Some Observations Relating To My Recent Trip to New York and the Edgar Awards
1. New York City cabbies expect you to know cross streets. If you don't, they expect you to find out. If your cheap pay and talk phone doesn't work in the U.S., they will lend you theirs. If you are being too slow about things, they'll get on the phone and demand that the person on the other end "get outside to meet your party".
2. The streets of Brooklyn are blessed with an epic superabundance of dog shit.
3. The subway system, while revered by New Yorkers, is an impenetrable mystery, even with the help of three maps and four helpful passersby. This means that the Asperger's guy who has memorized the NYC subway system should have been awarded a Nobel Prize and keys to the city rather than sent to jail.
4. The food at Diner is excellent. Seriously excellent.
5. Rebecca who owns the Hello Beautiful salons is fierce and a damned fine hair doer.
But I wouldn't go sassing back to her.
She and her stylists fit in perfectly in Patricia Field's shop on the Bowery. Also, Patricia Field looks in person exactly how she does in photos.
Cousin Megan almost bought a pair of these gloves to go with her gold lame dress. In the end, she bought a chicken feather headpiece instead. We figured she'd get more wear out of it.
6. The drop-in bluegrass jam in the little bar in the West Village is world-class entertainment. And it's free. Musicians are young, old, rich, poor, incredibly talented and just learning. It's very New York.
7. My cousin Tim's new stripey sweater that looks like a wrap and a shawl and little bit of fabulousness made me feel ready for anything.
8. My cousin Megan's new chocolate company, Coco Pony, produces the most exquisite handmade in Brooklyn treats.
9. The subway stinks (even worse) after it rains.
10. The carousel in Central Park shuts down early when it rains. Crying about it won't change that, as Tappen, Megan and I discovered.
11. Michael Connelly is instantly recognizable. Also, he wears a bowtie well and seems kind of lovely and reserved.
12. Laura Lippman is even more charming and funny and irreverent than I hoped. I told her I wanted to do the Tess Monaghan tour of Baltimore and she told me she's got one mapped out on her website so people won't get mugged. Also, she wants to visit B.C. I refrained from inviting her and David Simon to our house but would now like to let them know that the offer is permanent. I will attempt not to fawn. (And they can tour all of Nanaimo and will probably be safe, unless they go deep into Walmart territory. Then anything is possible.)
13. The woman who presented the awards for the young adult category rocked some serious boots. John Green, who won, had apparently left his pants somewhere. Lucky for him, he had another pair.
14. As soon as the awards were over, I ate my dessert with a lot more enjoyment.
15. Megan and I had the coolest hair at the Edgars. Harlan Coben (another hero) had no hair, and it looked good on him.
16. Sue Grafton was very classy.
17. Spanx are actually pretty comfortable. However, they look bad if your skirt floats up when you're taking the subway into the city.
18. Dim Sum Go Go in Chinatown is amazing. Really amazing. I could eat there every day and twice on Sundays.
19. Lauren Mechling was the perfect guide to Korean "bilibong" or whatever that stone dish filled with rice and other awesomeness is called. It's fun having someone else mix up one's food (our server). I'm thinking of requesting that the next time I go to Earl's.
20. A surprising number of people in New York have pit bull puppies.
21. Venezuelan food is outstanding. Really outstanding.
22. Staring out the window from Tim and Alex's apartment in Williamsburg across the Hudson Rover to downtown Manhattan at night is something I could do for hours every day.
23. LaGuardia airport is in desperate need of a facelift. Only one out of eight bathrooms worked and whole sections of the roof were sagging and leaking water. Obama's new infrastructure efforts should be aimed first at LaGuardia.
24. If I ever get invited to another Edgar Awards, I'm going to make a point of forgetting my pants. Just in case.
Megan and I...
Lovely Catherine from HarperCollins and Megan and I...
2. The streets of Brooklyn are blessed with an epic superabundance of dog shit.
3. The subway system, while revered by New Yorkers, is an impenetrable mystery, even with the help of three maps and four helpful passersby. This means that the Asperger's guy who has memorized the NYC subway system should have been awarded a Nobel Prize and keys to the city rather than sent to jail.
4. The food at Diner is excellent. Seriously excellent.
5. Rebecca who owns the Hello Beautiful salons is fierce and a damned fine hair doer.
But I wouldn't go sassing back to her.
She and her stylists fit in perfectly in Patricia Field's shop on the Bowery. Also, Patricia Field looks in person exactly how she does in photos.
Cousin Megan almost bought a pair of these gloves to go with her gold lame dress. In the end, she bought a chicken feather headpiece instead. We figured she'd get more wear out of it.
6. The drop-in bluegrass jam in the little bar in the West Village is world-class entertainment. And it's free. Musicians are young, old, rich, poor, incredibly talented and just learning. It's very New York.
7. My cousin Tim's new stripey sweater that looks like a wrap and a shawl and little bit of fabulousness made me feel ready for anything.
8. My cousin Megan's new chocolate company, Coco Pony, produces the most exquisite handmade in Brooklyn treats.
9. The subway stinks (even worse) after it rains.
10. The carousel in Central Park shuts down early when it rains. Crying about it won't change that, as Tappen, Megan and I discovered.
11. Michael Connelly is instantly recognizable. Also, he wears a bowtie well and seems kind of lovely and reserved.
12. Laura Lippman is even more charming and funny and irreverent than I hoped. I told her I wanted to do the Tess Monaghan tour of Baltimore and she told me she's got one mapped out on her website so people won't get mugged. Also, she wants to visit B.C. I refrained from inviting her and David Simon to our house but would now like to let them know that the offer is permanent. I will attempt not to fawn. (And they can tour all of Nanaimo and will probably be safe, unless they go deep into Walmart territory. Then anything is possible.)
13. The woman who presented the awards for the young adult category rocked some serious boots. John Green, who won, had apparently left his pants somewhere. Lucky for him, he had another pair.
14. As soon as the awards were over, I ate my dessert with a lot more enjoyment.
15. Megan and I had the coolest hair at the Edgars. Harlan Coben (another hero) had no hair, and it looked good on him.
16. Sue Grafton was very classy.
17. Spanx are actually pretty comfortable. However, they look bad if your skirt floats up when you're taking the subway into the city.
18. Dim Sum Go Go in Chinatown is amazing. Really amazing. I could eat there every day and twice on Sundays.
19. Lauren Mechling was the perfect guide to Korean "bilibong" or whatever that stone dish filled with rice and other awesomeness is called. It's fun having someone else mix up one's food (our server). I'm thinking of requesting that the next time I go to Earl's.
20. A surprising number of people in New York have pit bull puppies.
21. Venezuelan food is outstanding. Really outstanding.
22. Staring out the window from Tim and Alex's apartment in Williamsburg across the Hudson Rover to downtown Manhattan at night is something I could do for hours every day.
23. LaGuardia airport is in desperate need of a facelift. Only one out of eight bathrooms worked and whole sections of the roof were sagging and leaking water. Obama's new infrastructure efforts should be aimed first at LaGuardia.
24. If I ever get invited to another Edgar Awards, I'm going to make a point of forgetting my pants. Just in case.
Megan and I...
Lovely Catherine from HarperCollins and Megan and I...
posted by Susan Juby at
6:44 p.m.
