Brunchgiving

A miracle I’m writing. Work has been frustrating, I’ll leave it at that. 

O friends, no more these sounds!

Let us sing more cheerful songs,

more full of joy!

Raise your hand if you know what I am quoting. Why do I always see the same hands? Yes, it’s the introduction to Ode to Joy in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. So what is more joyful than chaos at school? Friends and more cheerful songs. On Friday I went to the Common Ground Coffeehouse in Dobbs Ferry. I didn’t know the band playing but I’m the merch volunteer, I trust Carter’s taste, and I have fun hanging out with Carter and the volunteers. It turned out that this was one of the rare times that Carter’s taste and mine diverge. It happens. I won’t give the artist’s name as why should they come across a negative review when egosearching? If it was Dawes I’d gladly tell you that they suck. They can cry all the way to the bank. There is no need for me to badmouth someone you are unlikely to run into. I’ll give them this, they are better than Dawes. 

I decided that Sunday brunch counts as my Thanksgiving dinner, I ate delicious food with friends and heard great music. Sadly I’m not spending Thanksgiving with my usual people and it turns out that I don’t want to find a substitute. On Thanksgiving I’ll be alone, my roommate will be away, so I’ll make exactly the dinner I want to eat and watch TV. There will be a break to talk to my usual Thanksgiving friends. I’m amazed that I’m not depressed about it. Just knowing that I’m wanted is enough. 

Sunday brunch was at The Porch. That’s the restaurant Mark and Beth opened in Harlem, Sugar Hill to be precise. I took one look at their Brunch menu and knew I had to go. Do you know which dish most caught my eye? Take a look and guess. 

That’s right I had the melted Ice Cream French Toast. Don’t feel bad if you said Biscuits & Gravy, Waffles & Nuggets, Chicken Fried Steak or the Breakfast Sandwich. I will be ordering all of those in the future. 

I said that this was not just about food but about friends and music. I have lined up friends to join me there. My inaugural lunch was with Jim and his wife Alice. I kn0w that they had music there but I didn’t know they had it during Sunday Brunch. I walked in and Christian Apuzzo said hi. My reaction was, “You’re playing?” He was along with three other members of the Brooklyn Bluegrass Collective. I did not know the others which surprised me. So this worked out even better than I planned. I hit the trifecta, food, friends, and music. It gets even better. I emailed Mark and Beth to let them know we were coming. Mark was working but of course came by and talked. Beth wasn’t working but took time off from Thanksgiving prep to join us for a while. She treated the table to the Strata. That was amazing. That definitely goes into my Porch order rotation. There will be a rotation. I decided that I’m going to make the Porch my place for Sunday Brunch with friends. Do you want to join me some time? Let me know. 

The timing was perfect, the music didn’t start for an hour so we had time to talk and catch up. I know Jim from WFUV, he was the second person after me to become an uber volunteer. He soon became my work-wife. Alice, his real-life wife, said we are exactly the same. We are two of a kind. We both can go 0n and on about arcane knowledge. Being near us is an education. I taught our wonderful waitress Melissa what her name means, honeybee. I often wonder if women think I’m flirting with them. I usually am, but not in the way you are thinking. I flirt with men too. I just naturally take an interest in people and say nice things. Isn’t that the essence of flirting? 

In addition to  tête-à-tête with friends I wondered if I could establish a salon, a group of friends to meet there once a month and be like an easier to spell Algonquin Round Table. I call dibs on being Dorothy Parker or George S. Kaufman. 

I was able to go because I finished recording Gord’s Gold on Friday. I usually record on Sunday mornings. I prepared a great Thanksgiving music feast. Join us on Folk Music Notebook at 9 PM Thanksgiving evening New York Time. It repeats at 5 AM. You’ll hear a different version of Alice’s Restaurant than you are used to. 

I better get this posted. I get to leave soon.