Patisserie des Ambassades

This restaurant was decent. Not fantastic, but we had a reasonably priced meal here.

Persepolis

This comic, which is about the author's experiences growing up in Iran, is moving, sad, funny, etc. All of the typical reasons why you should read a great novel (or in this case, a great comic). If you read one comic this year, this should be it: it paints of a picture of a country that has been through some major upheavals in the last 50 years.

Puccini for Beginners

A delightful little comedy: a woman gets involved in an amusing love triangle with a man and a woman! Definitely worth watching if you want a light romantic comedy.

Whitney Biennial

We stopped by to see the Whitney Biennial, which is an exhibition of modern artists that occurs every 2 years. Overall, it was relatively uninteresting, but maybe it was because I was tired and hungry after a day at work. There were a few compelling pieces, but a lot of constructed art that was pretty boring.

The Stuff of Thought

Steven Pinker's book on language and thought is fabulous. Some of the chapters were kind of boring (such as the one on swearing), but some were fascinating beyond belief. The somewhat obvious (in retrospect) idea that language is not how we think is remarkable, and Pinker's description of how linguists have deconstructed the building blocks of thought is wonderful. Read this book, if you read only one non-fiction book this year.

Lust, Caution

This movie was very beautifully done. The ambience and tension created by Ang Lee were impressive, although some of the computer graphics were a bit fake-looking. Very slow plot, though; I'm not sure everyone would enjoy it.

Casaville

An excellent restaurant (if a poor web site) that serves tapas (mostly). They had an avocado hummus that was quite good, and a foie-gras mousse that was excellent. Worth going to, although it's not really that close to any subway lines.

Come Back, Little Sheba

This production of this 1950's play was really well done. At the beginning, it felt a little stilted, but either I got used to it or the performers loosened up. S. Epatha Merkerson was the star: she's the police captain on Law and Order. The play felt somewhat dated, given the 1950's gender roles, but the emotional impact was still there.