Sometimes during the day, the best you can hope for is to get out of your own head. To stop listening to those voices that endlessly talk at you, and to find another voice to listen to instead.
Finished it today. It's a very sweet story and you can read it with your kid(s).
That’s why I read. And why I prefer escapist fantasy.
It’s also why I can still believe that I’m 23. Because I AM, dammit.
Today, I had an obligation to help someone, which required giving up a good portion of my day in order to do so. Which I did, and did without resentment. After all, it was me or nobody. I brought a couple of books to help pass the time, and I walked to a Starbucks a few blocks away where I got myself an iced coffee and sat by a window overlooking the green for an hour or so.
What I realized in that hour (or so) is that I don’t like iced coffee. I like hot coffee. And iced tea.
I also learned that I can be really productive in a coffee shop. Just not in the one near home. Because in the one near home, the tables are crammed in so tightly you can barely pull a chair out to sit in it. It’s also not conducive to work; too many moms and little kids, eavesdroppers, and general noise. (Plus, there’s always the chance you’ll run into someone you’d rather not run into.) The one not near home, which I sat in today, had business people, students, and tables spread out so as to give the illusion of space and privacy. I was in downtown New Haven, CT. Not a place I am particularly familiar with, except to drive through on the highway.
oh.my.god. I want to eat the entire thing. Right now.
I have, however, always wanted to try one or both of the “famous” pizza joints in New Haven: Frank Pepe Pizza or Sally’s Apizza. Either would have been fine today. Or we could have done a “pizza crawl” and gone to both. But then, that much pizza would probably put me into a coma for a couple of days and that’s never good. Well, it would be good going down, but that’s not where the worry is, is it? It’s just that I haven’t had good, New York style pizza since I moved to the boonies. And I miss it. A lot.
It's even smaller inside. The seats are built for 1895 people. They were smaller then; narrower.
Lunch, however, was not of my choosing and we ended up at Louis’ Lunch. They have famous burgers. Personally, I’d take famous pizza over famous burgers any day. Especially if it’s on a day when I’ve finally realized I don’t like the iced coffee I’d overpaid for. Which I drank anyway. Because I’d paid for it. Just as I ate the burger (that I didn’t want) without ketchup (which I did want). But you don’t ask for ketchup at Louis’. Apparently it’s a law. If you ask for ketchup, they shoot you or something. So I ate it without ketchup because I was hungry and didn’t want to get shot.
It's a big-ass burger
It was a good burger. But it will be with me for days. However, if you find yourself in New Haven and you like a good burger, by all means go there. You won’t be sorry. But if, like me, you prefer pizza, and you get pizza, please tell me about it so I can live vicariously through you. Okay?
Interesting building across the street. An old carriage house or something. Where you can now get a drink.
ps. I got off track again, didn’t I? I started with escapist fantasy and ended with pizza. Hmmm, escapist pizza?
