Topic: Personal
I’ve been very busy lately, it seems, and I haven’t had much time to update Palaverist. So I thought I’d spend a little time jotting down what’s been going on with me lately. For one thing, there have been parties, starting with the McKleinfeld wedding and seemingly continuing ever since, at least on the weekends, and sometimes on the weekdays.
After the multiday extravaganza that was the McKleinfeld wedding, the newlyweds spent the next week still up in the Adirondacks, but returned in time to be informed by Twin A that they would be hosting his Memorial Day barbecue on Monday afternoon. This followed a very late night of Lord of the Rings Risk with the McKleinfelds, which followed a late night of drinking with Robert and Lydia Ooghe and Josh Axelrad. We started that night in the garden behind Frankies 457 Sputino — great cocktails — and eventually wandered up the block to P.J. Hanley’s, which claims to be the oldest bar in Brooklyn. When the waitress took our order, Axelrad ended his with “God bless,” which made me fall over laughing. “Yeah?” Axelrad said. “I thought I’d try it out. How’d it sound?”
“Ridiculous,” I said, “coming from a godless heathen like yourself.”
The next weekend, the McKleinfelds held yet another party, this one to celebrate their nuptials with those who couldn’t make it Upstate. There was an evil sangria, the not entirely unwelcome news that Daniel had just been laid off, a complex network of blue tarps to keep off the rain that threatened and spattered all afternoon, and the first game of silent football in many moons, played around a kiddie pool for our feet and ruled by Twin B in the role of Brother Dictator.
A mere three days later, I saw many of the same people at a 6/6/06 party hosted by Robert and his friend the Talmudist Jay Michaelson in the apartment upstairs — and on the roof. There was a kosher grill, and somehow Martin Dockery got his dog up there. It being a Tuesday, I didn’t stay late.
On Friday, our German friend Beatrice came over, along with Lem, to watch the first game of the World Cup (Germany won). For once, our Saturday was free of parties, but then on Sunday, Lem hosted a picnic in Prospect Park to thank us all for visiting him in the hospital. That evening, a group of us headed to Martin Dockery’s for a party on his roof deck, known as the Money Shot because of its incredible 360-degree views of Brooklyn, Manhattan and New York Harbor. We watched the sun set over Jersey and the moon rise full and orange over Prospect park as the air grew chilly, reminding me of summer evenings in Northern California, and I met a man named Master Lee who told me about performing kung fu comedy on a cruise ship much like the one that was moored off Red Hook and glowing in the night.
So now this week, I’ll be going to see three young Korean classical musicians — Yeol-eum Son, Hye-jin Kim and Min-ji Kim — perform at the ECOSOC Chamber in the UN, courtesy of the Korean Mission. Then on Friday night we’ll see Myung Soo Kim’s Arirang: Korean Ritual Solos, some kind of mudang-influenced dance performance. And on Saturday, we’ll be hosting Jenny’s birthday party. And Sunday? Korea vs. France, baby!
I’m glad we’re headed for Bar Harbor, Maine, on the 24th. Of course, as soon as we’re back, we’ll be having a party on the roof for July 4th. It’s busy, but it’s a whole lotta fun.