1. Business Develpment Research Consultants (London, July 2004). Ahhh my first foray into Market Research. This was a year long position as a part of my degree in Business Studies, and they actually offered me the job in my interview before realising they needed me to take an assessment. This was my first proper job as well, so I had no idea what to expect. Which was just as well seeing as my first day was largely unforgettable save for having an 800 page set of tables put on my desk and being asked to check them. The job itself would blossom into many happy memories, but as first days go, this gets a 3/10.

2. Opinion Research Corporation (October 2006, London). My first job post-university. I partly got this job due to my old boss at BDRC Mike moving across to ORC and getting me an interview, but I still think the old charm helped me out too. I actually got this job over the phone whilst in America, and was quite pleased to take it as when I got back to England I had 83 pounds in the bank. The people in my team were all nice enough, and they took me for lunch to a really nice pub in the backstreets of Islington. Due to the delicious lunch and ale (how I miss the British fashion of allowing one or two drinks at lunch knowing it doesn’t turn you into a drunk, sigh. Americans please take note) this first day gets a sterling 7/10.

3. Kantar Health (New York, December 2009). I had already had two first days, so I thought I knew the sort of things to expect. Well, I was surprised. It would seem that someone somewhere did not get the memo as when I turned up for my first day there was nothing set up for me at all. No computer, no pens, nothing. Then the first two computers they ‘found’ for me did not work and the third one was some old Financial guy’s one and had all his old software on. Way to make a person feel wanted! One plus point for the IT guy telling me all his passwords for work are “the names of guns that I own”, but one point subtracted for finding a prayer taped into my desk, a very ominous sign if I ever found one. I even had to wait a week for lunch until my boss came down from Baltimore in his big Indiana Jones hat. 2/10 for you.

4. OTX-Ipsos (Los Angeles, August 2010). I was rather excited about my first day here, as working in TV research is a bit more exciting than helping a drug company stop people from pissing themselves. At least to my corporate sell-out mind it is. But I wasn’t expecting a massive banner with my name on and the flags of Britain and America. Everyone should have a massive banner with their name on, there is something nice about it. And then we got lunch in (on expenses naturally), I had introductions about the division most the day, a French intern made me a crepe and I found out that we are having a team lunch externally today and also they are planning on taking me to Universal Studios on Friday afternoon as it is entertainment related and apparently can be expensed! Phenomenal so it is 8/10 for my new employers.

The next day I had to wake up early to catch the 7am Acela to Baltimore – and it was quite hard to tear myself away from naked hija and giving her kisses but finally I managed it and got to the station in time. The time in the Baltimore office was quite fun, and I sent a wicked email when the blame was shifted to me for something that I was not guilty of. Got the 7.30 train from Baltimore and got back to New York just before 10 and headed off to meet hija and some of her friends at a Cuban restaurant. It was really touching to see how happy she looked when I turned up. We had fun at the restaurant and then went back to get my wishes granted. I did manage to tie up hija’s feet – but I think something was missing from the picture I saw once that I was trying to recreate – but then she fell asleep before my footjob! So I was again foiled. But somehow on the subway home I managed to get a grant of 5 more footjobs whenever I wish, so that was not so bad.

Friday morning, I had already warned hija, I would be late for work because I was waking up next to her. So I woke her the way that is much better than a phone call – my cock! hahaha. And then, I got her to finally grant my wish for foot sex. Hija has good feet to fuck. I guess that goes in keeping with the rest of her. I was so tired at work but one thing perked me up – hija said she would be my girlfriend! And so I bought sushi to celebrate and went to hers after work. She did not want to have sex so I cashed in one of my foot sex vouchers and had a second footjob. I could learn to enjoy days like that. Hija is a natural, she tried a different position to begin with, with her toes grasped around my shaft so I could see the nails, and it felt really good. Then to save her abs she went on her front and repeated the same from the morning – with me fucking the length of her foot. I was allowed to come on them but ummm I made a mess. And my boxer shorts felt gross. After that, I felt really tired and had to take a nap in her bed, but I fell into a deep sleep and woke up dazed. And then went home.

Saturday was a foul day, with super strong winds and lashing rain. I didn’t care at first as I had bought House of the Dead Overkill and was enjoying shooting the shit out of zombies. Apparently though, the wind had other ideas as the power went out at 5pm. So it was a night of reading books by candlelight for me. And hearing bits of the house that should have been repaired ages ago blow off. And poor hija’s flight to Puerto Rico got cancelled until the next day. Well better late than finding bits of her in the lawn (morbid humour!).

Sunday the wind stopped. Power came back at 1pm. Pretty unremarkable day aside from discovering that Lorena’s dad has decided I should pay an outlandish sum of rent (around $800) and be moved to a room without a bed or a closet. Well I guess they want me gone. And of course, Lorena found a way to shout and scream at me about it, as she told me not to twist things to my parents, as she knew I would say something about the whole moving out thing, and when I said that if I did want to twist things, I could go to a lawyer regarding breaking a Federal document, I was told I was threatening her and she could just report me to the police and have me thrown out the country and I should be honourable (so what have I been by paying her back as much as I can a month?) and just the usual spiel that shows she hasn’t actually heard what was said and instead just wants to rant and rave like a lunatic and not let the other side explain themselves. I wonder why I welcomed the split. And seriously, fuck her dad, going through his daughter to say that. So anyway, I looked up places near hija and arranged to see one on Tuesday.

Monday… nothing much happened. I called my mum to let her know everything regarding me and Lorena getting a divorce, me moving out, me dating hija… went pretty well. She said she would help me out with moving out which was nice I can’t wait to get back my life.

Yesterday I went to see the place, got on well with the owner and she offered it to me! I said yes, as I want to get out asap, and so I should be moving on Sunday!! She also said an interesting thing, in that I have too much of a personality for Market Research. I should find out what I am best suited for (alas fucking all of hija is not a profession). Then I spoke with darling hija for two hours or so… I can’t wait to see her and that tan and do naughty things to it. (Oh and… burnt ass!). Also, I had lunch with Erika and Keith, and when I was at the salad bar with Erika I pointed at different coloured vegetables and said “It’s good to have different colours”, to which she said “I know”, so I replied “That’s why I am dating a brown girl!”.

Today was St Patrick’s Day, and everyone in the office seemed to assume that I am a racist as I kept being asked “Are you ok with today? How are you coping?”. I had sushi at a nice place near the office with Erika and Keith. It was such a lovely day, weather wise. I spoke with Gav in England, which was nice as I hadn’t spoken with him since I left England in January. He said he was really pleased for me to be moving out as it should be very good for me indeed. I agree! Plus I get to be within 10 minutes walk of hija, so whenever we are free we can have kisses if we want them. Then I went out to eat with Daisy, we had Shake Shack and they do have really good burgers. But the fries were really not worth it and then there is the milkshake equation. The milkshake equation is that if I can get a small vanilla from McDonalds for $2, if you are going to serve a similar size for $5.50 (and believe me I was not expecting a small for that price) it has to be at least double, and more like 2.5 times better than what I can get at $2. And sadly it was not. But the burger really was excellent. And so I had a fun time eating and talking with Daisy. And then… I come home and find that hija has sent me a picture of her toes on the beach. I heart that girl.

Friday night, the plan was to have a drink or two at a leaving do and then go home to look after the dogs as everyone else had gone down to Texas. Of course, I bettered that. First I had a filthy drink, a gin and ginger liquer martini which I swear had cheap gin in because it was so nasty that I added soy sauce and that made it better. Then I called hija as I was leaving, and I ended up coming round to her place, where we kissed and cuddled and fell asleep watching a movie and ate Chinese food and then had sex before bed. So it was a great evening with hija =D

Saturday, I was awoke with a kiss. I love how sweet that was. I would love to be woken up by hija kisses every day, instead of hearing “Spider Pig” play out of my phone. And so began a lovely day. It started off with me being unable to resist the infinite beauty of hija’s body, and so… we had sex. But then she had to go to class, and I had to make sure the dogs hadn’t eaten each other or set the house on fire, so I dashed back to Long Island, changed my clothes and shot back to the city. I went to Macy’s to kill some time, but I was bored and bought some clothes that I later returned that day. So I went to wait for hija to finish in the gym at the Starbucks we go to, and I read some of Catch-22, which is actually an excellent book (and thanks to hija for getting it for me). Then hija appeared and kissed me, which was very nice, and we began our tour of the city. First we went to a salon to make an appointment for later in the day for her, then we went to 9th Ave and 14th and walked to Strand bookstore on Union Square, where we spent an hour or so marveling at books as we both love them and bought some. Then we went back to the salon, hija had a Brazilian which looked really great when I got to see it, and then we went to the bar where they had the Tyra Banks thing in as it was nearby, and we had two drinks and spent the time talking and kissing and making wishes with our eyelashes. Hija told me a lovely wish, and I hope it comes true one day as I think we are awesome now so imagine if that happened. However, I am suffering some kind of amnesia as all I can remember is that the wish was very touching and lovely, but not what it was. *wink wink*. Then we went to Wendy’s for some good ol’ fat food (yes fat not fast) and by then we were so tired… went back to her apartment and we were ready for bed by 10.30. Sleepy time but it really was an amazing day… just spent doing normal things but with an amazing person… it really was just nice.

Woke up on Sunday, and tried not to disturb hija. I really liked it when she put her head on me and I felt her little breaths coming on me (little because she was sleeping not because she is small). Then… we had sex twice. Had to stop the second time because I nearly snapped my cock with a mis-thrust! Then I finished Catch-22, and went shopping for groceries (as well as being a fat-ass and having Checkers for breakfast, no wonder I put on 7 lbs this week) and came back to make cards with hija. Even doing that is fun with her. This has the potential to be just a mega relationship, I would say. I decided then to write a book review for my book log of Catch-22 whilst hija studied… I did play with her feet a little which might have riled me up a little as we kissed a little and I then basically said “Quick, quick, we need to have sex” and what followed was just amazing sex, so much so that hija has told me that I had better do that again and that I have ruined it for every other man and that was the best fucking she ever had. All of which made me feel very happy for reasons not to go into here. But =D =D I hope sex is like that lots with hija, because it was just… mindblowing. However, all good things must come to an end, and so I decided I wanted foot sex to finish it up, just finished putting massage bar onto hija’s feet when… her sisters rang the door bell. BOOOO. But really, that doesn’t matter because the sex was just OH MY GOD, lololol. That was the best sex I had ever had too. After that, I felt kind of sad as I was aware that this great weekend was coming to an end, and I wasn’t ready for it to do so… but what can you do. So I cooked and hija made cream of broccoli which was yummy and we kissed a little and then went to her friend Kendra’s birthday and that was it. If anything, that was a tantalizing glimpse of what life can and should be like, so I hope that I get more glimpses, basically.

Yesterday, back to work, booooooo. But it wasn’t too bad. Went to see hija in the evening but she had to drive her mum back home from the hospital and was a little late, but I didn’t mind as I was getting to see her anyway and I had my book to read. And besides, what kind of a bastard would get upset over that? But I saw her a while… and suddenly felt quite tired so we were quite muted compared to some other times… still was just nice to be with her OH and on the subway coming up there was this amazing dude playing the bongos and doing something called the Moose Call, I gave him three bucks and took his card, I am ordering some CDs when I am paid because they will go siiiiiick in my mixes.

Today, again didn’t do much. Work was work. Spoke with hija. Thought about how cool it would be to move in with her (lol fine I won’t buy a new oven and put it in my room)… I think it would be. At least then I would see her when she has her fieldwork for her Masters, and I can cook and clean and just enjoy being around… well we have to see how things go, but I think it would be cool. Then weekends like this weekend could happen a lot and I wouldn’t have to go anywhere at the end of it, except for straight back with hija

After work, I met up with my friend Yazz. Yazz used to work at my office, and we got on well so I am keeping her on my friend list. We went to Chinatown to the back-street noodle place that Daisy introduced me too, and had lots of interesting talks. I told her about the things happening with hija, and she looked very happy for me. We went for bubble tea after, and I missed a call from hija and then got a text saying “No more kisses for you!” which made me laugh.

On Tuesday, I again got up at 5.20am and had so much to do that I started to work at 6.10am on the train. It was one of those days. We found out at 3pm that the report that we were working on and thought was due Friday was due that day! So we worked like the blazes, and I slunk out a tired man. Hija had called me and invited me over, but heard me speak once I left and said I was too tired, and I was. But somehow I managed to get myself into going over the day after to give her the corporate gym bag et al that I had got from Keith, so I didn’t mind so much. Had a bit of a talk later in the evening that was a bit sad, as hija wasn’t sure what to do with our situations, and then I crashed out.

The next day was pretty blah at work, and I shot out after 5 to get to hija’s. I ended up getting there before her! So I waited at Dunkin Donuts. After a while, she appeared at the window and came in to get me, and I swear one of the people sitting there looked quite happy at just watching us. Although at this point I really didn’t know what to expect. And then, walking outside, a guy stopped and said I was handsome and basically hit on me. I really didn’t expect that. Got to hija’s, one thing led to another and we kissed again. For three hours. WOOOO. And my eyes were really green and I had messy hair and I got a late train home but I was happy, delighted really as I had been kissing this lovely girl again. One thing that I will remember is hija saying to me, as we were cuddling each other, “I hope it snows lots tomorrow and you have to stay over”, as I was going to meet her for dinner and there was a SNOW HURRICANE coming.

Thursday arrived, and so did the SNOW HURRICANE. It wasn’t as fearsome as it sounds, it wasn’t like 70 miles per hour winds or anything. But it did snow a lot and hija’s class got cancelled, so I went over to her place to help her with a paper and have dinner cooked for me. Oh, nachos with steak They were really yummy though! And then we kissed a while, then hija started to study and I played with my phone and then a mis-hap occurred and I got told to leave but we sorted that out and then a quick look out the window and I definitely wasn’t going anywhere! And so I stayed the night… which meant lots of delicious kisses and then passions rose and we had sex for the first time. And it felt really good, like how sex is supposed to feel. Sex sex sex. YES. And we fell asleep, naked and cuddling…

Woke up, still naked and so I woke up hija by sucking on her chocolate nipple. And then started to have sex with her again until she got a phone call. I love sleeping with hija, it’s just so relaxing and lovely. Ended up going to work in the snow, spoke with hija a lot and then went to bed at 8pm, a very happy young man. As things seemed to be getting better and better.

Saturday came, and so did another day to spend with hija. I was going to meet her after her class finished, but first I had some errands to run – ended up going to Macy’s and buying a couple of shirts. Couple more stops and I made it to Fordham. Hija said she needed to work, so we went back to her place and I was determined to prove that I could not be a distraction. We kissed a little and then I cooked lunch, making a pasta sauce. I then went into another room whilst hija worked, reading and finding songs for my next mix, and occasionally going to give hija a quick break from work with a couple of kisses. =D It seemed such an… adult thing to do. I particularly liked it when I kissed hija and went to leave and she said “kiss me!” so I needed no telling twice and did as I was told. That was pretty much the whole evening but it was very enjoyable… it seems that I can do anything with hija and have a great time which is excellent. And plus she is really pretty and a lovely person which helps too, hahaha.

Sunday was spent doing random things. I went to Macy’s in the morning to exchange a shirt, did some shopping after in LI and then tidied up and just relaxed. A lazy day.

Monday was a day of unexpected pleasure. And it all went so bad too! As my computer turned itself off at work and decided not to do auto-recovery on the files I was working on. I told hija, and she said to come over and she would cheer me up with the massage things I bought from Lush. This seemed like an excellent deal, and so I met her as she got off the bus from the gym. BUT. Tragedy. A new rule. No more kisses. This rule lasted about 10 minutes, but it was fun in a teasing way. Then we had kisses, and took turns massaging each other (my massage that I gave was really good apparently, which is always nice to know) and then… we had sex again. AND MY WORD. It was amazing. It really was. It just felt so good. I had to come out to finish though as we had no condoms and so I… sucked her toes and wanked off. lololol. Well it had been a while! But wow… hija is just amazing.

Although this apparently triggered something as she felt bad the next day and said no more sex. Sigh. I hate my situation. I am only living with my soon-to-be-ex-wife and her family out of necessity. I can’t afford elsewhere yet! But I hate the way the rules are. We are separated, and our relationship is as dead as Napoleon is. But because it is expensive to get a divorce, we are not divorced yet. I hate it. I want to be free and hija’s. Because I hate it that ‘officially’ she is the other woman. When in actual fact she is the only woman, and I hate having to leave her after we have sex, and I think she is amazing. But that is the rules for you.

Anyway, hija ended up having a bad day yesterday, so I went over to cheer her up. My orders were to go to Whole Foods and get guacamole. Need anything else, I enquired? Only you, but Whole Foods don’t sell you, was the response =D. So I turned up with my guacamole and had some kisses, and then hija fed me and her whilst we watched Jeopardy like adults, and then we went to her matrix-vortex bed where once we are in we can’t leave and time flies by, I gave her a naked massage and we fucked once again =D =D =D. Wow, I love sleeping with her. And then she gave me the beginning of a foot job after, but I didn’t want to spend a long time so I just finished myself off and we cuddled for ages and I left her naked in bed… I wish I could always be naked in bed with hija. Although she does look good in my shirts too, so maybe she could wear them sometimes.

Today was lame though. Nothing at work and then I tripped on a paving slab and ripped my suit trousers. I am going to speak with my lawyer tomorrow to find out who is liable for this negligence and ask them to replace my pants. It makes me feel a bit like an asshole but at the same time, my fucking suit is ruined.

So that was the last ten days. It is really all about hija. I can’t believe my luck almost. After being stuck with a girl who seemed to delight only in telling me I was ugly, awful and just an overall waste, I seem to have found a beautiful woman who thinks I am handsome and awesome and a catch. All I need to do is save up and move out and then truly begin my first proper adult relationship. And who better to do it with, if it gets to it, than hija? Whatever happens… I have enjoyed this affair or whatever we should call it. I hope it lasts as long as it can. So thank you, hija. You have made me feel like a man again.

Anyway, this week was pretty cool. Starting off on Tuesday, where we left off… not a lot happened. I can’t even remember what I made myself to eat for dinner. The excitement of getting back to work after a long weekend no doubt fried my brain. It did snow though, but only a little and nothing really changed on that front (there were no blizzards for instance). I did have lunch with Keith at work as he was back from his trip to Istanbul, and it was nice to be able to catch up.

Wow, Wednesday is a total blur too. WTF, was my life really dull? I know that I made a salad for dinner that day, and I told the checkout girl about our project that hija and I are working on and her response was “I’ve been told I have nice feet” so the long awaited black demographic might have been found! I finished reading In Defence of Food on Wednesday, I remember that much, that really is a great book concerning why we should eat proper food and not frozen or packaged food. Yuck, gross.

Thursday… well I was going to go home but I got a call from hija to save her day as she was stressed and tired and needed some Rosbif to cheer her up. So we went to dinner, where I expounded upon my theory that we have reached a degree of closeness that would only fall if we were to start dating people, and that thus we should one day date ourselves! She shot that down like a sniper, despite conceding at our dinner party her best friend told her that I am “great” and “what are you doing?”. But we had the usual great time talking and having fun, which was a pleasant surprise given that I had not planned upon seeing hija this day, but was supposed to see her Friday although that apparently was now cancelled due to Thursday.

Friday was… interesting. Worked a bit, drank a gin at work as I was fed up with a task, went out to lunch with Keith and Erika which was nice and got very jealous when hija told me she had lover-boy Ryan pick her up from work due to being molested (in the bad way not in the Rosbif way) by a co-worker. But then hija called and invited me over to hang out once I finished work, so I did and then I felt even worse when Damara called and hija said she was with someone and Damara said “Ryan?”, and then hija went into another room to speak and I actually felt sad enough to consider leaving! Good job I didn’t though as I went to see her while she was talking and we started to cuddle and hold hands and then after being a gentleman and spurning the first two clear-cut opportunities to kiss her, we kissed for real (this was not a bad thing) and umm kissed for about 2 hours and it was great because hija is amazing and I couldn’t be happier. So yay! I kissed hija and held her and it was just happiness for the first time since I came back from England (as in England I was just super happy at being back home and everyone was commenting upon just how happy and good I looked) and really, it was the first happiness or contentment for a long, long time. And my eyes were really, really green. Which is a good thing

Then Saturday came, and I cooked roast pork and roast vegetables. I offered to hija to bring her some of the deliciousness and so I did, and hung out with her and her sisters watching a good movie of which I forget the name. I was going to ask hija a question about an email she sent me earlier in the day soon after I arrived (the part in question was whether saying “I woke up this morning and was thinking if last night really happened….” was a good or a bad thing) so I called her over and said I wanted to ask her something and she kissed me before I asked and so I just said “You answered my question!”. We had some kisses for a while after the movie and then I had to go as I am an old man and I get tired easily it seems! But… just smiles and “aaahhhh” and it’s nice to feel happy after such a long time, and really, who better than hija? Even if she told me I have to stop calling her hija now. Bah.

Today, I woke up starving but didn’t eat until lunch (Tuna and onions in chicken stock sauce with pasta mmmm) and I spent the day doing the thrilling thing of tidying up. I’m amazed how you can spend 6 hours tidying a tiny space. It does look good now, even if my back does ache. I am getting old!

Then it was time to face the blizzard. Apparently most the people in my office are pussies as the office was deserted. My friend Jay and I spent the morning scoffing at everyone not turning up. And then the office brought us pizza for lunch, everyone else went home and I pulled out a litre of Tanqueray, some limes and some tonic. Which was a good idea apart from when I didn’t read any emails from my boss for 30 minutes and he called to see if I was still in the office. Oops. It was really cool being so high from the ground in a blizzard, as the snow actually blows upwards due to drafts and it is a true mindfuck. There was only one scary bit, which was when all of a sudden at 2pm the blizzard took a turn for the worse as the visibility dropped and you could not see the UN Building. A couple of sips of Gin later and you couldn’t see the next block. Jay and I were like “ohhh shhhhiiiitttttt” but it cleared up and after 4 or 5 G&Ts I got the 5.34 train out of Penn Station, was almost the only person on the train, and experienced no problems whatsoever.

Coming from the UK, I have never experienced such an intense snow storm, and so I was loving it the next day as there was like a foot and a half of snow on the floor! Got into work no problem only to discover the lazy bastards had all stayed at home for another day. WTF you lazy swines. But I did manage to prove the office wrong by proving that you can see the ocean from the office by taking a picture with a TANKER SAILING IN THE BACKGROUND. I’m not being silly, but why would I lie about seeing the ocean, that would make me sound like a lunatic. In the evening, I made a new ‘information’ site for our planned business, I think it is awesome: http://www.sxynyft.info/

Friday, Friday, Friday. I had a night of surprises planned for hija. I started off by sending her flowers but the company apparently did not deliver them. Grr. But I then thought of a riddle, put it in a card and had a prize of going somewhere hija had never been too as  the reward. The evening began at Korean Fried Chicken, as I thought a new place would be interesting. For some reason, with hija I can use chopsticks a lot better than when I eat with Daisy. It was nice too being fed the melon! Gave hija the card, with some help she solved the riddle and we went to the Empire State Building for some night time pictures. Had lots of fun and then we went to the Strand bookstore as hija knows how to make papi happy. She even bought me a book that I said I wanted to read, how sweet.

Saturday… I cooked some vegetables and made a great mix, 2010Sessions_04. I have listened to it almost constantly since!

Sunday, oh my goodness. This was the day of the dinner party. Spent the afternoon going around Manhattan with hija getting ingredients and other things that we needed. Oh but before all that, hija gave me a copy of Catch-22 with a message inside that read:

Gav, hope you enjoy it. Maybe come October it won’t be a catch-22 anymore. One can only hope. She also gave me a lovely home-made Valentine card with a haiku inside (we exchange haikus at work via emails):

Standing tall like tree

His name is Mr. Bridge

Fun fun fun is he.

Back to cooking. It was a breeze! I cooked for 8 people in total, and it went well, there were no mishaps or accidents or anything bad. Everything was ready in good time and so the eating began. Everyone said how yummy it was so that was quite pleasing =D and it was lots of good conversation. Once we had finished eating and a bit of drinking had happened, I asked my friend Esther to teach me to dance as I need to learn. I am a white English person so I have no clue. Ummm never ask a Dominican to teach you how to dance if you want to be able to dance in front of relations. But it was a good hot dance to learn. Esther is my dance instructor from the past, and I seemed to be getting a good idea of it. She was filling my head with stories too so I went to show hija my dance and a very bad thing happened. Well I don’t regret it but I shouldn’t be complicating things right now as we are both still healing and I don’t want to weaken our bond at all. I did make myself laugh with the recollection of being a cocky little shit as after the bad thing happened and another bad thing came from her, I recalled that she told me that when she was hiho last week with Ryan, she didn’t feel anything and so I asked “Did you feel anything then?” hahaha where has this forwardness come from in me. I’m pretty sure the answer was good, but I am going no further with this recollection as now is not the time or the place and I really just wanted this note for when I look back at this in a year or two and can smile. But it was a very good night and I ended up staying over on the couch because I was… a little drunk. Well the whole party got shitfaced so you know it was good! And everyone said they loved my mixes too so I am like the King of New York right now, champion of cooking and DJing.

Woke up this morning, felt a little delicate, and quite sore actually. But I had a really nice morning with hija, Damara, Dave & Emmanuel just hanging out and talking and playing my mixes – really that was the New York I pictured or even the London too when I was younger and imagined what life would be like as an adult. So I was just really happy that one of my ideals was being met And it was smart conversation, and we had pizza wooo. Got back to LI before 7 and just spent the evening trying to write up my recollection of the week before I get too tired (i.e. now) and speaking with hija too.

So in summary: Blizzards, gin in the office, finding the ocean, a bad thing (that was good in some ways like my esteem for instance!), a killer party, learnt to dance, am a master chef and dj, Empire State Building and getting shitfaced. Sounds like a good 7 days to me.

Zucchini in Salsa di Pomodoro

Chocolate Marinated Spiced Steak (a tweak from last week, I melted the ice-cream, added my spices and then added some trimmed pieces of steak and let it marinate for over a day, and then fried this in a pan)

Tilapia Fillets En Papillote

• 6 tilapia fillets, cut in half
• 2 large potatoes, sliced very thin (we used a Mandolin, I love those)
• 2 large ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/4inch-thick slices (we used chopped tomatoes in a box to success)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 24 fresh basil leaves (Fairway had sold out of Basil plants so dried Basil it was)
• Olive oil
• Fish herbs in a jar from Fairway

Preheat the oven to 450*F. Tear off a 1-foot-square piece of aluminium foil. Place a thin layer of potato slices, roughly the same size as the fillet, on the foil; top with a piece of fish, a slice of tomato, salt and pepper, basil, and a drizzle of oil. Seal the package and repeat the process with the other pieces.

This recipe is actually a couple as you can make variations on the packages. We did another with a bed of tomato, the fish on top, and then fish herbs and pepper and white wine and sometimes a little olive oil.

Place all the packages in a large baking dish and bake for about 30 minutes. Serve the closed packages, allowing each diner to open his or her own at the table.

Everyone loved the food, which was obviously a pleasing thing to hear!

It is important to define what is a chip and what is a french fry. A chip is a sliced potato, about the thickness of the width of a finger. A french fry is a potato which has been frenched (that is to say, cut very thinly). Both are fried. As an aside, it is frustrating coming from a culture that can differentiate between french fries and chips as different forms of potato prepared differently, to one which labels them all as “french fries”.

However, in the United States, french fries are the most common form. Given the form of the potato (cut very thin, fried to a crisp), it is not of utmost importance what type of potato is used, as the whole thing is crispy, crunchy and delicious. This does get important when making the thicker chip though. I think that most Americans, including the chefs at the vegetarian restaurant, do not understand this important principle, namely: if the potato cut is thicker than a fry, then the type of potato used will impact the chip, much like how there are different types of apple, for instance, and if you used the wrong type in a recipe, it would not be so nice. Basically, I think that most chefs here do not understand that there is more than one type of potato in existence. This problem is not solely held by Americans, as when I was back in Britain in December, one chip shop had the same problem and the result was gross.

There are two main types of potato, waxy and floury. According to the Potato Council of Great Britain (http://www.lovepotatoes.co.uk/potato-varieties/)… well, see for yourself:

What’s the difference between Waxy and Floury Potatoes?
Waxy potatoes are translucent and feel moist and pasty. They are good at staying firm and keeping their shape so make great salad potatoes.
Key Waxy Potato Varieties: Charlotte, Maris Peer

Floury potatoes are brighter and more granular in appearance with a drier feel. They’re better for dishes where you want fluffy potatoes or for mash.
Key Floury Potato Varieties: Estima, King Edward, Maris Piper, Desiree

So you see, America, that you must treat your thicker cut fries (aka chips) as different beasts to your fries and not use any old potato for them, unless a soggy, nasty result is what you are looking for.

Let’s not even get started on the type of oil you are supposed to cook them in!