War Is Over...if you've got 'em

It is major recap time. Where do I begin to tell the story of September? There's been more to accompany this passage from summer to fall than any recent season change of my lifetime.

To begin with, for those who didn't get the memo (and to you I say, when will you get a good text messaging plan?) the second year of law school is sooooo much better than the first. So supremely much better it's indescribable. Thus, I will now cease describing and move on to other things happening.

I love Brooklyn! Specifically, I love Greenpoint. And I never would have known this were it not for dear cousin Crystal. This has been a fabulous month -- despite the hectic nature of apartment hunting (ugh times fifty) -- in the Greenpoint 'hood. Woot woot! Highlights include: the park, The Mark, pierogis, convenient commuting, and just chilling out in the lovely, roomy, comfortable apartment crib.

Did everyone know I ran a 5K? Yeah, I loved that. My goal was 28:44 but I really ran it in more like 27:20. I then promptly took a week and a half off from running. But now I am back on the horse. Or something.

In other sports news, despite Chipper and Teixeira, the Atlanta Braves could not see fit to make the playoffs, so I am now officially all about the Red Sox. Also, I could get into a Boston-Arizona World Series, for sure. Meanwhile, keep your eye on my ever fabulous USC Trojans doing their football thing. (that thing = greatness)

And in world news this week, I hereby declare that it is officially time for the war in Iraq to end. How do I know this? Because I smoked a cigarette. Now, before anyone goes and gets his or her knickers in a twist, just listen up: I have not fallen prey to anything, and rest assured I have absolutely no desire for another one. I did not crave it, I did not enjoy it, and frankly I did not even remember it, until a few days later. The cigarette in question was smoked on a very drunken whim last Friday evening in Manhattan midway through Hurricane Rob. That is how I am now thinking of the three-day visit of Brian's good friend Rob from Michigan. From Thursday night through Sunday morning we were unstoppable. The beer was unstoppable. You get the idea.

I just know, as I have famously stated here and elsewhere, that I quit smoking the same week we went to war in Iraq, the same week that Michael Moore pointed out our fictitious president was leading us into a fictitious war, although for some absurd reason a lot of you didn't believe us at the time. So I always know how long we've been at war in Iraq because I always know how long I've been quit. I went four years, five months, and twenty-five days without a cigarette. Dubya, it's time for the war to end. The jig is up.

Speaking of Oscars, it's not the season yet but I already know one film that deserves things, and that is The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford, or, as my friend Stacey put it, "Mr. Jolie's film." You might have heard about it. Do more than hear. Go see. Now. Go. Go go go. That was one of the many great accomplishments during the time of Hurricane Rob, the three of us seeing that film. Then we strolled through the mud of Central Park (long story) talking about it. Well, mostly I listened to and agreed with Brian and Rob talking about it, because it left me quite awestruck.

Anyway, as I mentioned at the beginning of that paragraph it's not Oscar season yet but I am very excited about some awards happening this Saturday, the Vendies! The third annual Vendy Awards are for New York's finest street vendors, of which there are many many many but only five finalists up for the grand prize this weekend, and get this: "our" guy in Astoria(in Queens) is one of the fab five! Brian discovered Freddy, the King of Falafel and Shawarma, shortly after moving to Astoria. He has introduced me and others to this wonderful street vendor cart, which is worth every step of the 2o-minute+ walk from Brian's place. I usually get the falafel, but I have also tried the chicken and rice, which is to die for. (Yes, I'm lapsed right now vegetarian-wise, so no flood of "What? Meat?!" emails, please. I've also been shaving my legs regularly this summer, so there.) Freddy and the others who dish it up there are amazingly cool. Freddy is HILARIOUS. And so good to us! But you don't have to take my word for it, go check out the street vendor awards site and WATCH THE VIDEO. Do it. Do it now.

It just so happened that Brian and I went there on the first day of Ramadan, and Freddy, who is always so lively and cracking jokes and good-naturedly teasing us, he actually slumped against the cart and sat atop the cooler to talk to us: "We stared fasting today, you know," he told us. "It's been really hard." Can you imagine? Working ALL DAY in the thick of those delicious aromas and not being able to eat or drink until sundown....wow. I told him he is so awesome. Go visit his site and wish him luck in the Vendy Awards!

One parting thought: Netflix, which really knows the way to my heart, has added an amazing new feature. We are now ranked. Each Netflix user has a ranking. How do you get ranked high? By reviewing and recommending on the site, and by having your Netflix friends and others read and respond to what you say. Not to mention by having people add things to their queue after seeing them on your pages, and then you get ranked even higher when they actually watch what they've discovered from you. I LOVE NETFLIX!!! This is the greatest new feature in some time. I am currently ranked #121,585. To give you an idea, out of my personal 19 Netflix friends, one is ranked higher than me, in the 18,000s. Several are in the two millions and two are three million and something. I rule!

And on that note, I am off to watch L.I.E., which means Long Island Expressway, on which I drove very much during September. You see, I had my friend Heather's car a couple times, for a few days at a stretch. And I learned many things about driving, and driving in New York, and LaGuardia, and myself. I meant to blog about it. I still will, actually. But not right now. It's late. And I am off. But I daresay if ever there were a parkway about which one could make an edgy independent film, the L.I.E. would certainly have to be it.