Was it worth it? StoryCorps

17 10 2009

Continuing in this vein of adventures in and around and occasionally having nothing to do with NYC, here goes … StoryCorps.

NPR’s StoryCorps oral history  project (what they say | what the other guys say)
Foley Square, NYC … and other locations fixed and mobile

ReyesReport Overall Rating: Two Reyi thumbs up (we’d add toes if the rating allowed!)

Time

  • Book your appointment in advance with their Web site. We found this incredibly easy to do (+2) … down side was you had to book in ADVANCE – we booked over a month in advance (-1)
  • We got there on time, recording started on time, recording ended on time. +2 for accuracy and good expectations!
  • Net: +3

Cost

  • There is no charge for the interview session.
  • Two recorded copies are burned to a CD — one for you, one for the Library of Congress. That’s free too.
  • They do ask if you’d like to make a donation – they suggest $25. We happily agreed with that. Donations are 100% tax deductible.
  • +2 (who doesn’t love free. no pressure for a tax-deductible deduction for a service you think is super cool is good too.)

Quality

  • The recording equipment and sound booth were top-notch.
  • My dad felt like a celebrity on a radio show… which in a way, he was … the star of the talk show about my life and those who influenced it.
  • The free recording they send you off with was great too — mom enjoyed the listen, and I’m sure more will be subject to at least part of the 40-minute adventure.
  • +2, no doubts.

Experience

  • You know where this is going. I walked out of there thinking who else to set up time with and wishing grandpa Osmon was still alive. When you want to go back for more, right away, it’s a good thing.
  • Dad was on top of the world — having contributed a living memorium to the Library of Congress. Not to be morbid, but I think that’s way cooler than an obelisk in a graveyard. This is a moment and a breath of life that will live on — both with my family (e.g. future kids, yes moms, we do hope) and with anyone else who wants to hear stories from a real American who was drafted for Vietnam, made sweeping changes to the public school system, publicly fought the influences of religious fundamentalists on public school policy, or about the life of a deep-sea charter captain.
  • Dad was also a little nervous about what I’d ask … I didn’t give him any zingers, but I didn’t let him off the hook until the interview was over either. Yeah, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy watching him squirm just a little bit ;-) Next time I’ll ask him about his torrid affair with my mother or … maybe some of the other unmentionables we don’t discuss in our WASPy little family >:-) <wink>
  • +5 … can I do that?

Overall

  • Reba: I don’t know why everyone hasn’t done this. Other than planning ahead, there are no down sides. The experience was excellent. If you live in NYC, book a time slot now. You can figure out who to interview when the date gets closer. Or hell, ask someone to interview you. We all have a story to tell. If you’re not in NY, no worries, there is a mobile booth that’s making its way around the country — stalk it. Or just come to NYC and make it part of your visit!
  • Rad:If nothing else, this offers people a forum to sit down with someone you want to talk with, ask them questions you want to know the answers to, and preserve those answers for future generations. Of course, there is also the doubt or challenge to now figure out how to make what is probably thousands of hours of interviews usable for those who want to dig into the hundreds of interviews and topics discussed.
  • Score: Perfect 10 (actually, it got a 12, but we gotta stay true to the system and have some kind of ceiling.)

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Categories : family, livin like a tourist, new york, Was it worth it?

Was it worth it? DiFara’s

25 09 2009

A friend asked me that about our recent trip to DiFara’s Pizza. After all, it is way the heck out of the way. So I thought that might be a nice summary for some of the adventures we do.  I know, I’ve been bad at the blogging … if my company would get a wee bit better at the speech to text technology, I’d could knock this out from a wireless phone update on my commute home from the north … but I digress.

Now, in any good rating system, one needs consistent metrics. As we’re just beginning this experiment, I’m still open to the influence of outsiders — feel free to comment. Here’s what I’m going to start with: Time, Cost, Quality, Experience, Overall rating.

So let’s start this new blog experiment with DiFara’s. (If you’re lucky, there’ll be a second post this weekend on a new subject.)

DiFara’s Pizza (what they say | what the other guys say)
424 Avenue J, Brooklyn NY 11230

ReyesReport Overall Rating: Two Reyi thumbs up (that’s a 4 thumbs for those of you who have trouble counting fingers)

Time

  • For starters, DiFara’s is not close but it is accessible by public transport, so +1 for that. But it took about an hour to get there by subway, so there goes that bonus point (-1, one hour or over).
  • Now … once you arrive, you don’t just get your pizza. You shoulder your way to a wait list. Get your name on a sheet of paper. And wait. Some people bring games. Some people have children. Most of the comments on the Interweb warn to plan at least 30 minutes of queuing. That would normally garnish a -1 … but we made a special order of pepperoni pizza, which apparently put us on a special list. The woman taking orders told us if we didn’t mind pepperoni *and* mushroom (which happens to be Conrad’s absolute favorite pizza), she could give it to us right now. The people in the line were *not* thrilled. I, however, attribute +1 for just being awesome and jovial.
  • Net: 0 — It’s not worth a regular commute, but on a splurge, time is on your side.

Cost

  • This pizza was not cheap. Tasty, but not cheap. Toppings were all extra too. -1
  • They accept only cash. -1 (Sorry, Mr D, I’m a modern girl)
  • Net: -2

Quality (warning: this is one of two of the distinguishing qualities)

To me, pizza is judged in 3 main qualities. So that’s the methodology we’ll follow here:

  • Crust: Thin and just the right kind of crisp. Delectable. Amazing. Even after a 10 minute walk to a park. +3, really great.
  • Toppings: Pepperoni is a staple. I think it has to be the most common, American pizza topping. We used that as the topping benchmark. Honestly, DiFara’s didn’t stand out here. The mushrooms were awesome, but the pepperoni was sub-par. -1  However, Mr. DiFara has a special secret touch and adds, by hand, to each pie, as they come out of the pizza oven on that crazy board thing, a special drizzle of olive oil and a fresh cut of basil. +1, Mr. DiFara, +1.
  • Taste: Put those things together, and does it all work? Yep. +2.
  • Net: +5. It’s damn yummy pizza.

Experience

This is the tourism rating. The flavour. The zest. The culture. Mr DiFara has created a cultural experience all his own. And kids, he isn’t young. It’s a trek to the depths of Brooklyn. It’s a story to tell your grandchildren. It’s a tiny hole in the wall that you’d pass by on the way to the 7-Eleven without a second glance. The interior is not special, it’s a pizza joint. We went in the summer. The pizza oven was hot. There was no A/C. And every step of the experience made us feel like happy tourists at home in our city. Yep, definitely a +2.

Overall

  • Rad: Definitely go do it. Now, my caveat, we didn’t have to sit for 1.5 hours to wait for the pizza. Would I wait that long? I don’t think so. But I had a great time, great pizza, don’t miss it before this guy dies.
  • Reba: Do it, at least once. But make a day of it and enjoy the ride — it’s an epic adventure and not a regular commute for your daily slice.
  • Score: 0 -2 +5 +2 = +5, don’t miss it!

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Categories : city living, livin like a tourist, new york, Was it worth it?

Sunday was date day! And it was great.

30 08 2009

For my birthday, Conrad gave me two big gifts: 2 tickets to see Avenue Q, and dinner reservations at a restaurant on our “to eat at” list, Mermaid Inn.

Well, after two intense dramas, Avenue Q was Broadway redemption. I can’t remember the last time wet laughed so hard, for so long.  It definitely wasn’t the all-girls comedy show we saw, that’s for sure. No, this cast of 6 was phenomenal. If you don’t know, Avenue Q stars puppets. It’s a Sesame Street for adults, if you will. There’s a gay puppet, a slutty puppet, a porn-loving puppet – and that’s just the beginning. You can see more of the puppeteers than I expected, and they themselves acted as complementary roles to their puppet characters.  The voices were amazing — the singing voices, and also the ability to seemingly split their personality and perform the voice of another character under someone else’s control. It was slanderous and rowdy and fun and escapist. If you haven’t seen it yet — do. It closes on September 13!!

We had late dinner reservations, which meant we didn’t have to rush. So we got to hop on the bus (which I love) and headed up to our old neighborhood. Much to our delight, today was Amsterdam Avenue’s street festival. Yay! The street is closed to traffic, vendors park their booths were normally there are cars and delivery trucks. Smells of roasting corn mingle with Thai noodle dishes and watermelon snacks. Hawkers sell hats, jewelry, t-shirts, kids clothing, rugs, sheets, socks … truly a little bit of everything, and always a surprise. Last year I found the greatest pair of Indian-style handmade shoes. Sadly, I’ve never found him again, but I keep hoping we do!  Somehow Conrad managed to find a weird locking bit of some kind or other that he HAD to have (naturally, he just needed it this week — what are the odds it was right there on the table in front of his eyes… ).

Naturally, after strolling around in the sunshine, we were quite thirsty. And it being only 5 or so, a little too hungry to wait until 7pm dinner reservations. Hark, did someone say mussels and a great beer at a newly opened B Cafe West? Red curry and coconut milk meld together to make Mussels Malay Laksa. It sounds good, and it’s better than it sounds. Plus the great Belgian beers were served each in their own brewer’s glass, which I love. So yeah, we’d go there again. Only one problem. Our lazy appetizer snack was pretty filling.

We walked around a bit to work our appetite back into a frenzy (or at least fool ourselves into thinking it was). Mermaid Inn is a fish shack gone fancy. We started by sharing a crab  gazpacho that was light and lovely.  For dinner, we shared a Sunday pasta special — a version of their normal “pasta with salad on top.” It was a tossed with little necks, mussels, calamari (including the tentacle ends) and perfectly cooked baby scallops and is topped with just the right amount of peppery arugula. Thankfully, Mermaid Inn doesn’t have a dessert menu — but to make up for it, they give each patron a little cup of chocolate pudding to end on a sweet note.

What a great birthday! And as every Leo knows, any excuse to drag it out beyond the actual day just makes the celebration that much sweeter.


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Categories : food, livin like a tourist, new york

Bad at blogging, good at life.

27 08 2009

Ok, so we (I) have been bad at the blog of late. Thank you dad, momma R, and Andy for telling us (me) that you miss our updates. After blog > Facebook > Twitter, I’ve been getting social networking fatigue.  Plus I stare at a computer screen all day at work, so the luxury of not doing so in my free-time is something I’m treasuring more and more… and since Conrad won’t help me in authoring posts on this blog …

But my people miss me. Har. So we’re back baby. To all who missed us, this next post is for you.

So what *have* we been up to in the last few months? Plenty … here’s a taste:

  • Bought a condo in Harlem (I think we told y’all that already)
  • Meeting neighbors (people know people here, funny … it’s like we hopped in a time machine and went back to old-New York)
  • Co-Hosted a Harlem house tour (Conrad helped me and other neighbors write a book, several friends and colleagues joined in the day — it was a fun success)
  • Joined a community garden (we’re now growing tomatoes, collards, lettuces, peppers and other yummy stuff)
  • Covered an IBM event in Germany (Rebecca did) where I randomly bumped in to my friend from the Netherlands (thank you Facebook)
  • Conrad made his first attempt at his CCIE exam … didn’t pass, but walked away feeling better about it than he thought he would.
  • Missed out on seeing Les Paul before he passed away
  • Didn’t miss out on Mr DiFara and his famous pizza (worth the 2-hour commute, at least once).
  • Tried the best tacos in New York City (according to a self-proclaimed foodie at work anyway) way out in Queens
  • Gearing up for LobsterFest 2009

Some people have asked what’s still on our list. Here’s some of that:

  • Catch Avenue Q before it closes (we have tickets on Sunday)
  • Eat at Tavern on the Green
  • Hit the top of both Empire and Top of the Rock
  • Host a party with more than 10 friends who also live in NYC (silly isn’t it, but meeting people you really like in a new place is never easy — we never underestimate the value of a great friend)
  • Take the ChinaTown bus
  • Road trip to Niagra Falls
  • … and there’s more.

So, I’m going to be better at this. If I’m not, be sure to flick a wet noodle at me and tell me you care about the piddly goings on in our little life, and we’ll trade some more stories.


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Categories : livin like a tourist, new york

She wasn’t the headliner

11 04 2008

… but she could have been!

This place is actually just around the bend from our NYC office. And hey, who doesn’t like going to a comedy club at 6pm?

Apparently most people. We went to watch a friend of a friend take the mic (not Kelly) … but the 6:30 show was anything but … populated. It was our group and “Steve” … the only other guy beside us who made it to the early show.

Oh well, most of the comics were good … but it is a little strange when the lone laugh echos off the walls of a mostly-empty theater.


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Categories : friends, livin like a tourist

Livin’ like tourists

6 04 2008

Last weekend we continued our foray of NYC exploration. And YES, Kelly, we have some photos.

We made Bryant Park our scenic stop but were really headed for the New York Public Library (the one with the stone lions). It is a beautiful building outside (even though it is currently under construction) and an AMAZING building inside. We spent a few hours in the reading room (which is about 1.5 football fields long with tower 3-story-high ceilings) and hopefully soaked up the smarts of people around us.

On our way there, we heard the faint sound of music and saw a closed-off road. What was going on? I asked a police officer. Why, of course. It was the Persia-Day Parade! (Duh) Neat. Not the Iran-Day parade either … Persia. Like the carpets :)

Anyway, we’re playing with a new photo tool. I think we’ll go back to flickr, but until I can figure out how to export them, a few photos from our trip are available on our Photoshop Express Gallery.

Spitting fountain

Admiring the view

NY Public Library


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Categories : livin like a tourist, new york

Livin like a tourist

29 03 2008

We live in a tourist-destination. Yet as often happens when you live in a place, you avoid doing the things the tourists do.

Conrad and I are trying not to do that (as you can see from “the list” page on this blog).

That’s why we extricated our butts from the sofa and unlocked our eyes from the brain-box (TV) on Friday night and compelled ourselves to head out on the town. That and we pay oodles in rent for the privilege of living in the city … so we figure we better do that while we can. :-)

On Friday night we ventured out to a Sushi restaurant with a good “sit at the bar” happy hour / grand opening special. It seems like the word is out and our new little spot is discovered, as it was PACKED. So we went to our Plan B spot … “Rain” (I know, mom – I vowed never to return after “the incident” … but we went anyway).

After that, we wandered through the cold NYC streets, passed the Museum of Natural History, and walked down the history-themed subway steps to catch the down-town C train. A short ride brought us to W 4th Street … a little area chock-full with NYU students and jazz clubs. We met up with a new friend, Shirin, to watch one of her friends play in a band.

The “Village Underground” was just that — a little underground bar in the West Village. The place was pretty full, and the tiny dance floor was packed. But when our eyes adjusted to the dim light, we were surprised to find we were surrounded not by young, trendy NYU students — bt what seemed like a healthy gathering of white-haired B&Ts (Bridge & Tunnel … aka, people who don’t live in Manhattan) who came in to catch the early set and relive their younger years. I tell you what, we had a good smile about it, but we were hopeful that someday when we’re in our 60′s, we’re out at 11pm in a jazz club, up and dancing to the live band. Oh — and that was the median age. There was one old feller out there cutting a good ‘ol rug … he was no younger than 85 … his date however, well, we just hope his daughter was taking him out for his birthday :-)

The band we were there to see took the tiny stage about an hour after we got there. Did I mention the place was SMALL? This is one of the things we’ve come to learn about NYC. Like most old construction, spaces are small. Even the famed Broadway theatres, TINY compared to the new mega-theatres built in new and developing cities. Anyway, small space, in the basement of an old building … and a 10-piece band takes the stage. Saxaphone, Trombone, 3 guitarists, lead singer w. 3 back-ups, bongos (or congos or somekind of hand drum that conrad always tells me I’m calling by the wrong name), keyboard, standard drum set … it was packed.

Music was great fun … Funk I guess it’s called. Our friend “Robin” made a guest appearance on the stage and I dare say he stole the show.

Great Friday night. Here’s to hoping Saturday and Sunday have some more surprises in store!


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Categories : livin like a tourist, new york


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