2/19/04 Natalie Drops her Sandwich; Lombardi's w/Rich and Natalie; Rich's bad Tape House:

This afternoon, Natalie was able to stop by my apartment so that we could both hang out while I kept my computers doing their thing, being productive. Many steps of the editing process require nothing more from me than 6 mouse clicks, one every hour. So, while I have to be home for 6 hours, I can do anything else.

We went to the local deli and got sandwiches. Right before she was going to have hers, she carried her sandwich towards the kitchen so she could get some water, tripped, and the sandwich went flying, the carton opened, and the sandwich met floor.

It was so sad. She dealt with it nobly, pulling off the floor-ravaged pieces, eating some of the rest. But after you see your food on the floor, how appetizing can it be?

She took this photo of me from a bit too close.

Here she is putter her hair up, ready to go meet Rich at Lombardi's for some dinner.

Lombardi's is one of those pizzerias in New York City that are of direct lineage to the origin of Pizza as we know it. They have articles on the wall that try to explain that it was Mr. Lombardi himself who is at the top (or in this diagram, bottom) of the family tree of New York Pizza.

Natalie is not yet used to me with the camera. Rich is.

We try an appetizer of baked clams with cheese on top, over Richards warnings and objections. They were sort of expensive and sort of mediocre. This place exists to make Pizza. Stick with the Pizza and maybe a Peroni (Italian Beer).

She's thinking "they don't look right."

"This looks goooood."

When we were done, we marveled at what was across Spring Street, and just down the block. Uber-trendiness, in the form of a place called "Rice to Riches!?"

What a funky design! I'm intrigued. I want to be a sucker and go in. Natalie and Richard veto.

But it looks soo cool!!! I run over to take another photo of the inside.

They wait. "Let's go!!!"

Natalie goes home, and Richard and I keep working at our computers. Trying to work on a project for Ben Epstein, Richard puts one of Ben's raw media tapes into his tape deck. It's not working. Rich is baffled, until he tries to open the tape cartridge to look at the actual magnetic tape inside. He can't open the cartridge. Someone who made this tape put a label over a moving part. See how the label overlaps the lighter gray area a little bit? That's gonna make this not work, and Rich had to replace the label, all the while cursing at the tape house that made this because "they should have known better!!!"