Ink and Honey

Quote of the Week:
"When Ra weeps again, the water which flows from his eyes upon the ground turns to working bees. They work in flowers and trees of every kind, and wax and honey come into being." ~ The Salt Magical Papyrus as quoted in The Sacred Bee in Ancient Times and Folklore by Hilda M. Ransome.

Picasso gently grabbed my arm with his sexy black rubber gloves and seconds later the buzzing needle pierced my skin. I squeezed CME's hand and tried to focus on Mrs. O's comedic banter, which was successfully entertaining not just me, but anyone within earshot. After a few minutes, though, the pinch deepened and the drone of the needle took over my mind. As I winced in pain, the week flashed before my eyes.

Monday
A date with a jazz musician began at P.J. Clarke's on 3rd Avenue and 55th Street. (I abhor midtown, but I didn't want to be difficult.) Established in 1884, P.J. Clarke's is a New York classic once known for famous patrons like Frank Sinatra. As is typical for the venue, the large after-work crowd was too noisy for first-date conversation. Upon my suggestion, we went instead to one of my favorite dives, Subway Inn Bar on 61st Street and Lexington.

I was enjoying myself enough when the conversation turned toward the NY marathon. My date had failed to gain entry through the lottery and was offered a chance to run with a charity that fights obesity among children for a $1,000 donation. He decided against this option, however, because he didn't understand why an organization needs $1,000 to take a doughnut away from a kid.

Yes, he said that.

Most likely, you just had one of two reactions to this statement:

Reaction 1: Like myself and CME, your sensibilities were offended and you sounded arguments such as, 'Obesity is much more complicated than removing sweets from a child's hands. Education, psychology, economics all play a role. Perhaps the child only has cheap doughnuts to eat."

Reaction 2: Like Mrs. O, you laughed and said, "That's really funny! Come on, don't you think that's funny?"

I pondered a second date, if for nothing else than some fancy-panties fun, but then I received his lukewarm follow-up e-mail requesting not a second date, but help with PR for his day job. So charming!

Tuesday
I arrived at North Cove Marina downtown for a singles fundraiser wearing a cute halter dress and high-wedged shoes. There was a large two-story boat sitting in the water. I walked toward it excitedly, realizing about half way there that my event was not on the large, barely moving boat; it was on the tiny sailboat next to it that was bobbing and swaying on the waves. My stomach churned nervously while I waited for LP and wished I had worn flip-flops.

The event was co-hosted by Give-and-Date and Green Drinks NYC to benefit the Council on the Environment for New York City (CENYC). Green Drinks NYC hosts monthly networking events for "people interested in environmental issues." Give-and-Date is a fledgling company that connects singles through fundraising. CENYC is a non-profit organization that provides recycling and environmental educational programs, runs Greenmarket (NYC's farmer's market program), and helps communities create gardens all over the City.

The most interesting part of the evening was a chat with Marcel Van Ooyen the charming, but married Executive Director of CENYC. I learned that Astoria almost had a Green Market blocks away from my house, but local businesses refused to allow it. What is up with that, Astoria!? The most disappointing part, aside from the lack of interesting single men, was the use of non-recyclable plastic plates and cups. Green Drinks?

Wednesday
Dinner at Kajitsu on East 9th St. with AH was a tasting menu of eight vegan courses showcasing a variety of textures and aesthetics. The prettiest course was the first--agar-agar aspic with summer vegetables. Agar is a seaweed-derived substance used in place of gelatin in vegan cuisine. Little bits of pinwheeled okra, rectangular flecks of green and red, and tiny two-pronged stems of what appeared to be seaweed were suspended in a clear rectangle. Despite my aversion to the mushiness of gelatin and the sliminess of seaweed I quite enjoyed the tasty little dish.

The courses rolled on with celery root soup, konnyaku and stewed tomatoes, housemade soba noodles, nama-fu and vegetable tempura, lotus-root rice, mochi with pistachios, and matcha. Each dish was served on hand-made wood or earthen ware. Some of the textures were challenging to a Japanese-food novice, particularly the konnyaku--"noodles" made from a Japanese root, the nama-fu--a chewy tofu-like substance made from wheat gluten and sweet rice and the mochi--a glutinous rice substance that is commonly served in ice cream. The course I enjoyed most was the last. Matcha is a frothy bitter green tea. It was served with three tiny sugary shapes that dissolved sweetly on the tongue under the wash of the bitter tea.

As fun and interesting as the experience was, I don't think the eight-course meal lived up to the $70 price tag. The soba-noodle and rice courses were rather bland and seemed to be "fillers" more than gourmet cuisine.

Thursday
A busy, draining day.

Friday
The pinch of the needle brought my mind back to Mrs. O's lively chatter. I squeezed CME's hand harder as Picasso engraved the wings of the honey bee that was being inked in black on my pale forearm. We were at Sacred Tattoo on Broadway between Canal and Howard.

In December Mrs. O gave me a delicate gold necklace with a queen-bee charm. She said it reminded her of me. It is good to be the queen, and of course, it's nice to be able to fly away.

Honey bees are not only gastronomically important, they are integral to the ecological cycle. As a bonus, they have symbolic history. The Egyptians saw honey bees as the tears of the sun-god Ra. Some sources indicate that honey represented resurrection. Bees also protected against evil spirits and were associated with the Goddess Neith.

Okay, so bees are nice, but you might still ask why I decided to have one permanently drawn on my body. Well, because sometimes we need symbols, and I felt compelled to choose the bee as one of mine.

After Picasso's work was done, the three of us admired the simple Egyptian hieroglyph I had chosen for my honey-bee representation. I proudly waved my arm at the man in the room next door who was having his entire back tattooed with elaborate and beautiful art. He smiled and nodded.



From the tattoo parlor, we hopped on a train to Brooklyn where we met HA at The Bell House, a fabulous bar and music venue in Gowanus. We sipped a variety of beers and a drink called the Sweet Leaf, which is made from sweet-tea-infused vodka. Before the music, we munched on vegetable curry DUB pies and beer cheese with Ritz crackers. The DUB comes from Down Under Baker (DUB) Pies and refers to "Australian/New Zealand-style gourmet meat pies." The crusts were flaky, and the curry perfectly spicy!

The opening performer Toshi Reagon warmed us up with her stunning voice and wonderful presence. We were there to see Amy Ray, who played a fantastic concert that had us dancing and whoo-hooing.

After several hours of music, we needed to refuel. We wandered over to Rachel's Taqueria on 5th Avenue in Park Slope. You know how I love tacos, and Rachel makes them right. I recommend the spicy beef and the L.A. Super Taco with a margarita on the rocks.

Well, this blog probably took you longer to read than it took Picasso to ink my tattoo. I apologize. Some weeks, brevity is a bigger challenge than others!

Stay tuned, my friends!

Comments

  1. I miss the bell house! Secret science night is there when it is not at it's parent location, union hall. honey bees! Looks beautiful

    v

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