No.1 with a bullet

Calm blue ocean...calm blue ocean... must remain calm. Maybe if I stare at this photo of the Harlem Meer in Central Park long enough (which I took with my cellphone last weekend) it will help generate a feeling of tranquility. Or perhaps the photo of our building's courtyard (below), which I took with my cellphone early this month... I am also listening to a mellow, and delightfully snarky CD, Welcome to The Beautiful South.

Why the need for smoothing out, you ask? Well, I just got an e-mail from my no-longer-future boss saying that the no-longer-future colleague in HK felt "blindsided" by my report (hence, her upset & broadcast flame-mail). Now if there is something guaranteed to completely piss me the f*ck off, it is when someone does not listen to what I say -- I don't mean agree, or obey -- I just mean HEAR the words that are issuing from my mouth.

Everything in the report that "blindsided" her was something that I had SAID TO HER FACE while I was in HK.

I rest my case.

So as I ponder redirecting the bullet (in a figurative, not literal sense -- heaven forbid I put out a Hilary-RFK comment) that I dodged, it helps me to realize that I am here, in my (admittedly terrifyingly messy) home and not required to move over to crazyworld in HK. As they say, living well is the best revenge. (Not that I am taking revenge, but I think you all see what I am saying here.) And oh yeah, I told erstwhile boss exactly why I was so ticked off, and that I was tired of everyone telling me that I should apologize to HER. (Breathing deeply, calm blue ocean.... breathe girl, breathe...)

Okay, on to more cheerful topics, like NPR, which has apparently become the source of my various musical and book "to do" lists. Thanks to them, I am reading The Geography of Bliss and also In Defense of Food (more cultural history than self-help book -- thanks, Sam!), have bought The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama for my brother-in-law for Father's Day -- oh, and a copy for me too! (more a nuts & bolts biography with humorous incidents from a person who's known him for many years than hagiography), and am contemplating buying Rare Child by Danielia Cotton (damn, that woman can SING -- plus she lists Etta James as an influence --> neat!).

More reasons for cheerfulness: a yum-yum-yummity dinner we had tonight @ Mandoo Bar (that blog, BTW, has priceless photos) as part of Laurafest 2008, Part 1, when we called to torture our relocated friend in Seattle (hi there!). I had pan-fried pork mandoo & fried tofu with an unknown spicy Korean sauce (damn, my mouth is watering just thinking about it all...) while various other folks had the kimchee mandoo, more fried pork mandoo, and 2 orders of bibimbop.

We washed this all down with some booze @ Tir Na Nog (what can I say? it was convenient to where we all had to go) and then most of us walked up to Columbus Circle, since the 8th Avenue subways were doing their customary schizophrenic rerouting thing on the (holiday) weekend.

Tomorrow (okay, today, at this point) Laurafest continues with a trip to Jing Fong for dim sum, and then a commemorative dinner @ Florent, before it kicks the bucket in June (their rent has increased about 2,000% since they opened, according to my undoubtedly poor math).