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lydamorehouse Mason made it home safely, but his phone did not. Hopefully, it is winging its way to us now, having been sent by the hotel.
We heard a lot of the New York stories as they happened, via text. They visited the Columbia campus as Ms. Auyeung has a friend teaching there. Mason's text read, "Ah, Columbia. If you breathe deeply enough you can smell the New England money." He then texted back and forth with me that, despite his snark, "not gonna lie," it'd be pretty cool to go there.
At one point they spontaneously stopped at the Natural History museum and Mason texted, "Forty-five minutes at the Natural History Museum. I'm in physical pain." Not more than a few minutes after that, I heard that we HAD to return to New York because there was just so much to see and do there. More importantly, Mason thought that the city was _made_ for the way he and I travel together. He's not wrong. The experience he's referencing was the time he and I conquered Washington, D.C. via metro and guide book. He had all the metro stops memorized by our second day, and I was always the one both getting us terribly lost and then found via randomly saying, "Let's try this bus, it looks like it's going the right way." (Mason still "hates" to this day that I was right.)
Ms. Auyueng ran those kids ragged, so Mason was pretty pooped out for most of Friday. I will say that he got me the most thoughtful gifts. He bought me a "lucky coin" from Chinatown that is supposed to bring in money, because he knows that I always carry foreign coins in my pocket. He also bought me a couple of packets of stationary. So perfect!
Yesterday, Mason had an appointment at the University of Minnesota with a History Day coach. They reviewed his documentary and offered suggestions for improvement. The twenty minute session was at Wilson Library, which I haven't been to in so long that I initially mistook it for Walter (which is the one on the East Bank.) But, I dropped him off and found a parking spot on Riverside Avenue (amazingly!) and got myself some lunch at the Hard Times Cafe.
I hadn't had lunch because I spent the entire morning talking at Claddaugh Coffee with an acquaintance who is a beer brewer. My agent got some interest, ie, an editor asking "Do you have anyone doing x...?" about the craft beer scene. Probably someone more knowledgable than I am will end up writing the perfect cozy mystery for this editor, but I thought I'd give it a try, since Martha thought she might be able to sell on a proposal and a few sample chapters. That second bit, the sample chapters, usually bogs me down, but I literally have nothing to lose. Plus, it's kind of amusing for my brain to try to plot a murder mystery, especially when you need red herrings, clues, etc. Of all the mystery genres cozies are at least in my wheelhouse in terms of the kinds of characters they usually involve. I don't, for instance, have to know anything about being a police officer or a detective.
At any rate, I hadn't been in the Hard Times Cafe since the Riverside Cafe used to exist (so.. 1990s?) and I'm much older now than I was then. I forgot about writing your own order slip, and was unaccustomed to the blaring punk rock (speed metal?) music playing at one in the afternoon. I'm glad cooperatively owned places like this still exist, however. Seeing the young turks with their anarchy symbol patches on their ragged jean jackets made me nostalgic and happy.
The vegetarian biscuits and gravy were good too.
In the evening I played taxi driver. Apparently, Mason was in New York during Rosemary and his anniversary, so they had a big date night on Saturday. She took him to see "Pacific Rim: Uprising," He took her out to dinner (well, I paid for Firehouse Subs, so nothing super fancy). Then they came back here and hung out watching YouTube videos and anime until 9:30pm. I kind of wasted the evening because, honestly, I was tired and really wanted to go to bed around 7pm! But, hey, my Bejeweled scores are AMAZING.
Today has been slow and sleepy. Mason is facing homework that he was able to blow off the entire spring break.
We heard a lot of the New York stories as they happened, via text. They visited the Columbia campus as Ms. Auyeung has a friend teaching there. Mason's text read, "Ah, Columbia. If you breathe deeply enough you can smell the New England money." He then texted back and forth with me that, despite his snark, "not gonna lie," it'd be pretty cool to go there.
At one point they spontaneously stopped at the Natural History museum and Mason texted, "Forty-five minutes at the Natural History Museum. I'm in physical pain." Not more than a few minutes after that, I heard that we HAD to return to New York because there was just so much to see and do there. More importantly, Mason thought that the city was _made_ for the way he and I travel together. He's not wrong. The experience he's referencing was the time he and I conquered Washington, D.C. via metro and guide book. He had all the metro stops memorized by our second day, and I was always the one both getting us terribly lost and then found via randomly saying, "Let's try this bus, it looks like it's going the right way." (Mason still "hates" to this day that I was right.)
Ms. Auyueng ran those kids ragged, so Mason was pretty pooped out for most of Friday. I will say that he got me the most thoughtful gifts. He bought me a "lucky coin" from Chinatown that is supposed to bring in money, because he knows that I always carry foreign coins in my pocket. He also bought me a couple of packets of stationary. So perfect!
Yesterday, Mason had an appointment at the University of Minnesota with a History Day coach. They reviewed his documentary and offered suggestions for improvement. The twenty minute session was at Wilson Library, which I haven't been to in so long that I initially mistook it for Walter (which is the one on the East Bank.) But, I dropped him off and found a parking spot on Riverside Avenue (amazingly!) and got myself some lunch at the Hard Times Cafe.
I hadn't had lunch because I spent the entire morning talking at Claddaugh Coffee with an acquaintance who is a beer brewer. My agent got some interest, ie, an editor asking "Do you have anyone doing x...?" about the craft beer scene. Probably someone more knowledgable than I am will end up writing the perfect cozy mystery for this editor, but I thought I'd give it a try, since Martha thought she might be able to sell on a proposal and a few sample chapters. That second bit, the sample chapters, usually bogs me down, but I literally have nothing to lose. Plus, it's kind of amusing for my brain to try to plot a murder mystery, especially when you need red herrings, clues, etc. Of all the mystery genres cozies are at least in my wheelhouse in terms of the kinds of characters they usually involve. I don't, for instance, have to know anything about being a police officer or a detective.
At any rate, I hadn't been in the Hard Times Cafe since the Riverside Cafe used to exist (so.. 1990s?) and I'm much older now than I was then. I forgot about writing your own order slip, and was unaccustomed to the blaring punk rock (speed metal?) music playing at one in the afternoon. I'm glad cooperatively owned places like this still exist, however. Seeing the young turks with their anarchy symbol patches on their ragged jean jackets made me nostalgic and happy.
The vegetarian biscuits and gravy were good too.
In the evening I played taxi driver. Apparently, Mason was in New York during Rosemary and his anniversary, so they had a big date night on Saturday. She took him to see "Pacific Rim: Uprising," He took her out to dinner (well, I paid for Firehouse Subs, so nothing super fancy). Then they came back here and hung out watching YouTube videos and anime until 9:30pm. I kind of wasted the evening because, honestly, I was tired and really wanted to go to bed around 7pm! But, hey, my Bejeweled scores are AMAZING.
Today has been slow and sleepy. Mason is facing homework that he was able to blow off the entire spring break.