Tell Me on a Friday #6: Oh No, I Got Ann Taylor’d

Hi-ho readers,

Love is in the air, as is the smell of sugar from the donuts I brought to my office. It’s Valentine’s Day! This is the first time (since the eighth grade, shouts out to Arthur) that I’ve had a sweetie to celebrate with, and we’re going to the movies and dinner at Metrograph. This is a long one, so hold on to your f**king hat.

Places to Go, People to See

It’s been a big two weeks for me, full of good food and entertainment and working. I’d like to shout out the dishes at restaurants I’ve eaten while avoiding going grocery shopping: the always classic varenyky/pierogi at Veselka, the breakfast potatoes at Mile End Deli, the tuna melt at The Famous Cozy Soup ‘n’ Burger¹, the brisket sandwich at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, and the butternut squash gnocchi with sage and butter sauce as well as the panna cotta at Cent’Anni.

I took in some performances and performed in one myself. On Tuesday, I saw the absolutely unhinged Tim and Eric 2020 Mandatory Attendance World Tour at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn. Arthur and I have been to their last three tours in various cities and states, and this round, Charlotte and Patrick joined us. We have all been huge fans of their weirdo and sometimes, disgusting comedy for basically ten years. There were a lot of costumes, frustratingly catchy new songs, and a surprise cameo by Paul Rudd himself as Celery Man.

On Wednesday, I took in Moonstruck LIVE! at Union Hall, the community theatre brainchild of Jo Firestone. You might know that Moonstruck is my favorite movie of all time, and this was a hilarious interpretation, full of shouted out lines, audience Foley-ing, and Michael Shannon².

I sang in a concert with my choir, Downtown Voices, performing Beethoven’s Mass in C and two Brahms pieces. Singing with them is a great joy of my life, and I’m grateful to be able to retain music as a serious pursuit.

You’ll notice as you read on that I have two links about the criminal justice system (dun dun), and it’s been on the brain because I had jury duty last Wednesday. I’d been called once before, but it was on winter break from college in 2016 (in Connecticut). I fell asleep watching The Price Is Right in a chair and before I knew it they sent me home. This round, I reported to Brooklyn Criminal Court and did fall asleep, several times, but was questioned for a trial, for which I was not ultimately picked³. I was there all day and became very mentally prepared to serve, but am glad I didn’t. I think it would be a very difficult thing to do, so we’ll have to see if I’m ready again in six years’ time.

Takin’ Care of Business 

I’ve been working with a children’s choir in the city as a vocal mentor, so to speak, and I’m consistently impressed by their dedication, and mostly, their sight-reading talent. We’ll work on complex pieces in different languages and they’re prepared from the get-go. It makes me happy that kids are still interested in choral singing.

I recently picked up a Saturday gig with a stand (Catskill Merino) at the Grand Army Plaza farmer’s market, and last Saturday was my first shift. I am not a morning person, but it was a little less hard to show up at 7:30 a.m. because the stand is five minutes walking from my apartment. I helped with unloading, set-up, and sold some yarn, but mostly I was on grill duty for samples of our lamb sausage. We fully sold out of the sample I was selling (the delicious apricot and red wine variety). It was really nice to work outside, walk around, and as my friend Owen said, fulfill my need to talk to strangers. I’ll be working every other Saturday, so come visit me not this weekend but the next!

I was worried about being cold while working, especially early in the morning, so I set out to buy some insulating clothing before my first day of work. I had read online about these quilted/insulated Carhartt overalls, and they really did the trick. The only place near my office to buy them was Dave’s New York, which is a legit workwear store, and I felt quite intimidated going in. Everyone who worked there was so nice and knowledgeable, and they literally sized me up immediately (the overalls I tried on were a perfect fit). They said all my colleagues at the market would be jealous, and they were right! If you’re ever in the market for this kind of clothing, I can’t recommend Dave’s highly enough (on 17th and 6th).

Things I Read and Liked

Songs in My Heart (with playlist)

A Short Moment⁴

The best Valentine’s Day I’ve ever had is thanks to my father, in 2016. The year prior he set up a Domino’s Pizza delivery from 3,000 miles away while I was living in London, and he did a repeat trick while I was in college. I enjoyed the pizza with my three best friends, while we watched Celine Dion videos in my dorm room.

All the Small Things

If you’ve gotten this far, readers, I’d like to close by telling you all some things I really love about my girlfriend: her ardent love of puppets; how much she spoils her nephew; that she always does the dishes; that she is a little Fashion Boy; her commitment to jokes and bits; the fact that we own matching L.L. Bean anoraks; the way her head fits in the crook of my arm; how many memes she sends me at all hours of the day; her affirmation and attention; the way she makes me want what I have.

See you in two,
Emily

¹ Has anyone else started to notice that there are less and less truly 24-hour establishments in the city?
² To be honest, he did a formidable Nic Cage.
³ Several people in my life are convinced I wasn’t selected because I had an Executive Producer: DICK WOLF pin on my backpack.
⁴ Please see the following Mariah Carey video.