No Dragging Dragon

Celebrating Tết Lunar New Year 2024 - the Year of the Dragon.

Happy Lunar New Year! Chúc Mừng Năm Mới! It's the first day in the Year of the Dragon and, in my straddling-two-cultures life, the second opportunity to turn over a new leaf and get a fresh start; now it's time to really buckle down and work on making those resolutions reality.

1 (above) - Flowers to welcome the new year.

2 - Welcoming the Kitchen God back from the heavens, where he was reporting on the state of the household and the family to the ancestors over the last week.

3 & 4 -  Tết Eve dinner, which was offered to the ancestors on the ancestral altar earlier in the evening.

5 - Hái lộc ("harvesting luck") by going out right before midnight and ushering in good fortune as the first over the threshold.

6 - Mama Hen-made bánh chưng with salty brined dried radish. It's a square-shaped glutinous rice "cake" (really a loaf) wrapped and steamed in banana leaves with a filling of pork and mashed mung beans. The square shape represents the earth.

7 through 9 - Games of chance and/or skill with some wagers are a traditional Tết activity to determine luck for the coming year. Here, we have "horse race chess" (aka Parcheesi). And I won!! Look at my winning blue horses 😁 and my haul of quarters!

To a happy, healthy, prosperous, successful, peaceful, and purposeful Year of the Dragon!

Light Dimmed, Dim Sum, Bright Some

An end, and fueling up to prepare for new beginnings.

This morning the parentals were out in the city on the Upper Westside to attend the (rather early) funeral of a friend to our family - the son of someone who played an important part in setting us up for economic security in this country. He died early by current standards - we are guessing he was shy of 70, survived by a wife and 7 year old daughter. Poor child. Life isn't fair a lot of the time. May she be protected and guided and cared for, and grow to be strong and well adjusted.

With the service concluding during late morning - brunch time, Papa Rooster and Mama Hen swung by to get Sissy and me for classic Chinatown old school dim sum at Jing Fong (relocated from its old home where we had known it). The restaurant was decked out with blooming quince branches for the coming holiday.

Afterward, we wrapped the Chinatown visit with some shopping, and took in the markets and colorful goods, fresh flowers, brightly packaged special foods laid out for Lunar New Year preparations. Between this weekend and being in Northern Virginia last weekend, for the first time in years, I feel properly in the new year spirit - ready, relatively relaxed, receptive to the new season and all the living to be done ahead. 

It's certainly nowhere near perfect. I will almost undoubtedly blow well past my Tết private deadline for getting myself into re-hostessing state. But my home, and I, are a work in process.

Road Trip Toward Tết

Preparing for Lunar New Year.

Traditionally, Vietnamese people visit their elders on the Lunar New Year to wish them well and receive blessings in return. Also, traditionally, Vietnamese families set out offerings to their ancestors in their homes to invite blessings for their families. These two obligations are all well and good, and doable, when everyone lives in the same small village, but that hasn't been the case in our family (in many families) in decades.

So this weekend we undertook the first of the multi-part modern approach our family has embraced: We went to visit my great-aunts and all of the cousins in Northern Virginia. So much catching up, so much good eating!

And some nice immersion into the festive Tết spirit with shopping for the Kitchen god's send-off coming up, ...

...and just regular advance meal prep for the near term. 

There's just something comforting about being in a place where so many people share your cultural touch points. I wish for people all across the world at least one such safe space. 

Shoulder Season - Home Edition

Touristing in Times Square.

The holiday season tourists have left; we get the city back to ourselves. And that means Winter Restaurant Week(s) and Broadway Week(s)! We have a great low season here in New York City - prix fixe menus and 2-for-1 theater tickets! Why let the tourists have all the fun? Much better when the out-of-towners aren't clogging the sidewalks and we residents can take advantage of the NYC Tourism deals for ourselves - book new-to-us restaurant reservations close to the office for a super early pre-theater dinner, then walk briskly (no tourist pace here) to the Will Call window at the venue, arriving just in time for the start of the show.

Our picks: Glass House Tavern for dinner - very tasty, lovely ambience. Truthfully, service could have been a bit faster, but they did manage to get us out and on the way for the curtain, as promised. We rather suspected that they took care of the senior citizens first, and figured we could hustle and make it.

Onion soup with cheese crouton.

Quinoa spinach salad.

Salmon with roast corn and cous cous risotto, citrus, chiles, blood orange vinaigrette.

Lamb shank with white bean-Merguez sausage cassoulet, horseradish gremolata, rosemary jus.

Apple cinnamon bread pudding with 
cinnamon gelato, caramel and vanilla sauce.

Cappuccino panna cotta with candied hazelnuts and espresso glaze.

Our show selection was "& Juliet" - SO MUCH FUN!! We were pretty much the target demographic - late '90s pop female power anthems and boy band music. If I could have danced in the aisles and sung out loud without disturbing the people around me, I would have.

It really WAS the most fun we've had on Broadway!

Dining out and sharing musicals for our local shoulder season was the high point of the day - a nice off day from the physical therapy for my frozen left shoulder (having migrated from the right, which was afflicted pre-COVID), the other experience that has made for a less fun shoulder season these past couple of months. Statistically, a decent number of the other folks in the target audience of "& Juliet" are sharing that latter type of shoulder season with me as well - perimenopause and genetic predispositions stink.

Ah well. I suppose there has to be some tradeoff between reaching the measure of economic stability that allows for fully enjoying Restaurant/Broadway Weeks, on the one hand, and the season of physical ailment-free youth, on the other. 

Pulling Herself Up By Her Spaghetti Straps

Women supporting women in fashion, in finances.

6/30/2021: A Woman’s Guide to Making the Most of Social Security

Women tend to live longer than men, so they need as much retirement income as possible. Whether you’re 30 or 60, here’s what you need to know.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/28/business/retirement/women-social-security-retirement.html?smid=em-share

10/22/2020: The Newest Thing in Fashion? Old Clothes Disposability is no longer chic. A new magazine joins a host of big brands in exploring the joys of upcycling. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/22/style/upcycling-fashion.html?smid=em-share

9/26/2020: Pandemic Will ‘Take Our Women 10 Years Back’ in the Workplace Improvements in gender equality in the workplace may be another casualty of the coronavirus, as women find their place in the work force more at risk. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/26/world/covid-women-childcare-equality.html?smid=em-share

Flurries

Sticking close to home amid the cold and snow.

Today - of snow (slow motion, then as it actually fell), on the Jardin.

Yesterday - of pepper (on a lovely salad), of ricotta salad (on a rigatoni with eggplant), of cocoa (on a very good tiramisu), of powdered sugar (over house biscotti), at Masseria East for Restaurant Week.

15-minute cities https://sponsored.bloomberg.com/article/taking-cities-to-the-next-level?utm_medium=social&utm_id=customcontent-Schindler&utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=Business-Paid&utm_content=US-Ad1&fbclid=IwAR2qTUbEpvNc6dLx9QmoOatoPlT8GWPEg0GG6jRA_PvGsIcm7TYEKOEdN0U_aem_AVngYKWRtA7gANcaOWGFX88s4-fUnC9i2vSPr8WJTNHCPK8-l-kLIkDCW50ReP-X1TvHKYN46eQate-kMsEf_NTn

Swedish recycling mall https://www.facebook.com/reel/733814748796260?s=yWDuG2&fs=e&mibextid=Nif5oz

The Growers, Bakers and Beekeepers Embracing the Terroir of American Cities

Long celebrated in France, the concept of place-specific tastes is spurring the revitalization of neighborhoods and communities.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/26/t-magazine/food/terroir-american-cities.html?smid=em-share

Perpetual Stew https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/20/nyregion/bushwick-brooklyn-perpetual-stew.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

The Bittersweet Tale of a Diner, a Toy Shop and a Changing New York

One is expanding. One is closing. But not all is lost.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/nyregion/coronavirus-veselka-nyc.html?smid=em-share

What if Local and Diverse Is Better Than Networked and Global? Helena Norberg-Hodge has been arguing for localism since the 1970s, but the pandemic is making the Australian activist-scholar’s ideas more relevant than ever. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/09/world/australia/norberg-hodge-local-organic-australia.html?smid=em-share

New York as a Biking City? It Could Happen. And It Should. A new report proposes 425 miles of interconnected bike lanes across the five boroughs. Another sees new car-free bridges into Manhattan from Queens, Brooklyn and New Jersey. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/09/arts/bike-bridges-new-york.html?smid=em-share

I’ve Seen a Future Without Cars, and It’s Amazing Why do American cities waste so much space on cars? https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/09/opinion/ban-cars-manhattan-cities.html?smid=em-share

The New Generation of Self-Created Utopias

As so-called intentional communities proliferate across the country, a subset of Americans is discovering the value of opting out of contemporary society.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/16/t-magazine/intentional-communities.html

Cities Worldwide Are Reimagining Their Relationship With Cars

Cars changed the way we move. They also led to toxic levels of air pollution in many cities. Now, under pressure from their citizens, city officials are experimenting with new ways to reimagine the role of cars.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/14/climate/car-ban-air-pollution.html

3 Far-Flung Cities Offer Clues to Unsnarling Manhattan’s Streets

As New York considers congestion pricing, the systems used in London, Singapore and Stockholm could provide a valuable road map.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/26/nyregion/congestion-pricing-new-york.html

Ice, Ice Baby

The social ties of singletons, loners, and others - not as icy as they might appear.

With a nod to Vanilla Ice for the imaginary soundtrack to this post, it was so cold that there weren't many people out and about on this icy day after the end of our snow drought - not by New York City standards, anyway, even though I timed my work from home walk break for the warmest part of the day when it was forecasted to reach a high of 25 degrees. I did encounter snow people on my abbreviated (single) round of Carl Schurz Park, though; ironically, these icy individuals were clustered in a social group - not alone and on their own as one might understandably assume from their inherently cold nature. 

Outdoor dining near Gracie Mansion.

As a self-professed introvert, I'd say it's a misconception that we loners are standoffish or chilly, as we're generally portrayed. Sure, we were not all that consternated by COVID quarantine. We may have actually enjoyed the challenges of scaling down our social lives and baking portions and ice cream batches. Pandemic isolation just happened to be a better working environment for us in ways (and some would say none of us were really all that alone). I'd say I've never been so productive. In the end, however, the pace was too much - not the way I wanted to live the rest of my life.

The sunny corner of the Jardin.

During those dark early days, the single people who were yearning for human interaction bolstered virtual dating. It was so perplexing to me, about the farthest thing from my mind - between all the potential for viral transmission (and with effective strangers!) if the dates were to succeed to real life meetings, and my preoccupation with The Project. Frankly, The Project was a convenient excuse to take a break from dating and go grey - I changed my Match profile and was pretty upfront about why I was on hiatus; it just felt like that big a life decision was too much to foist on a nascent relationship. I found hope and welcome distraction that summer in the news out of the National Zoo; of course the outcome there was considerably better than mine. 

That same corner of the Jardin, viewed the evening prior, distorted, through a sheet of ice clinging to the door to the terrace.

Although my aversion for the dating process might suggest a desire to be solitary, actually, there was a little part of me that was motivated to undertake The Project to avoid that very fate in the future - for me, for Sissy, for Lil' Bro. Ah well, we will just have to keep each other company - unless one of us can manage to break out of the cycle.

Really, though, we introverts aren't antisocial; we are just social in different ways. I, for one, passed the New York Times social ties diagnostic test with flying colors. Sure, social media has helped a lot. Phone dates, too. And a healthy dose of real life get-togethers - just carefully curated ones. We ARE warm and fuzzy, just in a quieter way. So don't just pass us by; slow your pace a smidge so we can match your stride.