Missing Mambo

Well, i ended up not heading to williamsburg last night for jackee's party, which i'm pretty sad about, especially after emailing a couple friends about how i wasn't going to let the weather hold me back, and how lame i thought my partypartner was for bowing out due to something as petty as driving wind and hail biting into your face. I was all ready: dressed up in my new shirt, flat front slacks, houndstooth jacket, gene kelly tie and freshly shaved head (the oxblood shoes weren't going to make the trip in any case), and looking, well, i suppose about as good as i ever get to look. Then i got a call from a friend who wanted me to join her and her roomie for dinner right out here in the 'boken. I declined at first, figuring i'd just nosh at home then get out to billyburg, but then i thought - hey, why not trade in the cancelled dinner out for a different one, and ended up joining them. And as i was leaving my apartment, i got a call from jackee saying it was really bad out and maybe i shouldn't come after all. I was like, 'no, you're having a party, i want to go.' And she was like, 'really? You want to cross two rivers and trudge through the tundra?' So we left it that i'd check in after dinner and see how things were going.

Dinner, by the way was fantastic - met at zafra with caroline and nicole, whom i'd met at their housewarming party last weekend. Hadn't been to zafra before, and it was great: a cuban place with excellent food, pretty good service and a fab atmosphere. We had a potato appetizer with an incredible sauce; a main dish of roast pork -perfect: some of the best i've ever had - and one of spicy chicken skewers and sweet potato that was also very nice; and side dishes of kale and fried plantain. It's a BYO place (which i love) so we had some pinot grigio that we brought along, and skipped dessert (as even with only two main dishes, it was enough food for there to be takehome leftovers). I'll SOOOOO be going back there; let me know if you want to make the trip.

Anyway, as we finished up and stepped back out, the hail was as bad as ever and there was a surprising amount of accumulation. The gals had talked me into watching a movie with them, so i called jqln to let her know when we got back to their place. Of course, the party was rockin'. D'oh! But at this point, it just wasn't going to happen - it was already 10:30, i was a half mile from the train station, the train ride(s) would take a minimum of a half hour, and then another half mile walk through the snow to get to her crib. Still, i felt lame as hell about missing it.

On the other hand, it was great hanging with nicole and caroline. They're very cool, have a great place (ah, the 'boken), and we finished off the magnum of pinot and watched 'half nelson.' Which was great; one of those movies that fuck your shit up.

In one scene, a character puts on the 'free to be you and me' lp and plays it's alright to cry, sung by rosey grier. I giggled a bit, and caroline said "what is that song?" She'd never heard it, or heard of 'free to be...' And why should she have, i suppose, that film being a total product of the height of women's lib circa 1973? It was a part of the childhood of a lot of people i know, though, of a bunch of age groups: i've met people in their early 20s who appear to know every word, and people older than that who've never heard of it.

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure, check out rosey.