Missing

In spring everything starts to happen at once. And there will be a lot of great things I’m going to miss. You will miss some things too. Life is all about managing the opportunity costs. Fortunately, your schedule isn’t my schedule and perhaps there are things I have to miss that you can make.

Take last night for example. I had to miss the Thursday Night Throwdown at Stacks on Lark Street. I sent out a tweet about it, and hopefully some people got word. But I wish I could have gotten out of my evening plans. But Mrs. Fussy is traveling this week, and it puts me in a bit more of a bind.

Anyhow, today I’m going to do a little sharing, and maybe you can find a way to swing one of these events. Because the things I’m missing start tonight.

Yelp is sponsoring the MOVE Music Festival which starts tonight. It’s not a food event, but I have to say that I do really dig live music. It’s hard to get me out the door, but once I’m at a show I always say to myself, “Why don’t I do this more often?” And three days of music is only $20. It’s a crazy good deal.

Friday night is also when Umana is launching its Ethiopian special. The last pictures I saw of their new Ethiopian menu didn’t quite look right, but this platter more closely resembles what I expect from an Ethiopian meal. And $15-18 isn’t completely ridiculous for it. But this is only available on Fridays and Saturdays after 5 pm.

Fridays are when we celebrate shabbat either at home or at our synagogue. So no Ethiopian food for me tonight. This Saturday is the Tour de Soft Serve (and the Farm Pizza after party). So no music or Ethiopian food for me on Saturday either.

Regarding the tour and after party, I’ve heard from some of you, but there’s still time to RSVP.

Sunday I’m off to Schenectady. There is no way to make it to the Greenmarket for its very last indoor market of the season. May 3 the market moves outdoors and welcomes some new vendors including Mrs. London’s and Nine Pin Ciderworks.

It’s also going to be a push to hit both the Cherry Blossom Festival and the Rock N Roll Brunch with my mother-in-law in tow. I’m already preparing myself to miss out on the breakfast poutine. But maybe there is still hope. If you see me at The Low Beat on Sunday alone at the bar, feel free to come up and say hi, but know I’ve got to eat and run.

Then there is Monday which is Burmese night at the Albany Soul Cafe. It’s a community dinner with a recommended price tag of $5 per adult. And they are cooking Burmese food! Maybe someone there will know what happened to Shwe Mandalay which was the darling of the local food writing set until one day it unexpectedly closed without warning. Regardless, Burmese food is delicious.

However if you go to that, you’re going to miss the amazing dinner prepared by Dimitrios at The City Beer Hall which pairs Maine beers with Maine seafood. There are some show stopping pairings on this menu, like Maine Beer Co’s Lunch (West Coast Style IPA) served with poached Maine monkfish cheek, salsify and bacon hash, and fried monkfish liver.

I mean how can you choose between homestyle Burmese food or an amazingly imaginative beer and seafood dinner. Both opportunities are a rare treat. And they are scheduled on the same day. Gah. Just like how The City Beer Hall’s Beefsteak on May 7 goes head to head with Champagne in the Park.

As it turns out, I’ll be in Schenectady anyhow, because Monday is cultural indoctrination day for the Fussies. That means I take the kids back to Jewish school so they can fulfil the requirements of being called to the Torah when they come of age. Afterwards we usually eat pizza slices, because there is still a boatload of homework from secular school that still also needs to be completed.

The good news is that I’ve struck a reasonably good balance between food life and family life. The bad news is that there’s not a lot of downtime. But I’m keenly aware how lucky I am to have the problem that there’s just too much good stuff to eat.  The bummer, like always, is not being able to eat it all.