Tag Archives: nyc

Flavor of the Week: Kitchen Confidential

First there was Harrison.We had a broken relationship almost from the day we went from friends to more than-friends, but one thing we shared was a fanatical devotion to great food and drink. He’d recently stopped drinking, so that part was out. My main weapon for seduction was located in the kitchen, and it was time to fire up the decks and cook for him for the first time.

My options were dwindling in terms of impressive recipes since he’d recently given up red meat, so I whipped up a quick but simple menu: Salmon en Papillotte with cherry tomatoes, bright yellow and green squash, a little grated ginger, lime juice and sliced oranges.

I served the delicate parchment-enclosed packets of fish and vegetables over quinoa in place of rice. As I watched Harrison take his first bite, I imagined myself a tiny person in his mouth, seeing the first hot cherry tomato burst, its juices pooling on his tongue and mixing with the fragrant ginger, curling into a drop of lime juice before finally connecting with the silky, fork-tender morsel of salmon.

To read the rest of the post and comment … see the piece in today’s issue of NY Press.

*Comments are closed on this post. Please post them to NY Press page linked above.

Killing the Ifs

Bleeker Street, 1.25.2010I was on the C Train, dressed up for a viewing party for the Oscars at a nice bar called Greenhouse. I was meeting a girlfriend of mine there.

I was reading something on my phone, then I looked up and electricity passed between my heart and his. You know that feeling. When you see someone in the crowd and your heart flip-flops. You get a chill that starts at the base of your spine, spreads to your stomach and ends with the hair standing up on back of your neck. You just know. I know within seconds if a person is going to be a real part of my life.

I looked back down at my phone. Tried to avoid his eyes. Looked back up, and he was straight up staring at me. He was gorgeous. A head of dark, thick curly hair and curious eyes. Tall. And still staring. Continue reading

Give Me Tomatoes or Give Me Nail Polish: How American Apparel Missed a Handmade Opportunity

A couple of weeks ago, I bought a bottle of nail polish at American Apparel. I’d noticed how shiny and red my friend Sarah’s nails were while we were out to brunch that morning. She’d just bought that color along with a one of the grey hues from American Apparel. Given that we’re both design/branding nerds, we wound up talking about the controversial brand for a little bit.

Sarah told me the line of nail polish had just come out. It sounded unique because the colors were textile-based or had some other industrial influence, so people would see some shades in the line not typically found in other polish lines like OPI or Essie.

There happened to be an American Apparel in the neighborhood we were in, so after walking Sarah to her car, I headed over to check out the nail polish.

I picked up a color called Factory Grey. (I love the color grey.) It’s the second bottle from the right in the top row in the photo below. I snapped the shot with my phone and posted it to my microblog.

American Apparel Nail Polish In-Store Display, Jan. 18

Continue reading

Nerds and Sex

Help me out and vote for a sexy picture.

Let me back up. Last week, I accepted an invitation to read at an upcoming edition of the deliciously naughty In The Flesh Reading Series hosted by the one and only Rachel Kramer Bussel (of both Penthouse Variations and Cupcakes Take the Cake).

Asking you to help me pick a sexy photo is funny because I usually go out of my way not to promote myself and my writing based on how I look. But Rachel needs a photo to promote the reading I’m doing on April 15 for Nerd and Sex Night. (Nerd and Sex night! Isn’t that awesome!!)

Anyways, please vote for #1, #2 or #3 IN THE COMMENTS. You can retweet this, post links or whatever, but please leave a comment HERE so I can count the votes tonight and send Rachel the photo and a bio for event promotion purpose.

Option #1 -- "Diamonds on ma neck, di diamonds on ma grill."

Option #2: "Tumble Into You" < I stole that caption from someone.

Option #3: Urban Débutante (Photo Credit: Nick McGlynn)

I have no idea what I’m going to read yet. I haven’t ever written anything about nerds and sex. But here are a couple of things I have written about sex.

The first thing I ever wrote that truly scared me, and the piece I am most proud of:  Snapshots: Heat and Porcelain

The most graphic post I’ve ever written (I  just made this open to the public to read again last night): Copper Kisses, AKA the IUD Blog

Vote away, kids. Think hot and nerdy.

***

PS — If you’re in NYC, please put my reading on your calendar. It’s April 15th, 7 p.m. at Happy Ending Lounge.

Giving Myself a D: Seth Godin’s “Linchpin” Book Launch

I’m taking a mentor’s advice and giving myself a D on life.

Last Friday, he told me a story about a teacher who, on the first day of class, told the students that he was giving them all an A. All they had to do was to write a paper on how they would work to earn the A that semester. By doing so, he believed the students would be freed of worrying about the grade and focus on the actual learning.

But my mentor rebutted that and said I should give myself a D. “A D never killed anybody,” he said. “Expect that people are going to laugh at you. Expect that you’re going to fail. And, once you give yourself a D, you can create your art.”

Seth Godin and me at the launch of his new book, "Linchpin." 1.15.2010

Continue reading