Last night, I met Toby for a deceivingly healthy looking meal at Zen Palate on Union Square. I haven’t had bread in nearly three weeks. Nor have I had anything fried or battered in any way. I’ve been, quite possibly, the most annoying creature to eat out with. I check everything. I ask questions from “what’s in the sauce” to “is it made here? On a grill or in the oven?” I turn things down. I ask to have things removed, added, turned, circled, and poked. I’m my own worst nightmare. I’m one of those people I HATED while working as a waitress. I’m having trouble living with myself.
But last night, I ordered something that was actually on the menu and my only request was, “Go light on the sweet and sour.” The waitress was totally cool with that. In fact, she finished the sentence for me. So that was a good sign. When my meal arrived, it was predominately orange. It sat on top of a bed of broccoli. The green and orange reminded me of pumpkins and the pie they make, (another item not meant to be eaten during phase 1 and 2 of the South Beach Diet.) I ate it slowly. The batter was foreign but I ate it. And afterwards I was giddy with a faint sugar buzz.
After dinner, we headed to Barnes and Noble to do some much needed book shopping. Now that cable television has mostly turned to reruns, we’re forced to use our minds at night again. We spent 143.00. We picked up all of the following books:
The new book by Anne Beattie called Follies. (I love Anne Beattie.)
A light toilet-time read called SELinux: NSA’s IOpen Source Security Enhanced Linux. by some Huge Nerd.
A book that likes to make me cry and laugh on every page called Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer a fellow Brooklyner.
Another light read called Editor Pocket Reference by Arnold Robbins and Gigi Geektastic.
A book that would put me to sleep called Cryptography: A Very Short Introduction by Fred C. Piper and Sean Murphy.
And a book by the hottest, sexiest geek in the world, PHP5: Your Visual Blueprint for Creating Open Source, Server-Side Content. by none other than TOBY JOE BOUDREAUX!!!!!
YAY TOBY!!! And if you’re bored, read this review by some fella over at Amazon.
How cool is it Toby’s name is on Barnes and Noble AND Amazon? Man, I love my beaner. What a smart beaner he is even if he does use examples in the book that read:
There are monkeys in the toaster.
Cute.
After we spent a small fortune at B&N, we headed over to the theater to watch Thom Pain, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I laughed. A lot. And I have questions I simply MUST ask my favorite gal pal, Missy. (I need to know stuff about planted people, etc. We must compare notes.) James Urbaniak did a wonderful job, in my opinion. He did, however, make me super nervous (that’s the point) as we were in the front row and there was a lot of one-on-one audience/cast member confrontation. It was a bit disconcerting. It’s meant to be. If you’re in the NYC area, I highly recommend checking it out.
You were in the front row? You poor thing. I was smack dab in the middle and I felt nervous. Also, now that I hear you have questions about planted people, I feel better, because I was wondering about the plants. (Except for the very last thing in the play—that seemed genuinely random.)
Er, not random. I meant not a plant.
Scott has stacks of Linux books all over the place. He and Toby should go camping and talk OS stuff and whatnot. :D
You and I can have tea on the veranda. Well, ok…I don’t really have a veranda. But I do have a grand Oak tree that we can lounge under!
Wait, what last thing? Maybe it was random, because I don’t know what you’re referring to. Yeah, front row. We were very nervous. We weren’t sure whether it was worse to look AT him or away from him. I chose AT him. :]
Amanda! I had no idea Scott was a nerd. that’s rulin’. Yes, let’s plan a geek vacation.
Was someone brought on stage?
yes, but that was about .50 before the end. right? Some guy from the front row. Poor fella. Tho, Toby thinks he may have been a plant, too. i wasn’t sure. :/
That’s what I meant. My dude looked like he was under 30, with curly hair. And he stayed up there looking a little clueless until the very end of the play.
same guy. guess he was a plant after all. Why is Toby always right? WHY?! ;]
That is SO cool about Toby’s book there! Seeing your name in print is the best feeling. I wrote a library-market biography a few years ago…nothing great and a flat fee…but I love searching my name on Amazon every once in a while to find it.
;-)
toby had to buy his own book? weird. I think the monkey examples sold me…I may have to pick up a copy as well!
Well, they said they were sending him some copies, but we haven’t gotten them yet. I just could not leave the store without one. :/ It’s that instant gratification thing all over again. :]
When does the book signing tour begin? Maybe we can pair him up with Anne Coulter.
I would LOVE to have dinner with Toby Joe and Anne Coulter.
i would LOVE to be able to tell my anne coulter jokes in public
what on earth is stopping you? Lord knows, nothing stops her.
well, the problem is this
i was trying to figure out how to make a joke—but not just any joke, the kind of joke that nobody has ever made before, and few people ever would dare
so i tried hard and long to figure out what i could make a joke about—and then it hit me. nobody, and i mean nobody, would ever joke about rape. there’s nothing funny about it. nothing in least.
unless the victim is Ann Coulter—then you might get a slight chuckle
(the entire post, not just the last line, was the joke in its entirety)
So glad the new Safran Foer is good – I loved the first one so much (Everything is Illuminated). Oh to be able to write like that… Still enjoying your blog mihow, thanks for writing.
Thanks, fiona. Yeah, it’s wonderful so far. I already miss it and I’m only half-way through. Must. Savour.
Yum! I love Sweet & Sour Sensation from ZP!
I just finished Nicole Krauss’ book “The History of Love” and highly recommend it. She is Jonathan Safran Foer’s wife and an accomplished writer in her own right. I plan to read her first book “Man Walks into A Room” soon.
(BTW, I liked “Extremely Loud…” quite a lot but was quickly put off by “Everything is Illuminated”.)
I just finished Extremely Loud and adored it. I may have cried and cracked up a lot. I will pick up his wife’s book immediately. Thanks, missy.
Before you ruin your eyes with all that reading you should know that a new season of Reno 911 starts tomorrow night.
Toby absolutely ADORES that show. It’s so damn funny. Thanks, Donald! We needed some new TV.
oh, rad, toby’s book is out. i’ll put it on my work card. miss you kids. when are you guys coming home? your absence is unnatural.