Chinese Food/Philosophy

"Happiness is a hound dog lying in the sun. But we were not put on earth to be happy. We were put on earth to experience interesting things." Pete thinks that Coleridge was a little too quick to discount happiness; for can't doing interesting things bring about happiness? Pete went to see the installations/art works "Untitled Corner" at One Manhattan Penn Plaza and "A Clearing in the Streets" at Collect Pond Park recently; they were interesting (sort of), but they didn't make Pete happy. Hmm... Afterwards, Pete set off to try a dumpling house he had spotted on one of his evening constitutionals in the city. Pete finds it interesting to explore neighborhoods--especially ethnic ones like Sunset Park, Chinatown, Jackson Heights, etc.--and randomly choose a place to eat; it makes Pete happy when they are actually good/interesting. Pete found happiness at Chinese Food--bonus points for having a great name, too--on Henry between Market and Catherine. The five-for-a-dollar pork and chive fried dumplings were crisp on the bottom and soft on top, and they were not too doughy; the dollar-fifty sesame beef pancake was exactly what the menu said it was--beef on a sesame pancake--it had none of the usual toppings (carrots, cucumbers, cilantro) that other dumpling houses use, and it was not all that great until Pete added some of the homemade kimchee (super spicy cabbage with apple slices) that sits in a big glass jar on the counter and that the woman scoops you up a deli-hamburger-styrofoam-container-to-go's worth of for a dollar. Pete highly recommends the pancake O-Pete-chee style. Pete ate on a bench on the East River beneath and between the two bridges and watched New York buzz by--by boat, plane, car, helicopter, bike, scooter, unicycle, pogo stick, etc.--and ruminated on the Chinese Proverb: The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water; but to walk on earth. Inspired, Pete walked over the Williamsburg Bridge to the General Greene in Fort Greene for an existential balm--ice cream--the Brulot Chip was a flavorful, bitter combination of coffee, orange, and, Pete thinks, cardamom. I'm happy to say it is moving on to the next round.