Six years years ago I woke at 5:30AM on Thanksgiving Day. A bus and train ride later we had secured a spot to watch the annual Macy's parade in New York — 2.5 hours before it began. Untold thousands of other showed up during the time waited steadily pushing us back from our original spot. By the time the parade began, all we could see were the balloons floating above the heads of the crowd. We decided that the best view was on television in our living room. Until this year...

{people marching}

{balloons floating}

I can now imagine living in a transparent box. Standing inside Philip Johnson's Glass House I felt as if I was part of the landscape -- a feeling I would guess is even more acute if it is raining or snowing. The property holds several buildings, but the glass house is the most welcoming.

Roasting a chicken, people say, is easy. And it can be. But to reach poultry perfection I've tried many things.

Attempt 1:
Resource: Cooking Light

Anxious to use the shiny new roasting pan I received as a Christmas gift, I washed it and pondered the huge wire rack that was included. Did I need it for a 4 lb. chicken? Cooking Light recommended using celery stalks as a "rack" to keep the chicken up off the pan bottom and infuse some vegetable flavor into the bird, so I gave it a try. I softened some butter, mixed in some fresh herbs and stuffed it under the skin. I then stuck it in the oven and came back an hour later. I poked and prodded it, and hesitantly determined it was done.

THE RESULT: Edible, but not great. The celery "rack" was the worst idea ever. The celery disintegrated into mush so the chicken just sat in its juice on the bottom of the pan. The bird's color was what I'd call beige, rather than the golden, crispy chicken I was hoping for.

Attempt 2:
Resource: French Food At Home by Laura Calder and Joy of Cooking's "Turned Roasted Chicken" recipe

In the past I've made tasty recipes from French Food at Home, so I thought I'd try the roast chicken non-recipe called "This is Not a Recipe for Roast Chicken." Its witty prose claims, "Nobody wants to face measuring cups, and a meat thermometer, and a list of fussy instructions. Instead we shut our tired eyes: we do know the roast-a-chicken routine." We do? I kept reading, keeping my inexperience to myself. I took Laura's suggestion of turning the bird every 20 minutes as well as stuffing the cavity with lemons (but declined the peeled bananas). On schedule, I turned the bird, using an elaborate system of tongs and wooden spoons to shift it from left to right to center. All was going well... Or so I thought until I took the chicken out after an hour.

THE RESULT: It wasn't brown, it wasn't done. It was just rubbery and flabby. After further investigation, I discovered that when I flipped for the last time, I put the breast side down. Big mistake. Bad chicken.

Attempt 3
Resource: Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook

Undeterred by my two previous experiences, I pressed on and tried the BH&G cookbook's version, a mere 100-word recipe. I nestled the chicken in its rack, stuffed it with lemon, onions, garlic and parsley, sprinkled it with salt and pepper, and brushed it with melted butter. It sat, untouched in the oven for 1-1/2 hours.

THE RESULT: A delicious, golden brown, savory chicken. A new piece of equipment, a digital thermometer, helped a lot, taking away any guess work as to when the chicken was done. It stopped me from opening the oven door repeatedly, keeping the heat in the oven. And melted butter was key to browning the bird.

I like the idea of mastering a simple dish. Something I can make without looking at a cookbook, and something I can tweak to my liking. It's not quite there, but I'll keep working on the chicken.

For three months I have been gripped by a feeling of nothing. My interest wasn't captured by a thing and doing anything outside of my day to day work proved virtually impossible. Actually, I avoided everything that seemed challenging while I got too cozy with my Netflix queue.

Looking back, I suppose there are several factors that could have caused this year's seasonal shift. A particularly difficult end to the work year, an overly taxing holiday season and an ambiguous future among other things definitely contributed. Whatever it was, I have knowingly struggled to end my funk for weeks.

So why am I telling you about this? Because today is likely the first day in quite some time that I have felt like experiencing new things and otherwise living the life I have lived until this winter in New York. Also, I feel a little guilty that it has been too long since I have contributed to GUTSY and I want to explain where I have been.

What caused this recent change? Again I can't say for sure. There remain many challenges and obstacles near and far but those don't seem paralyzing. My level of curiosity has gone up but that is more of a symptom than a contributing factor. No matter, I'm just happy that my ears, eyes and mind are firing once again.

But he does enjoy the flavor of Wal-Mart shopping carts and Subway restaurant booth seats, both of which he tasted on his own over the last week.

(Hmmmm. I wonder where he picked up the germs that gave him the ear infection?)

So I sat on my stoop, cigarette in one hand, red wine in the other, imagining I could hear the sound of snowflakes landing in the infrequent silences between the passing cars.

photo by China Foto Press

As I did last year, I am posting some of the highlights of the past year. Best wishes to all Gutsy readers in 2007!

BEST GALLERY SHOW: 03.11.06 The American Folk Art Museum show, Obsessive Drawing, showcased five self-taught artists compelled to make repetitive marks and lines on huge sheets of paper. Fascinating.

BEST GIFT FROM THE CITY OF NEW YORK: 05.18.06 Ride home in the back of a police car after the bus we were on was hit by a drunk driver. Thank you Precinct 114!

BEST EXCUSE TO GET SOAKED: 07.18.06 Picnic blankets covered the Great Lawn in Central Park, the New York Philharmonic concert ended, fireworks lit up the sky and then it was a down right down pour.

BEST NETFLIX RENTAL: 07.26.06 Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. I always wondered how people got away with greedy unethical business dealings and this documentary showed me how.

BEST SHOW: 09.02.06 Uzeda and Shellac givin' their all at a Polish Lounge in Brooklyn. And we sat at the bar long enough to learn how to pronounce Zywiec from the bartender.

BEST FORWARDED EMAIL I RECEIVED: 12.20.06 Who can resist baby pandas? The email had the headline, One Zoo in Southwest China Has Its Hands Full with 16 Baby Pandas. and was followed by several photos of the wide-eyed cubs.

BEST MEAL: 12.24.06 Homemade ravioli with roasted chestnuts, pancetta and apples.

AND A COUPLE OF FIRSTS IN 2006...
First time I consumed a government-issued donut from the Red Cross
First visit to Fire Island
First bet on a horse at the Belmont Stakes
First visit to a taping of the Colbert Report

What were your favorites?

For most of my life I have been a fan of graffiti artists. I slowly watched them infiltrate museums and have their work exhibited. Beginning the weekend of January 6th 2007, graffiti writers will tag the exteriors of two U-Haul vans wrapped in vinyl siding for the Graffiti Road Show, an exhibit from the Martinez Gallery.

If you have any interest in graffiti this is the show to see! The Road Show runs from Jan. 6 to Feb. 10 at various spots. This weekend it will be at the Barnes & Noble near Lincoln Center, 1972 Broadway. For more info, visit www.martinezgallery.com.

At times I've uttered to myself "uh oh" as Giovanna quietly coos among the guitar, bass and drums (I am referring to the track ironically called 'Wailing'). Even if I hadn't heard it before, the audible tension foretells the audio assault that's about to break. And in that moment I think I can feel her cock her head back, breathe deeply right before letting the listener have it.

I don't mean to imply she is out of control. It's actually quite the contrary which makes her even more disarming. True to the other caterwauling greats she is capable of great range. She could melt your heart by whispering that she loves you or stop your heart by shrieking in rage. Man I love that.

And to be fair, all her band mates burst out of the speaker. Agostino Tilotta's schizophrenic guitar technique and facial gestures (he's really quite extraordinary to see in person), Raffaele Gulisano dirty yet precise bass (he played an entire show with a smirk, ie. dirty secret) and Davide Oliveri purposeful drum pounding are the perfect accompaniment to Giovanna's gift.

And with that I'm pleased to introduce you to perhaps the last great record I'll hear in the year 2006.

Mark Sanders paid tribute to photographer Minor White, while Paul Pereira shared idyllic images from a recent trip to Spain. Joanna Smith shared her love for raspberries while Ann Whitehurst questioned her appetite for Snickers Salad. And Sandie Maxa checked out amateurs at the Apollo while Guido Alvarez asked for help checking a box on the Ecuadorian ballot.

Have a great weekend and tell a friend about GUTSY.

Time to vote for the next President of Ecuador has arrived. According to my judgment no candidate has demonstrated to be a good fit to lead Ecuador during the next four years.