It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (part one)

For some reason, although I've lived in Astoria since 1995, I didn't start attending the US Open until around 2002.  An old friend from Fordham took me out there for a qualifying match and then...I was hooked.  I've been taking the whole qualies week off from work ever since.  My mom started joining me a few years ago.  We've seen many wonderful players over the years--players who have become high-ranking stalwarts, players who were grabbing for one last hurrah, and players we enjoy who just never seem to make it to the next level.  It's always a grand time.  You get so close to the players--it's amazing.  You just can't realize how hard they hit the ball and how good everyone is until you're up close and personal. 

Because of all of my surgical mishegos, I wasn't able to take the whole week off work this year.  But my boss took pity on me and let me leave early one day during the week, and I went ahead and used some comp time to take off a summer Friday to stay all day in Flushing.  Two days of tennis are better than none, I guess.

My mom and I skipped out of work last Wednesday at around 2pm and followed Sports Illustrated tennis writer Jon Wertheim's suggestion to take Long Island Railroad to Flushing, instead of the regular 7 train.  LIRR costs a bit more ($5 for off-peak and even less for my mom's senior ticket), but you can sit in air-conditioned comfort and the trip is only 16 minutes long.  I'm hooked.   

A couple of years ago, we wandered into the Grandstand to escape the heat and watched some famous tennis stars practice.  My mom loved this (since she doesn't stay to attend the actual tournament), and we've tried to do it every year since.  Last year, we watched Nadal practice for at least an hour.  Which made my mom's life complete.  :)  This year, we wandered into the stadium for our first look at a player and saw...Gilles Simon.  Mom was quite impressed with how much more handsome Simon is in person, and with how much faster he seems to hit the ball.  On tv, his game appears to move much more slowly.  So we enjoyed a good 45 minutes with Gilles.   

After we watched Simon, Nadia Petrova came in to practice and since Mom isn't as keen on watching the ladies practice, we decided to head out to find us some qualifying matches.  The first match we went to was Alex Kuznetsov, US, vs Gastao Elias, POR.  We like to support the Americans.  We also like to support Court 11, because it has a nice location on the grounds, and a nice wall to lean back into.  Plus, it has nice shade as the day goes on.  We spend a lot of time at Court 11.  :)

This was a rather interesting match.  Kuznetsov was definitely the more steady player, but Elias was more explosive.  They both had some issues with their backhand slice, but the forehand to forehand rallies were quite good.  They split the first two sets, then Elias started to take control with his bigger serve and bigger forehand down the line.  

By now, it was after 5pm and we were STARVING, so we wandered over to the food court for an overpriced lupper.  I strayed from the vegan path (when don't I??) and we got fish and chips.  It was actually pretty delicious.  I tried to talk Mom into getting the salmon, but she was a little nervous about it.  I can't say as I blame her.  

We meandered around the grounds a bit, trying to find the match we wanted, and opted for another American player, Michael Yani, entering a first set tiebreak against a Brit, James Ward.  I had seen Yani play last year and found his game very smooth and pleasant, if nothing spectacular.  He has quite a following though in Queens and attracted a large crowd.  My mom and I ended up sitting near Michael's coach (and dad), which was kinda fun.  

James Ward, the player from Britain, was a little too crankypants to concentrate and play his best, so Michael took the match.  As we were watching, the lights came on in the complex.  Mom loves watching the matches under the lights.  That's Michael serving at the bottom left of the photo.

Our last match of the day was on Court 13:  Rajiv Ram, US, vs Axel Michon, FR.  We sat in a different section than we usually do--Mom wanted to try the seats at the top of the court, as opposed to along the sides.  It certainly led to a different perspective of the action.    Ram was definitely the more aggressive of the two players--he served and volleyed quite a bit.  When he got his serve in, it went well for him.  But he was struggling to get his first serves in throughout the match.  He finally pulled himself together to take the match in straight sets. 

Unfortunately, it rained all day Thursday, so Mom and I didn't make the trip out to Flushing.  After work, we did a little shopping at Trader Joe's, which turned out to be a good thing, since we needed to stock up on food for the upcoming hurricane weekend.  We did go out for a full day of tennis on Friday, which I'll report in another blog posting.

I especially like to take photos of players serving, so I'll close with serves from our first day of qualifying.  Enjoy.

Another summer Friday

Last Friday, intead of checking out a new lunch place, I made plans to meet some gal pals at a Diners Deck restaurant downtown.  So I decided to find a museum nearby--I opted for the National Museum of the American Indian, down near Battery Park.  It's a Smithsonian museum, so it's free, inside the old Customs House.  It's a lovely old building, and a picturesque spot for a museum. 

The rotunda is gorgeous and there's a nice area that shows you the evolution of the building itself, plus there's a nice seating area, so you can catch your breath either before or after looking at the exhibits.  I opted to save the rotunda for last, since I saw a gallery exhibiting glasswork by Preston Singletary.    He was descended from the Tlingit, and devoted a lot of his work to celebrating that heritage.  Unfortunately, you couldn't take photos in there, since it was a special exhibit.  There were many gorgeous pieces--I especially liked the vases that had intricate detailing that you could only see by shining a spotlight directly over them and seeing the shadows created.  They were lovely.

Once you leave the glasswork exhibit, you enter the main permanent collection, called the Infinity of Nations.  The permanent collection is a little overwhelming, with over 700 artifacts from various tribes and countries.  The pieces range from pottery from 1500 B.C. to replicate garments made in the 1960s.  Since everything is behind glass, it lends a rather sterile quality to the exhibit.  You can't get quite close enough to see the detailing and how the pieces are put together (you also can't really get good photos).  I was extremely impressed with all of the many representations of the Native life, but I didn't really get a sense of it because of the modern display methods.  If that doesn't make sense, sorry.  I guess I could've used more music and maybe different groupings of the treasures would've had more impact for me.  I will say that I didn't see the exhibit in the correct order--I should've gone out of the glasswork exhibit the way I came in and then entered the Infinity of Nations area, but I went through backwards.  So that could be part of the reason why I found it so overwhelming and a tad confusing.  But there are many gorgeous things there and I highly recommend checking this museum out.  Oh, and definitely check out the Coat Room, which is stunning, and the Gift Shop, which had a more personal feeling to me...

After I finished at the musuem, I decided to walk over to the department store, Century 21, to find some cheap jeans.  Yikes, it's crowded there!  Believe it or not, I had never been there before, either!  But I did find some nice inexpensive jeans that actually fit, and I got a shot of the in-progress Freedom Tower, along with a shot of Trinity Church, as I was walking along.

After my extended time in Century 21 (gosh, it takes a long time to get through the checkout line there!), I sat outside for a few minutes, waiting in a nice park until it was time to head over to the Diners Deck restaurant my gal pal and I were going to check out for dinner.  I had been dying to try this particular place for awhile, so I'm glad we finally found the time to give it a try.  Plus, by now, I was starving!!!

 After a very nice walk across William Street,  I finally found Crepes du Nord, a creperie and wine bar near Wall Street.  It's an extremely small spot, but very attractive.  The building has been placed on the National Registry of Historic Places, which is fun.  I think there's a different restaurant on the other side, but I couldn't tell and I forgot to ask our server.  I got a nice glass of Gruner Vetliner and waited for my gal pal.

The menu is divided into savory crepes and sweet crepes, along with a few other menu items (Caesar salad, burger, salmon).  It was really hard to decide what I wanted, but once I saw that they served a sweet lemon crepe for dessert, I decided to get a 'lighter' crepe for dinner.  Ha.  Lighter is a relative term.  :)

So, I got the ratatouille crepe, that also had some ricotta in it.  It was delicious, made with buckwheat flour and very vibrant ratatouille. The out-of-this-world sweet lemon crepe was spectacular.  I definitely want to go back and try all of the other tasty-sounding treats...

To end the evening, there was a sudden monsoon as we were paying our bill at the restaurant, so they kindly let us stay until the rain let up a bit.  Once it let up, we walked a few blocks to the nearest subway.  As we waited for a train, we decided to stand under one of the huge fans to get some air.  A couple of young gents were there, and one asked if he could 'share the fan with us.'  Awww.  The other gent, who clearly was not that into us, stayed away because he 'doesn't like fans.'  When the first boy asked 'where are you headed?', the uninterested boy said 'uptown.  let's go' and pulled interested boy away.  Oh well.  Almost got a flirting there.  :)  We got on the train and sat there.  And sat there.  And sat there.  Finally, the conductor came on to tell us that because there was flooding uptown, we would be waiting awhile before moving.  We were probably on the train for over an hour, waiting to move, then crawling along.  But at least we missed the flooding.  Ah, New York.

Next week, no museum.  Tennis instead!  I'm sure there will be photos...

Better Late Than Never--LAST Friday's museum fun! :)

As I decide which museum to check out today, I realize that I didn't post about last week's summer Friday!  I actually didn't have a Diners Deck lunch last week, since it was the last day for two co-workers (the office had a going-away pizza party for them).  I considered just bagging the whole summer experiment, but then I decided to stop being a lazybutt and went downtown to the Rubin Museum of Art. 


Again, I have always wanted to check out the Rubin, but have never made it there before.  It is devoted to Tibetan and other Himalayan art, along with the surrounding regions.  There is a lot of religious art, along with textiles, sculptures and paintings.  There is also a Tibetan Shrine Room, and a room with replicas of art from the Dalai Lama's retreat.  A lot of the art is from the 12th and 13th centuries, along with more current work as well.


I was told the building used to be a Barney's department store--I don't know anything about that, but it is a lovely space.  The museum is very nicely laid out, with an attractive circular staircase in the middle of the rooms.  Each floor has its own exhibit, with the second and third floors devoted to their permanent collections, and the fourth and fifth floors with special exhibitions.  Currently, the special exhibitions are works of Naxi religious art from China, and the art of Tibetan carpets.

The Rubin does a nice job of putting labels on the art, and also educational flyers throughout to explain the art and the philosophy behind the art.  I picked up a nice flyer on religious symbols and figures and what they mean in the art.  It was really helpful as I went through the rest of the museum. 

I took a lot of fantastic photos (above are just a few samples--you are allowed to take photos of the permanent collections, but not the special collections) and really enjoyed myself at the Rubin.  It's designed very thoughtfully, with the art grouped well, but also well-spaced, so you don't get overwhelmed.  It has a nice, airy atmosphere, and also a contemplative feel, which pairs nicely with the religious art.  I didn't get a good shot of the Tibetan Shrine Room, which was dark and moody, with music and slight aromas of incense, but it was very calming to spend a few minutes in there to reflect.  I highly recommend making a visit to the Rubin.

I used my iPhone and the Eat St app to try to find a food truck nearby for lunch, but all the trucks in the vicinity were taco trucks, and I wasn't in the mood for tacos.  So, I wandered over to Trader Joe's, picked up some dinner fixins, and headed home to finish up another fun summer Friday...

Surreal Life

Most mornings, I wake up and turn on a sports talkshow to start my day.  For some reason, I decided to start my day last Friday by checking Facebook on my new iPhone.  And there I saw the news that a friend from high school had died.

There are so many levels to what happened and to how I feel.  To me, my high school theater friend John Oswald is gone.  To the world, Warrant lead singer Jani Lane has died alone in a hotel room.  To see the life and death of an old friend splashed out across tabloids is so surreal.  It's strange enough that a classmate of mine became a rock star, then a pitiable reality show figure.  But now his family and friends are going to be subjected to the weird extreme grief plus rumor-mongoring that is so popular online nowadays.  If only people could've written about John when he was vital and alive, and left him alone when he was struggling with his demons.  It just all seems so backwards.

I have so many memories of a talented and charming boy.  We did musicals and plays together, we had classes together.  We did the hustle in sixth grade study hall.  When we had to slow dance in gym class (yikes!), we would generally pick each other as a partner.  We auditioned together for a Kent State scholarship and even accompanied each other's musical auditions (he sang "Hey There" and I sang, ugh, "What I Did For Love."  I think you can guess who got the performance scholarship and who didn't).  We rehearsed a lot at my house--my mom and sister were so fond of him.  He chose not to accept his scholarship and left Ohio to pursue his music.  The next time I heard about him was when I was in grad school and my sister called me and said "Turn on MTV!  I think John Oswald is on!!"  What a trip that was--seeing John on MTV!

The last time I physically saw John was in Detroit (that's where I went to grad school).  I saw that he was doing an autograph signing at a mall outside Detroit--my mom and I drove out there to see him.  I got in line with hundreds of screaming teenage girls.  One girl asked me what I was doing there (since I was clearly way older than anyone else in line).  I said I knew "Jani" and wanted to say hi.  The girls around me started to squeal.  Then, when I got to the front of the line, John was looking down and signing a photo.  I leaned in and whispered, "Hi John."  He looked up and screamed, "Oh my god, it's Tari!!!" and gave me a huge hug.  We talked for awhile, he invited me to his show later that night (I couldn't go--I had to work), then he had to get back to his fans and I left.  As I walked away, the girls around me started screaming and wanted to touch me because John had!  It was one of the strangest experiences of my life.

Although I followed his career and was very proud of his success (and was very worried during his public battles with alcohol), our lives went in completely different directions and I only talked to him one other time.  He called me sometime after 9/11.  We had corresponded briefly on MySpace, before I closed my account because of weirdos.  He wanted to know how I was.  We caught up on each other's lives.  He expressed disappointment that his career seemed stalled.  I told him he needed to come to New York and get back into theater.  There was no reason he couldn't get a show if people like Sebastian Bach were being cast.  He said it sounded like a good idea and he would look into it, and that he was proud I pursued my passion like he did.  And that was that.  I will always regret not calling him to follow up.  Not calling him after reading about some trouble to see if there was something I could do to help.  I look at his cell phone number in my new iPhone and I wonder...

Like so many friends from high school, I love the boy he was.  Maybe I wouldn't have loved the man he became.  But that doesn't matter.  He's sort of frozen in time now, like so many friends who are gone too soon.  I'm sorry there will be no more music and no more opportunities to whisper, "Hi John," and remember simpler days gone by.

Most of my photos of the old days are packed up and I can't get to them, but here are a few shots of the John I remember.  The black and white shots are actually scans of yearbook photos that I shot in high school, the production shots are from Stage Door.  A couple of the other shots are taken from the internet.  Rest in peace, dear John.   I will miss you.

Adventures in Dining

I've been very fortunate to eat at two very fine restaurants over the past few days.  You should eat at them, too.  :)

Sunday night, an old friend took me to Cavo, in Astoria.  Down the street from my apartment, in fact.  I've been there a few times and have never been disappointed.  I wasn't disappointed Sunday, either.   Cavo is a lovely spot, celebrated for their gorgeous outdoor garden area, but since the humidity was at about 9000 percent on Sunday, we opted to stay indoors.  In the air conditioning. 


I had a white wine I had never tried before, a verdejo, from Spain.  I thought it was very tasty, nice and crisp and not too fruity.  It was good to drink on its own, and it also went with all the food we ate.  So, thumbs up on the verdejo.


My friend and I decided to get three appetizers, then split a main course, so we'd be able to try as many of the delicious sounding dishes as possible.  For the appetizers, we got the octopus, marinated in lemon juice, grape tomatoes and onions; the trio of dips, which included hummus, tzatsiki and tapenade; and the Sunday special, shrimp fried in phyllo dough, with a honey mustard glaze.  They were all DELICIOUS.  The octopus was tender and rich, but the sauce was nice and light.  The dips were also very rich, with the tapenade being especially delicious.  I'm in a real kalamata olive phase of my life.  That salty deliciousness generally has me at hello.  And the fried shrimp was rocking.  Firstly, they were enormous, but they were also cooked perfectly.  The crunchy phyllo was a great textural contrast, and the sweet stickiness of the glaze paired perfectly.  I would definitely order all three dishes again.

For our main course, we decided to order the sea bass, served on a bed of roasted fennel and artichokes, in a basil pesto sauce.  Again, completely yummy.  It is described as the chef's favorite and I can see why.  It's very light, yet earthy, and filling.  There could've been more artichokes, but that's a quibble.  We also got a side of sauteed spinach, which was pretty unnecessary, because we were starting to get pretty full, but oh well.  It was well-done, with garlic and shallots and lots of olive oil.         



The dessert menu wasn't all that exciting, plus, we were about to explode, so we didn't get dessert.  Next time.  They do have a limoncello dessert, but it didn't sound amazing enough to try to make it fit.  Next time.


We had a very nice time at Cavo--they don't rush you, the space is lovely and the atmosphere is very conducive to conversation.  You should definitely check it out next time you're in Astoria.


Last night, I went with my gal pals to another Diners Deck locale, Candle Cafe, on the Upper East Side.  Candle Cafe is actually owned by the same people who run Candle 79 (where I went for lunch last Friday).  It's much smaller and homier, with a completely different, though still vegan, menu.

There were so many delicious sounding dishes on the menu, it was very hard to decide!  I highly recommend the lemon ginseng iced tea to start.  Then I finally opted for the Tofu Club, which had grilled tofu, tempeh bacon, lettuce and tomato, with some vegenaise.  Oh, and some incredible housemade pickles.  They were grand.  The sandwich is usually served on whole grain toast, but they made it on foccacia for me, since I'm allergic to oats and oats are in their whole grain bread.  I thought the sandwich tasted delicious on the focaccia.  I also got an order of fries (though they're referred to as fried potatoes on the menu, which makes them sound like something other than fries), which were quite tasty, but nothing out of the ordinary.  The housemade ketchup, on the other hand, was DELICIOUS!  Whoo boy, that was some good ketchup.  :)


One pal got the plate of side orders, so she could try a little bit of everything, and the other got the Paradise Casserole, which was incredible.  It was layers of sweet potatoes, black beans and millet, served over sauteed kale.  Yum yummy.  Oh, and it had country gravy to pour over it.  It deserved a photo.  I might have to get it next time...

We had a little NY street drama before we sat down--two star-crossed lovers, perhaps homeless, were having a bit of a tiff outside the restaurant.  The gent at the front desk was having a hard time explaining to them why they couldn't come in and sit with other patrons.  It just made everything a little more interesting.  :)  Oh, and all the photos were shot with the new iPhone.  They look pretty good, if I do say so myself...