songbird's crazy world

I feel like I'm in the middle of an episode of "The Odd Couple". Drew and his roommate have been friends since the 70's, have been living together since the 90's. They had an argument the other day about household chores, mostly about taking out the garbage.  and it escalated... OMG, it's like WW III ...

So I was standing in King Kullen Friday when my cell phone began to ring.  It was Becca.  She wanted to know if Drew and I were interested in seeing Tony Bennett in concert.    Seems she won a pair of tickets.  Seems she was trying to win basketball tickets for her boyfriend the Knicks fan, but somehow wound up with tickets to a concert that was more my taste than hers. You don't want to know what those "free" tickets cost us.  The concert was held in the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, which is in Newark, over an hour's drive away, plus tolls and parking. Neither of us had ever been to the NJPAC, so just exploring the venue was a new experience.  I kept saying to Drew that it reminded me of a mini Lincoln Center, not in terms of architectural style, but in terms of scope, tone, etc.  Drew told me he was thinking of Carnegie Hall.  The main theater, the Prudential, holds 2800 people.  There are three smaller theaters and two ...

When we first ate here, a little over a year ago, the place was called Trodos Mediterranean Restaurant. We knew it would be good. It's a sister restaurant to Ayhan's Mediterranean Restaurants, in several locations around Long Island. They changed the name recently, and now it's called Ayhan's Shish Kebab. The Westbury location is relatively small, with touches of Greek fishing village in the room. We dined by candlelight. The menu features grilled meats and seafood as well as a few traditional Greek dishes. Our meal began with Turkish pita bread, which is a softer bread than traditional pita, served with a garlicky tzaziki for dipping. We chose saganaki as our appetizer -- mozarella and feta melted together and served with bread toasted to the consistency of croutons. Greek salad followed - chopped salad and feta in vinagarette. Didn't care for one of the herbs in the dressing. But honestly I could have made a meal out of these first courses. Main co...

All hail the chief. Yesterday.... I was in my office in Jersey City, a rare thing since my life as a telecommuter began.  Jen called me and sent me texts like crazy.  Seems that when she arrived at work she discovered her car had a flat tire. she's not a AAA member, how was she going to get help?  She didn't realize her car insurance comes with emergency roadside service.  I'm sure I told her so several times, but who pays attention to what mom has to say? I was on my way home when Becca started texting me.    Becca is in Washington, DC right now, attending a "leadership conference" which included attendance at the Inauguration on Monday.  Her bank called her, to tell her that her debit card was used fraudulently and was therefore cancelled, and that they'd be sending her a replacement card in 3-5 days.  Fortunately she already has her plane ticket home and enough money with her to take care of incidentals.  She doesn't have enough...

So. . .feeling a little melancholy about our cancelled cruise . . . We decide we really need some seafood. We have lots of choices . . . Local places like Southside Fish & Clam or Louie's Port Washinton. . . Chains like Legal Seafood and Joe's Crab Shack . . .love them all, but our "go-to" place seems to be Red Lobster. The mother of all seafood chains has become our default setting. The place is always crowded, the lobby area overflowing with would-be diners. There is almost always a wait for a table. You can amuse yourself by watching the lobsters in the tank, and when that "excitement" wears off, scan the bar code on your pager and you can get a cute trivia game on your phone. We were really in need of some fruity, tropical concoctions. He ordered sangria, red wine mixed with fruit juices in a glass decorated with a slice of orange, a slice of lime and a strawberry. I ordered my usual . . .I think it's called a sunset passion colada,...

Shake Shack. Interesting name for a burger joint. We'd walked past the one in NYC but the lines were always discouraging. Menu looked good, though. So when they opened one in our stomping grounds . . .in a free standing building at the new Gallery shopping center in Westbury . . .we had to go. Line was pretty long when we got there, and was literally out the door within a few minutes. But it does move quickly. You order at the counter and you're given a buzzer, like many other restaurants use to let you know your table is ready. When the buzzer goes off you pick up your tray at the counter and try to find a seat. We didn't feel like fighting the crowds, and opted to order our meal "to go". The lunch/dinner menu is very limited, your options are burgers, hot dogs, and a burger made out of a portobello mushroom. The only "side" is fries; they're crinkle cut and crispy, just the way we like them. Drew ordered a hot dog with several topp...

This commercial is pure torture: We were booked on the Carnival Liberty for a 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise for mid February.  Drew is a teacher, we can only vacation when schools are closed, and around here schools close for a week at President's Day. But Hurricane Sandy...the schools all had to cancel February break.... So we had to cancel our cruise. We re-booked for August.  But that's so very far away.

Found this on Facebook ...so perfect.  It seems that lately Mr. Kitty has become my "breakfast buddy".  I am not allowed to leave the house to go to work unless there is cat food in Mr. Kitty's bowl.  He doesn't actually wake me up, but he sits by my door waiting for me to get up, then comes into my room to keep me company while I dress.  Our other cat, Redford, prefers to sleep in, but Mr. Kitty ... food is love, and he needs a lot of love. 

Back in high school Becca participated in a leadership conference in Washington, DC.   There were events such as a model Congress and speakers including Congressmen, lobbyists and other Washington politicos. She got to meet students from all over the country.  It was a freat experience. Last summer the compaby tgat ran the conference sent out invitations to formers participants, now college students, inviting them to participate in a similar conference during the presidential inauguration in January 2013. Becca is a political science major, and this sounded like a wonderful opportunity.  Of course, at the time we didn't know who would win the election . . . She's flying down next Saturday.  The conference includes activities involving the inauguration.  Jeb Bush and Jesse Jackson are scheduled to address the participants.  Five days of political excitement . . . I'm jealous.

So Thursday night Jen came home drop-dead tired.  They've extended her hours at the nursery school, and left her in charge of a classroom for 3 days when the teacher she assists became ill.  She's also been coaching her cheerleaders, preparing for their next competition.  And the girls cheered at a basketball game Thursday night.  Jen came home around 9 and was in bed by 10. Ditto for me.  Long week at work, couldn't keep my eyes open, in bed by 10 and fast asleep by 10:15. Not so Becca.  She's still on Christmas break.  Classes start Monday.  She spent Thursday evening at her boyfriend's house, just hanging out.  She came home around midnight, maybe a little later.  I must have woken up when she got home because I heard her come into the house and say something to my night owl sister.  But I rolled over and went back to sleep . . .for about 15 minutes, when she came into my room to ask me for money.  I told her I'd deal wit...

In our quest for the best cheeseburger on Long Island, tonight we had to try Bobbys Burger Palace. Located at Roosevelt Mall but not "in" the mall -- you enter from the parking lot -- this place is a cut above fast food. You order at the counter, then find a seat at one of the long, counterlike tables. Your food is brought to you on real plates, not paper. Although there are other options on the menu, burgers are the obvious stars. I ordered the Miami Burger, which is a take on a Cuban sandwich -- the burger is topped with ham, cheese and pickles. This is not a sloppy, juicy burger. It's a thick and flavorful patty. Being a New Yorker, I usually don't put mustard on my burger, and the mustard they use is very spicy. All burgers can be "crunchified", meaning they're served with potato chips on the patty. I ordered fries, which were merely ok, but one of our group kept raving about the onion rings -- thick rings of onion in a slightly swe...

This one has been sitting in the parking lot at the train station for days.  Interesting how people are so blase, or desperate for a spot, that they'll park next to it.  Can't imagine how it wound up there.

So New Year's Eve . . . The plan was to have a small get-together at Drew's house. Just a few friends. And then Drew was looking at Stub Hub . . .so at 3PM on 12/31 we found ourselves at the Nassau Coliseum, in front row seats, waiting for a show to begin. We love Jeff Dunham. My favorites are Achmed the Dead Terrorist and Walter. I loved his joke with Peanut -- Peanut said "I'm going to hell." And Jeff responded "Well, we are near Levittown." Drew, who lives in Levittown, nearly fell off his chair. Great show. After the show we raced down Hempstead Turnpike to pick up our order for the party. We have been Zorn's customers for years. I can remember when we lived in East Meadow in the early 60's my parents would pick up chicken from Zorn's, and Drew tells me his parents would drive all the way from Deer Park to pick up food. Back then there were live chickens in coops on site. This was the second year we'd ordered caterin...

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