answers, part 3

From harrysjulie:

Oh, and did you ever notice that Daffodils look like trumpets?

Why, yes! And cornucopias. And gramophones. And bullhorns.

From Lindsay:

Where would you live if NY wasn't an option? Also, what are your three favorite restaurants, and what do you order when you go there?

Ooh, fun questions. I wouldn't have been able to answer the first before the tour, but now I can definitively say (and everyone watch my mother wince) San Francisco. I was in it for barely a second, but I felt a kinship with it and fell in love with the wacky, colorful skyline; the upswept fog that can, at times, look like cotton candy magically suspended over the city; the always nearby water; the curvy streets; the tiny-marshmallow-like smattering of boats in the bay; the INSANE drivers - seriously, NY has nothing on this place - coupled with the INSANE cable cars, and the way the city at street level at night looks simultaneously seedy and sophisticated. I did NOT like driving on the Golden Gate Bridge, as whomever is in charge seems to have not thought of anything but soda-bottle-like-contraptions placed every few feet as a method of dividing the left side from the right side. At least there's a nice, solid, concrete divider on its East Coast cousin, the Verrazzano.

I'd also seriously consider Washington, DC. I used to live there and still love it. Perfect blend of city and suburb, but it can be a cold, white, hard place - moreso than NY, I think.

Restaurants: They tend to change depending on borough. In Staten Island, our favorite restaurants are 1) a little diner about 10 minutes from my mom's house, that's less of a diner than a full restaurant that likes to call itself a diner; the kind of place where the owner knows everyone and also knows which dishes to recommend on which night; I usually have a turkey burger, or a chicken teriyaki, or sometimes a grilled chicken over sauteed spinach (yum). 2) Aesop's Tables: Tiny restaurant on Bay Street that looks like a Shakespearean fairy garden. Been awhile since I've gone, so I don't remember the food all that well, but it won for mood. 3) Da Noi: Best Italian food on Staten Island. Chicken Capricciosa, usually.

Brooklyn: I'm still getting settled in, but, 1) DiFara's. Best pizza on the planet. Plain slice. Made by little guy from Napoli who doesn't seem to exist to have any function but roll dough, spread sauce, dollop cheese, cut basil, and pour oil. He's been doing it for forty years. It shows in the pizza. If I drag you here I probably like you. 2) Ponte Vecchio: In Bay Ridge, and easily my family's most visited haunt for occasions - my father loves the puttanesca there, and he's very hard to please on that score. I usually succumb to a big plate of pasta here. 3) Aunt Rosetta's Kitchen: Private establishment. Usually only frequented by Anellis and Scalas (but you can bring someone in by marriage or lengthy dating). The head of the kitchen knows to make me special meatless sauce, even when making pasta al forno or manicotti. Cooks with vegetables grown out the window. And on Christmas Uncle Enzo makes sure we know that the lobsters scream as they hit the boiling water. Awesome place.

Manhattan: Not even a chance I can pick three, but here are some that pop to mind quickly: 1) Shade: Crepes place in lower Manhattan that I don't go to often, but always makes its offerings memorable. It used to be just a stand out a window; now there's an attached sit-in bar/restaurant. Watching the crepes get made is the best part, though. I usually get some sort of green vegetable, turkey, and cheese in a crepe. 2) Ollie's: Midtown Chinese food restaurant; when I worked next door to it, I used to order the steamed veggie dumplings obsessively. They were only $5 and easily the tastiest things I'd ever had out of a Chinese food place. I've never had a dumpling come even close since. 3) Friend of a Farmer: Easily the best brunch I've ever had, and I'm not alone - the line is usually three blocks down on a weekend. Fresh country bread rolls, hearty pancakes, appley tastes everywhere...I haven't been there in about three years but I would go right now if it weren't 3 a.m.

Now I'm hungry. Thanks a lot.

From Olivia:

How/When did your love of theater start?

Mostly from sixth grade drama, but really when my godmother took me to see Crazy for You about a month after my grandmother died. It was a perfect salve, and stuck with me.

Do you prefer musical theater?

To regular theater? Not specifically. I think about musical theater more because it's more easily thought about / sung. It's also usually more fun to go to musical theater - at least, it has more shiny things that occupy the eyes. When I'm feeling pensive I like a straight play (or a Sondheim musical).

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

A lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, later than most people. College. Well, no, scratch that: I wrote a novel when I was eight. But I didn't think I could feasibly write as a career until college.

Do you like your new apartment?

I'll like it a lot more when I have a bookcase, a sofa, a place for my TV; when I've sold my extra desk and futon and air conditioning unit; when I've painted the bedroom and installed the door to the tub and recolored the kitchen and acquired a nice rug. But other than that I love it loads. It finally feels like it's mine. It feels most like it's mine when I wake up and make coffee.

Favorite books(aside from the obvious haha)?

Savage Beauty by Nancy Milford. Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner. Hot Seat by Frank Rich. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (hated it in high school; loved it when I reread it after college). The Hours by Michael Cunningham. His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass, a three-book series by Philip Pullman.

The JKR interview. -that can never be over-discussed can it?

Never! But I don't know what you want to know. People often ask me why it was so great for me personally, and I've said it a lot but I'll say it again: It's because Jo, as an idol, didn't disappoint, as so many idols do. My notions about her were not destroyed, only enhanced -and that's a gift even more huge than the golden snake ring wrapped around my finger. I'll also say that that it changed my life in many ways, made great and towering goals seem within reach, and gave me the ability to sometimes have, sometimes fake, the confidence I need to accomplish so many things.

OK, enough for now, and it's late. :) More soon. And thank you for all your wonderfully kind words about Grogsnot. Every time one appeared, ol' Groggy seemed to be limping a little more. :)