didionville

yikes!

rice gave up a 5-2 lead over lsu this afternoon at the bottom of the ninth. we’re not sure, but we suspect it was because we decided to turn on the television AT THE PRECISE MOMENT an lsu player was hit by a pitch … it was downhill from there …

the loss is all our fault.

but, “go lsu!” anyway … and we’re rooting for fresno state over unc, largely because we like to root for the underdog and also because i am genetically hardwired to root AGAINST all teams unc (unless, of course, they are playing duke).

***

oh, and jason giambi hit two homeruns over two consecutive at-bats tonight against san diego. i have still been looking for a boyfriend numero tres, and it is now clear that giambi has to be that guy.

here’s where we stand after our sports binge …

rice … loss

lsu … loss

yankees … win

mets … split

angels … win

tiger … tie (to be settled today)

lakers … win

the mets are in anaheim the next three days (lots o’ interleague play right now), which means late start times for us. g-pa jer might try to hit one of the games … at the very least, he has to watch them for us. i think the yankees are off tonight. we’ll have nothing to watch until 10:00 p.m., which will give us more time to recuperate from our sports hangover, but also means steven and i are going to have to find substantive stuff to talk about with each other …

as mentioned earlier, fresno state annihilated rice, 17-5 … it was so bad, every time i checked the score, i relayed the information to steven using football scoring … in the end, rice scored a safety and a field goal, while fresno state scored two touchdowns, two extra points, and one field goal. gruesome.

so now we are rooting for lsu. buffy’s husband, larry, LOVES lsu … witness …

he’s brave to show his love so openly, smack-dab-in-the-middle of cornhusker country. we’re watching the second mets game and only checking in on the college world series games, but the lead-off hitter for lsu hit a home run to open the game. at the bottom of the first, unc loaded the bases and ended the inning with three runs. lsu scored a second run in the second … yadda-yadda …

we are almost through our sports binge. the mets lead the rangers, 4-2 at the top of the 9th with two outs. they lost their first game after a rather dramatic rally through the 8th and 9th innings. the yankees walloped the astros. we might as well have been watching the fresno state/rice game.

now all that’s left, really, is the nba game (along with the aforementioned regular check-ins on the lsu/unc game).

i have to go finish the cacciatore … ciao!

gotta love berkeley breathed. he’s nailed our beloved democratic party’s unfortunate penchant for parsing the populace …

opus runs on sundays only. you can find it online each week on salon, if it’s not already in your local paper, which, in poughkeepsie, it — unsurprisingly — is not.

(p.s. long live bill the cat.)

the yankees are up 3-0 with one out in the top of the 4th … the mets are down 7-2 with two outs at the top of the 7th …

and then there is rice …

rice is down 11-0 with two outs at the top of the 4th … fresno state is, well, whuppin’ the owls. we don’t know whether to be consoled or worried that this is a double-elimination tourney.

here’s something good for rice … i made a little afternoon snack for steven and me, and served steven’s on his rice plate. even though it’s a slaughter in omaha, we still have to say, “GO OWLS!”

we are well into the father’s day celebration weekend. today we took a wonderful field trip to rhinebeck. i promised steven i would cook whatever he wanted all weekend long; he just needed to decide what. he wisely suggested new york strip from fleischer’s, about which i have previously written. of course, a trip to rhinebeck also means lunch at the beekman arms (or terrapin bistro, which is also delicious). terrapin is cool because it is in an old church. beekman arms is cool because george washington (and a lot of other founding fathers) stayed there before, during, and after the revolutionary war. we always eat in the pub area, and i like to think about george washington, et al., crouching around a table, making battle plans. steven had the specials: chilled honeydew-and-beet soup and a pulled-pork sammie. i had an arugula, beet, and goat-cheese salad and a really tasty reuben, which i very much missed after i had taken the last bite.

we also each had a margarita, a little remembrance of when steven visited me in los angeles back in april 2006, and we sat at the bar at casa escobar, talking about how much we each wanted the other in our life. it was wonderful to sit with my husband and our beautiful baby boy and know how absolutely correct we were two years ago.

then we headed to fleisher’s and bought a lot of yummy stuff: a little pancetta, a little bacon, a little filet, their very last new york strip, a few chicken legs and thighs, some black rice, and two extraordinarily good local cheeses … ouray from sprout creek farm and a lavender-and-honey-infused fromage blanc from nettle meadow farm. we also got some polenta from wild hive farm, which is a business that is very serious about sustainable farming. apparently, whole foods got wind of this place and their quality products and wanted to stock the brand in their stores, but the guy who runs the farm TURNED DOWN WHOLE FOODS (!!!), correctly reasoning that distributing his products nationwide undermines the whole “sustainability” thing.

our last stop was leonardo’s italian market. steven got a mini cannoli, and we got (among other stuff) super-long spaghetti … it’s, like, three feet long! i’m going to make some of it tomorrow night to go with the chicken cacciatore i am going to make with the chicken from fleisher’s.

on the way home we hit one helluva thunderstorm … truly torrential. we had to take a big detour because the main highway was closed with police and fire trucks. apparently a power line was down and had started a fire, arcing and sparking. there were flames even in the storm.

tomorrow we are going to lunch and munch on blt&s (bacon, lettuce, tomato, and left-over strip steak) sammies while we make steven’s father’s day present. it’s going to be a family effort. we’ll take pics to showcase our artistry. we might also head over to the greek festival, but that’s not a definite.

we are watching the yankees/astros game. the rangers/mets game is rained out. it’s very humid. we are quickly winding down.

and we are a very happy family.

we are having an amazing thunderstorm! it is HUGE! so huge and crazy that we can make out individual lightning bolts through the stained glass windows in our living room.

the dog is very verklempt. we all know izzie was never one for loud noises. (the kid is totally asleep in this weird hindu-god-like contortion; he hasn’t budged during all of the thunder and lightning and his mom and dad’s hootin’ and hollerin’ …)

it’s totally tornado weather, too. if i was at my grandma’s house in kansas, we’d have one foot in the a basement with this storm.

whoa, and the storm just tripped the power strip in the living room, too. crazy!

holy crap! we are watching the mets game RIGHT NOW (after resetting the surge protector), and the field is a big-ol’ dust storm with the wind … the storm is on its way to the city! billy wagner and scott schoeneweis are helping the grounds crew cover the field with the tarp … and they CHARGED onto the field to help out … god, i love my mets!

(i hope you all appreciate the real-time reporting.)

i was going to send an email to all of our peeps, asking them to sign this online petition for lawmakers to pass legislation requiring minimum two-day hospital stays for women receiving mastectomies as treatment for breast cancer, but i figured i might be able to reach more people if i posted on the blog.

the sickening thing is that this is the SECOND time i am signing a petition such as this. the first time was a couple of years ago. granted, i signed the petition, forwarded it to my family and friends, and then foolishly ASSUMED our representatives would listen to our demand for humanity and compassion in our treatment of breast cancer patients. it seems like such a no-brainer law to pass.

i don’t want cynicism to set in. i believe we can get proper attention from lawmakers. this isn’t the first time a women’s-health issue is slow to get the resources, attention, and legislation it deserves.

but for cryin’ out loud! let’s make this be the LAST TIME i have to sign this petition. i don’t think i could handle a THIRD TIME.

(this is a bipartisan proposal, and i doubt there are many of you out there whose lives have NOT been affected in some way by breast cancer. on the petition, you don’t have to give your street address, just your name, state, zip, and a valid email address.)

now, when didion chews on his harder toys or when he chomps on his spoon when eating, we can hear his teeth banging on whatever is in his mouth. steven and i decided the teeth, in this early period of eruption, needed to be documented. amazingly, we were able to get a good shot. (it’s not like they are large and easy to see at a glance.) even more amazing, didion let us attempt to take the pictures at all, though, not without some wrestling.

i am doing so much better today. my back is nearly 100%, thanks to the rest and recuperation made possible by steven working from home yesterday, and now i can fill you all in on my recent letter to the editor.

our mayor’s father, andy tkazyik, owns and operates andy’s place, a local restaurant. (here’s our mayor. he has his own wiki page (!!!) and — apparently — a highly developed sense of self-importance.) the mayor works at the restaurant. in his campaign materials, his employment at the restaurant was listed as his only job. in 2006 or 2007, before the most recent election, the mayor’s father offered the city $2500 for the purchase of two lots that are landlocked by the rest of the property on which andy’s place is located. the city rejected the offer, citing the assessment value of $6000 as the primary reason. andy wanted the property for next to nothing. (he plans to expand the restaurant’s parking lot.) After his son became mayor, andy offered the city an oh-so-generous $3000 for the same two lots. again, the city rejected the offer, and, again, the city cited the $6000 assessment value as the reason. mayor tkazyik is a republican. while he was elected, the republicans lost all but one seat on the common council. there are eight seats on the council; seven are held by democrats. the lone republican on the council represents the ward in which andy’s place is located.

this gets stupidly complicated, so i’ll review …

1. the mayor’s father owns andy’s place, a restaurant in the city. the mayor works at the restaurant.

2. about a year before the mayor was elected, the mayor’s father offered the city $2500 for two lots (landlocked by his business property) that are assessed at a value of $6000. the common council rejected the offer, saying it was too low.

3. in april 2008, after his son assumed office, the mayor’s father offered the city $3000 for the two lots. again, his offer was rebuffed as being too low.

4. the mayor is a republican. there is only one other republican elected to the city council. he represents the ward in which the lots are located. the other seven members are democrats. of course, everyone’s claiming “politics” on all sides.

when this all went down in april, steven and i thought the mayor’s dad tried to take advantage of his son’s position as mayor and failed. accusations of partisanship were hurled, and — we figured — that was that.

that is, until we learned not long after (from a knowledgeable, but to-remain-anonymous source) that although the mayor’s father owns the restaurant, it is the mayor, himself, who manages the day-to-day operations of the business. the mayor is no simple employee, as he likes to portray himself. this information put the proposed land purchase in a slightly different light: the mayor has a direct and immediate interest in the successful purchase of the lots. the conflict of interest became more concrete, but, again, we thought the matter was resolved.

then at a recent may 2008 council meeting, the council received a report from a public works official that it would cost the city $600 to clean the two parcels. apparently, the republican council member who represents the ward with the controversial lots wants the city to pay for clean up of the parcels … a sort of punishment for not accepting the $3000 purchase offer. note the city has owned the property for 28 years (nearly as long as the mayor has been alive) and in the years the council member has sat on the council, he has never proposed cleanup of the land, until now.

the council rejected the proposed cleanup. but the property remains a controversial issue. what the mayor and his father should have done was pay the $6000 to the city and, thereby, enjoy the city’s goodwill and completely avoid the appearance of impropriety and conflicts of interest. supporters of the mayor and his father claim hateful partisanship by the democrats, citing the property is not on the tax rolls and the democrats’ selfishness is robbing the city of needed revenue (according to our calculations: about $50 per annum). frankly, we think the tkayziks’ paltry offer robs the city of more … revenue and honorable leadership.

so i wrote a letter to the paper. here it is:

Mayor should focus on city, not Andy’s Place

In reference to the article regarding the proposed cleanup of the two land parcels adjacent to Andy’s Place (”City could spend to clean controversial parcels,” May 21), the public should keep in mind that, as the owner’s son, the mayor has been an employee of the business and has a vested interest in the future operations and purchase of said land.

Ultimately, though, the exact ownership and management structure of Andy’s Place is irrelevant because the proverbial “appearance of a conflict of interest” is blazingly extant in this issue, and while the mayor is young, I certainly hope he is not so wet behind the ears to recognize this fact. Mayor Tkazyik would be much wiser to spend the next four years providing substantive leadership to the city and worry about brokering land deals in his father’s name after he leaves office.

Further, the mayor’s efforts have placed council member Thomas Parise in the embarrassing and woeful position of partisan puppet on the Common Council. Mayor Tkazyik has an opportunity to stave off a sorry and shameful mark against his political legacy and by doing so, free the Common Council’s resources to address issues with wider impact on the common good of the city. I hope he makes the ethically correct choice.

the editors rewrote my opening paragraph, but otherwise left the letter completely alone. what is notable about the letter is that the poughkeepsie journal printed it at all. as one of our friends puts it, “the journal prints only two kinds of letters: the ones that say, ‘i love god and so should you!’ and ’roundabouts are bad’.”