Table for One

7 Apr

I didn’t quite know what to have for dinner Monday night, but I knew one thing: I didn’t want to cook. And because Passover was two days away and I had already put all my dishes through my dishwasher, and I had nothing better to do, and because Sunday was the one-year anniversary of the day I moved into my condo, I decided to go out to dinner. Yes, by myself. It’s not the first time I’ve done this, but it’s been a very long time since I’ve gone out and sat in a restaurant eating dinner by myself. It was time to do it again.

I decided to go to the Bertucci’s at the Atrium, which I figured would be close, easy, and because it was a rainy Monday night, largely empty. And sure enough, it was. So I sat at my table, undisturbed, eating my rolls and my meal, drinking my beverage, and perhaps most importantly, catching up on a recent issue of Rolling Stone. I have to admit: It was really nice for a change. Sure, I could have gone somewhere a little nicer than Bertucci’s, but this was just what I was looking for. I was able to eat and read, and no one was rushing me to finish up or hounding me to order more, and when I was done, there were no dishes to clean up or anything. I had a nice waitress, and I gave her a nice tip because she treated me well, and I was not embarrassed by the situation in the least.

Yeah, I really kind of enjoyed going out by myself. I’m not going to make a habit of it, but maybe I’ll have to do it more often.

Wake-Up Call

7 Apr

Some people call it radio karma. Others chalk it up to an awful playlist. Me? I say Kiss 108 is trying to teach me a lesson, and I’m sure of it. Monday morning when my alarm went off, I hit snooze like I always do, and then I repeated it a second time. And when it went off the fourth time, I considered getting up. After all, I had plenty to do at work and could have used the extra half-hour or so. But did I? No. I decided I wanted nine more minutes, so I hit snooze again. And then, when the alarm went off nine minutes later, what song was playing? Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.” At the present time, there is no artist on the radio that I hate more than Lady Gaga, so I hit snooze again. After all, who wants to get up to a song they don’t like? That’ll ruin your whole day.

So I slept some more. Nine minutes later, when the alarm went off again, what was playing? Britney Spears’ “Circus,” another song I find absolutely annoying. So yes, I hit snooze again. And then, nine minutes later, what was playing? My least favorite song right now, Flo Rida’s “Right Round.” It was already a half hour after I was going to get up, but I just couldn’t get up then. And nine minutes after that, when the alarm went off again, what was playing? Actually, nothing. It was all static. But that was better than the alternative, so I got up. Finally. Lesson learned. (Or was it?) Next time, I’ll get up when I’m supposed to.

And it probably should be noted that the song playing when I should have woken up was Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours,” which, of course, I love.

Oh, but was that it? No way. I listened to Matty in the Morning for nearly my entire drive into work, laughing along with Matty, Billy, Lisa, Jim, and the gang, and right as I’m turning the corner into my parking lot, what song comes on? That’s right: “Poker Face.” Again. So suffice it to say, Kiss 108, by playing my least favorite songs at exactly the wrong times, taught me that I really need to time my mornings a bit better.

A Wii for Mii

6 Apr

After leaving Abby’s house on Sunday, I stopped off to visit my other little buddies, Sam and Ilana.

They’re seven and four years old, respectively, and great fun to hang out with.

On this particular day, they were anxious for me to play with them on their Wii, so I obliged. Believe it or not, I’d never played on a Wii before, which was a problem because these two were pros — especially Sam, who booted up Wii Sports and challenged me to a match on Wii Tennis.

Well, before I knew it, Sam had beaten me three games to one. The kid really was good! Continue reading →

There’s a Name for That

5 Apr

I was home in New York this weekend because 11 months after she was born, Abby finally had her Naming, where she received her Hebrew name. (Usually this happens much sooner after a baby’s birth.) It was also a significant weekend for me because for the first time since Abby was born, I slept overnight at my sister and brother-in-law’s house, which was a lot of fun — even at 6:15 on Saturday morning, when I woke up early to greet Abby. It was also amusing being there Saturday night when she spent about an hour babbling in her crib, telling her best bud, Quackers (a stuffed duck), all about her day, and wouldn’t go to sleep. Ahhh … babies. Abby’s still so great, and she and I just have a really special relationship. She always remembers me, and lights up when she sees me. I am one of the few people, it seems, who can consistently make her smile and laugh. And then there are the quiet times when I just sit there holding her, and she just relaxes without fidgeting. It’s adorable, and it excites me to no end. And of course, that’s partly why I take so many pictures of Abby when I see her. So yes, I thought I’d share this weekend’s collection. Enjoy.

He’s Baaaaaack

2 Apr

If you enjoyed Borat, then by all means watch the trailer for Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest film, Bruno. Just be careful: This is NSFW.
http://www.traileraddict.com/emd/9995

Same Cast, Shorter Title

1 Apr

There were three movies in the The Fast and the Furious series, but to really amp up the testosterone — not to mention the fast-ness and furiosity — something just had to change.

So, the series got a reboot and now we have Fast & Furious, a car culture film starring the same cast as the first film, but without all those pesky The’s in the title. (The ‘and’ also became an ampersand.)

What’s the new movie about? Well, plot, schmot. There’s drugs, money, revenge, and, um, fast cars. Do you really need to know more? Continue reading →

Digging a Hole

31 Mar

I got home at 10:00 this evening to find a big hole outside my building and a lot of noise. Turns out someone scheduled work installing a new water main for tonight. I’m not sure when the work started, but when I asked the policewoman on duty what was going on, she said the next shift was about to arrive and they would be there till 2 a.m. At least I think that’s what she said. I could barely hear over the sound of the drilling and the sawing of pipe. I asked if the old water main had burst or something, and she said no. Then I asked what those of us who live in the building literally feet away were supposed to do, and she said it would be over soon. Yeah, at 2 in the morning.

This is ridiculous. It’s 11 p.m. now and while the drilling and sawing appear to have stopped, the whirring of the machinery and the generator is still so very loud. There’s a spotlight shining on the workers that is so bright that I don’t need to turn on the lights in my apartment to see where I’m walking. Who schedules work like this in a residential area to take place at night, and at such a late hour? It’s inconvenient, it’s noisy, it’s disruptive, it’s unnecessary. This could have and should have been scheduled for daytime hours. And given the timing and all, it would have been nice if we in the building had been given a heads up that it was going to be happening. Thank you, town of Newton (or whoever is responsible). This is B.S. I hope I’ll be able to sleep tonight. And I just hope this work doesn’t affect the water in the building overnight or in the morning.

(No, I didn’t take that photo, btw. But it should sorta give you an idea of what it looks like outside my window as I write this.)

On Message

31 Mar

Kudos to the sales guy at the Apple Store in Natick on Saturday who, when I asked him about the release of the iPhone OS version 3, told me the standard line that he hadn’t heard anything about it and “You’ll probably know before we know” … even though it had been announced a couple weeks ago and will be out in June, I believe. When I replied that I thought it was already public knowledge, another sales guy corrected him and verified that I was right. But oh, those Apple folks. Always on message.

Just Like I Remembered It

31 Mar

After the Marta Kauffman event last night at Brandeis, I decided to swing by the office of the Justice to say hi to the staff, see what was up, and, well, loiter for a little bit.

It was a Monday night, which meant the folks were working hard to wrap things up so they could put the issue to bed and head out to decompress over pancakes and whatnot at IHOP.

(Or maybe that’s just something we did back in the day.)

To my surprise, the kids were welcoming and happy to have an alumnus in the office — a change from previous times I’d been there.

(Sigh. I really called them “kids,” didn’t I?) Continue reading →

I Was There for Her

31 Mar

Most people who know me know just how much I love the TV show Friends. I know, I know. Who doesn’t love Friends? So don’t worry, I won’t use this space to try and prove why I’m a bigger fan than you are. I’ll just remind you that the Boston Globe selected me as one of the four biggest fans in Boston during the show’s final season, and featured me four times in the paper that year (including this time and this time).

Why do I bring this up now? It’s to help explain why I went back to Brandeis Monday night to see a movie called Blessed Is the Match. The film is a documentary about Hannah Senesh, a 22-year-old woman who was captured by the Nazis while attempting to rescue Jewish people behind enemy lines in her native country of Hungary. But it’s not the subject that appealed to me, it was the film’s executive producer — Marta Kauffman, one of the three creators of Friends and a Brandeis alumnus (class of 1978). I’m happy to report that the film’s good and all, but to be honest, I was there to get some dirt on the show.

You’ll be relieved to know that when L.A. Times blogger Scott Feinberg finished his Q&A and turned the questioning over to the audience, I didn’t stand right up and blurt out, “So when’s the Friends reunion going to happen?” In fact, because most of the inquiries were serious and had to do with the film itself, I resisted the urge to ask any questions. Instead, I let one of the students in the crowd ask the only Friends-related question, and it was one of the more cliched ones: Is it true that Central Perk was inspired by the on-campus cafe Cholmondeleys? This has been an on-campus legend for years and a staple of admissions tours. Heck, it’s even perpetuated by Wikipedia. Well, Kauffman put the legend to rest once and for all: No, it’s not true. Chum’s was quite different back in her day, and the inspiration for Central Perk actually came from L.A.’s Insomnia Cafe. So there you have it.

But Marta wasn’t going to get out of the room without me speaking with her, so when the program ended, I joined the hordes of students who had brought DVD sets and cameras and I waited my turn. While waiting, I learned that Marta’s all-time favorite line from the show was “It’s a moo point.” Then, as she started to make her way out the door, I finally got my chance to remind Marta that I had interviewed her for the Justice back in the fall of 1994, shortly after Friends debuted (true story). And instead of asking her that cheesy question I was thinking of, I just said to her, simply, “Thanks. Thanks for ‘Pivot!,’ for trapping Chandler in the vestibule with Jill Goodacre, for the episode “The One Where Mr. Heckles Dies,’ and just for creating such a great show that I still love.” She’s obviously heard it many times before, and she was in a rush to get out of there after listening to similar commentary from all the other fans in the crowd. But I said what I wanted to, and I was happy.

So, a pretty cool night for me.

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