear I’m not giving away one moment of suspense by telling you that everything works out okay in the end. Incidentally, had I been writing reviews at the time, I would have given both the first book and the first movie 2 and a half stars, and I thought the book was a little better than the movie. But for book two, my advice is to wait for the movie.
MY 9/11/01 PICTURES.
I don’t usually click on the links in blogs, particularly when they are in long blog articles. So, I want to make a special note that you should check out these pictures I took on September 11 last year. The few pictures marked with an “X” after the number are especially recommended.
GROUND ZERO.
I went to ground zero tonight. I’d been there many times since the attacks, including on September 11, 2001 (when I took these incredible pictures), but you could not get very close to the actual footprints of the towers then, nor see much of the actual excavation site, even from the viewing platform they built. Now, you can get right up to the fence, and see down into the site very clearly. It’s amazing how deep the pit goes into the ground. It was probably about seven or eight stories deep. There were lots of people there, but it wasn’t very crowded, and it was easy to get right up to the fence to look. There were two people there each taking turns reading two-minute biographies of every WTC victim, and they drew a small crowd. I listened to about half a dozen of them, and then decided to walk all the way home, a little over four and a half miles, just to feel more connected with it, since I don’t live downtown anymore.
Along the way back, I passed through Washington Square Park, Union Square Park, and Times Square. I stayed at Washington Square Park, which is right near where I used to live, for about an hour. There were some excellent musicians playing, and they drew a huge crowd of at least 150 people. It was very festive and life affirming. There were more people at Union Square Park, but it was much more somber, with people solemnly holding candles in silence. Times Square was eerily quiet. It wasn’t as empty as it was last year, the weekend after 9/11 last year, but it almost felt like walking down any old street in the city, and not the busiest part of town at all. There were American Flags displayed on most of the video screens, but not all of them, which there had been for the month following 9/11/2001.
I’ve been feeling some dread about the attacks, as the anniversary was approaching. It seems that the media has bombarding us with reminders of how terrible we all felt, just as things were starting to get back to normal. But the tone of the city tonight has been at least as much of celebration and awe as it is of sadness and remembrance. I feel better about living in New York right now than I have in a very long time.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL!
September 11, 1982 is the birthday of my brother’s girlfriend, Rachel. Years ago, she became an emancipated minor and moved out of her parents house. When she did, her mother stole her Barbie doll collection. So, for her birthday, I got her a Barbie Dream House, and about 10 or so Barbie dolls. When I was picking them out at the Toys R Us in Times Square, a woman came over to help me. She got me a bag to carry my purchases in, and she carried the Dream House for me, and brought it downstairs after I bought it to the shipping area. She also made the excellent suggestion of getting the “Times Square Barbie”, which you can only get in that one store, and which is in its debut year. But the woman who was helping me wasn’t wearing one of those blue Toys R Us vests with a name tag, though she was bossing all the blue-vested people around. So I asked her what her job was. It turns out, she works for Mattel, the manufacturers of Barbie. Apparently, I was buying enough Barbie stuff to be worth her notice, even though she doesn’t work for the store. Rachel seemed to really love her gift, which made me happy.
AWWW.
My friend, J, left me this really thoughtful letter, that I hope he wouldn’t mind me typing in here, but I really want to save a copy of it forever. He stayed with me the last two weeks, after his girlfriend threw him out. He wrote:
Dear Dave,
Thanks for letting me stay at your apartment for the last few weeks (as well as all the other times that I stayed with you), and for all of your help during this particularly painful time in my life. Thanks for being there when I needed you, and for helping me out when no one else would. Thanks for the emotional support and companionship that you have given me during my time in New York City. You’ve been a really good friend to me, and, though I may never be able to repay you, I will never forget all of the helpful things that you have done for me. When I look back on this period of my life, I will no doubt have many sad memories and regrets, but, one thing is for sure, I will always remember and appreciate the friendship and laughter that you gave me when I needed it most. It has meant more to me that you will ever know. I hope that I can be half as good a friend to you as you have been to me. You’re a good person Dave, and a true friend, and I wish you happiness and peace in all the things that you do.
Your half friend,
J.
I HAVE STREP THROAT.
I was diagnosed this morning with strep throat. I’ve had a sore throat for about 12 days, but no other symptoms, except, early on I had a sinus headache, and I’ve had a very slight cough. The doctor gave me penicilin, and it already seems to be helping considerably.
THE FRIDAY FIVE.
Here’s the latest Friday Five.
1. What is your biggest pet peeve? Why?
When people call that HBO show, “Sex in the City.” It’s “Sex and the City.” It’s not about sex in the city. It’s about sex and the city.
2. What irritating habits do you have?
Well, I hardly know where to start. I speak my mind without censoring myself very much. I am told that I am argumentative, though I certainly don’t mean to be. I bite my nails. I pick my teeth too often, ever since my bridgework become slightly unglued. I crack my knuckles.
3. Have you tried to change the irritating habits or just let them be?
I’ve been working, very successfully, on thinking more before I talk, and on being less quick to start an argument. I try to bite my nails in private, but I have no motivation to stop, as it seems far superior to clipping them, in many ways. I’m having my bridgework redone tomorrow. I haven’t done anything to cut down on cracking my knuckles, since my horrible hand injury, and my occupational therapist told me that cracking my knuckles has greatly increased my flexibility and that my great flexibility greatly enhanced my recovery; plus, my hand is stiff a lot ever since then, and I’ve been very self-indulgent about it. I have to say, I really think a lot of the rules of etiquette are very arbitrary and annoying. Why does it have to be considered rude to pick your teeth at the table? Why couldn’t it be considered extra-super-polite to pick your teeth at the table? That would certainly make everybody’s life a whole lot easier.
4. What grosses you out more than anything else? Why?
I’m not very squeamish. I suppose seeing severe injury to my own body is the most troubling thing for me to consider.
5. What one thing can you never see yourself doing that other people do?
Copying my mode of dress or speaking style from a popular entertainer.
MOVIE REVIEW: SIGNS (2002) * 1/2 (1 and a half stars out of 4).
There are some suspenseful moments, and some meaningful emotional ideas in this movie, but the M. Night Shayamalan (writer of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable) trademark twist ending was a quite a let-down. It seems like Unbreakable was about 5% as clever as The Sixth Sense, and Signs was about 5% as clever as Unbreakable. I’m shuddering to think about his next movie. Also, I rarely notice the quality of acting. I think of it like sound or lighting–I usually only notice it when something goes wrong. All I really require is acting that’s just passably good enough to convey the story without getting in the way. But, except for Mel Gibson, most everyone in this movie seemed to be reading their lines off of index cards. It felt like going to a script-reading, more than it felt like seeing a movie, and it took me right out of the story.
MOVIE REVIEW: THE GOOD GIRL (2002) * * * * (4 stars out of 4).
I loved this movie, and it is my favorite movie of the year so far. I was reluctant to see it because it stars Jennifer Aniston, and I’ve always been disappointed by all the “Friends” movies, even though I do like Friends very much. It is a black comedy about an unhappily married woman who has an affair with a much younger man. I found myself really identifying with the husband, Phil (John C. Reilly, who I’ll always remember best as the cop in Magnolia), who loves his wife Justine (Jennifer Aniston) quietly and comfortably, feeling they’ve outgrown the need for passion or romance. At the same time, I found myself very much identifying with the “other man,” Holden (Jake Gyllenhaal, the title character in Donnie Darko), who feels put upon by the world, and who loves Justine with an intense passion which seems more real than the bonds of marriage. And, of course, I found myself identifying with Justine, who constantly makes one wrong choice after another, because she’s too afraid to do what she knows is right. The movie is intense, but also bitterly funny, or at least I thought so. Over and over, I was the only person in the theater who laughed at one very funny moment after another. I wanted to really crack up, but, being the only one laughing, I managed to restrain myself to a chuckle. This only increased my conviction that the movie really spoke to me, in particular. Also, I think I liked it better because I had fairly low expectations; so, I hope I haven’t ruined the experience of someone reading this review who might now have much higher expectations than I did, and be less pleasantly surprised. Still, I unhesitatingly reassert that I loved this movie. It is the only movie I have seen this year that I would give 4 stars to.
ANOTHER NEW LOOK-LOOK SURVEY.
They don’t usually come this close together. They definitely got their $5 out of me this time.
1. Name your favorite brand and explain why it is your favorite.
Charge.Com, because it is my own company that I built.
2. Name one brand that has caught your attention in the last year. Explain why it caught your attention.
Rolls Royce, because I recently saw their classic, now-famous ad that said “At 60 MPH the loudest sound you’ll hear is the clock,” and I thought that was pretty clever.
3. Name a brand that you used to like, but don’t like anymore. Explain why you don’t like it anymore.
I used to really like NBC when I was growing up. But I really don’t like CNBC or MSNBC and especially ShopNBC, and I didn’t like how things turned out with David Letterman, and I didn’t think they gave the new Colin Quin show a fair chance, and Saturday Night Live has totally stopped being counter-cultural and has gotten all “pop-cultural” instead, and, all-in-all, NBC has really lost my loyalty, over the years.
4. Name a brand that “speaks” to you. Please explain.
I’m really getting the sense, from all these questions, that look-look conceives of branding differently than I do. Brands are the enemy, constantly trying to trick me into liking them or being interested in them. They all lie and they all suck, and I constantly have to defend myself from them, and I hate all of them. No brand “speaks” to me.
5. Name one new product that has caught your attention recently.
Those new video screened cell phones from Sprint. I’m thinking about getting one.
6. Have you noticed any new packaging (for any product/s) recently, that you either like or find interesting? Please explain/describe.
I have noticed that a lot of products in the supermarket seem to be coming in non-traditionally shaped cans that Are covered on every surface with very bright colors.
7. Think about the marketplace (retail stores, entertainment venues, restaurants, etc). What if anything, do you think is missing (product, service, experience, etc)>
Compassion.
8. Think about your recent trips to any retail store/s. Name something new that you noticed (ex: a Gap store that provides computers for customers to browse clothes on their website). Please explain.
A “Bed Bath and Beyond” in Manhattan has an escalator just for shopping carts. I thought that was pretty nifty.
9. Think about your recent entertainment experiences. Name something new that you noticed (ex: a movie theater that has a bar). Please explain.
I was at a tattoo convention, and there was an oxygen bar. It was very popular.
10. Think about your recent dining experiences (fast food or regular restaurant). Name something new that you noticed (ex: fast food restaurant that serves health food). Please explain.
Here’s something new: I saw a McDonald’s commercial that made me angry. First appears a Big Mac, then a super-sized french fries, then a large Coke. Each image is followed by a cartoon smile. Announcer: “What could make you happier than a Big Mac Extra Value Meal? An appetizer before it. Like our cheesy mozzarella sticks [pictured, deep fried] or a tasty fajita [pictured, dripping with cheese]. Happy now?” And then the smile integrated with the McDonald’s logo, and the word “smile”. I don’t tell other people what they should eat, but this is nuts! A Big Mac extra-value meal is already very unhealthy, But, if I want to SMILE and BE HAPPY, then I have to have some deep fried cheese first. And another thing: a fajita is not an appetizer! Hundreds of obese people who saw that are going to start getting fried cheese because a commercial told them it was a normal thing to do to be happy.
11. What are your favorite smells/scents?
Tuscany brand cologne, bakeries, and forests.
12. What do you use to freshen your breath?
Proper Dental Hygiene, Listerine, and Breath Savers.
13. What made you choose the breath freshener that you currently use over other breath fresheners?
I’ve tried lots of different things, and these work very satisfactorily for me.
14. What will the next new packaging for a breath freshner look like?
I think the trend is to get smaller (like the new Listerine Breath Strips). It’s more convenient.
15. How important is technology in your life (ex: your computer, your cellphone, etc.)?
Very, very important. It’s my livelihood and a huge part of my social life.
16. What do you think are the main differences between how you are growing up and how your parents grew up?
Technology, the pervasiveness of marketing to children, and an increased apathy among our political leaders to the younger generation.
17. How often do you eat out? (Multiple choice)
Several times a week
Twice a week
Once a week
Twice a month
Once a month
Once or twice a year
Never
Several times a week
18. What type of restaurants do you frequent the most? Multiple choice
Fast Food (McDonalds, etc.)
Chain restaurants (TGIF, Sizzler, etc.)
Expensive restaurants
Local cafes/coffee shops
Expensive restaurants
19. How often do you eat at home? Multiple choice
Every night
Several times a week
Twice a week
Once a week
Twice a month
Once a month
Never
Several times a week.
HAIKU (PLURAL).
I went to the Olive Tree last night for drinks and a very late dinner, with Graham M., Jessica D., and her friends Chris, and Joey. The tables there are made of black slate, or some similar material, and there’s a bowl of chalk for you to write or draw on the table. So, it turns out Graham can draw pretty well, and he draws this nice picture of John Lennon. And Chris, as it turns out, is a professional animator. So, I’m clearly outclassed, and feeling my creativity paralyzed, and I say something to that effect. I say, maybe I’ll just write a poem or an essay. So, someone, I think Chris, suggests I write a haiku. A haiku, of course, is a Japanese poetry form consisting of three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, respectively. So I wrote this one:
Cops in the rear view
I know we can play this off
Just fucking be cool
Inspired, Chris wrote “Jesus, fuck, my head”, but that was as far as he got, before he said he was stuck. So I wrote:
Jesus, fuck, my head
Too many cocktails last night
Call in sick for work
Then I wrote this masterpiece:
Woman at the bar
How does she resist my charms?
Obviously gay
This was not my favorite, but it was by far the most well-received:
Five syllables here
This line has seven of them
And here are five more
And then, after Jared, I think his name was, another friend of Jessica joined us and told some disturbing story about his girlfriend’s gynecologist finding pieces of a broken condom inside her, I wrote this gem:
LADIES! Look at this!
It’s a brand new lubricant!
It’s spermicidal!
Chris, it turns out, lives right around the corner from me, and is home during the day. So, we made nonspecific plans to have lunch in the future.
THE NEW LOOK-LOOK SURVEY.
Today’s turned out to be a big survey taking day.
Here’s the new look-look survey. Look-look.com is a slightly evil research company that tries to predict trends among young people, mostly by having photojournalists try to spot trends, and also by polling us younguns. I’m in my last year before I’m too old to be in their survey pool anymore. But in the mean time, the surveys are fun, and they make you think, and they make your opinion count, and you get $5 for each one. If you’re under 31, you can join at www.teamlook-look.com.
Now, my survey questions and answers.
1. Describe your ideal day (Please be very specific. Include where you are, what you’re doing, who you are with, what you are eating/drinking, etc.).
It’s hard to say. I guess I’m out with one of my celebrity crushes, and we’re winning the lottery, and I’m taking a pill that makes me turn 10 pounds of fat into 10 pounds of muscle.
More realistically, maybe I have a great day at the gym, and maybe I meet someone really special at a party or something, and maybe we wind up going together to a really cool off-off Broadway show, and messing around a little afterwards.
2. What activity do you practice in your everyday life that brings you the most pleasure? (Please list at least two activities).
Going to the gym.
Seeing good off-off Broadway theater.
A great meal.
Books on tape.
3. What do you wish you had more time for?
Going to the gym. I’d love to go twice as much. I hate when I have to cut my workout short.
4. What do you indulge in that makes you feel good about yourself?
Blogging, maybe. But I usually don’t consider things that make me feel good about myself to be indulgences.
5. Do you have any indulgences that make you feel guilty?
Sure, all of them to do with food.
6. What do you miss most about your childhood that you wish was incorporated into your adulthood?
What a great question! I’d really love to see other people’s answers.
I guess what I miss most of all, is constantly meeting new people in social situations. Every year, and every semester in college, there were always new classmates to get to know. Now, I am self-employed, and I telecommute from home. I could really go a long time without ever meeting someone new, if I wanted.
7. What is the last thing that you did that you consider playful?
Flirting with an ex-girlfriend.
8. What do you do to treat yourself?
I practically never reward myself. Doing something good is its own reward. I guess on my birthday and on New Year’s Eve, the two days when I am most self-indulgent, I usually don’t watch what I eat.
9. Please complete this sentence: Nothing says fun like. . .
Toys made of candy. That you can have sex with.
This is what it says when you finish a survey, which I always think is a little obnoxious:
Guess what? You’re done. Thanks sincerely for your time and your opinion. A check will be made out to David [D.]. We’ll be in touch soon and hope you can participate in another survey.
THE MONDAY MISSION.
At the suggestion of Blake N., here’s The Monday Mission.
1. What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you on a date?
I’d like to try to be more open on my blog. I really would. But there is no possible way I’m going to answer to that question publicly.
2. Do you eat your veggies?
Not so much. I don’t eat much fruit or vegetables. Even when I was vegetarian I avoided them, in favor of cheese, french fries, beans, bread, and tofu. Potatoes, by the way, are technically not a vegetable.
3. Most people are comfortable going to the bathroom in front of at least one person. Has anyone ever used the restroom in front of you that you wish wouldn’t have? What happened and how bad was it?
Nope.
4. Have you ever had a bad online transaction? You know, the item wasn’t what you thought it would be, you got totally ripped-off, no refunds, it just plain sucked? What’s the story there?
Yeah! I bought my friend a “beer of the month club” membership. I sent a check, and it got cashed, and the beer never came. $250!
5. Ever have a current love find any old love letters (or similar item) you kept that probably should have been thrown away? How did that turn out?
Nope. Though, I have found that women are not usually as upset as men about hearing about their partner’s old lovers. I’ve discussed old girlfriends with new girlfriends, and they never seem to have a problem.
6. A secretary at work was telling me about a trip she took to Mardi Gras. She showed off her beaded necklaces and proudly said she “earned’ each and every one of them (for those not familiar with this tradition, ladies walking up Burbon [sic] St. in New Orleans will flash people who are upon the balconies, in return the guys will throw them worthless plastic necklaces). I was shocked, I had no idea this quiet gal had a wild side. Was there ever a time when you did something totally outrageous because you knew no one would know who you were, or maybe didn’t care even if they did?
No. I’ve done some pretty outrageous things, but never because I thought I was protected by anonymity.
7. Hey, what happened to you last night? I waited forever!
Oh, dude, I, like, totally flaked. I didn’t get to the gym ’til 8:30, and wound up having dinner with Graham M. at around 11 PM. We went to the very first Blimpies in New York. It’s less than a block away, but I’ve never gone before.
BONUS: I know I could break you down, but what good would it do?
I fear that I may already be broken.
Who’s your favorite recording artist?
The Beatles. I always fumble with that question, when I ask it. I say something like, “Who’s your favorite band or solo musician” or something similarly awkward. “Recording Artist”. Perfect. I’ll have to remember that.
WASTING AWAY.
I weighed in this morning at 182 pounds. That’s the least I’ve weighed since I was a freshman in high school, and I was quite a few inches shorter then, and I’m quite a lot more muscular now. I blew right past 183 which broke my old post freshman-year record of 184, which I set when I first tried the Atkins diet, back in 1997, and, again, I’m much more muscular than I was then. Only 3 more pounds, and I’ll be down to my old 8th grade weight. I was a chubby kid.
I imagine that this must be a low fluctuation, since I’m 2 pounds lighter than yesterday morning. But since I’ve been working out, I’ve never gone back up after what I keep thinking are low fluctuations, though I do find my weight loss occasionally stagnant for a week or so. But that’s not too bad. If you lose just 1 pound a week, that’s 50 pounds a year, and I’ve been averaging just a little higher than that, while also simultaneously building muscle mass. Not to put too much pressure on myself, I am hereby going on record that I’ll be what the kids call “hot” in about six weeks. Ten tops. But, as I say, no pressure. If it takes another ten weeks besides, that’s okay, too. In the meantime, I’m enjoying looking ever-so-slightly noticeably better every week than I did the week before, and looking quite noticeably better every month than I did the month before. If I never get any better looking than this, that won’t be too shabby.
THIS OR THAT.
It’s Thursday, so you know what that means. It means I’m two days late for the Tuesday This or That. This weeks theme is “The name’s the same…almost…“.
1. Tom Hanks or Tom Cruise?
These are two of my favorites, more because I most always like the scripts they pick, rather than because of the actors themselves. But I actually do think that Hanks is a really great actor, so I’ll pick him.
2. Julia Roberts or Julia Stiles?
I’m not a fan of either. I just saw Julia Stiles at Shakespeare in the Park a couple months ago. It was the first time I ever heard of her. I guess she’s hotter hotter than Julia Roberts, just because she’s 21, and Roberts is almost 35, but that doesn’t seem like a good reason to pick one or the other, even thought that’s what both of them are famous for. So, I guess I’ll pick Roberts, just as a sort of affirmative action thing.
3. Kevin Costner or Kevin Spacey?
Kevin Spacey. Again, more because I like the scripts he picks, than because I like him, but also because I like him.
4. Ben Affleck or Ben Stiller?
I LOVE Ben Stiller. I think he’s one of the funniest guys out there. His old FOX show, The Ben Stiller Show, featured then-unknowns Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, Janeane Garofalo, and Bob Odenkirk, all of whom I’d never heard of before that show, and who are now among my favorite performers. Also Zoolander, which I thought looked totally stupid in the advertisements, turned out to be hysterically funny.
5. Sean Connery or Sean Penn?
Sean Connery, of course!
6. Jennifer Lopez or Jennifer Aniston?
Jennifer Aniston. I am not a J-Lo fan.
7. Courtney Love or Courtney Cox-Arquette?
Courtney Cox-Arquette. What can I say? I like “Friends“.
8. Sarah Michelle Gelllar [sic] or Sarah Jessica Parker?
Sarah Jessica Parker! I love Sex and the City, and I do not like Buffy.
9. Michael Douglas or Mike Myers?
Mike Myers. I love Mike Myers, and I do not like Michael Douglas at all. I’ve never liked any movie he’s been in. Wall Street was okay, I guess, but the rest were terrible.
10. Nicole Kidman or (Anna) Nicole Smith?
Nicole Kidman, by process of elimination.
BOOK REVIEW: A TRIAL BY JURY * * * 1/2 (3 and a half stars out of 4).
The book by D. Graham Burnett is about his experience as the foreman of a jury on a murder case in New York City. In law school, we lawyers are told that the jury is “a black box”. You can look at what goes in, and what comes out, but there’s no way to look inside the box, and the subject of what makes juries act the way they do is the subject of some awe and mystery. So, this book is a really great resource for seeing the process of how juries arrive at their decisions, and what it feels like to serve on a jury, and what sequestration is like. It’s also a great work of political philosophy about the relationship between law and justice, and about the appropriate limits of the power of the state. I listenned to the book unabridged on tape all at once, durring my marathon session at the gym.
A MISERABLE NIGHT’S SLEEP.
I went to bed last night at 2 AM, but I couldn’t fall asleep until 5:30, even though I took some NyQuil when I went to bed (I am getting over a cold). Then I woke up at 6 AM, and I couldn’t fall asleep again until 7:30 AM. I woke up at a little before 10 AM. I lay in bed for another hour and a half, and then I decided to get up. Obviously, I must have something on my mind.
SOMETHING STRANGE IS WRONG WITH MY FOOT.
Sometimes, when I work out, I feel this strange numbness on my foot. Yesterday, I realized that the numbness is always on my right foot, on the middle toe, and the toe to its right (the “ring-toe”, if you will). It occurred to me, that this corresponds to the two numb fingers on my right hand (see my previous blog entry). On a hunch, then, that my problem was psychological, I tried massaging my numb fingers (they’re not completely numb). When I did so, the numbness on my foot was considerably relieved.
I told this story to my friend Danny B., who is a medical doctor. He told me that it’s impossible that the numbness could be psychological, because those nerves aren’t anywhere near each other in the body or the brain, and that furthermore, it’s very likely that, while exercising, I am cutting off some circulation to my foot. Yet, he couldn’t explain why massaging my hand would have improved my foot.
Peculiar.
I HAVE A HORRIBLE, PERMANENTLY DEBILITATING HAND INJURY.
On July 4, 1998, I was leaning on a porcelain sink in a hotel room which collapsed off the wall. I fell with the sink, which broke on the floor. The jagged pieces of porcelain cut my hand and wrist very badly, completely severing five tendons, three nerves, and a minor artery. I had my hand in a cast and a splint for more than a month, and then when I got it off, I had to do about 7 minutes of painful, strenuous hand exercises once per hour, every hour that I was awake, for about three months. I never missed a single hour in all that time, and I’ve had a remarkable recovery, and now have a range of motion that is better than 100% of normal (although not as abnormally flexible as I was before). I do have permanent scarring all across my hand, and some permanent numbness in my middle and ring fingers, which makes it a little harder to type or play the piano or manipulate small objects, such as coins. This injury is on my right hand, and I am right-handed.
I am just writing all of this, because it gives background to my next post.
BOOK REVIEW: THE PAINTED WORD * * 1/2 (2 and a half stars out of 4).
Tom Wolfe persuasively argues that modern art, which originally rebelled against theory-driven artwork, had become, by the time the book was written in 1975, totally consumed by theory, and he laments that a few thousand art intellectuals decide what art is successful, as opposed to the general public who collectively dictate their own tastes in the worlds of fashion, books, theater, film, and so on. As a result of this, Wolfe amusingly remarks that artist were creating artwork, in the fashion of the time, to be as “out there” and counter-cultural as possible, and getting praise from within the tiny art-world, but then lamenting that no one was buying their artwork, artwork that they had created just to offend contemporary tastes.
But, as in Wolfe’s From Bauhaus to Our House, he gives reasoned arguments over matters of taste, which can’t be explained by reason alone. I like a lot of pop art and modern art, and all of Wolfe’s arguments have little bearing on my aesthetic sense.
THE FRIDAY FIVE.
The new Friday Five questions.
1. What’s your favorite piece of clothing that you currently own?
A classy brown pin-striped shirt that I had custom-made for me in Bangkok, for only $18 (a week’s pay over there).
2. What piece of clothing do you most want to acquire?
I need to buy more shorts. I keep running low if I don’t get to the laundry, and then I have to wear ones I don’t like to the gym. I don’t like the ones I don’t like because they don’t have good pockets.
3. What piece of clothing can you not bring yourself to get rid of? Why?
I have a shirt that used to be my favorite shirt, but the sleeves and the color are all frayed. Now, I never wear it, knowing that the next time I wear it may be the last before it completely falls apart.
4. What piece of clothing do you look your best in?
I think I look sharp when I dress up in a suit, but I don’t like to go through the bother.
5. What has been your biggest fashion accident?
Okay, these are obviously girl questions; boys don’t have “fashion accidents”. I dress very conservatively and always try to make sure everything matches before I leave my apartment. I did recently accidentally where black Doc Martins with shorts and white socks. I meant to wear my sneakers, but I put on my regular shoes by mistake out of habit, and I was on the subway before I caught my mistake. Nobody seemed to notice, though, and it really didn’t look as bad as I would have thought it would.
I WENT A LITTLE CRAZY AT THE GYM TODAY.
Saturday was my three-month “luniversary” of going to the gym, and today, to celebrate I did twice my normal weight-lifting, and then I rode the elliptical machine for three hours and 45 minutes, until it said I had burned 3,600 calories. Normally, I do an hour and burn 1,000 to 1,100 calories. I picked 3,600 for two reasons. First, it’s a little more than a pound of fat, which is 3,500 calories, and I liked the idea of burning an entire pound of fat in one session at the gym. Second, when I ask people how much they work out, I almost invariably hear that they do 300 calories, 3 times a week. So, I liked the idea of doing as much in one afternoon (well, one afternoon and evening), as my other friends do in 4 weeks.
I’ve heard again and again that the three month mark is when you start to first notice changes in your body from working out. I definitely noticed a difference more than a month ago, but I continue to be pleased by my progress, which seems a little noticeably better just about every week. At this point, I think I would be pretty happy if I’d had plastic surgery three months ago, and this was the result. Standing on the elliptical machine, peddling away, doing a month’s worth of exercise all at once, I could almost have sworn that I could tell the difference between the way I looked when I started and the way I looked afterwards. But, it must have been just my imagination.
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE.
So, I met one of the other David D.s that I know, the one who lives in Washington, D.C., in Wilmington, Delaware yesterday, all day, for a day trip. We decided to meet at about half-way between New York and D.C. First, I said Philadelphia, which is about an hour and 15 minutes from New York, and about an hour and 45 minutes from D.C. Then, he said, how about Baltimore, which is about 2 hours from New York, and about an hour from D.C. So, I asked, what’s in between Baltimore and Philly? Well, there’s Wilmington, Delaware, he told me. Okay, I said, how about there? But there’s nothing to do there, he complained. Oh, come on, I said, that’s a real city, the largest city in Delaware, and people spend their whole lives there; I’m sure we can find something to do for a day. He was persuaded, and he brought his friends Mike and Jen, a married couple who, luckily, had a car (I had taken Amtrak).
Well, it turns out there is not much to do there. They do have one museum that is largely an advertisement for DuPont which was founded there, and which runs the town, and that killed some time, until it closed at 4:30. There are very few places to eat, and mostly the places that are there are either holes in the wall, or national chains. They do seem to have some nice shopping, and with no state sales tax that seemed worth a try, but practically all the stores were closed because it was Sunday, so we never got around to it.
Still, it was fun to see David and to meet his friends, and we had a good time. I think my favorite part was when we drove by a big sign right by the museum saying “DuPont Experimental Station“, which made us all feel a little nervous about breathing the air or drinking any nearby tap water. And then Mike said that the thing of it is, the sign says “DuPont Experimental Station”, because “DuPont Experimental Station” was the best the spin they could put on it. That cracked me up, realizing they might just as accurately called it something like “DuPont Animal Torture Station” or “DuPont Dumping Ammonia Into the River Station” or what have you. Of course, I’m just speculating about what might go on there. For all I know they don’t pollute or hurt animals, though I’m not sure how you would develop synthetic polymers any other way.
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