The Shaking Knee

E Pluribus Anniversum

Me and the missus had a splendid 5-year anniversary adventure in NYC over the weekend. Funny how my favorite bits often come from our car trips to and from the destination. This time we had a few gems on the way down. 1.) Jazz music is cool until you actually have to listen to it. 2.) I love what my 1994 honda accord says about me. It says "I don't care what my car says about me." And 3.) It used to be that when the weather got screwy, it was God's doing. These days, it's all about us.

We had drinks at a little speakeasy in the village called Little Branch. It's on the corner of Leroy and 7th Avenue. Blink and you'll miss it. No sign (typical West Village). But the bartender takes loving care of each and every drink he makes. Maybe that's why it takes 15 minutes for him to make your drink. But it's time well spent. The drinks are fantastic. He wouldn't tell the Michelle the name of the drink he made her, but promised me I wouldn't have to peel her off the floor later that night. He was half right.

Then we had dinner at Little Owl on Bedford (yes, it's small too). We had to wait nearly two hours for a table, but again, it was worth it. The duck breast appetizer was phenomenal (just a touch of truffle oil) and Michelle's steak was out of this world.

California Dreaming

I woke up in the middle of the night last night with no idea where I was. This has been happening a lot to me lately, a sign of two things: I'm not getting enough sleep, and I'm traveling too much.

The whole family just got back from Los Angeles, where we stayed at the fancy-pants Shutters on the Beach resort. It's a great hotel, right on the beach in Santa Monica, walking distance to the pier. The kids loved it. And Michelle and I were reminded that vacationing with kids is not much like a vacation at all. That said, we all had a good time and caught up with lots of old friends. L.A. is an amazing, compelling place. You can just feel the youth and energy of a million hopes and dreams. It's packed with elements of "the good life" all tainted by smog and traffic. People from the East Coast commonly use the pollution and congestion of L.A. to justify why they don't live there. But the truth is, life is better in California, and anyone who says different is selling something.

Before that we were in St. Louis for my cousin Mike Mahowald's wedding. St. Louis was hot, but the wedding was good fun, and the reception was in Tilles Park under the Gloria Rodgers shelter, which kept us a little cooler.  The entire  Briody clan from the Rockaways made it out, and the Ridgefield Briody's were represented by John and Lori, L.P., and  us chickens.