D'Amore

I'm back here at the Hempstead House castle in Long Island. Sitting in my car again, bored out of my mind again.

I finished The Corrections, and seem to be suffering from the sort of mild depression that always seems to accompany finishing a good book.

Yesterday I had The Worst Lunch Ever courtesy of "Pizza D'Amore" at the Bay Parkway mall that hest Best Buy in it in south Brooklyn. Literally everything was wrong, from the "deep-dish" Sicilian-style pizza I was forced to order (the only normal crusted pizza they had were "salad" and "broccoli mushroom"), to the drink I almost asked for a refund of.

The slice of what I guess would be considered "black olive and meat lover's pizza" was handed to me, the crust burnt black on the corners and the complete underside, the chunks of sausage, pepperoni, and even olives dried out completely yet still somehow sweating grease. My order of three mozzarella sticks ($2) was handed to me on a floppy paper plate, the sticks luke-warm (but the marinara dipping sauce piping hot, to even it out I suppose). My small fountain Coke I ordered tasted more like flat generic-brand "Cola," and when I dared insinuate that this was not in fact a Coca-Cola, the woman behind the counter snapped at me and told me I was wrong. I told her I'd wager twice the price of my meal ($14) that if I would be allowed to look at the tap, I'd see it going into something other than a Coca-Cola syrup box, and she just snapped, "WELL IT'S NOT PEPSI."

The burnt pizza and cold mozzarella sticks were a chore to get through, made worse by Gloria Estefan blaring from the ceiling. The fact that I was sitting alone in a booth made to seat four at a place called Pizza D'Amore with furnishings that looked to have come from a tacky Long Island beauty parlor just worked to rub in my face how quickly I had wasted seven dollars.

All things considered, I did manage to find an All-In-One printer scanner copier thing at Best Buy for just 70 bucks. So hey, the $10 sale went to a crappy lunch. Who cares I guess.

I sent my ex-girlfriend a present for her birthday two weeks ago, and although we haven't talked in a month or so, I guess I did expect to get a thank you call for the nice art print. In retrospect, I should have kept it for myself... My walls are barren, and I personally would have appreciated it quite a bit.