Neckface’s Urban Wink

The F train travels above ground for 2 stops in Brooklyn, and so, every morning on my commute into Manhattan, I try to make the most of these four precious minutes of light. During the rest of the ride I distract myself from the impending doom of cubicle life with music or podcasts, but here the city does that job itself. There’s a subway exit that goes directly from the subterranean Canal stop into my office building, which means that, especially in winter, this can be my only contact with New York City in the daytime.

Dine in Brooklyn Week- Not Too Late

Yes, this post is a little late. But it’s not yet too late.

Dine in Brooklyn Week (which is suspiciously similar to Manhattan’s Restaurant Week) is going on from March 19th- March 30th. That means you still haven’t missed it!

A whole bunch of Brooklyn’s finest restaurants are offering 3 course pre-fixe dinners for $21.12. Brooklyn’s slightly less fine, but still tastey restaurants are offering 2 for $21.12 specials.

For high end restaurants like Blue Ribbon (and Blue Ribbon Sushi), Rose Water and Ici, this is a real bargain. For more midrange restaurants like Madiba or Sotto Voce, this might not be a huge savings, but it’s a great excuse to go out. Or, take the opportunity to go to your favorite casual spot like Rice or The Park Slope Chip Shop and save a little cash.

There’s still time!

Sunday Funday

I’m officially declaring Sunday the new Friday night. The day of rest has become my favorite time for a party despite its relaxed reputation. In fact, it’s partly Sunday’s laidback attitude that makes it perfect for hosting casual gatherings. There’s no pressure to go broke providing alcohol, though a little wine to ease the impending workday blues can be nice, friends generally don’t have other plans, there will be stories from the weekend to share, and it’s just all around cozy.

I Make My Own Homework

As a French major in college, I had daily opportunities to practice the language. There were French lunch tables in the cafeteria, weekly film screenings, study abroad programs, and of course classes and the sometimes dreaded foreign language requirement. Now that I’m out in the real world, which sadly seems to be lacking in free French study breaks complete with the Amelie soundtrack and a never ending supply of nutella crepes, I’m afraid I’m going to forget everything.

What if I can’t speak at all in ten years? Will all my late nights spent reading Baudelaire, analyzing Duras, and lugging heavy French/English dictionaries around campus be for naught? I took French so that I would be able to use it for jobs, grad school, travel, or even volunteer work, and yet my ability to parler francais is slowly but surely fading away. I’m sure others are facing similar battles. Even if it’s with the desire to hablar espanol or some other language, the basic difficulties remain the same.

I decided to experiment with a few quick, fun ways to keep up with my French. I don’t usually have a lot of extra time in my week, so I looked for activities that are genuinely enjoyable or that can be combined with necessary evils like commuting. Here are my top listening, reading, and speaking tips.

Concert Season is Coming: Are You Prepared?

With the return of sunshine, you can feel a subtle change in the air–it’s finally starting to rock. After what feels like just a trickle of major concerts over the winter months, music has returned.

Last weeks SXSW is the opening day of concert hunting season.  From this point on, the concerts will be coming at you fast and furious. And nothing is worse than finding out that your favorite band was playing in some super intimate venue 2 days after the concert.

So with concert season coming, the question must be asked. Are you prepared?

Worst Thing To Be Arrested For. Ever.

Check out this story From my brother’s blog. It’s the one of worst best arrest stories I’ve ever heard.If any one out there ever gets arrested for imitating a stunt from Jackass, please, please, please use your one phone call to call me. I might not be that helpful, but seriously, that’s got to be the funniest phone call ever. And I don’t want to miss that.

My brother is also a regular boxing reporter for a major wrestling/mixed martial arts website. So if you’re into that sort of thing, keep an eye on his page.

Cheap Food and Cheaper Booze

So we’ve already espoused the importance of getting out of the Lower East Side and the East Village for good food deals, but what do you do if you happen to be in that area just as your stomach starts grumbling? I have a favorite place where $6 gets you a tasty, filling meal, and just $4 extra gets you a creative mixed drink guaranteed to make you tipsy.

Technology I’m Afraid Of: Episode 1- Bone Conduction

I like gadgets. I’m the owner of no less than 9 remote controls, including one remote control thats only function is to find missing remote controls. And yet, some technology makes me deeply, deeply afraid. This is the first of what I hope to be a semi-regular feature on Technology I’m Afraid Of.

What I’m afraid of today: Bone Conduction.

Sam the Cooking Guy Cooks, Rocks

While we’re plugging stuff we like, I thought I’d toss out an endorsement for Sam the Cooking Guy. Sam hosts his own cooking show that airs on NY1 and is a friend of the blog. (Well, ok, I’ve only met him twice, but he was very friendly both times.)

He’s the anti-celebrity chef, celebrity chef. His show has all the standard cooking show elements, but there’s a knowing tongue in cheekness about the way he does it. It’s great food advice with a subtext of “can you believe they let me host a cooking show?”

I’ll Only Buy a Book for the Way it Looks

I want to make a quick plug for Manhattan’s McNally Robinson bookstore. I went there last night for a reading, (check out their calendar, they have some interesting ones) and my friend Michelle showed me the sale area downstairs. Truly a bookworm’s paradise! I love the Strand, but while they have some heavily discounted books, a lot aren’t much cheaper than what you’d find on Amazon.

McNally Robinson’s sale area is different. There were hundreds of titles, many hardcover, by writers I love, like Paul Auster, Jonathan Lethem, and Zadie Smith, and by ones I’ve been meaning to read. All books are around 50% off list price. The books look new, so they’re probably overstocks. Look out for travel guides and big art books from Taschen, too. A perfect place for finding your next subway read or a gift.

McNally Robinson’s is located at 52 Prince Street (between Lafayette and Mulberry).