corpho

Oh my God, not Coney Island again!



Yep, it's true. I was invited to join Afterbirth, Anaxarete, their little boy, and FancyD for a trip to Coney Island this Saturday. The weather had been forcast to be crappy, but it was gloriously sunny and warm. I was happy to tag along, especially since they would drive by my house and pick me up! We drove from Williamsburg to Grand Army Plaza in Park Slope, then we passed by the house that Afterbirth had lived in when he was on Beverly Road. The houses were old and grand, and it was a neighborhood with trees and quiet, which city folk are sorely lacking. We finally made it to Coney Island and stretched out our legs along the boardwalk....





My husband says I have an unhealthy obsession with photographing this guy. He says, "You're always taking pictures of him; whaddaya have, like, a thing for him?" What if I do, huh? What if I do...?


This is his lady friend, I guess. I like her bird friends. The mighty eagle and the wise owl -- screech, hoot!



There's usually a cheesy house music dance party on the boardwalk, replete with glistening, gyrating middle-aged folks. The volume is usually ear-splitting if you walk past it, but it wasn't so bad yesterday. This is little Wave shaking his baby booty. He felt the bass overtaking his body, it was so cute.



I love this picture of mommy and kit. All three of us remaining adults were snapping pictures of the two of them, so everyone on the boardwalk thought it might be someone famous, or that it was a photo shoot. We had to keep reminding ourselves to relax with the shutterbugging because it's easy to not be in the moment and to be seeing life through a viewfinder. Nevertheless, we couldn't stop.



This was taken at a very funny moment, even though it seems benign enough. I got on Deno's Wonder Wheel (a large ferris wheel in C.I.) with Afterbirth and FancyD (Anaxarete stayed on terra firma with her kid because it just didn't seem cool yet to have him on a big ride like that). There are some cars on the Wheel that are stationary, i.e., they don't swing back and forth like others do. We wanted to get in the swinging variety, so we finally got an available car and started our ascent. I am a total chickenshit when it comes to rides like roller coasters and shit like that, but I had no wariness about getting on ferris wheels. I am afraid of heights, but not if I feel well-surrounded by my enclosure. Anyway, I had my camera out and I was just about to snap a picture of FancyD when Afterbirth starts screaming, the car starts to sway violently, and we begin to plummet. This all happens in a split second, but FancyD and I start screaming (I'll be the first to admit I made the biggest scene) and I'm lucky I didn't smash my camera. It turns out Afterbirth knew all along that the main feature of the swinging cars is that they not only swing, but they drop down these loops at four points in the ride almost like a roller coaster but not as bad. He was waiting for us to reach the first loop like idiot lambs to the slaughter, and then he screamed to further terrify us. He is bad man. Very bad man!


Here's FancyD after having laughed at my being completely freaked out and not afraid to show it. You can kinda tell how high we are, I think...


And here's the traitor. Look at his traitor face. Know it well lest you be fooled, too:

I have my teeth clamped over my lip to keep it from trembling -- hand to Gawd!

We proceded to the arcade, whence I worked out my quaking limbs by socking a lot of skeeballs into whichever holes would accept them. I got about 36 tickets, but that wasn't enough to get anything cooler than an eraser or some panda stickers, so I tried to give my tickets to a little girl. She said no and had a look in her eye like I was one of the people from whom her parents and teachers always warned her not to accept anything. Way to make me feel like a real sleaze bag, little Susie.




The crew were a great cheering section for me while I played skeeball. I even managed to sock a woman really hard in her belly as she walked behind me in mid-swing of the ball. I mean, come on lady, waddaya think I'm doin' here? Skeeball needs wide clearance. Sheesh. Anyhoo, Afterbirth and FancyD indulged in some motorcycle racing.



The two hours on the parking meter were about to expire, but before we got back in the car, we popped over to the Stillwell Avenue subway station (although it's technically not a subway because all the tracks are elevated) to look at some printed glass murals inside. The late afternoon light wasn't hitting the glass, so it wasn't as vibrant as usual. I've always liked the colors, though.



So we got our butts in the car and went one avenue over to Neptune Avenue for some pizza at the famous Totonno's. Afterbirth has been singing the virtues of Totonno's for as long as I've known him, so I was looking forward to seeing what the hype was all about. He informed me and FancyD that because the pizza was so thin, you had to eat it at just the right time. Right out of the oven, it's too hot. Any more than four minutes or so after that, it would be cold and already less-than-optimal. I have to say, it was all it was cracked up to be. The crust was perfectly crispy, there was just the right amount of sauce (on the red pizza) and cheese. The white pizza was the prize-winner, I think. There were crunchy caramelized slices of garlic under the cheese, and it was oh-so scrumptious. The waitress was almost a caricature in that she was gruff and strictly business, but was obviously a seasoned server who had seen it all.





FancyD will have taken her flight back to Georgia this morning, and I know she was looking forward to getting back to her bed and bath. She's a super lady and I hope she settles back in nicely. I haven't hung out with Afterbirth and Anaxarete like this ever, I think, so that was nice, too. I was going to go out to Atlantic Antic today, which is a street fair on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. The weather is perfect for it, but I opted to stay in and just chill for once. Kinda like this guy... um, without all the defecation.






I hope you all had a swell weekend, no matter if you cleaned up around your house, went all out and maximized every minute with activities, or stuffed your face in front of the TV.