Pizza and beer pairing

No, not papa john's and bud light. Pshaw, you think I would even dare post such a thing?

This Saturday, Jim Lahey (of Sullivan Street and no-knead bread fame) is hosting a pizza and beer pairing at his beloved restaurant, Co. Prounounced, "Company". I love pairings, food and drink especially, plus it usually indulges my preference of tasting a little bit of everything. And really there's something so magical about two people, each so knowledgeable about their own specific craft, coming together and creating beautiful yummiful harmony. Cue Hallelujah music.

Do I sound like a food freak yet?

The beer part of the pairing is brought to you by the lovely people over at Six Point Ales. Six Point, for all you Westcoasters, is a local Brooklyn brewery (woot woot Red Hook) that was born not to long ago, in 2004. They make some pretty kick ass local brews that can be found throughout the city, and you all know how I'm a fan of all things local. Not to mention, their website is stellar.

I have a prior engagement (DC's birthday! hooray!) but you can bet that if it weren't her, I would be in Chelsea on Saturday.

It's $35, pretty phenomenal for an afternoon of pizza and beer. Location, time, and RSVP info here.

For the Unemployed, the Day Stacks Up Differently

By AMANDA COX, SHAN CARTER, KEVIN QUEALY and AMY SCHOENFELD

Published: July 31, 2009

Nearly 1 in 10 members of the American work force are unemployed — a level not seen in 27 years.

Multimedia

Interactive Graphic

How Different Groups Spend Their Day

Without a paying job, these Americans have picked up other forms of labor: vacuuming the house, sending out résumés, taking classes and caring for family. And the unemployed have more time for leisure and socializing.

Sunday Business analyzed new data from the American Time Use Survey to compare the 2008 weekday activities of the employed and unemployed. The comparison may seem obvious, but differences in time spent by these two groups can be striking.

On an average weekday, the unemployed sleep an hour more than their employed peers. They tidy the house, do laundry and yard work for more than two hours, twice as much as the employed. The unemployed also spend an extra hour in the classroom and an additional 70 minutes in front of the television.

The annual time use survey, which asks thousands of residents to recall every minute of a single day, is important to economists trying to value the time spent by those not bringing home a paycheck.

"If all we were doing is substituting production at home for production in the marketplace," said Daniel S. Hamermesh, an economics professor at the University of Texas at Austin, "then maybe unemployment wouldn't be so bad."

summer time fun

still no interwebz at home. I realized, after not having internet access at my fingertips for a few days, that I spend a heckuva lot of time online, and that there's not much to do at home without it.

Luckily it's summer in New York.

I know, I know, technically it's summer in many places in the world, but summer in New York is special, unlike any summer anywhere else. How do I describe it? The city becomes an ultra-lively activity-driven place on the weekdays and the weeknights, and then slows down to a perfect strolling pace on the weekends. Lots of out-of towners parade through midtown, walking far too slow for anyone's good, and all the hipsters and yuppies alike come out of their hipster yuppie holes to bask in grassy ditches in Parks. Outdoor seating is set up at every other restaurant, free shows and movies and markets are offered throughout the each borough, and any mode of transportation can be taken on Fridays to get OUT of the city. Oh, and the magic word to get people to come to your party: ROOFTOP. It's like a strange mix of summer vacation and summer camp and summer projects rolled into two months worth of sun (well, this year it's more thunderstorms than sun) and humidity and friends. It's my third summer here - yikes! - and though this seasonal city-wide celebration has become quite familiar, there is a difference this year in that now I am unemployed. All the better! Also for some reason my friends have suddenly become cooler this year, more adventurous, more available to eat see hear do new things.

So what kind of "things" can one do in New York in the upcoming weeks? I, for one, am going to try to make it out to a Hudson River Flick next week. Maybe pick up some picnic fare at the Chelsea Market and watch the sun set over the Hudson. Lots of park frolicking, including NY Phil's summer series in Central Park next Tuesday and Friday (which reminds me, I should check out the much discussed Anne Hathaway in Shakespeare in the Park). There are market market markets galore in Brooklyn each weekend this summer....and something's going on between the South Street Seaport and LIC that I need to explore too. Free Dirty Projectors concert in Wburg next Sunday, and then a yoga party the Saturday after that at the studio - a yoga class choreographed to music by The Beatles. whoa, am I becoming too much of a granola nut now with all this enthusiastic yoga chatter? Sorry.

***image taken last summer from Madison Square Park looking towards the Empire State Building

Slow Down

Campbell, CA, c.1987 I wasn't allowed near a stove but that certainly didn't stop me from cooking up a storm.

As most people who read this blog (does anyone read this blog?) know, I am quite enthralled by the world of food. Making it, eating it, reading about it, I love it all. My mom would always tell me that as an infant, I would refuse canned and jarred baby food, only eating homemade meals that my dear mother so painstakingly cooked each day. Why she didn't just threaten I starve or shove a jar of Gerber's puree down my throat I have no idea. I guess somewhere between birth and learning how to eat I also honed a very sophisticated palate, and my mother decided to appease this.

In retrospect it's easy to see how my early love of food was further encouraged as I grew older by the accessibility to develop my tastes and awarenesses. I grew up not on Captain Crunch and Fruity Pebbles, but "healthy" cereals such as Kix, Basic 4, or Bran Flakes. The Chinese culture taught me to love trotters (pigs feet), whole fish, dried squid, chicken feet, seaweed, and pork belly- wayyy before New York over-popularized the poor cut of meat. I never knew avocados didn't really exist in some parts of the nation, have gone apple/cherry/blackberry picking as a weekend sport, and thanks to mom was frequenting Farmers Markets and eating locally and seasonally at a very early age.

When I started working in restaurants in high school I really saw how different people were in their tastes. You can really separate those who eat for just consumption purposes, and those who eat for enjoyment- just by watching them for ten minutes while they dine. In my opinion, the latter is always more fun as a customer. As I moved on to different restaurants, I became more aware of the dynamics between food and culture, how people were able to use food as a source of discussion and debate, how it could become art....pleasure. I even took a class in college that focused on Food in Modern Culture, watching Tampopo for the first time and realizing that Food and Surrealist movement probably weren't so different after all. At the ripe age of 21 (okay, maybe a little beforehand) I became aware that wine wasn't some nasty grape juice, and likewise with beer, port, whiskeys, grappas, ohh the list goes on. I know I am completely romanticizing food and wine right now and frankly probably sound quite ridiculous, but I'm dead serious.

Anyway this mini-rant leads me to my current food infatuation: Slow Food. Or, more generalized, the slow food movement. Starting in the hippie-infested slums of Berkeley, I'd like to describe very succinctly that it's the movement to bring local, sustainable, and Old World ideals back to our every day eating. It's about providing a food system that is clean, fair, and healthy for both producers and consumers alike. If it's anything that will save the world, it's the slow food movement. That, and abolishing my credit card debt. But save that for another time...

I think my early infatuation and experiences with food, with eating, with eating WELL has led me to the place that I'm currently at in my young adulthood. Which is in New York, broke, and trying to eat as well as I can. Eating sustainably doesn't mean you HAVE to grow your own garden and become a vegetarian and convert to buddhism and spend loads of yuppie cash at the Farmer's Market. It just means putting that extra little care to know where your food comes from, making sure that you're eating according to the season and that you're not stuffing your face with HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) and a bunch of other chemicals I can't even begin to spell let along pronounce. And yes, I do care about the environment, but I'm mainly doing it because frankly, it tastes and feels so much damn better. Ok, example: gross Entenmann's coffee cake that is loaded with bad fats and processed sugars and has been sitting on a shelf for years and was probably made in a factory in Venezuela, or my fresh homemade seasonal Rhubarb Coffee Cake that I baked this morning, laden with pure butter, brown sugars, and fresh eggs? (slightly exaggerating about the Entenmann's cake for comparison purposes, please don't sue me) Which one do you think will taste better? Huh? That's what I thought.

I am so zealous about this ideal that I would likely call it the closest thing to my religion. Though I wish I had enough energy, time, and money to carry this through in all aspects of my lifestyle and habits, I'm unfortunately sometimes too lazy, sometimes too short-of-time, and sometimes too broke to eat live and breathe Green all day. But I do what I can, which I think is more than some can say, right?

Anyway, I will close out the post by plugging my version of a PSA and tell you to please check out Slow Food USA for tons of useful information and volunteer opportunities and fun events in your hood. I'm a member of Slow Food NYC, and though I can't describe what exactly I do as a member (nothing, really) it helps when you want to do fun foodie things with fun foodie people. I'm going to a wine tasting tonight at the Astor Center featuring the wines of the Finger Lakes (in central NY). Fun Foodie drinking, most excellent!

I'm so high

Hi friendsies. I've been busy being sick this weekend, but managed to get out of the house to do a few not-sick activities.

View from the Highline onto 16th Street

Got a chance to check out The Highline last week. I know all New Yorkers are blogging/posting/twittering about this, but for those of you non-New Yorkers (or New Yorkers who have their heads up their arses) The Highline is a magical place. Well, sorta. The Highline is the newest multi-million dollar park renovation project supported by a special committee along with NYC's department of parks and recreation. The project aimed to transform a stretch of what used to be an elevated rail used to lift dangerous freight trains up and down the city's Westside to a large pedestrian-only park area. Though only partially complete, the eventual project will span a mile-and-a-half, from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District all the way to 34th Street. I thought they did a beautiful job reconstructing the old railways, loved the landscaping, the views of the city, and how they left little bits of the track exposed here and there. It really is great to see the city preserving and re-invigorating spaces like this. It was gorgeous during the day, and can't wait to see it at night!

Learn to Communicate....

Going to swing by this opening tonight. See you there?

Day 1

Quote of the day:

"Let's start a book club, where all we do is watch movies"

I tossed and turned last night, a mixture of anticipation and anxiety keeping me up. That, and the 90-degree days NY has been experiencing have left me with a close to 80-degree room for me to sleep in.

Today was day one of unemployment. Unbeknownst to me, it's now commonly referred to as "Funemployment". Hm. We'll see if it lives up to that. Since I don't want to fall into the deep dark depths of white-trash unemployment (read: drink until wee hours of the morning, sleep in 'til the afternoon, watch Price is Right/Days of Our Lives/Maury, eat jenny craig TV dinners) I am trying to create a schedule for myself, filled with many fun activities. Factivities? Anyway, these activities, so far, are comprised mostly of having lunch with friends who are either unemployed or have odd-hour jobs, and trying to do yoga/go to the gym. Fun.

I celebrated Day One by meeting up with my funemployed mentor Laura. No really, she is my inspiration in layoff life, talk about milking unemployment for all it's worth... I also think she was the only person, when I told her I was getting laid off, that actually physically jumped for joy and told me what great news it was. And no, she doesn't hate me. I think...

Back to lunch. We ate at Egg- I kept hearing about this place, but since I don't eat eggs, there wasn't much desire for me to go there. duh. But after perusing through their menu upon Laura's suggestion (and this amazing drool-inducing article in Edible Brooklyn) ohhhh meohmy there was SO much desire to go there! For all you breakfast aficionados, they serve breakfast until 3pm every day. And for all you penny-pinching aficionados, all their main breakfast/lunch plates hover around $7-$8. Their menu was simple but so elegant and rich, how could I say no? And looking back, it is everything I look for in a solid neighborhood joint. A great, open atmosphere, good music, super quirky waiter who gets things done with a smile on his face, great hearty fare imported from artisanal farms, and the strongest iced coffee I've had in awhile. AND the two of us had a perfect filling lunch for $20. Yum, on account of stomach and my wallet.

We also had great lunch conversation, which is where that quirky quote of the day came from. Laura did nothing short of coach me through what will be a rough week one of unemployment. Rough, only because it's so foreign and so mind-alteringly different. I mean, I am not gonna lie- I've been ridden with anxiety this entire weekend. So many what-ifs, so many things up in the air. What if I don't want to work right away, what if I pass up job opportunities now and they don't come back, what if I become straight up lazy, what if I slowly drift away from my friends at work, what if WHAT IF WHAT IF. So many of them. Laura managed to assuage my minor freak out and bring me back down to funemployment land. She told me about all the people she's met and networked with since she was laid off, the opportunities that have been presented to her, the trips that she has taken, and the lovely projects she has been able to work on, the super cool program she is volunteering with (http://feastinbklyn.org), and how the new thing to do is to barter services for goods.

It's a novel idea- this new concept on bartering goods. In a time where so many people are unemployed, it's really a great tool, both for your own benefit and to others, not to mention to build community character and comraderie as well. I'm totally into it.

From our lunch we took a short walk around Wburg into Spoonbill and Sugartown, my favorite independent bookstore in NY. I got two books, and the reason I share this with you is because this is one of them:

Excuse the shitty picture, but you get the idea. I mean, I like Tom Robbins and all, but really, the main reason I purchased this book was for its cover. (And the $2 price tag)

I came home, and after spending about an hour looking at craft blogs, my mind was spinning and I could barely keep my eyes open. So I took a nap.

No one told me unemployment was so exhausting.

I'm here.

For once, I'm aware, ready, and able for a change.

I've gotten laid off from my job. It's weird. It's good. Don't be sad, I'm pretty damn near elated. I'm joining the ranks of the increasingly large unemployment population, so I hold solace in the fact that I am not alone. In fact, we've even gotten a raise (thanks, NYC 8.1% unemployment rate)!! Despite my current state of bliss over not having a job, I can't deny that it wasn't the second-biggest shock of my life (the first was learning that I was accepted into college). When I was called in for a meeting with T at 5pm that ill-fated Thursday evening, I knew something was up, but can you really be prepared for something like this? How do you simply accept being told that you will no longer be doing something that you have been doing every day for the last 800-or-so days of your life? And no matter how much you are told that being "let go" has nothing to do with performance issues, good/bad or otherwise, you can't help but wonder if you could have done more- and that's the worst feeling in the world. It's a horrible swirling tornado of regret and embarrassment and all those sorts of negative, self-abashing emotions. I wrote a pretty long journal entry the day or two after I was given notice- but it's too much to go into right now, maybe I'll transcribe that another day within a more focused entry. This entry is meant to be slightly more unfocused.

In the end, I've realized it was simply that I have (had?) what is/was probably the most expendable position at one of the largest primary market galleries in New York. As a bonus, I work in sales, at a time where there's not really a huge demand in the luxury-goods industry... so, well, you get the idea. Anyway the gallery has also assured me that they are very regretful to see me go (am I a fool to wholeheartedly believe this?), and I was offered four more weeks at work to finish things up, a month's worth of severance, and open access to everyone's rolodexes. Seriously, I don't think I've ever had this much support and recommendations since, well, ever! Note to self: a good way to network is to get laid off.

So what now? To reiterate, I'm happy to be leaving. I had been struggling in what was an unbelievably stagnant career (if you could even call it that), on a path that I didn't even know if I wanted to be on. I hate to sound terribly cliche, but this break will really allow me to re-evaluate what I've done in the last two+ years (holy moses, what have I been doing these last few years???!). And if I want to continue on this path, where I can go. Then again, if all signs point to the opposite, then what should I be doing? What CAN I be doing? Hot diggity, a real-life choose your own adventure, how exciting!

In fact, I am so excited to be out of a job that I've already compiled a fairly lengthy list of all the things I'll be able accomplish, some that have been on my to-do list for quite some time now. A sample of these things include:

• write (to be accomplished in blog form)
• Bake for friends/for a cause!!
• Get a hot glue gun + Craft it up
• Take a train along the Hudson on a random weekday, explore past the 5 boroughs
• Volunteer on a farm for a few days
• Organize my iTunes library + playlists
• REGULARLY go to the gym/lose the freshman 15 I've had since, sadly, freshman year.
• pick up my diploma from UCLA (err, four years later, I know.)
• Shop at the farmers market on a regular basis
• Get a bike. Bike around/explore Brooklyn
• Start taking pictures again, start painting again
• Go to more art shows/write about said art shows

So, as you can see, I will have no shortage of things to do in my soon-to-be omnipresent free time. I also plan to hang out all the time with my friend LFerg, who is also currently reveling in the world of unemployment, so my social life won't be at a complete loss without my gallery girlfriends.

Anyway, back to this blog. I was told by my good coworker/friend/travel companion/all around awesome girl D that I should start a blog. Maybe she said this in pure jest, who knows, but I've been thinking about it, ever since she mentioned in two weeks ago. Alas, after conquering my fears of being just another indulgent blogger without any readership, I logged on today to weigh my cyber-journalistic options. I'm going with blogspot. After typing in an access word (why do they make you do this? they are never real words and are rarely ever legible: my word was psyosse, wtf is that?!) and picking my "theme" (minima), I am now a (proud) member of the cybercommunity.

Also very important was what to title this blog. Oh, the all-important title! You may find it silly, but a huge reason why I have never started a blog was because I could never think of a clever, stellar title for one (oh, the vanity!). I would hate for my writings to be filed under just another "random musings" type titled blog. I wanted to think of something clever and witty that had my name in it, but Jessie doesn't rhyme with anything but messy and hasn't been used in very many useful pop culture references (Jessie's Girl was not going to make the cut), and alas my lifetime struggle with a fairly dull last name proved to be a major disappointment again. I was then going to title this untitled, a clever tribute to my life in the art world, but decided not to tie this to something that I'm getting away from. So came about the name afterlife, as I feel like this is the end of a huge part of my life, and the beginning to something truly special/inspirational (awww). Plus that wiki entry that I linked to is pretty impressive.

I promise that most entries will be significantly shorter and significantly more significant, with many more kewl piktyures for all those who hate all that philosblogical bullshit and just look at blogs for their pics, like I do. I'd like for this to be a place to log what I am doing, now that I haven't got much to do. It will also prove to myself that I am doing something, blogging at the least, and simultaneously assure anyone who cares that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Though I'd like to think that it will be somewhat poignant, what will most likely occur is that my afterlife will be a hodgepodge of a forum where I talk about my pet peeves, what I ate, how much coffee I drank, and where I can use the vocabulary I am not clever enough to use in everyday conversation. I also forsee it being a bunch of run-on sentences, so readers be warned! And finally, I am secretly hoping that this blog can be a channel to obtain my ultimate wants in life: Cool furniture, free food, a super cool job, and a boyfriend. Is that hoping for too much?

My job-lessness begins effective next Tuesday...so stay tuned....