Big Fish, Big City

Reading over my last few posts, I can easily see that some readers may be under the impression that I have fallen into some kind of melancholy trance. I can only assure you that this is not, in fact, the case. As I prepare to make the big move down the coast, I have lost the free wireless connection I had been filching off the neighbors (they have moved). This leaves me with only dial-up, crawling around the world wide web at a snail's pace.

But, as always, there are things to report. Today I spent the afternoon re-grouting the tiles in my parents' shower. I had no idea this task would be so tedious, nor that making bare-skin contact with the grout mix would be akin to sticking one's head into a narrow tube lined with sandpaper. The shower looks pretty good now, however.

I also saw a very interesting documentary last night on the Sundance Channel: "Gotham Fish Tales" (2003). I learned that there are over 250 species of fish now living in New York City's waterways, including 20-lb. striped bass. I also learned that it is more or less safe to eat these fish year-round, unless you happen to be a young child or a pregnant woman. This is, quite frankly, astounding, especially given the fact that when the Clear Water act was passed in 1972 no fish could survive in the oxygen-depleted environment of New York Harbor.

The film's best moment, perhaps, was an interview with a man who spends every day fishing off of the Gil Hodges Bridge. He explained that "Orientals don't throw nothing back. They don't know the law and they eat everything they catch." He went on to say that Russians are similarly lawless when it comes to fishing. Then, as he was briefly interrupted to tell a passing acquaintance what he was doing talking to a camera, he said, "That's my friend. He's Pork-u-jeez. Don't speak no English."

For my part, I have never caught a fish in the waters around New York, but I am encouraged to hear that they are available in such abundant quantities. I would probably stay away from bluefish caught in the East River, but a hefty striper from Coney Island sounds mighty tasty. Apparently, the nutrient-rich slurry ejected from sewage treatment plants brings smaller fish and their predators in droves, but I'd rather not eat one of those if at all possible.

Fish are on the brain for other reasons, too. You're Okay just got an apartment in Bed-Stuy, and word has it that some puffer fish and lobsters will be joining the fray in the near future. I could never own pet lobsters; they wouldn't stand a chance.