Full Disclosure

This past Wednesday marked the one year anniversary of the day that Mi Cariño and I braved the crazy rain on a Tuesday night, to nervously pick at Arepas (in my case), then quietly heckle at the Nuyorican before saying goodnight with an awkward hug (initiated by me.)

It has gone by extremely quickly - to the point that it takes me by surprise still. I think it's a combination of my schedule (when you travel often days do seem to fly by you) and the easy-ness present in our relationship. She manages to make a weekend in both exciting and comfortable. But for the anniversary, I was surprised with a night out.

We began the day by trying to win Wicked Lottery tickets. I really felt lucky - I made it there just before they closed the entry. I had caught each train on the way over. It was going to happen! But it didn't. I figured we'd go try to see Mamma Mia, the only other Broadway Show that still offers the general public the opportunity to buy somewhat cheap tickets (I'll start that rant later. Actually no, I'll start it now; what the hell Broadway! You've taken off all the General Rush options. Now it's all Student this, Student that. Do you know how much money you would've gotten from me by now if I was able to spend it 30 bucks at a time?!).

Anyway, moving on - Mi Cariño says it's all okay - because we're seeing The Addams Family in the evening. Score! It's nice to be surprised. We celebrated by going to a late lunch in Times Square, and from then on the day was pretty much perfect. Later on in the evening, after watching the show, we had a late dinner at Becco's, an Italian restaurant in Restaurant Row. No pictures for that dinner because we were too busy being lovey dovey to take pics. Suffice it to say that their pre-fixe deal is pretty good: a Caesar Salad or Antipasto paired with three types of Pasta, served table side.

Now, unto the show: I have to admit I was not wowed by it. I can't remember a single song from the night and that tends to be the main way I judge a Musical. The story in itself, was based on The Addams Family TV Show rather than the movies, and being more familiar with the latter it was a bit hard on me. However, the show had no qualms about making fun of itself, which made total difference. Also, there was a great audience present, which can get the actors fired up. One thing I disliked that was very integral to the show: Wednesday was not as dark as Christina Ricci's Wednesday, which: being as Weds. darkness is my favorite part of the movies, it was tough to accept. That said, the actress that played her was great, and has a great voice.

So a new year starts and I'm excited about what it'll bring. It's exciting, knowing all the plans and hopes we already have in place for it. Here we go, yo.

The Life of Pi by Yann Martel

I purchased this book sometime last year (or the year before that) because it was on sale at The Strand and because it was on my humongous list of "I should read this at some point" books. Lately I've been trying to actually read the mountain of unread books in my bedroom, and so this was it! The reason why I didn't start reading it right away, is because after I bought it, I glanced at the description and only remember registering the words "tiger" "kid" "boat" and for some reason equated it all with anthropomorphism and was convinced that there would be a talking tiger in the mix.

I'm glad I finally decided to overlook that. Life of Pi took me places I did not expect. The novel starts with the author's foreword, which now that I'm all adult I try to read before the book (although I'm still burned by the time I read the editor's foreword to Anna Karenina - way to ruin the ending, guy!), and in it he explains how he was able to afford to write the novel, and how he came about it. Essentially, he says, this is a true story, and peppered throughout the books are italicized paragraphs that make it seem as if it's Martel writing about his experience of interviewing Pi, the main character in the novel. It's quite an effective tool.

"Pi" took it's sweet long time to tell me a very short story. It starts with a boy, and his name, and his nickname, and the significance of being named after a mathematical figure that goes on and on. And then religion comes along - or I should say, religions - and God in all His forms, and the men that follow God, and the animals these men take care of. And then Pi and his family decide to travel to Canada in a huge ship. That's where the meat of the story is - Young Pi is then shipwrecked and stuck in a boat with a Tiger. Maybe. Maybe he's stuck in a boat with himself. Maybe people are animals by another name. Deep down, the survival instinct takes over everything. Maybe.