Sorry I missed blogging for a few days. I'm still working my way back into it. I have to get over an anxiety hump every time I start. Initiating action is perhaps my leading cause of anxiety. That's been true most of my life. It's true of things I hate to do and things I love to do. I can feel the tenseness in my chest now as this is the intro, I still have to get to the point. By writing this paragraph I succeed in putting that off. I'm making calls for Kamala tonight and I'm anxious about that. I've done that kind of thing many times. In 2006 I won a t-shirt for being in the top tier of callers for the Democrats that took over Congress that year. I hope to repeat that success. My anxiety now is with the system. The email said that there's an app to download to make the calls but there's no link to where to get the app. In one place it said you need two devices, but in another just one. I'd much rather just use my computer. I have three and a half hours to work these things out.
It's time to get to my adventures. On Saturday Carey invited a group of friends to dinner at the world famous Peter Lugar Steakhouse. There's a contradiction there, I felt the need to say "world famous" because I expect that many of my readers that aren't from New York are unfamiliar with it. That means it's not "world famous." "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." – Ralph Waldo Emerson. I learned it from Isaac Asimov. Every third time I quote it I attribute it to Thoreau. That's a Thoreau misunderstanding. People have tried to disparage me by saying "Everything's a joke to you." My response is, "Yes, thank you for noticing." But back to Peter Lugar's. My parents used to take me to the Peter Lugar's in Manhasset for my special occasions. The problem is that I was never allowed to order a steak, the entire point of going to Peter Lugar. I've read about the restaurant many times and their attitude is part of the experience. It's gauche to look at the menu when you go to Peter Lugar's Steakhouse, when you go to Peter Lugar's you order the steak. It's expensive which is why my parents never let me do it. It's also gauche to ask for it well-done. One of our party ordered it medium-well and the waiter made it clear that they should order it medium. It's because it's aged meat so less juicy than most steaks. I didn't need to be told, I asked for it rare to the waiter's approval. One of us ordered "salmon," we just made believe we didn't notice. The staff does not treat you like the ice cream place treated Bob Hartley but that's because they didn't want anyone else to know of the massive faux pas occurring at their restaurant.
The wait staff is part of the experience. Our waiter, damn I forgot his name, was quite entertaining. If you know me, you know that I joined in the fun with appropriate quips. If you don't know me, go back to "everything's a joke to you."
I have been waiting my entire life to eat a Peter Lugar steak, it did not disappoint. This was an amazing and huge meal. Make sure to use plenty of their homemade steak sauce. The fries were perfect. I was quite grateful for having a bottomless maw as that meant I had room for dessert, chocolate mousse cake. I'm still waiting for a restaurant to serve it in the shape of a moose. Remember my parents wouldn't let me order the steak because it was so expensive? This was the most expensive meal I had every ordered anyway. Carey is not rich but he's amazingly generous. He treated the entire party of eight. They don't take credit cards, He must have taken out a load of cash. I rarely have more than $40 in my wallet and that lasts over a month. I'm a digital person. Carey is analog. This was a special day with friends.
The restaurant is just across the Williamsburg bridge in Brooklyn If you take the M or J trains or drive on the BQE you've seen the huge sign on the side of the building. After the show everyone else walked to the Marcy Ave subway station. Not me. I needed my exercise and got to do one of my favorite things, walk across the bridge to Manhattan. I have not done that once this year. When I lived in Brooklyn, I did that regularly. The Brooklyn Bridge is the best walk, but the Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges are worth it too. You should walk all of them if you get the chance.
View looking south from midspan
I took the subway home from the Delancy Street stop. That night I finished preparing Gord's Gold and watched the Met game. All in all, a good day. I
I got a text from Kevin as I crossed the bridge. He wanted to know I wanted to see Sarah Jarosz on Sunday night. The only thing on my calendar was making calls for Kamala, and doing that tonight and will be doing it many times before the election so I said yes. I recorded Gord's Gold in the morning and ate an early dinner, 4:15 so I could make it to the show at the Tarrytown Music Hall on time. The Met game started at four and I watched that till I left. To get to Tarrytown I need the MetroNorth Hudson line, the only one that isn't near me. When I asked Google to plan the trip for me it had me start my trip north by going four miles south to Yankee Stadium, in stead of 'due west to one of the closer stoops. There was a good reason for that. First, it was all subway. Secondly and more importantly there was a train that went nonstop from Yankee Stadium to Tarrytown! I think that was only there because there was a Yankee game letting out around then. The rest of my train was filled with Yankee Fans. I was wrong, I just checked. It's a regular train. It's great, it took only 23 minutes and cost only $3 for a senior. The local train takes 38 minutes. I saved 15 minutes, Now for the best part. I stream my TV, so I watch the Mets via Hulu. I can get Hulu on my phone, so I was able to watch the game the entire trip up. Sadly, as I walked from the station to the theater the Padres tied the game up and won the game after I stopped watching when I was in the theater.
The Hudson valley is a fjord cut by the glaciers. This is apparent if you know what you are looking for There are cliffs on both sides of the river. On the Jersey side they are steep, the Palisades. On the eastern shore they are not quite as steep but still formable. The train runs along the river. The bulk of Tarrytown, including the river, is on the high ground. I finally did something I've wanted to do forever, measure the vertical ascent with my phone's walking app. How disappointing, my ascent was only 94 feet. I thought it was going to be something to be proud of. It feels difficult.
Kevin knew he was going to be late, so I went in and took my seat. The first thing I did was look for people I know. I spotted Gene and Isabel who conveniently were near me on the aisle and went to talk to them. Music is an important part of my social life. It's where I met so many of my friends and where I see so many of them. That meant turning off my TV, so I missed the Mets losing.
The opening act was BB Wisely which features Bridget Kearny of Lake Street Dive on bass along with two other musicians. How do I describe them? There was a prominent synth part so to some extent it was electronica. There was also pop, folk, and rock. Not my sweet spot but I enjoyed it quite a bit.
I'll always love Sarah Jarosz, I first saw her as a 21-year-old mandolin prodigy opening for Richard Thompson. Now she plays what I think were mandolas or octave mandolins, guitar, and banjo. She made a point that it was banjo time whenever she took it out. I asked, "what did we do wrong?" I love banjo jokes. She did not play the same instrument on consecutive songs throughout the show. When you have an instrument tech to swap them out you can do that. She primarily played songs off her latest album, Polaroids. The highlight for me was when her mic went out and we couldn't hear what she was saying. The techs couldn't get it fixed quickly so she performed the song acoustically. She had no trouble filling the big hall. She had a band with her, but this song was solo. As expected, the entire show was fantastic. Kevin had his car with him, so I didn't have to take the train home. I bet that saved me an hour.
Sarah Unplugged
I'm not blogging every day but I'm writing long entries now. That makes sense as the hardest part is starting.
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