Worky MacWorkington

Today was an important day career-wise, at least I think so. I've signed on to be the interim editor at a lifestyle portal since the current (amazing) Senior Editor is leaving for another position E.O.D. tomorrow. From what I can see, she's been a 1-woman army there for the last few years and I'm a little, more than a little intimidated. The prospect of the new is exciting and I think once I get into it (and make a few mistakes) I'll be okay. It's just something that has come out of left field since they only mentioned it to me last Wednesday. I also, know that this company isn't the quickest at hiring replacements, which is frightening in that I can be there for awhile. On the other hand maybe it's my chance to stake my claim and get in on the inside. I dunno, I'll have to see what transpires at the meeting tomorrow morning and I guess I'll have a better idea. The thought of having some freedom is intriguing as well. Like my predecessor said, "you must've done something right to get here." We'll see my friend. We'll see.

Statistics regarding friends of Bahooba

I know...

5 unrelated people with the initials JF

4 unrelated people with the initials LC

I am no longer taking friend applications from anyone who's a Virgo or has a name that starts with the letters J or M

2 Megumis

2 Japanese people who are also fluent in French (not the two Megumis)

1 Bang

1 Chika

1 Winter

2 Jamies

2 Phils

2 Walters

4 Joshes

2 Julies

2 Steves

2 Lees

4 Women taller than me

Countless shorter

2 Minnesotans

5 People who worked at GTO at some point

1 Narcoleptic (you know who you are Sandy)

3 People who work at Spice Market

2 Trained dancers and a whole bunch of amateurs. :)

Dozens of Asians who don't claim to seek out other Asians and yet manage to have mostly Asian friends.

Dozens of alcoholics who really like to brunch and beach. Not simultaneously.

Are generally afraid of Brooklyn and are reluctant to go if they don't already live there.

4 iPhones

60% know me through someone else.

Most of Edgemont High School though I didn't attend.

Zero people could name my high school other than those privileged enough to attend avec moi.

And am willing to bet that many people think I went to Binghampton University, located somewhere in the Hamptons.

8 NYC natives

They're all wonderful and know and love each other. Amazing!

Disclaimer: Don't quote me on these as they are not official tabulations rather they are rough estimations and an exercise in hilarity. TGIF!

On a lighter note

And now for something not so heavy I'd like to write about some wine. Until I can Yelp about it, I'll put some of my faves here. I recently ordered the Dyed-in-the-Wool 2005 Sauvignon Blanc from of Winestilsoldout.com. I confess, I bought it for 3 reasons:

1. The label is awesome.
2. It's from Marlborough, New Zealand, an area famous for sauvys.
3. Please see 1.

Then I opened the bottle. By now, winos know that screw caps are no longer just for cheapo bottles. It seems that it's mostly the French and Italian wine making traditionalists who are the die hard cork users these days. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I believe that cork can certainly add flavor to a wine that'll be aged but I ain't in that price realm yet. I tend to stick to the $10 and under category. The wine is delicious. It's light. It's slightly tart. Not too fruity. Not much of a scent though I venture to say that it tastes better than what you can smell. Overall, I would say it's a great summer wine and a good value at that.

This is another fave white; Hofer Grüner Veltliner 2006 (Auersthal, Austria). First of all, it comes in and awesome liter sized green bottle that has a bottle cap top. Beat that! Beer drinkers then to think it's some ginormous brew they've never seen. I know I know. I'm being superficial here by going with looks when I should be going by taste but honestly if winemakers don't put effort into presentation I probably wont buy it. It's a whole package deal for me. This is another perfect summer white that goes down REAL easy. Especially when it's very chilled. I've brought it to a few people's homes when I've been invited over and it has been a hit every time. I've never had someone try it that didn't like it. It's smooth. Light. Tasty.

Now for my favorite red; Enrique Foster Malbec Reserva 2003 (Mendoza, Argentina). This MAY be my all-time favorite. I had it twice the last time I was in Argentina this past February at two different restaurants and both times it was spectacular. Spectacular. It was a special the night at Gran Bar Danzon (my fave resty in Buenos Aires, possibly one of my faves in the universe, at the risk of sounding like a snot). Full disclosure, Malbecs are my favorite in general but this one was on another level. It had SO much flavor. So deep, rich, and gorgeous. It's tasty very indulgent, so much so that it almost felt sinful. Everyone at our table loved it and there were 4 discerning gay men with me. Tough crowd right? I highly recommend it, and at $20 it's a bargain. This is one of the few bottles I'd cross over the $10 threshold for. I love it. Desperately. I've never loved a wine so much from the start. P.S. This bodega only makes Malbecs so I'm betting that the others are pretty damn good as well though I've never really had any.

ENJOY!

Today

It was effing scary to be a New Yorker today. You assume every happenstance is another 9-11. Can't help it even though I wasn't in the city when that happened. It was scary. It was scary. It was scary. No joke, that ish happened right outside of my building. CNN reports 1 death so far, I predict there will be a few more. Imagine being one of those ppl that died because of a transformer exploding. No way yo. No way. What a waste. You can't help but question your mortality when crap like this happens. People were breaking down, crying, screaming, abandoning ship and what are you supposed to do? It was horrible and I'll never forget that feeling though I'm glad it's nothing more serious. Treasure life. Spend it with people you love. You never know.

A Favorite Quote

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the places and moments that take our breath away. - Anonymous

Simmer down now!

I need to relax. Not everything is THAT serious. Enjoy!

Pet peeves

It’s a wonder how people you’re close to can still be so innately different but I guess that’s the wonder of being human right? Everyone is built differently and one thing that affects one person may be something someone else doesn’t give a second thought to. It’s all insanely interesting to me yet, on occasion, drives me mad. A lot of people don’t read, listen, or ‘do’ carefully in my humble opinion. Perhaps it’s all used up in their professional capacities? Maybe they don’t feel the need to keep to the same standard with people who are supposed to be casual friends. Perhaps they just don’t care to or think of it as necessary? And that is all fine. People are entitled to their ways of being but it’s SO opposite to my behavior that I’m having a hard time comprehending it. Of course, any hardship I’m having is self-imposed. I mean, how can I fault other people if I’m the only one who cares? Or just one of the few. Is it nitpicky? Don’t I have better things to worry about? Why do some behavioral things in other people irritate me so? I’m normally so laid back yet the few things in this genre can get me riled up oh-so-quickly. I guess there’s a reason why it’s my #1 pet peeve. I wonder where that expression comes from. Is it because the peeve becomes so much a part of the person that it’s considered a pet? Ha.

Wax on. Wax off. Over and out.

The 4th!

Better yet, lets start with the 3rd. I drove out to the Isle of Long at around 8pm Tues night after I got an oil change where the mechanic promptly ripped off the cover of my muffler and handed it to me. Apparently it was dangling off and it's not so necessary. We'll see. In any case, we were on the LIE by 8:30 and at our destination before 10 which was quite the accomplishment since we basically traversed the length of 495. We get there and proceed to eat A's mom out of house and home. Luckily we brought our own 'beverages' otherwise I'm sure we would have consumed every ounce of alcohol in her house. Because thats what we do. We headed down to the beach nearby with a full bottle and a bag backed to the brim with fireworks. We dubbed W Robin Hood Prince of Thieves* because he looked like he was carrying a bow and arrow from behind. Guess you had to be there. Anyway, we setup camp on the beach at this campfire already inhabited by a few neighborhood kids with one chaperone. We chatted, we shared fireworks, all was peaceful in Nottingham (*see previous reference) until voices started rising from afar. Three of our friends were by the water chatting with the chaperone and he apparently decided that it was a good time to discuss political views. DOn't we all know NOT to discuss politics when there is alcohol involved? HELLOOOOOOOOOOOO. Earth to. Needless to say, there were opposing views and there wasn't going to be a middle ground. Long story short, a beer can was thrown and we decided it was best to head back to the casa and away from the intoxicated lunatic/chaperone asap. Way to set a good example for the kids pops. The worse part is the kids didn't seem surprised at his outburst. Apparently this is normal behavior for him? How sad, when teenagers have to apologize for their parents 3 times their age.

Being a glass half full kinda group we brought the positive energy back up and hung out at the compound for a few more hours until bedtime. We got up the next day and prepped for a jaunt to a farily unexplored area of Fire Island. Tt couldn't have been more Castaway if we tried. Sans the drama and being stranded part. The 9 of us played tag football, ate lots of hot dawgs with stellar onion sauce, and participated in general merriment until the rain clouds approached and once again beat a hasty retreat to the mainland.

Back at A's dad's house, we ate more, relaxed more, laughed more, until we couldn't anymore. The rain kept us from lighting off the remainder of our contraband fireworks and for the last time on this trip we made a hasty retreat back to the big city. We were fortunate to catch the fireworks show as we drove over the Manhattan Bridge. Traffic came to a complete stop. People got out of their cars. It was quite a sight. There were big explosions of sound and color in either direction of the dark sky.

After a few lost bags, and redirects, I got home, pounced on my bed and announced to myself, "yet another successful summer shenanigan." Good stories. Great friends. Every opportunity I get to hang out and engage with people I learn more. The whole picture kinda comes together as far as who people are and why. Does that make sense? It's always easy to make assumptions about others when you don't know better. We all do. Maybe that's why I'd rather leave myself as an open book. That way people have the correct information to make their assumptions because I know when left to my own devices and when lacking details I create outlandish assumptions that have little semblance to reality. Oh that imagination of mine.