Weekend reVIEW

Another weekend is in the books, and this one had a different cultural flair. As usual, we went out to dinner -- this time to Jewel of India on the University of Minnesota's West Bank. The food far surpassed the cheap prices (you can't complain when you get dinner for two for a mere $26), and I'd definitely return. We had our typical Indian restaurant choices: vegetable samosas, wheat naan and two different entrees -- some sort of cauliflower-spinach-potato mix, as well as a chicken in a rich and nicely-seasoned sauce. I left satisfied, and the food seemed to swell within my stomach as the night wore on, so I was satisfied -- along with downright parched due to the sodium -- for many hours following dinner!

The thirst was a bit of a distraction at first, but I soon forgot about it at our next event: a showing of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge at the Guthrie Theater. My aunt gave me a gift certificate last Christmas for the Guthrie and I spent many months wondering what I'd use it on. I'm glad I waited -- the play was truly riveting, entertaining and thought-provoking.

Set in the late 1940s/early 50s (hard to tell exactly when), the play is a true, modern-day Greek tragedy. The "bridge" in the title is the Brooklyn Bridge, and the play examines the story of a unique family situation in Brooklyn: a woman and her husband have raised the woman's late sister's daughter(her niece) since childhood, and the daughter, now 18, is on the brink of branching out on her own. This in itself brings the inevitable struggles, but throw in an additional element: the woman's two male cousins have come to Brooklyn as illegal immigrants, seeking to work and earn money -- something they're unable to do in their home country of Sicily.

The full house leads to expected tensions and interesting situations, including the men's venture into American culture, but most notably the budding romance between the niece and one of the men. This romance is the straw that breaks the camel's back in the niece's descent into independence -- she's ready to move out and marry and discover life on her own. There's just one problem: her uncle can't let go -- almost to the point of going insane. And the underlying reason for not being able to let go are his inappropriate feelings for his niece that grow apparent to everyone, most noticeably his wife, except for him.

The play's themes -- including lust, betrayal, immigration and what it means to live in this country, women's independence -- could have well been pulled from present day politics, it seems. That's what makes it such an entertaining work: the themes transcend time and tell a story with a cyclical familiarity. We know it won't end well, but it's extremely compelling watching everything unfold. Add to this a very dynamic cast -- these are true professionals -- and you have a captivating evening.

I might have even cried at the end (I'm a bit of a softie) if it weren't for the man and woman with their adult children sitting behind us. Apparently nonstop yammering and thinking out loud runs in the family, because both generations were very vocal throughout the show, making comments like "Oh no!", "What did she say?" "Are you serious?" and "Look, he's still breathing," when a character dies in the end [It's a play; use your imagination!]. The talking kind of kept me from getting truly engrossed, but overall the power of the play was too strong to be completely ruined by some annoying talkers behind us. A wonderful night overall!

Eat, Drink, Be Merry

We're two days removed from the Iron Fork and my hunger is finally starting to return and my sodium levels feel like they're back to normal. Slightly kidding, but Thursday was basically the second annual Derek and Tracy Eat Their Faces Off Day -- a.k.a the City Pages' Iron Fork event at International Market Square. We had so much fun last year that we had to go again. This year's outing was also enjoyed with friends Steve and Katya, proving the more the merrier when you're eating and drinking with abandon. Where to begin...

As Derek previously explained, the centerpiece of the event was an "Iron Chef"-style competition between top local area chefs. This year's secret ingredient was chocolate. I heard the announcer mention some unique combinations, like chocolate and mushrooms, but that's about as much as I can recall -- we were waaay too busy sampling the dishes from the more than 20 different restaurants at the stations surrounding the competition.

As for my favorites, it's hard to say...I love this event because, like last year, you discover new restaurants and dishes that you would have otherwise not known about or considered. Here are a couple of highlights from the night:

The Tommy Bahama Rum Servers - These ladies wandered the floor with trays of (free, of course) mini shot-glass-sized martini glasses filled with various rum concoctions, including the crowd-favorite mojito. The only remote problem we had with this was keeping the eating up-to-speed with the mojito-drinking. This turned out to be the perfect apertif-- along with the sample glasses of Leinie's Honey Weiss -- as we waited in some of the longer lines for the more popular restaurants of the night, including the back-to-back-to back stretch of three restaurants, including...

Marla's Caribbean Cuisine - Was that Marla dishing me up the spicy red beans and rice? Not sure, but the somewhat exotic-tasting comfort food stuck to my bones with the extra kick reserved for the more adventurous. Coupled with Jamaican jerk chicken and cocktail samosas, I could have stuck to this restaurant alone for the night and been happy. We tried Marla's last year at this event and talked about going to the restaurant all year long, but never did. Maybe this will be the year, finally..

Holy Land - I've always enjoyed the Holy Land staples, including their pita bread that you can buy at about any grocery store in town. In recent years, though, I've become more of a fan of Grand Avenue's Shish, a similar restaurant that I find often tastes a bit fresher and cleaner. Both Shish and Holy Land were at last year's Iron Fork and we went back to Shish much more than Holy Land. Well, Shish was absent this year, but Holy Land made up for it by tasting better than ever. Pita chips, silky-smooth hummus, grape leaves and falafel were enough to bring me back for seconds -- ahem, thirds...

Dancing Ganesha - There's this awesome vegetarian Indian restaurant, Nala Pak, in a distant land called Columbia Heights. Nala Pak is so good that I'm willing to make the drive on 694 to an area I otherwise never go to. Well, Nala Pak's new sister restaurant is Dancing Ganesha, and from what I can tell, it's the sassier, hipper, meat-lovin' sister, as well. And delicious! DG served up some delicious pastry-style, samosa-like items called poories. Excuse my ignorance -- they're actually called Sev Batata Puris, which are poories topped with yogurt, mango and red onion with tamarind and green chutney. Yep, and I ate about three of them in the same time it took me to spell all that out. The other item DG offered was one of the best desserts I've had in a while -- chocolate samosas. These pieces of heaven had white and dark chocolate, as well as coconut and carrots, and were topped with caramel sauce. I ate one of these in the middle of eating all of the other dinner items and almost had to call it a night. But wait! There was more...

Pizza Luce - What can I say about this crowd favorite? Potato pizza. Genius.

In addition to these highlights, I also enjoyed the not being on crutches like I was at least year's event. It made the eating a lot easier -- more trips and free hands to carry more food! I recall also avoiding partaking in all beverages at last year's event out of fear of a) balancing liquid in a cup while crutching around and b) compromising my shoulder-crutch-one legged balancing act. It was a lot easier this year!

As my hunger starts to return, my thoughts are already turning to next year's event...In the meantime, we'll have to check out Dancing Ganesha and Marla's Caribbean Cuisine. And maybe I'll mix up a couple of mojitos here at home.

Iron Fork

The fall is upon us. I enjoy this time of year. Crisp mornings and mild afternoons, makes it perfect for enjoying hot coffee, warm comfort food while wearing shorts and a cozy sweatshirt.

I think back and the last time I felt this sort of crispness in the air. Was this past summer while I was hiking in Colorado. I remember the day; I woke up around 4:30 am to hike to the top of Mount Huron to watch the sunrise. There is nothing better then being above 14,000 feet on a cloudless morning, seeing your breath, while enjoying the view. The time seems to stand still. Until the crispness in the air nips you and reminds you are getting cold, then it is time to get moving.

Regardless of mountain climbing and air temperature, I am reminded about a year ago Tracy and I attended the Iron Fork, a charity for Second Harvest. It is awesome, it benefits a great cause, and you’re able to observe a cooking competition while sampling about 20 different restaurants signature dishes.

Since we had such a great time last year, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to attend to again. Tonight’s the night…I am really looking forward to it….In fact, I am starting to drool just thinking about it stay tuned for a full report....

Keep moving...

To follow up about my last post….The dragon was slain, but not in the heroic efforts that I imaged. Instead, I think that the dragon conceded, crawled back into its cave as I shuffled away in the opposite direction.

The race didn't go as well as planned. I started out conservatively and warmed up to my target pace for the first 10 miles, I was feeling good and the legs were turning over easy. Unfortunately, a cold raining started falling about mile 9 and by 12, I couldn't keep myself from shivering. The rest of the race was a blur...My only goal was to finish. I was able to make it and was happy I finished...But felt unsatisfied by my performance.

As I think about the race, my thought process was a mosaic grouping of random thoughts. I was surprised how dream like things were….I could hear voices but not place where they were coming from…. road seemed so rough, I didn’t think that my legs could take the pounding….the feeling of shivering uncontrollably and how frustrated I got by how my fingers couldn’t tear the gel pack open….running up the hill to Saint Thomas went so quick, I forgot that I already ran up. The finish was so anti-climatic that I really had no emotion at all….neither happy or sad…

Since the race, I have been laying low and recouping. I have had time to think about the race and this past experience was epic for the wrong reasons. In my delirious state of mind Sunday, I kind of remember not enjoying what I was doing. I knew how afraid I was if I stop running, either a more hypotermic state or the disappointment if I didn’t finish.

I don’t know that the future of running holds for me. There is a feeling of frustration because I didn't get to test my fitness level. As well as other thoughts of running another marathon in a couple of months to the other extreme of hanging up the racing all together and just stick to the running. Time will tell.

Until that time comes….I will count the positive things…I am not injured, I have a wonderful support team, and I did finish the marathon.

Steady on….

Slay a Dragon?

Sunday is the day…I slay a dragon. One year ago, I started the Twin Cities Marathon but didn’t finish. I made it to mile 21 before a hip injury made me call it a day. Since that time about 360 days have passed and in those passing days, I have learned a lot.

I have learned that you need to practice being patient.

Last year, I tried to hold on the fitness from the failed marathon and that became a big problem that affected me on several different plateaus. The obvious is running, but not being able to participate in my favorite activity (running) and walking around in discomfort clouded my mind with frustration that trickled in to my personal and professional life. To basically put it, I was in the middle of hell last winter.

After a time off running, a MRI, rehab, strength training, cross-training, and cortisone shot, I am back to running consistently. I spent the past spring getting my fitness back, followed by building my confidence this past summer with key workouts and long runs. With these elements combined, I am hoping for good things come Sunday morning.

As I think about last years TCM. I wonder if….I would have been patient sooner then later, and took time off from running. Would things be different? Maybe?

Regardless of the outcome from last year, it is behind me and I have become a different runner, today. I have become a stronger runner both mentally and physically. I have strengthened my weak points (bad hip is gone) and I have become stronger by training harder then before. But more importantly to anything, I reintroduced the enjoyment to running. It took an injury and forced time off to remind me why I first started running: to loose weight and to get outside more.

Since that first run, ten years ago, I have lost 30 pounds and I developed a new life long activity. More importantly I discovered that running has influenced my life in many ways and gotten me through some difficult times. Today my reason for running is different…I enjoy the movement of my body, the way I think, look, and having tangible goals to meet that involve running. I continue to enjoy being outside and face any conditions that mother nature can dish out.

Come Sunday the 26.2 long dragon is going down! It has taken me one year to get back to where I am today. The most important goal for the TCM is to finish. The plan to get to the finish line is to be patient and let the race come to me. I am going to try the best I can and respect myself for doing so. I have enjoyed the journey so much to get to this point and I hope that the destination is even more rewarding!

Look for me mid-morning on Sunday at the finish line. I’ll be easy to find, I will be the with the dragon’s head on a stick!