My Nightmares

-driving over bridges that, for some reason, are constructed to drop precipitously downward, like roller coasters. As my car hurtles untrammeled down and then slowly floats up and off the road, I wake up
-or that my teeth are getting crooked again

Northward Ho!

Drove to Philly yesterday in the insane, balmy weather. Romped around with soon-to-be resident Dana and dropped off my old clothes at Buffalo Exchange.

It's revealing (to me) to note how many times I've moved since graduating. I keep forgetting, actually, what the actual number is, so let's enumerate now...

Depuis mai 2004...
1)Philadelphia to Poughkeepsie
2)Poughkeepsie to Chuncheon
3)Chuncheon to Jeonju Homestay #1
4)Jeonju Homestay #1 to Jeonju Homestay #2
5)Jeonju Homestay #2 to Poughkeepsie
6)Poughkeepsie to Manhattan
7)Manhattan to Princeton
8)Princeton to Lawrenceville

It would be pretty great to cite this as a largescale form of ADD I have, but I don't feel the need to press that point.

I do like to 'travel light' these days. Does anyone remember how much random crap I brought to college, freshman year? That magnetic calendar with stickerable magnets? Toys have given way to clothes and books. Speaking of books, well...

Either way, I almost like the process of moving. Not the heavy lifting and sweating and the bottoms falling out of boxes, but the opportunity to cull and dispose of the unnecessary trappings of life. Possibly the reason that so many people espouse the "Real Simple" zeitgeist is not so much for the real simplicity qua real simplicity, but that it allows them to be fully, anally aware what surrounds them at all times. But isn't that compulsive lust for control and self-actualization what created all the fake chaos in the world in the first place?

Time to wash my hair...and good-bye to all that...

Best of 2006

As promised to Tony over Google chat - an extremely glutton-oriented,

Best of 2006
Best Overall Food Experience
Without a doubt, the Makansutra Hawker Center that was right outside of our hotel in Singapore. Despite soggy weather and unshakeable jet lag, every saucy bite of char kway teow and greedy guzzle of uber-tropical juice made us feel free. And delectably inefficient.

Best New Year's Plans
Strutting into Times Square like it warn't no thang. Accompanied by police officers. Because we were going to a party at Bain. Such badasses are we.

Best Scam
Me, first bodily dragging and then sneaking Manoj into the Diplo show at the Guggenheim because "I left my coat in there!" + plaintive display of coat check. Absolutely true - try it some time!

Best Cake
Not like I asked Ann at the time, but I'm assuming the "Yellow Daisy Cake" at Billy's Bakery

Best Food Discovery
Clotted cream and jam (and scones) at Tea and Sympathy with Vicky, Julie, and Jeanie.

Best Live Entertainment
The Rentals. Please let that be you!

Best Library (this will transcend time)
The Princeton Public Library!

Best Non-Live Entertainment
The Science of Sleep...Casino Royale...Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Best Cultural Institution
The Churchill War Museum in London. I didn't go, but it certainly cheered Chris up to no end, and it sounded great!

Best Recipe that I Made!
Plum and Limoncello tart. Best when plums are in season and when you actually have limoncello. This isn't the exact recipe, but I don't really see how it could be bad.

Best Free Pizza
Like, five of them. At Alligator Lounge. But it isn't free if you lose your adorable, limited-edition pop-up phone in the cab back to Carroll Gardens.

That's all I can think of so far! And yes, so much of it was food-related. As Lisa remarked earlier this weekend, "Isn't it normal to think about food all the time?" I said, "I think it's because all of our friends do that we think it's normal."

All of our friends except some. Hazard a guess? The three that Lisa instantly thought of have something very interesting in common. Interesting and lucrative.