Three Days

Friday after work, I knew I needed a nap. I set my alarm for one hour, which would give me plenty of time to get ready to go out again. I woke up 2.5 hours later, when my phone rang. So that's what my life has been like recently.

Luckily, I still made it to my friend's birthday party at Johnny Utah's, a Times Square tourist trap of a bar. Three of the gang tried out the mechanical bull. I'd heard of the bull, and had assumed it was like the contraptions outside diners, where you put in a quarter and it bounces around a bit. But no - there's actually a sadist at the controls who decides what kind of ride to give (mostly for humiliation of the rider and/or the entertainment or titillation of the crowd). I'm not quite sure why people obeyed his commands. Women were instructed to loosen or remove clothing (so that jiggling could be seen to better effect). One of my female friends was told to sit on the bull with a stranger, riding backward and facing him, and of course the movements of the bull were designed to put them in compromising positions with compromising vibrations. The guy was way more embarrassed than she was. Best description: "She looked like a koala clinging to a bamboo pole."

Saturday, I helped out at the Tartan Day festivities at Stout and got to see a few Scottish bands. They had a dance-off between Brooklyn breakdancing boys and Scottish highland dancing girls (all to energetic highland jigs with a rock edge). The boys were amazing athletes, sheer muscle and very inventive, but the girls had, somewhat ironically, a home-field advantage with this particular crowd. There was also a scotch tasting in the VIP area, and as usual the most expensive one was the most delicious.

For today's workout, I was inspired to stay on the treadmill a bit longer than I'd originally planned because BBC America was airing some Doctor Who episodes. (Top speed: 6.5 mph.) Once I finished, I could have made it to church on time... but that would have meant sprinting out the door. Instead, I decided to follow my pleasure, which was to enjoy some oatmeal, make a coffee smoothie (with plain yogurt, 1/3 of a frozen banana, fresh ginger, and cinnamon), and enjoy a nice hot shower. There was stuff going on after church as well, but when I really thought about how I wanted to spend my day, I realized that subway travel just wasn't part of it. So I walked over to Borders bookstore (everything 60% off or more) and browsed for a while, then went a bit further on for groceries. When I got home, I made crockpot lamb curry with spinach ... using beef, chicken, potato, and black beans instead of lamb, and a wok instead of a crockpot. It turned out really well. Spent some time napping, listening to RFI, and reading City of God.