"it becomes theatrical and i feel like mata hari and it intoxicates me."

i really loved the studs terkel interview with the waitress delores dante in his book working.


here's just a little part of it:

"...when the plate is down you can hear the sound. i try not to have that sound. i want my hands to be right when i serve. i pick up a glass, i want it to be just right. i get to be almost oriental in the serving. i like it to look nice all the way.

to be a waitress, it's an art. i feel like a ballerina, too. i have to go between those tables, between those chairs...maybe that's the reason i always stayed slim. it is a certain way i can go through a chair no one else can do. i do it with an air. if i drop a fork, there is a certain way i pick it up. i know that they can see how delicately i do it. i'm on stage."

russian waitress poster may be seen in its glory here.

do you need a few green living ideas?

because if you do you should go straight here. i've been doing an internship with thse guys for the past month or so, writing articles like a fiend. the site went live last week, and though it will eventually be a more comprehensive site for learning about every way you can think of for living more sustainably, there are plenty of good topics to read on right now, and the best part is that some of them were written by me! except you can't tell which ones, because the articles have no bylines. my specialty is in the food and cuisine category– so almost all the ones there are mine.

but really, this is not about me. it's a little plug for a good place to visit and get good information about a good many things. the site also features "green talk radio– for down to earth information on environmental issues," and you can listen to the podcasts on everything from hastings nebraska as the greenest city in america to the future of electric cars.
now i've got to get back to writing.

why i love fish

everyone knows fish is cool. but working there is a special pleasure. yes it's a hectic restaurant and i'm tired at the end of the long days, but i just love so much what they stand for. and i've never worked with so many lovely and kind restaurant people in one place.
i scribbled down a few of the items on the fish 2007 wishlist which is taped to the office door:

kickass dessert program
swim!! shave!!! dance!!!
rooftop greenhouses
placemats dammit
convex mirror for the corner
new artwork
field trips
topless dancers--all male please
private label wine "you'll thrill for our swill!"
cookies: bigger, better, stronger, more like elvis

go to the website and click on the fish cam. maybe you'll see me.

apropos

cartoon by dave walker at we blog cartoons.

you can also go here to read his "dullest blog in the world." its entries are all to the tune of "I was standing at a central point in the room. The walls were all at approximately the same distance from me. I continued to stand there for a few moments." believe it or not, i found them rather interesting. and apparently i'm not the only one. one comment of the 254 on a single post reads "This is so fascinating to read. How have I missed it before?? This site isn't dull. It rocks!"

via the illustrious bb.

the pressure

i have to have five thousand-word articles written by tuesday.

this explains why you won't be hearing from me so much.

but i'll do my best.

"Waitressing in the Room With a Thousand Moons...

Is difficult at best. The moons desperately want to circle
something, so when a dish comes out, they dive-bomb it, bump
into each other and a dusting of moon-rock falls into the food.
We call that Parmesan. They know the plate won't be a planet.
We've been here for centuries and not once has a planet come in.
I guess they do it just-in-case. Having lived most of their
lives too close to everything, their sense of perspective is
poor. A plate of dumplings can start to look like a solar
system. Lately the moons seem to be losing hope. They're just
going through the motions and their waning is way more
convincing than their waxing. They no longer swarm around each
swirl of steam. A red smear signals Ketchup, not Mars. The food
is not very good, but people keep coming. Some come with nets to
sieve the sky for the tiniest butterfly-sized moons. Security is
good, though—no moon has ever been smuggled out. And most of the
diners look up the whole time, which makes it easy to get their
attention when we recite the specials. We, the waitstaff, are
waiting for the day when we come into the restaurant and find
the moons circling another moon. Below them, we endlessly orbit
the tables. Our leader has left us too."

this poem by matthea harvey seemed perfect for today. with only two days left at my job at picco, it's a little like working in an outer space.
i have always thought waitressing was a very special job. as a child i secretly admired waitresses and thought of them as beautiful. and i think i have definitely grown to depend on the rhythms and the rush of the restaurant world. sometimes i just wish that people appreciated us more, thought of us more highly.

and here is where "baked alaska parade" came from. where would this post be without it?