Broadcasting from Room 316 in the Sleep Inn in Youngstown, Ohio. Quite comfortable for only $65 a night. (Even Linda thought so.) We had a fun BBQ dinner at Barry Dyngles in Austintown OH (on Raccoon Road!) . The waiter told us they’ve been smoking meats since 2007. I had an ice-cold ale from a local brewery: Birdfish Brewing in Columbiana OH. A hazy IPA called “Too Hip to Sip.” A touch strong for me at 7.5% alcohol, but I enjoyed it. We ordered the “Pick 4.” Four generous portions of meats plus two sides (for only $32!). We went with two types of ribs (KC and baby back, yum), chicken, and brisket (with baked beans and a baked potato). Couldn’t finish. Staggered back to the inn drunk and bloated. Life is good.
If I may go on about the cuisine, lunch was a treat too. Jimmy’s Italian Specialties in Y’town. It started out as an Italian gift shop back in 1974 and eventually expanded into an enormous shop with Italian specialties (oils, sauces, wines, cheeses, home-baked goods, etc.) with a counter in the back where you place a lunch order (they close at 5). Linda had a terrific meatball sub and I tried the Pollo Diavolo “brick.” While waiting on line, I asked the very heavily tattooed couple behind us what a brick was. The guy answered by forming a brick shape with his hands and saying, “you know, a brick, with . . .” and I had to finish for him: “stuff inside?” He said “Yeah.” It turned out to be a terrific panini-type sandwich. The couple might run a tattoo shop — the guy wore a t-shirt from one. They were very nice — he said they come to Jimmy’s from “all the way across town.” I said, “Well, we’re from Jersey, so fuck you.” (No I didn’t.)
Total cost for both sammies: $12.98. I’m not kidding. Linda’s sub was $4.99 and mine was $7.99. Could you plotz? It was like it was still 1974. Most of the staff were Italian women in their 70’s. Hysterical. We were looking at the dessert counter after we ate and a woman came over to see if we wanted anything. “Just drooling,” I told her.
We spent the morning walking around the campus at Youngstown State U. It was less of a kick than our preceding day at Penn State, but then we fell into a terrific art museum they have there: The Butler Institute of Art. Enormous and with a really good collection. (Hi Bob!) We asked this guard for help, but he just sat there. (He’s a statute.)
This painting is by Edward Hopper. I think that guy in it is staring at a pretty YU coed, and who could blame him?
And this one’s by Sargent.
This headline is from The Onion, appropriate for the holiday.
Oversized Leprechaun Hat Left At Home On St. Patrick’s Day To Avoid Damaging It
This unusual poem is by Chloe Honum (after Chen Chen), and is from Poets.org. It’s called “Irreversible Fetal Anomalies.” And get this — it only uses letters that are in the title.
a tall iris
a list of river names
omens all i see
fatal bells
o visio
o loam
a lit table
a test small flames retell
i fall over a rose
reel into a mess of lilies
sleet amasses stone
a sea lives a fever
in time a lion enters
o fearsome mane
roam most near me
[You might think, as I did, that the title is pretty long so limiting oneself to the letters in it is not so severe a limit. But it means not using any of the following letters: B, C, D, G, H, J, K, P, Q, U, W, X, Y, and Z.]
To honor the returning space travelers, the puzzle today had an appropriate theme. Theme answers were STARBURST, nicely clued by “Chewy fruit-flavored candy;” SUPER NOVA, “Astronomical event depicted visually in this puzzle;” and HAD A BLAST and MAKE IT POP. Then the four letters (STAR) were depicted blowing apart! They started out all smooshed into one square, as part of the crossing answers LO[ST AR]TS and RE[ST AR]EA. Then they were in four separate squares forming a box, then forming a box with each letter separated by one space, and, finally a box with each letter separated by two spaces.
Monday’s puzzle was all about GIRL POWER no doubt since March is Women’s Month. It had four “girls” with last names connoting a positive force in some way: TAYLOR SWIFT, JEAN SMART, BLAKE LIVELY, and CICELY STRONG. We’ve been hearing a lot about Blake lately, but don’t know much about her. Phil? Thanks!
Gotta run — we’re still 3.5 hours from Sam and Sarah’s. Hope it’s okay if we let Liz Phair rock us off today, with a theme-appropriate song. See you next time!
The Wellington Files 