Dinner, dinner, dinner, and a movie

It's been raining since I returned from Morocco. This weekend, it finally cleared, and I began to leave my apartment.

Friday I met up with David. I took him to St. Marks and we wandered from packed Japanese restaurant to packed Japanese restaurant looking for a place to eat. He was surprised there were so many Asian restaurants in the area. After walking around the block, we ended up at Angel Share, where the wait was only 15 minutes. I had talked him into seeing Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and so we were on a set schedule. He had wanted to see Domino.

We ate at the bar, and watched as the chefs battered and deep fried shrimp, tofu, and vegetables. People came and went, brushing past us on their way in and out of the restaurant. We huddled over our food: boiled spinach, grilled squid and liver, broiled Japanese mackerel. We ate and thought about ordering more. David was impressed, and said he'd be back.

The movie was somewhat too long. The characters are brilliant in short form, but there wasn't quite enough material to warrant a feature film. If the film had been 40 minutes it could have been great.

Saturday, I went to the Hasted Hunt gallery for the VII exhibition. I called Mimi to see if she wanted to brunch in the area. She was on a bus headed towards Boston. I called Li-Ting. She was already having lunch in Nolita. I gave up and just looked at the photographs, which were very good. Unfortunately, the gallery exhibited a few photographs from each photographer, and the show lacked the cohesion of the Congo show at Engine 73. As photojournalists and documentary photographers, the work of the members of VII gains strength as they are allowed to tell stories. Seeing excerpts of their stories ended up frustrating me as I wanted to see more.

On the way home, I stopped at Bed, Bath, and Beyond to buy a hanging trash can for the kitchen. Once home, I realized it was too big to fit on the kitchen cabinet.

I called Eric to chat and he said he was at NYU. I asked if he wanted to meet later, and he said he'd call around 6:30. He was offlining his film to send out to festivals.

As I settled down to read, Todd called. He said he was back in town, and that he was hanging out in the playground around the corner from my house. I asked him if he had the baby with him, and he said yes. I told him I'd be down in five minutes.

Colette was adorable. Todd looked paternal. We caught up, and he told me he had moved into an apartment on Spring and Lafayette. We're practically neighbors. I told him I was excited to see him and excited he was back in the city. He said we should hang more often. I told him it was nice to know people in the neighborhood, especially for babysitting purposes.

The skies became suddenly overcast. It looked like rain and so we packed up and began walking home.

At 6:30, Eric called to say he was running late. I was at National Wholesale Liquidators buying cake pans. We arranged to meet at 7:45, and I continued shopping. At 7:45, I met him at NYU. He said he had five more minutes to go. I went up to the editing room and watched his film unspool. He had color corrected the video and it looked fantastic.

He wanted to take me to a Vietnamese sandwich shop he had recently discovered. He said it was cheap, though small, with only two tables. En route, we stopped by Kim's Music Video where Eric finally convinced me to buy a new DVD player.

When we walked into the restaurant, the woman behind the counter told us they had only six sandwiches left. We quickly ordered and grabbed one of the tables. A couple came in, and she warned that they had only one sandwich left. They said they'd share. Shortly thereafter, she stuck a cardboard sign on the counter announcing that they were out of sandwiches.

The sandwiches were great. I asked her where they bought their bread and she said she didn't know. Her father bought them and brought them in. I asked how long they had been in their current location. It had been a little over a year and a half. Originally, they had a shop in Brooklyn, but decided to move for a change of scene. She was much happer in the East Village and said that business was good. She wiped down the counter and put things away. She said goodbye as she left, leaving others to close up the shop.

We ate our sandwiches and drank our mango juice. People walked in and groaned when they saw the sign. Eric mentioned we should probably leave so they could lock up. He offered to buy me a milkshake.

We walked from St. Marks down to Prince Street sipping our shakes. By the time I was done, I began to feel tired. We parted ways at the N/R station on Broadway and I went home to set up my new DVD player.

Sunday, my uncle called. He said they was in New York and asked if I wanted to do dinner. I said yes, and arranged to meet them at their hotel at 6:45. In the afternoon, I cleaned. I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to return the trash can. The cashier asked me if there was anything wrong with it, and I said no. It was perfect, but too big for my cabinets. "You have small cabinets," he said. I resisted telling him I lived in New York.

For dinner, we ate in Koreatown. My cousin had just come in from Boston, and the four of us ate right next door to the hotel. I told him that since returning from Morocco, all I've been eating is Asian food. I hadn't realized I missed it so much.
Posted by eku at October 17, 2005 10:15 AM