Pictures of my New York trip

These pictures are courtesy of Karen, though I did take a few of them—the ones of her!


The New York Stock Exchange, just a few blocks away from our hotel in the Financial District.















Statue of George Washington at Federal Hall, also close to our hotel.

















Alexander Hamilton's grave in the churchyard of Trinity Church at Broadway and Wall Street.

















The churchyard at Trinity Church.
















Trinity Church exterior.















Staten Island Ferry entrance.


















View of the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry.










On Staten Island.



Staten Island's September 11 memorial. Many of the firefighters and police officers who lost their lives lived on Staten Island, and their names are etched onto blocks on the interior of this structure.




Karen on Staten Island.









On the ferry.












View of Manhattan from the ferry.










A globe that sat atop the World Trade Center and was damaged in the attack. It's now a memorial in Battery Park.














Karen with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background.









Me with the Brooklyn Bridge.















Boats at South Street Seaport.















Another view. (Anyone remember Toby the Tugboat?)





In Washington Square, holding a copy of Washington Square by Henry James, in front of the row houses where Henry James hung out with his grandmother.



Dixieland band in Washington Square.










Grace Church. (Am seriously in love with the NYC cathedrals in springtime.)















At Westville (note yummy vegetables being served that night) with Jonathan.







A street in Greenwich Village.

















An imaginary game of chess in the Village.









Aboard the Long Island Railroad.











With my friend Cindy on Long Island.












Rainy Times Square.
















Don't let the smiles fool you.

















This is how we really felt.








You can't imagine the uplifting, purifying effect this classical ensemble in the subway had on our rotten moods.






Waiting for the subway with Tim at Wall Street station.









Yummy Thai food.













Walking through Central Park.
















Karen and Tim in Central Park.
















The "Delacorte clock," in the park.










Feeling reflective about Easter, New York, friends, and springtime.

My New York City trip

When I was in New York recently with my friend Karen, I kept a journal of the highlights. Below is an edited version.

Wednesday, April 8, highlights

Took the bus, then the subway, from LaGuardia to Wall Street. A lady getting on the subway complimented me on my shoes and asked me where I got them.

Spontaneously attended a Tenebrae service at Trinity Church (Broadway and Wall Street) sung in Gregorian chant as candles were slowly extinguished throughout service; ended in darkness. Choir singing Crux Fidelis in harmony (as opposed to the unison of the rest of the music) made me cry.

Pot roast and mashed potatoes at a pub for dinner.

Thursday, April 9, highlights

Had an omelette for breakfast at a café near our hotel in the Financial District.

Took the Staten Island Ferry: beautiful sunshine, views of Statue of Liberty and Manhattan skyline. Lots of European languages/accents.

Visited South Street Seaport: cheeseburger from Nathan’s, Haagen Dasz for dessert. Ate by the water.

Walked through Battery Park: watched street performers called the Positive Brothers from the Bronx—they did acrobatic dancing (flips and jumping over people) with lots of high-energy yelling and crowd engagement.

Took subway to 14th Street; walked down Broadway to The Strand bookstore, bought Washington Square by Henry James.

Washington Square Park: saw the arch with the statues of George Washington; saw the huge, gnarly, twisted elm where they used to have public hangings; saw where the old guys sit and play chess. Saw the house where Henry James’ grandmother lived. Park was packed with people soaking up the sunshine. Stopped and listened to a Dixieland band play and sing “While We Danced at the Mardi Gras.” People were loving it. Toes tapping, nodding, smiling—all types of people. Felt refreshed and revived as we continued on.

Went on a neighborhood walking tour through Greenwich Village and Soho—saw homes/haunts of Louisa May Alcott, Theodore Dreiser, Alan Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Frank Zappa. Stopped for cappuccino at Café Reggio, an Italian café/coffee shop where supposedly the original owner first introduced cappuccino to New Yorkers. Charming and quaint with wrought-iron chairs and portraits of the Borgias on the walls.

Admired cast-iron architecture of Soho. Stopped at H&M and bought scarves—everything cute and cheap.

Evening: Met our friend Jonathan at his apartment in Soho. Walked to a restaurant—Westville—in the West Village where the serve 21 different vegetables every day. I had snapper and parmesan asparagus. Split chocolate soufflé and mixed berry cobbler for dessert. Jonathan told us what it’s been like for him to move to and live in the city: how he’s met people, what he does evenings and weekends, how he cooks (or doesn’t). He says people don’t hang out in each others’ homes as often as they meet up elsewhere because homes are so small.

Back to hotel and sacked out by midnight.

Friday, April 10, highlights

Breakfast with Karen’s friend Amanda, the wife of Karen’s future co-worker Peter. Ate (another omelette) at a little café in the Village. Amanda is a marketing director with a big corporation with an MBA from Princeton and is friendly and smart and beautiful. She also gave us her take on living in Manhattan: if you can achieve peace and poise in the midst of 4 million people crowding into your life, that’s something.

Walked around Greenwich Village some more after breakfast; beautiful. Trees budding and lacy against old stone and iron row houses. Sat in a “park” (no grass—stone-paved area with benches and tables and trees and lots of pigeons) and journaled and people-watched for a while. Very picturesque. Walked around some more, bought cupcakes at Magnolia Café to take to my friend Cindy for lunch.

Took Long Island Railroad to Northport to have a late lunch with my friend Cindy, a former co-worker from when I lived in upstate NY. Conductor almost threw a guy off the train for calling him an asshole. Very exciting authentic New York moment.

Long Island afternoon with Cindy. She was sweet and fun and welcoming, just like I remember from 10-plus years ago, and her girls are spunky and smart and cute.

Friday night: Pay-what-you-like night at the Whitney, an American art museum on Upper East Side. They had a lot of Edward Hopper—nice. Also a bizarre show called Protect Protect by Jenny Holzer with light boards displaying moving text, much of it anti-war. Made me dizzy to look at (and think about); there was a warning for people who are prone to seizures.

Delectable Indian food at a place called Tandoor Oven at 83rd Street and Third Avenue. Had a beautiful chicken jalfrazie. Chef sent us out a pistachio ice cream on the house.

Saturday, April 11, highlights (and lowlights)

Rain, rain, rain. Cold rain. Unrelenting rain. Cold wind.

Thwarted at many turns, starting with not being able to make coffee in the hotel room and poking myself in the eye with my mascara. Couldn’t find the right subway train, ended up walking many blocks in the rain, then couldn’t find the restaurant in Murray Hill where we were scheduled to meet Karen’s friend Aimee. Fortunately, found Cosmo’s Diner instead, where I had yet another wonderful omelette. Walls were decorated with Easter décor, along with Happy Passover sign in pastel-colored lettering. Observation: restaurants in NYC are like the Room of Requirement in Harry Potter, with exactly what you were looking up materializing at exactly the moment you need it.

Karen’s friend Aimee gave us her insights into city life: Everything takes a long time; nothing is convenient. Crowds get to you and frustrate you often. Greengrocers are great and cheap. The rewards of New York are incredible; the frustrations are excruciating.

Attempt to see a Broadway show thwarted: too expensive, too crass, or too something else. Ended up going to a movie instead: “I Love You Man,” which was hilarious but, unfortunately, quite crass.

Arrival of Tim! He drove in from Richmond to hang out for a while and found a place to park right by the hotel.

Walked around West Village and found a great Thai restaurant called Isle. Had shrimp asparagus—divine. Tim treated.

Walked to Soho to visit Jonathan. Met his friends Cassie, Amy, and Jason.

Sunday, April 12: Easter!

Subway to Upper East Side, walk through Central Park—gorgeous and sunny but cold and windy. Park was beautiful. Daffodils, forsythia, and some trees budding/blooming. City skyline above and behind park is amazing.

Reedemer Presbyterian service! Sat down and didn’t realize it but Tim Keller was having a conversation right there; first in front of us, then behind us. Awed to be in the presence of greatness. Classical music throughout service—choir and orchestra. High high high level of performers. Several testimonies of lives changed. Message from Tim Keller on Revelation, the New Jerusalem, and hope. He’s a brilliant mind.

Out to lunch with Karen’s family friends and their friends at a place near Grand Central Station. Everyone so friendly and welcoming, especially to Karen and she prepares to move. Good food again—Cobb salad. Quick look around Grand Central station. Then Tim went back to Richmond.

Chilled out and watched Masterpiece Theater (Little Dorrit) in hotel room, with one excursion out for pizza and olives.

Monday, April 13

Flight home. Read Henry James on the plane. Cramped and long flight, long wait for baggage, long ride on bus out to car. And then home.

Kristi’s Classic Pasta

This is a recipe I make often from things I tend to keep on hand. I’ve perfected and standardized it over the last six months or so, so I’m calling it mine.

1 box of whole wheat pasta, cooked al dente and drained (don’t rinse)*
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped and simmered in 1/4 c. olive oil*
1/4 to 1/3 c. parmesan*
1 c. frozen vegetables, heated through*
Salt and pepper to taste*
Italian herbs (basil, oregano, parsley) to taste
6 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
1 can of tuna or chicken, drained
Sprinkling of feta or blue cheese
Squeeze of lemon juice

Combine all and chow down.

*Starred ingredients are the only ones that are absolutely essential. It’s perfectly good with just these items—everything else is bonus.

Attack of the 50-foot editor

Last week at work we had what’s referred to in our world as an “editorial audit.” In this four-hour process, our corporate editorial director and a professor from Northwestern University come and critique our magazine, asking why we’re doing what we’re doing, commending us for things we do well, and suggesting ways to improve.

Well, one of the suggestions for improvement was the design of our Checking In page, my “letter from the editor.” I can’t post the page as it looks in print because it would violate our copyright rules, but it has a huge picture of me (much too huge for my comfort level) with the text wrapping around it.

Well, my objections to the page had hitherto gone unheeded, but the Northwestern professor said it was “a little bit Attack of the Fifty-Foot Woman.” I think my art director was offended—for herself because she designed the page but also on my behalf—but I laughed and laughed. I’m still laughing. Because it’s true. Needless to say, in the next issue I will be smaller.

A delicious, nonfat, nonprocessed, stick-to-your-ribs, cheap baked bean recipe

I made these beans over the weekend combining several recipes, and have been enjoying the results very much. They’re not fast, but they’re easy because it’s not a labor-intensive process. Perfect for a weekend project. So I thought I’d share—I know some of you get as excited about good recipes as I do.

2 c. navy beans (dried)
1 onion, diced
3 T. molasses or maple syrup
2 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
1/4 t. dry mustard (a squirt of prepared mustard would probably work too)
1/2 c. ketchup or a small can of tomato sauce or paste
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. brown sugar

1. Soak beans overnight in cold water. (Use a lot of water to cover the beans—they swell when cooking.) Simmer beans in same water until tender, about an hour. Drain and reserve liquid.

2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

3. Place about a third of beans in the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish. Add a layer of onion. Repeat a couple more times. (You could also add up to a half-pound of raw or cooked meat in the layering: bacon, ground beef, sausage, pork … sky’s the limit. But then they wouldn’t be nonfat, especially if you use bacon. Bacon makes them heavenly, but I didn’t miss the meat like I thought I would when I made them without.)

4. In a saucepan, combine molasses or syrup, salt, pepper, mustard, ketchup or tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar. Boil and pour over the beans. Add reserved bean liquid to just cover beans.

5. Bake three to four hours, starting with them covered. Remove cover halfway through baking and add bean water as necessary to keep the beans from drying out. (You can also add water and stir after they’re done baking if you find they’re too dry.) Test and take them out of the oven when they’re the right tenderness and sauciness for your liking.

My editor’s notes

In my new position, I have to write an editor’s letter for each issue of the magazine. It’s kind of like a blog—only I actually HAVE to do it. In the interest of repurposing content, here’s my first handful of “Checking In” columns.

April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
June 2008 (supplement)
July 2008

All right. All RIGHT. I’ll play.

I was blog-tagged by Jeff. I’ll post seven random (or “unlikely to be known by many folks”) facts about myself, but all the people I know who blog have probably already been tagged themselves. So this particular thread ends with me.

1. I drink about four cups of coffee a day.
2. I have never seen any Rocky movies. Or any Rambo movies.
3. I get a stupid sunburn every summer. You’d think after 35 years I’d catch on to the concept of SPF. But no.
4. I have a recently awakened yen to write fiction. Where it came from, I have no idea. Maybe it will go away.
5. I grow less tolerant of cold weather and winter darkness every year.
6. The question “Who is your favorite author?” practically sends me into a seizure. I cannot answer it well. I give a different response every time.
7. I have recently embarked on a fitness program that’s lasted six weeks. For me that’s a long time.

And there you have it. My yearly post.