Wilfrid

Concluded a wide ranging phone call with my 24 year-old daughter about this and that in the world, signing off with "See you in jail."

I know I've said this before, but we are in for a long bad period. I just ran searches on the really big music stars who came to fame in the 60s and early 70s and are still alive -- with the painfully obvious result that they are in their late 70s or 80s. Of course they are.

I came across this operation when it was only online-plus-pop-ups at the Brooklyn Book Fair last year. Good to see they've finally signed a lease for a store (food books reflecting African diaspora culture). More about BEM here: https://www.bembrooklyn.com/about

84 still kicking.

My Lord Jim is a bit fragile too. But it will hold up.

The Beach Boys are playing Town Hall on Friday. Mike Love, anyway (84).

Yes.

Oh that all sounds so great... ETA: One positive if you get far enough into the article, anonymity is canceled at last. Not before time.

That was before my time. The main reason I used to go to the wharf, and still sometimes do, is the pleasure of walking along the Embarcadero; I can see it looked different then.

I have fond memories of the Wharf from the late 90s -- old school seafood, chowder served in hollow sourdough loaves. Then it seemed to become nothing but a tourist mall -- gift shops and boring fast food. Change can only be good.

Giant. Immediate flashback to the Summer of Soul movie.

Oh, sales start June 13.

We are fingers on the pulse here!

New show just released and they are teasing an announcement about New York.

Interesting Instagram response by Rosner. Is she telling us she knows who the new critic is? helenr 18h If you need to offload the wigs I know a guy

@StephanieL Have you tried Eva Baltasar? I think you would like her. Meanwhile, Norwegians everywhere. Not just Jon Fosse: Norwegian women writing really unusual, quirky fiction. I read Dorthe Nors' Mirror, Shoulder, Signal a while back (yes, features driving lessons). Recently I worked my way through everything in English by Vigdis Hjorth (except House of Norway which is not in my library). Now Hanne Ørstavik. Love is remarkable, unbearably tense. My library has The Pastor, so that's next. There are at least three more novels translated into English, but I can't keep buying books. Can I?

Amy Sherald's masterpiece was on the cover end of March, just before her Whitney show opened, so unlikely to be a coincidence. Great covers though.

Zipping through Last Exit -- the only moment the pace lets up is the union President going into detail about contract negotiations. I had reason to look for my copy of Nella Larsen's Passing the other day, realizing to my dismay that I don't own it and must have read a library copy. I own it now and will add it to the list. But I guess it's Conrad next. This is going faster than I expected, thanks to me noticing that many of these classics have free or cheap Kindle editions. It's easier to carry a phone with a Kindle app on the train than Don Quixote. I see Lord Jim is free.

Sometimes the magazine excels itself. Current issue: a David Hockney painting on the cover, a short story (okay, excerpt from forthcoming novel) by Jon Fosse; a short piece by the great Elif Batuman; a story about a competitor for Nutella that turns into a meditation on French-Algerian relations; a gripping piece about Amelia Earhart for no apparent reason; Hilton Als totally disagreeing with me about "Superfine"; and I haven't even read the big feature yet.

Sorry indeed.

Yes, we caught the oysters and a couple of spicy margaritas on the happy hour menu. The crab and the lobster roll nosing into the pic were full price.

Just a step from Madison Square Park this place has been around a few years now because I started using it when I worked in the neighborhood, well pre-COVID. Not a destination but I've never had a bad meal here. Mainly seafood and I thought this large, crispy softshell crab worth a picture.

When I have guests that are both lingering and loud, I always wish they were restrained too.

I have to buy some. $75 in my local liquor store but at least they have plenty.

I was named after a diamond mine. Hopefully not a fake touristy one, but hey it wasn't my choice.