a literary single

Between the Covers mixer
Originally uploaded by Word Brooklyn

I was recently interviewed in Time Out New York for Word's Between the Covers matchmaking mixer for literary singles. Instead of linking to the article, I'm posting my full replies below. (In case you're wondering, I'm in the halter.) Feel free to get in touch with me via Kontact'r if you don't want to leave a comment to schedule a book chat.

1. How would you like your name to appear [on your blog]?
Rutila, which means "redhead" in Latin.

2. What is your age?
23; I'm a precocious publishing professional, having worked in the field since 2002.

3. Which neighborhood do you live in?
Greenpoint (and I'm a native, so I make better Polish food than most of its obiadys).

4. What do you do for work?
Senior Editorial Assistant for [a nonfiction publisher]. I work in encyclopedias, so I traffic articles from authors to reviewers, from editors to production, copyedit front matter, and make cheesecake when people need a break from tight deadlines.

5. What did your original post on the bulletin board say?
I am a woman looking for a man who likes reading Neil Gaiman -- my favorite author -- but hates Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. I also enjoy books by Mary Roach (of Stiff fame), Frans de Waal, and Robert M. Sapolsky (the latter are primatologists).

6. What is your favorite book about a relationship, or your ideal relationship illustrated in novel-form? Why is it your favorite?
I am looking for the Mr. Rochester to my Jane Eyre. Like Jane, I was a precocious child who got in trouble in school a number of times for bucking it to the administration. Their relationship is one of equals, two well-educated people who debate and spar, and their differences in opinion bring them closer together. So if we're a match of wits, I'll most likely forgive the skeletons in your closet -- or the mad wife in your attic.

7. What are your literary dealbreakers?
On the off chance you're a guy who read and enjoyed Eat, Pray, Love and anything from the Twilight series, I doubt we'd get along. I'm a huge fan of graphic novels, but dime-store comic books shouldn't be the only literature you digest. And is that a Kindle you're toting? I'm an old-fashioned book-in-bound-form reader.

8. What are your favorite bookstores in New York City?
Word in Greenpoint, of course, because its staff recommendations never strike out, and it's so easy to get involved in its events: I made crepes for its Basketball and Brunch event, debated the merits of body hair at the Obsolete event, and suggested an event between the authors of a book on Napoleon's penis and one on Jesus's foreskin, which the events coordinator [Kelly, pictured with me] made happen. I'm also a fan of Greenlight in Fort Greene -- I stained bookcases for the new store in the summer -- because opening an independent bookstore is a gamble in this climate, and I couldn't pick a better staff to put my money on.

9. What are your favorite literary pickup spots? In which bookstores can you pick up the cutest people?
I actually met someone at a Desk Set (an organization of bibliophiles, mainly librarians, that raises money for literacy programs) party at Enid's, and the best literary pickup spot has to be the Javits during Book Expo America (BEA). The nation's top publishers, booksellers, librarians, and educators -- not to mention some cute authors -- are all under one roof and attend a number of parties at night. I went to the BEA Tweetup and was able to collect business cards for professional networking and pleasure. I have yet to pick up someone at a bookstore because I'm most likely paying too much attention to the books.

10. Have you gone on any dates through the board so far? If so, what were they like?
Not yet, but someone recently admitted a crush on me via the board. We're setting up a casual get-together in the near future.

11. What did you learn about posting on the board? What did you like and not like about it?
Like publishing in general, there are more women than men. We need to encourage more men to be open about their literary leanings. Do you geek out with fantasy? Say so! You'll be sure to find a similar gal.

12. In terms of books, who are you looking for?
It'd be great to meet a guy who'll admit he buys cookbooks, for the obvious implication that he'd have me over and wow me with his culinary skills, but in something more down to earth I'd like to meet someone who admits to reading young-adult books (YA), as some YA can be just as racy as adult books.

13. Why did you want to meet someone at this event in particular?
Because every once in a while us bibliophiles need to get our noses out of books. I'm going to the event at Diamond first and foremost to support my friends at Word, and more to connect with bookworms than to expect to meet someone. Though if it happens, the right person will get a card from my catalog to use my call number and hopefully won't let the good times expire.

14. What is your "required reading" list, i.e. one-five books you'd really like a potential date to have read, and why?
A tricky question because I can either be really picky or name popular books that anyone could have read. Let's say you've read something by Neil Gaiman (American Gods is my favorite novel); read The Catcher in the Rye, appreciated Holden's honesty but acknowledged his flaws; found a Shakespearean play that spoke to you (mine is Hamlet); and have a battered copy of Strunk and White in your library from school.

not going your way

The B62 home
Originally uploaded by bitchcakesny

Amy from Joe Lentol's office kindly commented on my post about the B62, and I was thrilled not only to hear from her but to discover that Mr. Lentol himself has picked up the nickname I coined for the new service, the B sixty-screw. In the post I quoted a press release from his office, and I'm following up to reflect that I was not accusing Mr. Lentol of wrecking the B61 -- he does not work for the "think tank" that is the MTA -- but was rather being cynical at the belief that there are such things as quick solutions to chronic problems.¹

Instead of posting the whole discussion here -- Bitchcakes has supplied her own follow-up and the entire press release -- I'll just quote the strongest bits and pieces. Amy writes:

You are absolutely right. The change in the B61 has been a complete failure thus far. Once again the lack of transparency from the MTA -- namely the complete failure of the MTA to so much as mention a change in schedule much a less a complete gutting of the bus schedule -- has turned what we had hoped would be a very positive change into a very negative one.

I'm glad you agree, Amy! Moreover, thanks to Mr. Lentol for driving home this point:

"North Brooklyn commuters are in urgent need of improved subway and bus service. It seems as if the MTA is drowning out our repeated requests for improved services. It is my hope that the MTA reconsiders these cuts and instead considers the needs of the people. I hope to meet with MTA officials soon to discuss how this can be done. However, if my district continues to be ignored, I will be forced to reconsider how I support the MTA in Albany," argues Assemblyman Lentol.

Not only does your district in north Brooklyn deserve better public transportation but also Bedford-Stuyvesant, which your district hugs, and parts south including Kensington and Park Slope (serviced by the F). I lived in Kensington for four months after graduating college and couldn't stand depending on the F, hence the return to Greenpoint where I can accurately judge how unreliable service can be. Now, with the B sixty-screw I can't even do that.

I wish Mr. Lentol all the best while working with his colleagues in Albany. While I do not expect change overnight I value his commitment to his constituency. Also, please keep in touch, Amy; La Diosa del Metro will happily volunteer time and thought to aid her neighborhood.

¹ Allow me to summarize commenters on Gothamist: "Wouldn't it be great if the G ran to Manhattan? It would solve the bus problem." Yes, it would, but you've got to work with the existing infrastructure. Wouldn't it be great if splitting the B61 prevented delays? Yes, but it doesn't due to the nature of traffic in downtown Brooklyn.

the real international man of mystery

Joe K. supports single moms
Originally uploaded by bitchcakesny

I cannot express enough how grateful (and lucky) I am to be a Punk Roper. Though I am not given to embracing a community spirit, when accepted by a group of the coolest, wackiest bunch of attractive nerds in existence you've got no choice but to embrace back. Having already written a love letter to Bitchcakes, it's time Joe "Sweet Action" K. [ed. note: He asked that his last name be removed.] got a post of his own.

He already has a post of his own, you say? Well, you're right, but he's gotten more awesome since then, except for when he let me to eat fried baby fish from a Korean restaurant before his birthday karaoke party. That was not awesome. Other culinary outings with him, however, have been a delight: we celebrated Jewish Christmas at Madangsui, cooking bulgogi, shrimp, and mushrooms over an open flame. He hosted brunch at his place a week or two before, coinciding with Hanukkah, which allowed me to show off with boozy baked French toast (holla for challah!) and latkes.

During my two-week vacation from Hoboken, we crossed paths several times: he joined Gentleman Caller and me at Avatar in IMAX, requested my company at brunch (letting me pick the venue), and attended New Year's Day brunch, playing a mean game of Taboo.

Though we're often in each other's company, it doesn't mean we always get along. For example he believes in the cockamamie hypothesis that cooking sparked the separation of Homo sapiens from non-human primates. We almost got into fisticuffs in my defense of sound anthropology.

Regardless, Joe K. is the man, even if only for getting me excited about my bike again. He convinced me to bike to brunch, giving me pointers on my riding style, and then we rode around on a short tour of the Greenpoint from my childhood. His encouragement made me feel so comfortable on two wheels -- and that's saying a lot. I've had my bike since May 2008, used it during that summer (the highlight being Summer Streets), and then stopped. Not only did my front wheel need realignment, but it also didn't help that my guerrilla biking partner, Sourpuss Stoner, made me feel incompetent. Who needs negative people when you're toasting with shit wine, brunching in Harlem, taking the 7, or karaoke-ing your heart out? Not me, and definitely not Joe K.

Therefore, thank you, Joe K., for making great Greenpoint and life in general.

MTA fail

untitled
Originally uploaded by rutila

"Are you on the bus? I hate the B62 already."
-- me to Bitchcakes via text message at 7:00am this morning

Bitchcakes, who follows and blogs about the MTA better and more frequently than even La Diosa del Metro, informed readers that the B61 was going to be split into two lines. Though she was excited about the change, I scoffed at it and explained why in this post, namely because the B61 is convenient as is and because whenever the MTA says a change is going to be the answer to your commuting prayers, it rarely is -- I'm talking about you, V train.

The change is thus: The B61 line is now the B61 and B62. The B61 runs from Red Hook to Downtown Brooklyn, and the B62 runs from Downtown Brooklyn to Long Island City. I had originally thought this change was going to screw up my one-seat commute from Trader Joe's on Atlantic Avenue, but per Gothamist's post on the matter it adds only a couple of blocks of walking with two bags of heavy groceries instead of crossing one street (with two heavy bags of groceries). Relieved that the B62 didn't fuck up my weekend plans as badly as I feared, I figured I'd meet up with Bitchcakes this morning to welcome the B62 together.

She is necessarily obsessive about her commute since she takes the Metro North and must be in Grand Central at such-and-such time to make her train, so I knew exactly when to get on the bus in order to meet her. When I got to the Norman-Manhattan Ave. stop at 7:00am, there was absolutely no one waiting for the bus. Had I missed it, though it was supposed to arrive a few minutes after I got there? I sent her a text message and then reviewed the timetable. No, I did not miss the 7:04 bus because the timetables had been completely re-vamped. I missed the 6:49 and had to wait for the 7:11. The B61 previously arrived every ten minutes -- I should know since I took it every morning religiously during my last two years of high school -- but the B62 arrives with an over-twenty-minute interval in this instance. Checking out the schedule for the rest of the day, I was shocked to see the B62 runs every thirteen minutes at its peak, making it only marginally better than the B48!

Turns out Bitchcakes had not made the 6:49 bus -- of course she hadn't if she expected to take something just after 7:00 -- and she was livid when I saw her on the 7:11. We spent most of the ride chewing out the MTA, and I'm sure she'll post her thoughts tonight.

I had been burned by the B61 before: it made me late for an internship interview -- though I had left an hour before the interview, the bus didn't show up until a half-hour after its posted arrival time -- and something similar happened when my mom and I wanted to go shopping in Elmhurst. I'm as angry as everyone else when the B61 pulls up very late with one or two buddies following it, but the MTA got it wrong when it thought splitting the line and decreasing the frequency of service was the answer to the bus's reliability problem. Perhaps your bus will show up on time now, but it'll be more crowded, as it was this morning.

Does "this initiative [the B62] show Brooklyn residents that the MTA actually does care about its riders’ well-being and satisfaction,"¹ Joe Lentol? I think not. And to think people are paying through the nose to live in Greenpoint, where residents are served by an overcrowded go-nowhere train that arrives every ten minutes or an overcrowded bus with a well-designed route that arrives every thirteen minutes. The B61 used to be my savior from the G train, going that extra "stop" from Court Square to Queens Plaza that the G no longer makes, allowing me to forgive the bus when it showed up when it felt like it. Now I'm nonplussed. Thanks, MTA, for the B sixty-screw.

¹ I'm quoting from his press release, which you can read in its entirety on Bitchcakes's post.

things to do on a perfect day

Oddly enough, this perfect day happened just over two months ago.

On October 28, 2009, I took a day off from work to go see my doctors, namely my gynecologist and optometrist. I didn't know the day was going to be filled with adventures:

7:00am: Breakfast with Mom
Oatmeal, an apple, and banana with coffee. The usual.

9:00am: Gynecologist appointment (Financial District)
Nothing out of the ordinary. Instead of seeing Dr. Levey, I saw Kayee. Both get top-notch reviews on Yelp, and for good reason; they make an uncomfortable procedure as comfortable as possible. I remember being so frightened that one of the many womanly infections that I usually get when being actively sexually active was going to be found, but everything was normal, and my bloodwork, which came back two weeks later, looked as good as Bitchcakes's results! When I gave blood a few days later, my blood pressure was recorded as 110/70, which is fantastic.

9:30–9:45am: Eyebrow threading (Financial District)
I only go to Thread Salon for my body-hair upkeep, so I walked to the downtown location after my ladybits got a lookover. This franchise deserves a longer detailed post, so I won't praise it now -- though it is highly deserving of your business.

10:30–11:45am: Mini-massage and mini-facial at Nina's European Day Spa (Midtown)
When the threading and waxing were finished, I decided to use a Groupon for Nina's European Day Spa, which included a mini-massage and a mini-facial. The thirty-minute massage was sorely needed, and the masseuse did a move on my calves, running her forearm perpendicularly from my ankle to my knee, that released all the tension I didn't know I had from working out. The mini-facial went over time because of some extra extractions -- curse my oily skin! -- but why complain about getting clean pores?

12:30pm: Return dress to H&M (59th & Lex)
I had bought a form-fitting red strapless dress from H&M thinking I'd dress up as Betty Boop for Halloween. The dress was too big on top and too small on the bottom. It was returned without a problem.

12:45pm: Optometrist appointment (Upper East Side)
Thanks to a no-show, my optometrist saw me earlier than my mid-afternoon appointment. I've been seeing Dr. Cooper for five years, and he's the one responsible for fitting me with contacts to sleep in. I've got 20/20 vision with these babies, and he's convinced the lenses have halted my myopia.

1:45pm: Retrieve diploma from Hunter (Upper East Side)
I've been wanting to scratch this from my list for a long time, but work and anxiety over the long lines at "Oasis" prevented me from doing so.

2:00pm: Scone and tea at Alice's Tea Cup (Upper East Side)
I hadn't been to Alice's in over a year, so I got lunch.

***Commute back to Greenpoint, check e-mail, read articles in Google Reader, get ready for gym.***

6:30pm: Total body conditioning (Greenpoint YMCA)
This was the first time I did a weights-only class at the Y, and if I remember correctly, I did it all with eight-pound weights. Kick-ass!

7:30pm: Punk Rope (Greenpoint YMCA)
After a five-minute breather, I jumped in the Halloween-themed class.

9:30pm: Dinner (Williamsburg)
Gentleman Caller took me out to El Almacen. Excellent date with good food, wine, and conversation.

That's what you do on a perfect day, and my new year's resolution -- though I'm still working on its final wording -- is to make each day as full and perfect as that one.