R. Kelly and Blue Bottle

I can't stop listening to R. Kelly's new song "Pregnant".

The guy that I am/was boning (I have no idea what's going on with that....but another story for another time) happened to weigh in on R. Kelly as an idiot savant. I had to say I thought that was a pretty apt assessment. I recently downloaded the original "Ignition" and when I am by myself, I totally rock out to it. With others, however, I start to realize how silly it is. At the same time, it's just so brilliant. The opening line of Ignition is "Girl, please let me stick my key in your ignition". The first line of Pregnant is "Girl you make me want to get you pregnant. Lay your body down and get you pregnant...knock you up...pregnant" Not exactly subtle, but kind of sexy in its graphicness, and yet so dumb it makes me laugh. Also, since I am known for being straightforward, I appreciate someone who can get to the point. I think that it means that his writing has achieved some kind perfection--at least for me. But, of course, I can't end a discussion of the relevance and contributions of R. Kelly to contemporary society without referencing my soul mate Dave Chappelle, who composed this piece:



Anyway, I wasn't trying to talk that much about R. Kelly. I was going to write about my day of gastronomic delights. It all started this morning with a friend who is visiting from Chicago. Our intention was to eat at Egg in Williamsburg, but since the line is always ridiculous on the weekends, we decided to pack it in and walked over to DuMont. I've always had totally consistently really high quality meals there, and their mac and cheese is up there among the best I've ever had. Maybe it's the best, and I do make a mean mac and cheese. I had the burger and my friend ordered the skate tacos. I don't love skate, but it was pretty tasty. They are famous for their burger as well as the macaroni and cheese and I was pretty pleased with what I ordered. It was charred perfectly, and though I ordered it medium, I think it was a bit overcooked. Their french fries, by the way, are house-made, and are great.

When my visiting friend was here last, we had walked by the Van Leeuwen ice cream truck. I told her we had to stop and get some because it is the best fucking ice cream in New York City. Seriously, I have almost force fed some to vegan friends because I think they're lives must be incomplete without the wonder of that ice cream. We stopped and got some and apparently she has been fantasizing about it ever since. We walked over to the the newly opened shop on Bedford by McCarren Park. She had the Gianduja, and I had the Earl Grey. Yumtown.

Then I walked her back to the Bedford L train station. The way she felt about the ice cream was how I felt about Blue Bottle Coffee's New Orleans Iced Coffee. The San Francisco coffee shop has just opened a satellite in the dear BK. It's at 160 Berry which is (i think) between N. 4th and N. 5th. I waited in line for 15 minutes (which kind of makes me feel like a sucker) and chatted with the friendly Midwestern lad in line in front of me. He had a huge camera slung around his neck, and a gear bag, which made me ask him if he was a profesh photographer. He said "no, but everyone needs something to work on" and went on to say that even video games can count as that outlet. I started wondering what my "thing" would be, and realized that it would have to be trying to figure people out. I get really curious about people--where they come from, who they are, and what they are about. All this is really besides the point, even the part where I felt like a doof for waiting in line for 15 minutes for coffee, because as soon as the chicory-coffee-milk hit my tongue it was as though the entire world fell away and God came in my mouth.