It reminds me of Caleb Smith’s resolution (which, like Howe’s project, took two years) to walk every street in Manhattan.

It also reminds me of conceptual artist/photographer Dylan Stone’s plan to photograph not only Manhattan's street corners but the four sides of every block, for a series he named “Drugstore Photographs, Or, A Trip Along the Yangtze River.”

For comparative purposes, Howe took 11,000 photos covering every corner in Manhattan. Stone, who reckoned he’d need “between one and three rolls of film” per block to accomplish his feat, had taken 26,000 snapshots by the year 2000—and he never finished the project, having covered only the blocks below Canal Street.

“My project, at heart, is about conservation,” Stone wrote. “It is a living, precious photographic archive of an entire city.” And this statement gained resonance after 9/11, as part of his mundane city record included photos of the World Trade Center.

I also noticed that with the new menu, all cocktails are now $13, a dollar more than they were when I was there last in October. (For those readers dwelling outside of New York City: yes, people here will pay double-digits for cocktails.) When I asked the bartender, whom I’d never seen before, when they hiked the prices, he said, “Oh, six or eight months ago.”

Bartenders are full of shit.

Later I learned I’d missed seeing a special guest appearance by chef Jamie Oliver by a mere day.

On Halloween, I bade farewell to Inwood and moved into a new one-bedroom apartment in a mostly Caribbean neighborhood in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. I’m on Eastern Parkway a few blocks from the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Prospect Park and various peeps. I can see the Empire State Building from my bed and I’m still trying to get Raul the Lazy Super to fucking install my required apartment-to-front-door intercom/buzzer. Otherwise I’d invite you over in a heartbeat.

On Monday, November 3rd, I happened upon a great New York City stand-up storytelling competition staged by a nonprofit group I’d never heard of before, The Moth. Admission is only $6 and I’ll be attending more of these, for sure. A topic is agreed upon beforehand; at the show I attended, in the crowded basement of Union Hall, it was appropriately “sweat&rdquo). Participants independently develop a five-minute routine mentioning the topic or incorporating it as a subject. The night of the show 10 of them are picked at random from the audience to take the stage and perform; some stories are straight-up personal recollections and most are styled like comedy bits. Judges vote on each participant. Great fun.

The next day, some guy was elected President. I had pizza and beer.

On Thursday, November 6th I waited in an around-the-block line to catch a free Comedy Central “Comedy Hour” taping of a Jo Koy standup routine. His ethnic jokes bored me but I enjoyed immensely the pussy and dick jokes that dominated the second half of his set; they made me laugh those cathartic laughs that purge crankiness and worry from my system.

That weekend, I ate the best jelly donut ever, and you can only get one starting at 8:00 a.m. on weekends at the Trois Pommes patisserie on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, one of Ed Levine’s possibly top-three bakeries in New York City. They go quickly but while they’re available in a small basket on the counter, they’re still warm and filled with a homemade-tasting raspberry jam. They cost $3 each and they’re worth it. I bit into mine with vigor and blasted powdered sugar all over my hooded sweatshirt.

Later the same morning, Saturday, November 8th, I traveled to Edgewater, New Jersey for the annual bluefin tuna carving ceremony at Mitsuwa Marketplace. The crowd there pressed forward around a team of men armed with extremely sharp knives to buy the fattiest cuts of the 400-pound specimen as soon as they were cut. The fish’s head was planted in an ice-filled red plastic bucket to the side where people posed for photos with it. Later I learned that although bluefin is among the world’s finest and exclusive fish for sushi (I ate some at Mitsuwa from a bluefin carved earlier and it was amazing), it’s an imperiled species and that I shouldn’t have enjoyed myself as much as I did. I made amends on our drive back to New York by stopping at the amazing Philippine Bread House in Jersey City and eating an ensaymada, a traditional Filipino slow-death method via five ounces of donut-like pastry that’s fried, sugared and topped with cheese. So bad, yet so good!

On November 10th, I tracked down the small, great and inexpensive Mexican restaurant I knew was somewhere in my neighborhood, Chavella’s.

I now know this about Tony- and Academy Award-winning playwright/screenwriter Sir Tom Stoppard, who I heard November 11th in an interview onstage with New Yorker editor David Remnick: if I took a whiskey shot for every time Stoppard said “as it were,” I would be drunk. But: despite being wickedly smart and well-read, he’s funny and self-deprecating, uncomfortable talking about himself, a topic that arose often about his new translation of Chekov’s play, The Cherry Orchard. I plan to see it after it opens at the BAM Harvey Theater on January 2nd. Stoppard said he’s striving to make it conversational and incorporate contributions from the actors to improve its familiarity. But amid talk of great Russian authors and the challenges translating them, I was most excited by Stoppard’s lowbrow revelation that he not only contributed uncredited dialogue for Sean Connery’s and Harrison Ford’s characters in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but that the idea for the “leap of faith” invisible-bridge challenge was his.

On Monday, November 17th, my boss and eight other people in my office got laid off so the company could save money. But I don’t want to detail that here because you never know who reads what on the internet. Which reminds me: my company is swell and I certainly don’t plan on stealing a bunch of office supplies when we move down to 120 Broadway in mid-December.

That night, I saw Iron & Wine in a sold-out show at Terminal 5. I enjoyed Mr. Beam (and his sister, who sang harmony). He’s a funny guy who’s still in some awe that he can draw such a crowd. He playfully chided the crowd for bursting out into applause as soon as he hit a chord, pausing to say something like, “That’s just one chord! You guys don’t know what song it is!” I was happy he played two of my current favorites, “Resurrection Fern” and “Boy With a Coin,” and he encored on the acoustic with “Trapeze Singer.” I enjoyed his acoustic stuff more than I did the full-band jamboree. Also, I was curious to get to the bottom of the point in his web bio that “[i]n conversations with Sam while mixing The Shepherd’s Dog, he confessed to finding spiritual inspiration in Tom Waits’ pièce de résistance, Swordfishtrombones.” That’s one of my favorite Waits albums but I didn’t notice many connections other than the songs-as-stories and a pleasing amount of marimba.

I organized a Brooklyn bowling outing on Saturday, November 22nd at Melody Lanes in Sunset Park². I like this place and not just because the decor can be summed up by the digit 1989: the music is loud and mostly bad. And there was a young boy at the lane next to ours inexplicably dressed as Indiana Jones. Also, I am happy to report that Al, New York City’s Angriest Bartender, remains just that. At least to me. Here’s what happened when I ordered a pitcher of Bud. Al poured it and set four plastic cups on the bar.

Jason

Thanks. But I’m with a group, so I’ll need eight cups.

Al

[testily] I can’t give you eight cups. You’ll have to order another pitcher and I can give you four more.

Jason

[pause] O.K., I’ll take two pitchers.

Al

Or I can give you these eight smaller cups instead of the four large ones.

Jason

O.K., let’s do that.

Al

So, two pitchers of Bud.

Jason

Well, if I get eight cups, I’ll just take the one pitcher for now.

Al

[exasperated] One pitcher, two pitchers! Make up your mind!

Everyone else in the group who made a drink run reported Al was nothing but pleasant. Short and squat, resplendent in his giant ’80s eyeglasses, red suspenders and slicked-back silver hair. But pleasant, so I guess being surly with me was enough. Later, when I returned to him for another flagon of Bud, he claimed he was out of pitchers and that I’d have to bring him back an empty one.

The next night, I caught the seldom-screened and exceptionally low-budget UK punk documentary from 1982, Rough Cut and Ready Dubbed, which I enjoyed, especially the concert-riot sequences, as well as all of the angst and acne in the talking-head segments featuring Q&A with and concert footage from groups including the U.K. Subs, the Cockney Rejects and the Stiff Little Fingers, and the likes of influential BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel and Factory Records founder Tony Wilson.

On Monday, November 24th, I bought decor and other apartment stuff at the new Ikea in Red Hook, Brooklyn, with a pleasant pit stop at LeNell’s, the best liquor store in the city. LeNell Smothers is a charming Southern woman who poured me several wine samples while a Hank Williams song played. I purchased from her a bottle of Four Roses Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey for purposes of making my own bacon-infused bourbon, plus a pricey jar of genuine marasca cherries from Luxardo for assorted cocktail-development purposes.

I had a deliciously extensive Thanksgiving dinner at Jimi and Will’s newish apartment in Washington Heights. I learned I am not so great at playing Mario Kart Wii. I also made a cranberry relish recipe I clipped from the November 12th issue of The New York Times and it was delicious but next time: less onion.

And the next evening, Friday, November 28th, I finally made it into wunderkind chef David Chang’s reservations-difficult, 14-seat East Village restaurant, Momofuku Ko, thanks to the persistence of my dining companion, Sherry. Upon review, I see my notes on this disintegrate because I can’t read Sherry’s handwriting well, or mine, really; we each ordered the wine-pairing option, which amounted to often a full glass of expertly complemented wine, champagne or sake served with each course. All 13 of them.

And I don’t believe I understood a word the sommelier said. For example, describing a red amid a string of incomprehensible adjectives and Spanish and maybe Spanish adjectives, I picked up on the keyword Mendoza and said brightly to Sherry, “That’s in Spain, right?”³ when what I was actually wondering was “Wasn’t that the name of one of the bad guys in Dirty Harry?”⁴ Surely Sherry, the oenophile among us, did a lot of slow, incredulous head shaking.

Chang’s fixed-price menu, which isn’t printed publicly, changes often, so every day the courses are conceivably unique. We started with some sort of fancy pork rind; a neat cube of moist, peppered biscuit; and a non-jumbo shrimp with tomato chutney. I’m missing some matter in the descriptions there, and some ingredients, but let’s get to the big stuff. The pinnacle was the daikon soup with chunks of lamb belly, fried lily palm and fried purple mustard greens, paired with a Pinot Noir. Sherry said she wanted to lick her bowl after that transcendeliciousness but gave decorum the nod. The most beautiful dish, a smoked hen egg, its yolk broken and burst onto the plate, came garnished with a generous constellation of caviar, fingerling potato chips and sous vide onions and scallions.

Next: hand-torn pasta, cubes of snail sausage and pecorino cheese. Then: monkfish with uni and mitsuba. And: something with pine nuts and lychees topped with finely shaved foie gras which was of velvet-textured tastiness despite me not remembering what it even was.

With the plating of the most pedestrian course—roasted chicken with Brussels sprouts and mushrooms;—we were both very, very full (also: drunk; in retrospect, the stop at Decibel for sake and shochu beforehand was unnecessary). But we had one more entrée to go. It would have top-ranked had we not perceived our corpulence to be approaching that of Henry VIII’s: large shavings of beef cheeks that had been braised for 36 hours, mitake mushrooms and charred jalapeños.

Done? Not yet: two dessert courses arrived with glasses of Muscat champagne and sherry, respectively: mandarin orange sorbet with juniper and segments of bitter orange (mouth-wateringly sweet and sour) and pretzel ice cream (is that correct? or even possible?) with a yogurt-Granny Smith sauce and tiny spheres of deep-fried cheddar cheese. The pleasurable and unusual dining experience flew by and we were at Ko more than two hours; in fact, we literally closed the place.

A few days later I realized the Asian guy behind the counter the whole time whom I’d assumed was David Chang was, in fact, David Chang, which made me wonder whether I should have engaged him in conversation deeper than discussion of Mitchell, one of his chefs, and how he tried to break into the restroom while I was in there.

Update, 3:40 p.m. Hold up: Sherry reports that the guy I thought was David Chang may have been Peter Serpico, shown here. We may never know.

Also: David Chang likes Bob Dylan. The restaurant’s soundtrack is supplied by his personal iPod and I counted no fewer than five Dylan songs amid the shuffle of Joy Division, Public Enemy, Elton John, The Flaming Lips, Neil Young, Jurassic 5, Cake’s cover of “I Will Survive,” and a song named “We Here” from some group from Singapore that Sherry liked.

And that’s not even all I did on my Summer Vacation, I mean, November. But that’s all I’m writing about. Because I don’t tell all. Also, I’m tired. Could I have a more exciting month? Oh, probably. Bring it, December.

Trois Pommes

• 260 Fifth Ave. (near Garfield Place), Brooklyn
• (718) 230-3119
• Meal 45 of 52: a jelly donut ($3) and a coffee ($2).

Chavella’s

• 732 Classon Ave. (between Park Place and Prospect Place), Brooklyn
• (718) 622-3100
• Meal 46 of 52: quesadilla flor de calapaza (cactus flower) ($4.50), a giant bowl of rice pudding ($4.25) and two Pacificos ($4.00 each).

Momofuku Ko

• 163 First Ave. (between 10th and 11th Streets)
• (212) 500-0831
• Meal 47 of 52: a bunch of mind-blowing food and drink ($150)

¹ I know! I didn’t think it was possible, either! [back]
² I am not forgetting my Manhattan-based brethren and will plan an outing with y’all soon. My life is torn; a children’s book written about me would be a tender tale entitled Jason Has Two Boroughs. [back]
³ No. [back]
⁴ No. [back]

He was on the offensive tonight and easily jabbed Obama three times more than Obama jabbed him, although that sapped precious time from McCain telling me why exactly I should vote for him. Other than repeating the so-good-it-helped-Bush-Senior-get-elected Republican chestnut that the Democrat Candidate Will Surely Raise Taxes, McCain's jabs were, I think, over mostly petty stuff, like specific Senate votes from years ago, the bullshit over ACORN, the now-infamous $3 million "projector" and the fact that Ayers is apparently living in Obama's guesthouse. Stuff like the latter is ridiculous to me. Which association impacts Americans more: Obama's passing association with a hippie who blew up some stuff when Obama was eight or that McCain appears to be in the pocket of the American petrochemical lobby? I'm not sure, but I wonder if all those little half-truth (or no-truth) chips at Obama's character could spider out into greater damage, especially among that very special bloc of voters already wary about an apparent Negro running for president.

I relished in hearing the candidates' stumble-through answers on some of the questions I don't think they were fully prepared to expect: about how great their veep's would be as president, the whole Abortion Issue and the negative campaigning (ironically, the discussion for which became a series of attack ads).

Maybe I'm a saphead, but I tend to lean towards Obama because he's better spoken, better composed and seemingly more idealistic than McCain. These factors alone do not make him more qualified but would make him the better leader. (Don't even get me started on things like how McCain has mightier foreign policy experience because he's traveled to foreign countries and often drops the name of General Petraeus.) I tried to think: if the candidates' messages stayed exactly the same, but their styles, mannerisms or even looks were swapped, would I find myself favoring McCain? And I don't think I would.

For the final question, after gently pointing out that our education system has produced the stupidest people in the world, moderator Bob Schieffer of CBS pointed out "the implications of this are clearly obvious." Yes, I thought: wait until election day.

In the hour beforehand, we warmed-up by watching Hole in the Wall, otherwise known as So You Think You Can Fit Through This Hole? or American Hole (A-Hole, to its fans). It occurred to me later that I, like most of America, watched this game-show for the same reason as the debate: to see someone make an ass of herself on national television.

• Which I don’t think happened, necessarily. (In the debate, at least. There was plenty of Fail during Hole in the Wall. Also, a catfight.) In the sense that Palin clearly had been sent to Debate Boot Camp, sharpened her memorization skills and came armed with a bandolier of 100 4x6 college-ruled index cards full of comebacks and sound bites.
• Biden said “fundamental” (in various forms) eleven times.
• Biden shouldn’t refer to himself in the third person. Bob Dole knows where that got Bob Dole: hawking Viagra.
• Palin catchphrases: “surge,” “maverick,” “energy,” “Alaska” and “family.”
• Both oversaid: “troops.” Also “Wall Street”—everyone loves an easy villain.
• Both love: Jews (of voting age). And, via Palin, “...we both love Israel.”
• What wasn’t mentioned that surprised me: terrorism (within America) or religion (although God was invoked to thank, give blessing and forbid).
• Palin’s so cute, the way she drops the g’s from her present participle verbs (“bringin’,” “cravin’,” etc.) She’s America’s li’l dumplin’.
• We also appreciated her potential double-entendres, including but not limited to “surge,” “early withdrawal,” “drill,” “hungry,” “raping,” “cravin’” and “Bush administration.”
• I bet Vincent $5 that Palin wouldn’t say “hockey mom.” She did, within the first 15 minutes of the debate. As well as “soccer game” and “Joe Six-Pack.”
• I liked this Palin commentary from two ladies among our viewing group:
  

  Megan: She’s, like, coming on to America.
  Kelly: [faux girlish glee] She got highlights!

• We played Palin Bingo. Andie won, but I challenge the first of her two bingos. Suggested by my notes and confirmed by the transcript, Palin never said “job creation.” She did say “so that jobs can be created here,” “create jobs” and “fewer jobs being created.”

Who do I think “won” the debate? Although still weak in substance and (at times) coherence, Palin came off as charming, folksy and more prepared than during her interviews with Katie Couric, which will appeal to certain voters (hockey moms and Joe Six-Packs?). Everyone loves a comeback. (I don’t know if it was chance or Rovian machinations to have an ill-prepared Palin agree to those interviews, but because of them, the media’s been ignoring Biden to deluge Palin with coverage and commentary.)

Biden came off as polished and presented more facts about what his party’s presidency would bring to the table.

And both candidates left unanswered questions or shoehorned in points they wanted to make no matter what was asked of them. These debates are about soundbites and image; by those criteria, it was a tie.

9:00 p.m. Unboxing the pizza!
9:02 p.m. I'm at Andie and Eric's with them, Allan and Stuart.
9:03 p.m. Recap: McCain, done with rectifying the financial crisis, is ready to debate.
9:04 p.m. Moderator: Jim Lehrer.
9:04 p.m. Go, Jim! You're on.
9:05 p.m. McCain vs. Obama.
9:05 p.m. Do we get to see the coin toss? (No.)
9:06 p.m. Jim: No cheers, no applause, no noise of any kind.
9:06 p.m. "We must achieve both security and solvency."
9:07 p.m. Jim: Where do you stand on the financial recovery plan?
9:07 p.m. Obama: We people on Main Street have been struggling for awhile. ... We have to move swiftly and wisely.
9:08 p.m. Obama: 1.) Oversight over process; 2.) ensure taxpayers can get their money back and/or gains; 3.) money shouldn't pad CEO pockets; 4.) need to resolve foreclosure crisis.
9:08 p.m. Obama: First mention of W.: "It hasn't worked."
9:09 p.m. McCain: Sen. Kennedy is in the hospital.
9:09 p.m. McCain: McCain is feelin' a little better tonight, and he'll tell us why:
9:10 p.m. McCain: Dems and Republicans are working together on the financial crisis.
9:10 p.m. McCain: The point is: we've seen Dems and Repubs working together. A package with a number of...essential elements.
9:11 p.m. McCain sounds nervous. Or angry. Or has a cold. Or it's just Andie's TV.
9:11 p.m. McCain: This is the end of the beginning if we come out with a package that will keep these institutions stable.
9:12 p.m. Obama: "Optimistic." How did we get into this situation in the first place? "I told you so" about the subprime mortgage crisis.
9:13 p.m. McCain: "Sure," he'll vote for the plan. And he, too, warned about Freddie and Fannie and those other guys.
9:13 p.m. McCain: Scripted moment about Roosevelt or someone.
9:14 p.m. McCain: "We got to start also holding people accountable."
9:14 p.m. McCain: "People are going to be held accountable in my administration."
9:14 p.m. Obama: For years, it's been what's good for Wall Street, not Main Street.
9:15 p.m. Chuckly moment. Jim's gettin' persnickety that the candidates aren't talkin' to each other.
9:16 p.m. McCain: "Look: we gotta fix this system." "We have a long way to go." Agencies "weren't doing their job." But he believes in the American worker!
9:17 p.m. Stuart: "He's strokin'." Eric: "He's gonna explode."
9:17 p.m. Jim: Are there differences in your approaches to get us out of this financial crisis?
9:18 p.m. McCain: It's outta control. "Gateway drug" to out-of-control spending and corruption.
9:18 p.m. <McCain: He's got a pen and he's not afraid to VETO with it.
9:19 p.m. McCain: Pork barrel spending! By Obama!
9:19 p.m. Obama: Earmarks process has indeed been abused. McCain also right that special interests are involved. McCain is proposing $300B in tax cuts to some of the wealthiest corps and individuals in the country.
9:20 p.m. Obama: Under McCain, CEOs would get reduced taxes, average Americans would get fucked.
9:20 p.m. Obama: A lil' extra money for Americans: a better recipe for economic growth.
9:21 p.m. McCain: Sen. Obama this and that. Now it's gettin' juicy.
9:21 p.m. McCain: "I was called sheriff." [Bush-style laugh.]
9:22 p.m. McCain: I wanna cut spending. I wanna keep taxes low.
9:22 p.m. Obama: Cuts loopholes & tax breaks. Ensure health care system provides basic coverage.
9:23 p.m. McCain: The business tax: second highest in the world. I wanna cut that, keep businesses in the U.S. and create jobs.
9:24 p.m. McCain: [A bunch of numbers.] I want tax cuts, every family a tax credit, double the dividend for every independent child in America.
9:25 p.m. Obama: [In-depth explanation of what happens to the average American under the tax cuts.]
9:27 p.m. McCain: "Walkin' the walk and talkin' the talk." "Festooned with Christmas tree ornaments." I've fought against wasteful spending and for a fundamentally fair tax system.
9:28 p.m. Obama: Oil companies would get tons of tax breaks under your plan, John.
9:29 p.m. Jim: What are we going to have to give up to pay for financial rescue plan?
9:30 p.m. Obama: We have to have energy independence from Middle Eastern oil in 10 years. Fix the healthcare system. And we have to ensure we're competing in education. Need to fix our infrastructure: new electrical grid.
9:32 p.m. McCain: "We've got to cut spending."
9:32 p.m. [How about on the war?]
9:32 p.m. McCain: Ethanol subsidies. [Uh...]
9:32 p.m. McCain: We have to do away with cost-plus contracts with defense contractors. [There we go.]
9:33 p.m. Jim: Neither of you are suggesting any changes.
9:34 p.m. Obama: Repeats energy/foreign oil dependence point.
9:34 p.m. Obama: Gotta make cuts. Agrees with McCain on that.
9:35 p.m. Obama: Mentions Bush (his "wrongheaded policies") again.
9:35 p.m. Jim: Financial crisis. How will it impact your presidency?
9:36 p.m. Obama: Using a hatchet when you should be using a scalpel, McCain.
9:36 p.m. McCain: Sending lots of $ overseas to countries we don't like much. We need offshore drilling and nuclear power.
9:37 p.m. McCain: Nuclear power fixes our dependence on foreign oil.
9:37 p.m. Jim: Getting cranky about his financial crisis question. Jesus.
9:38 p.m. Obama: It will affect our budget. Mentions Roosevelt.
9:39 p.m. McCain: Obama's healthcare plan will hand the system over to the Federal Government.
9:39 p.m. McCain: Obama has $800B in spending for new programs.
9:40 p.m. McCain: We owe China $500B.
9:40 p.m. McCain: I fight against unnecessary spending.
9:41 p.m. Obama: But... "your president" -> an "orgy of spending."
9:41 p.m. McCain: "It's well known that I have not been elected Ms. Congeniality within the U.S. Senate."
9:42 p.m. McCain: I am MAVERICK OF THE SENATE. (Palin: ALSO A MAVERICK.)
9:43 p.m. McCain: "We are winning in Iraq."
9:44 p.m. Obama: Should have we gone into the war in the first place. I opposed it when it was politically risky to do so.
9:44 p.m. Obama: Have spent almost a $1 trillion and 4,000 lives in the war. (Also, mentions Bush again.)
9:45 p.m. Obama: "We took our eye off the ball," re:war spending.
9:45 p.m. Obama: "I...will keep the American people safe."
9:46 p.m. McCain: Next POTUS will have to decide how, when we leave and what we leave behind.
9:46 p.m. McCain: Obama took forever to visit Iraq, never attended a hearing, etc.
9:47 p.m. Obama: Mentions Biden. "John, you like to pretend like the war started in 2007." It started in 2003 and you said it'd be easy, we'd be greeted as liberators, etc.: you were wrong.
9:48 p.m. McCain: [tries to interrupt; fails]
9:48 p.m. McCain: Rolls out prepared "I went to Baghdad" anecdote. Honored to visit troops. Etc. Obama refuses to acknowledge we're winning in Iraq.
9:49 p.m. Obama: That's not true.
9:49 p.m. McCain: [keeps going]
9:50 p.m. Obama: [tries to interrupt; fails]
9:50 p.m. Obama: We both support more troops. We need more troops and resources in Afghanistan.
9:51 p.m. Obama: We have to end this war responsibly, in phases. And "capture and kill Bin Laden and crush Al Qaeda."
9:52 p.m. McCain and Obama: [arguing at same time]
9:52 p.m. McCain: Wider war and more complicated if we follow Obama's plan.
9:53 p.m. Jim: Obama, do you think more U.S. troops should be sent to Afghanistan, how many and when?
9:53 p.m. Obama: Yes. ASAP. It's getting worse.
9:55 p.m. Obama: We have to press the Afghan government to ensure they're working for their people. Deal with the poppy problem. We've got to deal with Pakistan. Under Bush, we've been giving them money.
9:56 p.m. McCain: Regrets washing hands of Afghanistan. Not prepared to cut off aid to Pakistan. Chiding: "You don't do that. You don't say that out loud."
9:57 p.m. McCain: Not just more troops: we need a new strategy.
9:58 p.m. McCain: We've got a lot of work to do in Afghanistan. Mentions Gen. Petraeus for like the fifth time.
9:59 p.m. Obama: [History lesson about Pakistan.]
10:00 p.m. McCain: [Waxes nostalgic about Reagan.]
10:02 p.m. McCain: I have a record of national security issues.
10:02 p.m. McCain: Shopworn anecdote about the slain soldier and his fucking bracelet.
10:03 p.m. Obama: "I've got a bracelet, too."
10:03 p.m. I would like my own slain-soldier bracelet.
10:04 p.m. Obama: We took our eye off of Afghanistan and those 9/11 guys. McCain, you haven't been consistently concerned about what we're doing in Afghanistan. You "muddled through" it.
10:05 p.m. McCain: I visited Afghanistan. Unlike Obama. We will win in Afghanistan. Possibly because I visited.
10:05 p.m. McCain: Petraeus.
10:06 p.m. Jim: Good news: You are even on time. Bad news: "All my little five-minute things have run over."
10:06 p.m. Jim: What about...IRAN?
10:06 p.m. McCain: "An existential threat to the state of Israel."
10:07 p.m. McCain: "We cannot allow a second holocaust."
10:07 p.m. McCain: I shall create a League of Superhero Nations! France! UK! Germany! We can "affect Iranian behavior."
10:08 p.m. I grow drowsy.
10:09 p.m. Obama: The republican guard of Iran is a terrorist organization. Did he just say "Iran-ically"?
10:09 p.m. Obama: We cannot tolerate a nuclear Iran, as McCain says.
10:10 p.m. Obama: We need tougher sanctions. We need cooperation with Russia and China re:trade. We need to engage in tough diplomacy with Iran. Unlike McCain, who believes not talking to someone implies punishment.
10:11 p.m. McCain: Ahmadinejad? Ahmadinejad!
10:12 p.m. McCain: Brief history lesson re:diplomacy. There's gotta be preconditions. No face-to-face meeting with Ahmadinejad.
10:13 p.m. Obama: I reserve the right to meet with whomever I want if I think it's gonna keep America safe.
10:13 p.m. Audience snickers at Obama's "invite them to tea" comment despite Jim's pre-debate STFU warning.
10:16 p.m. McCain: What Obama doesn't understand is sitting down with someone without precondition: that's dangerous.
10:16 p.m. McCain: The N. Koreans have broken every agreement they've entered into.
10:17 p.m. Obama: "We do not expect to solve every problem before we initiate talks."
10:18 p.m. McCain: Goes on about something and his friend Kissinger. Obama tries to interject.
10:19 p.m. Jim: [Some question about Russia.]
10:19 p.m. Obama: We need to follow-through on our six-point ceasefire.
10:20 p.m. "Six-Point Ceasefire" would be a good band name.
10:20 p.m. Obama: We can't return to a Cold War stature with Russia.
10:21 p.m. McCain: "A little bit of naiveté" re:Obama's comments on Georgia vs. Russia.
10:21 p.m. McCain: "I looked into Mr. Putin's eyes and I saw three letters: a "K," a "G," and a "B.""
10:23 p.m. McCain: Another comment about his world travel.
10:24 p.m. McCain: Oh, yes; and I've been to Georgia, too, and I saw a big ol' Putin poster.
10:24 p.m. Obama: We agree for the most part on these issues.
10:26 p.m. Obama: "Russia is in part resurgent and Putin is feeling powerful..."
10:26 p.m. Obama: Rogue states.
10:27 p.m. Obama: McCain voting against alternative energy. We've gotta walk the walk not just talk the talk when it comes to energy independence.
10:28 p.m. McCain: Offshore drilling is very important. Need to "exploit those reserves."
10:28 p.m. Obama: "John?" We have to store nuclear waste... blah blah... big ol' interruptions.
10:29 p.m. Jim: Another 9/11?
10:29 p.m. McCain: "We have a safer nation but we're a long way from safe."
10:30 p.m. McCain: "I think America is safer today than it was on 9/11."
10:31 p.m. McCain: Still a long way to go.
10:31 p.m. Obama: We're safer in some ways. We still have a long way to go. Haven't done enough re:transit and ports.
10:32 p.m. Obama: Al Qaeda! Needs focus and more cooperation with allies.
10:33 p.m. Obama: Will restore America's standing in the world.
10:33 p.m. McCain: Mentions Reagan again.
10:34 p.m. McCain: Obama doesn't get it: if we fail in Iraq, it encourages Al Qaeda.
10:34 p.m. McCain: Petraeus.
10:35 p.m. Obama: Bin Laden still out there. We're China's bitch. Because we've been focused on Iraq, "this single lens." $10B or more/month spent on war. Can't spend on healthcare, science, etc.
10:37 p.m. McCain: Obama doesn't have the knowledge or experience.
10:38 p.m. McCain: I love them and I'll take care of them.
10:38 p.m. McCain: Reform, prosperity and peace. I don't need on-the-job training. I'm ready to take the job now.
10:39 p.m. Obama: Talks about his Kenyan Dad.
10:40 p.m. McCain: Drags out the POW/MIA chestnut. "I know how to heal the wounds of war."
10:40 p.m. The end.

Commentary:
I thought Obama was polished, eloquent and informed, and a formally excellent debater. And that's kind of his problem, isn't it? Have you traveled widely in this great country of ours? The overwhelming majority of it is not polished, eloquent and informed. And people like to hang out with people similar to them. How do you think it was our current president got elected? (Twice.)

McCain snapped back with a lot more direct/personal attacks on Obama (all of them prepared, many only tangentially related to the moderator's question at hand) and he had a ton more mini-anecdotes which come across to me as clumsy. But someone out there must find them personable and endearing, right? I think Obama needs to tough it out with some more direct attacks on McCain. Maybe attend the next debate shirtless.

About half of today’s college students are willing to sacrifice career satisfaction for a bigger paycheck, according to a survey taken by Experience, Inc., a Boston-based career services company.

From an article in today’s Boston Globe, “Half of college students going for the paycheck, says study.”

The balding thing: It’s really not a big deal. If we loved men more or less based on the state of their hair, we’d all have become lesbians in the eighties.

Debi Mazar, “10 Things You Don’t Know About Women,” Esquire, September 2008

Any time I hear a song or record that meant a lot to me at a certain moment or I was listening to at a distinct time, I’m instantly taken back to that place in full detail. Whenever I hear “Feel Flows” by the Beach Boys, I’m taken straight to the back of my parents’ car on the way to my grandparents’ place, fourteen with Surf’s Up in my Walkman and the Cascade Mountains going by in the window. .... I can ascribe exact memories to songs by the Microphones, Joni Mitchell, Built to Spill, Dungen, Harry Nilsson, and so many others, and it’s a form of recall that I can actually trust.

Robin Pecknold, April 6, 2008, from the liner notes of Fleet Foxes’ self-titled LP

But that’s just an excuse because I like lasagna and would have made one regardless. When we were kids, my Mom had a super-shortcut version, which is not sexy but likely inspired by having three mewling, hungry children: she used spaghetti sauce and in addition to mozzarella, added cottage cheese. My recipe still has shortcuts: I didn’t use fancy cheese for any of the three types, and canned tomatoes I don’t have a problem with. I did use fresh basil although I had the bunch pushed too far back in my fridge and about 90% of it froze and wilted horribly. But there were enough surviving leaves for the recipe.

And I used wine (Montepulciano d’Abruzzo) that met my two strict criteria: cheapness ($8) and the first bottle I picked up that claimed its contents were “dry.” The label further claims that the wine pairs well with seafood, pasta (with “red sauce or cream sauce”), red or white meat, Asian food, pizza, hamburgers, Mexican food and “mild to strong cheeses.” Apparently it does not go well with hot dogs.

I have changes to consider next time. I would not put the Parmesan—or so much of it—on top. It browned well and I’ve always enjoyed crispy toppings in Pyrex-based oven-dinners but the cup of Parmesan ossified into a super-crème brûlée-like crust that was difficult to cut cleanly into orderly servings.

I would add more fresh basil or add it at a later point in the cooking. I couldn’t taste it well and wanted to: my idea was that it would be a crisp balance to the heaviness of all that meat, cheese and starch.

The amount of sausage may not seem like a lot to you—at Fiacco’s, a half-pound is a mere three bratwurst-sized links. But I think it was the perfect amount. I removed the casing and crumbled it up into pea-sized pieces to spread it around; I’m not a fan of tons of meat in lasagna. You get too much in there, as many recipes do, and you’re flirting with meatloaf that happens to have noodles in it.

The mozzarella all but disappeared. I may need to add more or add it to a layer apart from the ricotta, which survived (nicely) intact, but which I should have mixed with an egg (for better spreadability; plus, that’s traditional) and maybe some chopped parsley.

I had a Blue Point Cherry Imperial Stout, from Patchogue, New York, sort of a fruit-beer/imperial stout hybrid that was my favorite. The Livery Herb Superb Black I.P.A. from Benton Harbor, Michigan, was lively with hops.The Brooklyn “Black Ops,” which I fear many people ordered solely based on the fact it had the third-highest ABV on the menu, tasted what I expect used motor oil tastes like. On the bright side, I wouldn’t have wanted to have saved the best for last, so I made the most of it and enjoyed a night of great drink, friends and views of New Jersey from our vantage on the east shore of the Hudson.

Cilantro

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• Meal 44 of 52: a Patron Blanco margarita ($10) and a vegetable enchilada ($15).