jennings rampage

Car, boat, train, and bike.

Three day weekend WIN and FAIL:

WIN: Meaghan came to visit and see the new apartment. Meaghan weekends are the best weekends.

FAIL: Ikea in Brooklyn. Our experience basically mirrored this, and we were so extremely frustrated that I just grabbed a dresser, a closet organizer, a couple of rugs, and got out of there. Which is to say, out of the showroom and into the line at the register for a good hour or so. I had grand plans for bags of frozen meatballs, but not so much, the food register snaked even longer. Also, when Meaghan and I spawn, we vow never to take our offspring to Ikea on a Saturday afternoon. Double also, as cool as the showroom is, it’s a crummy place to realize you need to use the restroom when you’re about midway through the maze.

WIN: Red Hook Ball Fields. This time was much much better than opening weekend — all the vendors were out, the weather was incredible, and the horchata flowed freely. I’d travel far and wide for pupusas stuffed with loroco flower and cheese, but all I have to do is drive to Brooklyn. And compared to Ikea, the ball fields were downright idyllic.

WIN: Michael Phelps.

WIN: David Byrne’s “Playing The Building” exhibition at the Battery Maritime Building. Byrne took an organ and wired the keys to devices that struck various fixtures in this wonderfully decomposing old room, making the building the instrument. But it was controlled by a regular eighty-eight key organ, which fooled a lot of people — my favorite part was watching musicians sit down and try to play the chords they know and get results they couldn’t intrepret. It really did democratize the results, the building sounded as eerie and discordant whether it was an obvious musician or a doughy Midwestern tourist. I tried to play a Devo song, failed.

WIN: Governors Island. Big big recommendation, y’all. BIKE RENTAL. PANORAMIC VIEWS. Go do it!

FAIL: Pinch & S’Mac on the Upper West Side. My lady wanted macaroni & cheese for lunch, and who was I to deny? This place got good Yelp, so I was pretty excited, but they didn’t deliver, so I wrote a moderately snotty review. Well, about an hour later, the owner of the place wrote me a very nice note to apologize for our experience and to offer me a gift card to return on him. His generosity is noted for the record, but I can’t take him up on it. Editorial integrity.

FAIL: Getting up early tomorrow to drive Meaghan back to LGA.

Overall, the weekend was FULL OF WIN. So much awesome.