Review: A Trip To Canterbury

Snap Dragon and I, Blue Violet, met in Huntington Village yesterday evening to celebrate our fabulous 25th (plus 10) birthdays. To do so, we decided to journey into Olde England. We were on a quest for her fine cuisine and knew just the place. We walked into The Original Canterbury Ales shivering. Being seated in the coldest corner next to the wooden saloon doors didn't help. It did, however, add to the ambience. We could almost hear the galloping horses, and the carriages, and the jousting, etc...

Now it's important when looking over a menu of this caliber to plan ahead. Snap Dragon and I were well aware of their secret weapon - dessert to die by a sword for. I meant to order light, but Snappy has a big firey belly and I am not one to be outdone. She ordered the Buffalo Canterburger with Canterbury Chili, fries, and a glass of pinot noir, the alcoholic. I love getting tipsy myself and beer seemed appropriate. Unfortunately, I was sniffling. A reprieve was best. I also figured that in the comfort of my own bed, I could "wine taste" without worrying about driving, the alcoholic, too. Anyhoo, I ordered the Young Squireburger with cheddar, nothing better, and the killer fries.

As we perused Canterbury's delights, we admired the Common Market section with such classic dishes as Fish & Chips (I've had this. Yes, it's fresh, greasy, & delicious), Scottish meat pies, Ploughman's Lunch, and Scottish Bridies, which is basically a meat turnover. The Beefeaters Section, for the "snappier" types (who order wine at pubs), included English Brown Stew, Shephard's Pie, Steak & Kidney Pie, Prime Rib, etc.... The House Sandwiches section, usually considered food for pansies, tips it's feathery hat to Mr. Chaucer himself with names like The Prioress and The Pardoner. I've had the Lady Diana (sauteed onions, mushrooms, garlic, on a kaiser roll - heaven) Lastly, but not leastly, were the Canterburgers. We like our meat cheap... or cheapER, anyway, than the Beefeaters. And they don't mess around with hearty meals like the Archbishop's Squireburger, Archbishop's Canterburger, and of course what we ordered, which was jolly good. The meat was meaty and cooked exactly how we wanted. The vegetables and fruit (tomato, hello) were fresh. Oh and the fries were fried in potato slices, as they should be. Sidenote: if you want to go the extra mile, try their sweet potato fries. Yummmm.

After all that eating, we did our best to make room for the ultimate birthday gift. It was totally sinful. We ordered Marianne's Toffee Fudge Brownie and Marianne's Raspberry Fudge Brownie. These desserts are so rich and smooth, you feel like a Queen...or King... or Queenie. Marianne is a real person and makes these treats from scratch. "A worthy woman," as Chaucer would write.

The place is a pub and damn it I'll have the beer next time. The service was excellent and everyone is friendly. In fact, two older gentlemen saw me trembling and one offered his coat. He insisted I wear it around my shoulders. How chivalrous. Some of the windows are stained glass and the rest of Canterbury is all wood. Worth the slightly higher price on the menu.

The Original Canterbury Ales gets 4 out of 4 pints from Snap Dragon and Blue Violet.

At The Movies

I was dreaming about the movies today. The role they play in our lives. How we are drawn in. Why certain stories resonate. And I wanted to be that someone on screen. Finding resolution the way most characters do. To project that feeling you get from a good one - the wishes of never fading to black.

My Friend, the Chip Eating Monster

F Zero

Speaking of weather, yesterday an F zero tornado hit East Massapequa, Long Island. It was predicted, at first, that there was a possibility of one forming in Manhattan, Bergen County, and the Bronx. Then television showed us a funnel cloud on the Doppler Radar or some other fancy machine. It was nearing Queens. You can imagine my delight! The day did go dark and at some point it was thundering rain. Maybe even hail! But then the sun shined as if it had been there all along. So my little storm headed east and spun it's mighty wind and I just waited for more rain and more wind.

Someday...

Fair Weather

I think fair weather friends are much like erratic storms and wonder if I have been like this to anyone. I bet it’s difficult to see clearly since that one lazy eye is covered in a world of agendas. I know I’ve got mine. Still, what's troublesome is that there are too many wrecking what we build and I can’t hold onto something securely with my shoulders up against the walls, so there is nowhere to rest my head.

X

Last night Los Angeles ruled NYC.
One of my favorite punk bands played
their aging little hearts out
and put the city youngin's to shame.
Last night I wanted to be a rockstar...

in the form of Billy Zoom, Exene Cervenka, John Doe, or DJ Bonebreak

Rock n roll!

Eagle Eye

I saw a bald eagle perched on a tree from a reservoir. We were close to Woodstock, but I couldn't tell you exactly what town. She was 2 feet in length and had a 5 foot wingspan is all I really know. Her expression seemed pensive and maybe they just look this way. Facing the water. Head held high. Alive, yet focused. Looking beyond the horizon. Perhaps wondering about a lost love or her nest and lack there of.

Off the Mark

I got a phone call today from my friend, "Mark." It happens every so often and I do welcome the chat. I've known him since I was 8, I think. A long time. We flirted, rode our bikes, played shark, swam in the river, went on camping trips, watched "The Dukes of Hazzard" together every Friday. It was interesting to grow into adulthood & discover that nothing had changed. We were still goofing around like a couple of prepubescent kids. So I never understood why, when we kissed, because that did happen once or twice, he never took it to the next level. I say he because I was willing to try. We enjoyed each other, so I know it might have been wonderful. I wondered why until I got tired and bored and moved on. Yesterday, when "Mark" called, he wanted to revisit this "issue." Why? I'll never know.

Six Degrees

This weekend I saw six very important men in my life. Three of them I love unconditionally, always. Two I loved at one point or another. But because of the way things go for us “sensitive folk” and because people must change, or maybe - more so - I changed, it was bittersweet. The last I fell in love with years ago and for whatever reason, this one resonated. Seeing him as a complete stranger was rather strange. I didn’t expect to feel relieved by my remembering that feeling. I was.

Sol Y Sombra

I lucked out last night. Of course this is a conclusion I'm making after the fact. I did my first performance of the year with the Sol Y Sombra Dance Company in Huntington Village. What made this experience special was being billed (my name) on the program this time. I suppose dancing in 4 numbers instead of the usual 2 had a little something to do with it. I'm not quite sure what to say. My nerves were relentless. We had to be there at 4pm for sound check. That's 4 hours of pacing, applying makeup, pacing, prepping, putting on my poker face, and pacing some more. It was painful. The rain never came, which would have meant cancelling the show. I guess, in some way, Mother Nature knew what I needed. She brought in the sun right when shade would soon follow. I felt ill. Then of course I actually fell. It was during rehearsal for sevillanas - an old traditional flamenco dance from Sevilla that is typically done with a partner & castanets. All the musicians asked me if I was OK. Try "yes, but my ego just jumped over a cliff." Anyway, the worst had passed & it could only get.. sunnier. By curtain time, I had forgotten all about fear & sunnier arrived. Aside from the occassional misteps & flowers flying out of my hair, I made it through unscathed. My family showered me with compliments afterwards. They took it a step further by saying some of their friends, whom I've never met, thought I was the best one. Ego boost? Check! Even if they were biased, it's what I needed. The best part was the salsa piece we did with a little flamenco peppered throughout. I had a chance to showcase everything I ever learned from the salsa queen herself, my mom, since I was like 3 years old.

The whole day I had made up my mind to give up dancing. The stress wasn't worth it. Truth is I really wasn't "the best one," far from it. But I felt alive. And I just can't say no to alive.

Review: Fiona & Damien

Last night I went to go see two very different performances. First, Damien Rice. A straightforward, honest, bare-your-soul type of show. There was a lot of electricity, so he rocked out, sang a lullaby, then rocked out again. An amazing guest vocalist, Lisa, who gave Fiona a run for her money in the sultry & deep tones department, a cellist, a kick ass drummer, and the bassist stood on stage. No backdrop, no cool effects, no sharp threads. I was smitten. Then came my dear Fiona. She's so lost. I kept waiting for paramedics to take her away in a straight-jacket. Then I thought a group of priests would storm in from the Vatican to perform a very special exorcism. She was breathtaking at times. There were moments of pure brilliance. But something happened once she crossed that very strange line. It got awkward. The edge of insanity is usually occupied by geniuses like Bjork or Iggy Pop, but a Ms. Apple? Hmmm... All in all I had a great time. I still love her, found a new love in Damien, and became inspired. That's a damn fine time if I do say so myself.

A Pocket Watch -

Since I was a little girl, I’ve wanted one. I thought enclosing a watch into a little round metal compartment meant controlling time. The idea that time could be kept hidden appealed to me. That it was tangible and vulnerable. That maybe it could be stopped! There was also all this history, or so I imagined. Like maybe a pocket watch belonged to someone very special, someone from centuries ago. I figured the mechanical ones (of course) would never tick endlessly and haunt me when I was typing, rubbing my chin, riding a bike, painting my nails, or any other ordinary activity that might become a reminder of time running out. It would simply sit in my pocket until I was ready. Time waiting on me for a change. Clearly, I didn’t know what pocket watches really were… that they were even more magical.

My father’s side of the family is planning this huge surprise party for my grandfather. He will be 80. Someone in our pretend 10-person committee (only 5 of us are doing all the work) suggested the gift be a wrist watch. I pulled the “head of the committee,” my uncle Nacho, to one side and made my case for the pocket watch. Majority has ruled for it. Finally, I’ll get to see an heirloom in the making for someone who’s been around a long, long time. Ah, yes, someone very special.

Noche Flamenco

Flamenco embodies everything that I am. If you really want to know me, watch a gypsy glide and with one swift move take your breath away. Ok, so maybe I don't have that kind of presence since I am a bit clumsy and bubbly, but I'm tellin' ya I can migrate (figuratively speaking) like there's no tomorrow.

On a more serene note, I sat in Central Park on this very still night and watched "Noche Flamenco" by a small company of musicians and dancers from Spain. I'm completely rejunivated. Tomorrow when I stand with the other girls in class, I'm going to dance with some... class.

IndepenDANCE

My weekend was filled with so much dancing I thought my feet would grow some... feet & walk away refusing to carry the rest of me, so I'd simply collapse. It was either a death wish or some insane obsession to move freely. I danced Thursday evening at my cousin's salsa lesson. I persuaded him to meet friends at a lounge where I danced some more in my pumps and business suit. I danced on Saturday for flamenco class and again at a garden party under the Brooklyn stars. I danced on Monday for salsa and flamenco rehearsal. Later that night I went out again for some goth/new wave/punk/alternative dancing. I can't stop dancing even if today my feet have left the building.

Summertime

Today, the first day of summer, we had a memorial for the president of my company. He died. Some people in the industry spoke. Others played musical pieces they had written just for the occassion. A month has passed since the wake, so it was different than grieving. We were in a dark place - all of us - knowing the sun was beating down hard and heavy like a drum. But - all of us - wanting to risk going outside. Listed on the program was an executive and the widow. She stood there in silence as he began to play the first notes of jazz. Her voice was shaken. At times I thought she wouldn't make it all the way through...

One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing
Then you'll spread your wings
And you'll take to the sky

Livin' ain't so easy sometimes.

Sex Without Love

Sex Without Love
Sharon Olds (1942- )

How do they do it, the ones who make love
without love? Beautiful as dancers,
gliding over each other like ice-skaters
over the ice, fingers hooked
inside each other's bodies, faces
red as steak, wine, wet as the
children at birth whose mothers are going to
give them away. How do they come to the
come to the come to the God come to the
still waters, and not love
the one who came there with them, light
rising slowly as steam off their joined
skin? These are the true religious,
the purists, the pros, the ones who will not
accept a false Messiah, love the
priest instead of the God. They do not
mistake the lover for their own pleasure,
they are like great runners: they know they are alone
with the road surface, the cold, the wind,
the fit of their shoes, their over-all cardio-
vascular health--just factors, like the partner
in the bed, and not the truth, which is the
single body alone in the universe
against its own best time.

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t stay silent for all of June. I’m in love and I want to shout it out from the mountain tops! How would I get up there you ask? With my new love, the Lava Dome. It’s only the coolest, chromoly (steel), purple (almost violet blue), Kona mountain bike ever. It was so much fun test riding it around Sayville. One of the boys at the shop even took me on a mini trail just so I could really feel the weight and choose the best frame size. There was no question that I needed the 14, which is pretty damn small. In fact, if you put some training wheels, a bell, and tassels on the handle bars, I’d look like a 7 year old. No worries though. I plan on making it to the top of a mountain with or without the frills and the training.

I ordered my Lava Dome yesterday and will pick it up next week!

Silent in June

I promised myself that in June I'd revamp my "space" with colors, a picture of happier times, and a song for a project I'm working on. I did it. I met the first part of my goal and so far I've gotten a nice response. I'm not sure if people are just being kind, but it doesn't really matter right now. I'm happy I was able to overcome whatever was keeping me silent.

On a Date

I'm on a date with a man, who I can't for the life of me understand. We are polar opposites, but I agreed to meet him again. Connections are important and I am still hopeful. The problem is I might as well be alone. Here we are. I'm typing this while he reads and I wait... for him to go home.

May Leaves

I feel the tension fading steadily.
And the sadness sets in like a curled
Leaf resting on my cheek. I twirl
It from the stem and pray for trees.
Make them dance for me –
Let it rain leaves.