ford, nyc dining

as if dating julia allision weren't an automatic disqualifier of harold ford as a person, much less an elected official, now he's backtracking the fact he probably didn't declare having made any income in nyc even though he works for merrill lynch NY and has been supposedly living here. it didn't take long after the bayh announcement for all my tweeps to start talking about ford's move to indiana. what a moron. bayh has been a pain the the ass. but at least he was still in the dem caucus. what i'm saddest about re: his departure is that will forte is a PERFECT evan bayh so it's always a bit sad to lose a politician who has an SNL doppelganger. unless it's sarah palin. i'd lose her just fine.

i'm thankful for jesse and cousin these days who are pretty much the only friends with whom i can discuss politics (and to whom i bow down because they're both so much smarter than me). who know enough to get my jokes and retweets, and to have a discussion wherein i don't have to give a poli sci 101 course when talking about why one wouldn't want to vote for harold ford, "well, his position on 'the issues' doesn't matter because there's this thing called carpetbagging and it's bad because..." not to mention the fact that most my friends, beyond being pro choice and pro gay marriage have never discussed any issues in my presence. so i am resolving now to conserve my energy. a cap and trade on political discourse! sometimes i'll read something like this and just think, DAMN, i want to discuss this with someone so i turn to the blogs where obviously TPM, and matt yglesias and andrew sullivan and ezra klein will all have posts about it so i have somewhere to work out my foreign policy angst. or my healthcare angst. or NCLB angst. or my immigration angst. etc., etc.

i was handed a YSL manifesto today. the strawberries are FUG. and i hate the seams on the tribute sandals. they look plastic. booooooo.

i think i'm over locanda verde. it wasn't a conscious choice. it's just that i've been there dozens of times, almost always bringing friends, i became friends with a host but nobody else at that place knew or gave a damn who i was. i don't go to restaurants to be treated like royalty, but a regular should be recognized with a smile, at the very least. i've started going to joseph leonard and everyone says hi and smiles and knows that i come in regularly. the owner knows, his fiancee knows, all the bartenders and even some kitchen staff know me at this point. i get hearty, "hey! good to see you again!"s and they are nice to me because i take the precious time i have and spend my precious money there are thankful. for all the times i've been to locanda i've NEVER had a manager come over to see how my meal was, never a visit from andrew carmellini with the sour face/withering stares who seems annoyed by every single patron who walks in who isn't a friend or industry person. the worst part is they have a record of exactly how many times i've visited so they know when they seat me that, yeah, i've been there more than a few times. the restaurant isn't that big and they're in tribeca so they have to be a neighborhood spot because they won't be a destination place forever. all this is something i'd noticed before at locanda but the more places i go to eat, the nicer people are to me at these other places and seem thrilled to have me back (and know that yes, i am a returning visitor) the more i'm put off at spending more money at a spot that doesn't appreciate ME, the avid eater to whom EVERYONE comes for restaurant advice. the girl who is SO NICE to staff, incredibly patient, always tips more than 20% and had been recommending it to everyone who'd listen. the last time i went in i brought 4 girlfriends, our waitress was an asshole to us until my host bought us dessert and she realized that one of us knew somebody. after that she was sweet as honey. yuck. so compare that to an evening at esca, or faustina, not to mention the spots that i'm a REAL regular at (that won't be named to avoid stalkers) and locanda verde just loses out in the worst way. the food there is good. but the food at a lot of places is good. i'll keep going to see my host and hope he'll someday move to a more hospitable restaurant.

curling and speedskating are my only options while i'm in vancouver. oh, and hockey but 1.) i can see hockey anytime and 2.) i don't enjoy it and 3.) tickets are HOLY HELL expensive for hockey. all the skiing ones are ruled out as i have no plans to head to whistler...although julie just sent me this so mum's the word on not enjoying hockey if i want some canadian man to bring me home (which, i don't really, because i saw photos of the condo where i'm staying and it's so gorgeous and right in the center of everything and really perfect).

i have paella, billie holiday, alec baldwin, a korean spa day AND a crawfish boil in my future. laissez les bon temps rouler!