Singin in the Bathtub

"Singin' In The Bathtub" (1929) Winnie Lightner

Set the Tone: Be a Seeker

"If you seek contentment and even meaning, you will always be a seeker. When you create pleasure in all things--emotional, intellectual, physical, spiritual or social--contentment and meaning will come storming at you unmercilessly."
--Andre Gide

Sondheim!: The Birthday Concert

Sondheim!: The Birthday Concert was at the top of my heap of HD DVR holdings... So I watched it last night with some pretzels and beer cheese on my plush velvet leather couch...

Fun to see Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin reprise their Sunday in the Park original roles... And ditto for Chip Zien and Joanna Gleason from Into the Woods.

And that got me thinking of the others that coulda and shoulda.... Where were Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou that night? (And why did the set up to Sweeney Todd to imply that George Hearn was the original, when it was Cariou I'd seen with Lansbury at the Uris Theater on Broadway thirty years ago?

Donna Murphy soared above most of other ladies in red dresses with a brilliant "Should I Leave You"!

Bernadette moved with a poignant and tearful "Not a Day Goes By"...

Patti LuPone is the only woman in town with the balls to sing "Ladies Who Lunch" right in front of the quintessential Stritchy... But LuPone made it her own by swimming the with the samba (or was it a tango?) undertow... (With a healthy dose of Lupone-styled anger and rage thrown in)(Here's a clip)

And Elaine Stritch (Yes, still wearing a hat) killed killed KILLED with an indelible "I'm Still Here"... (Good that she wasn't allowed to talk, I think! And she was having a better night than at the White House telecast a few weeks ago).

Stritch may well be the last certifiably authenic old broad (or dame) to be able to pull it off... Who's left to do this song in another 10 years with these original lyrics??? Stritch (born 1926) may be the last of her generational league to have actually experienced Herbert Hoover (Prez from 1929 to 1933) and to have been a guest of the W.P.A.

The next wave of Broadway stars that includes Peters and LuPone were (born in 1948 and 1949 respectively) loooong past having the original brilliant lyric ask if they were depressed during the Great Depression of the 1920's, and be able to use the word... (Even Julie Andrews wasn't born til 1935)

Kudos to producer/director Lonny Price, New York Philharmonic conductor Paul Gemignani and host/writer David Hyde Pierce on jobs well done...

Stephen Sondheim obviously moved and humbled at his 80th Birthday Celebration ... quoted Alice Roosevelt: "First you're young, then you're middle-aged, then you're wonderful..."

Beyonce Thanksgiving Special

Just watched Beyonce's I Am ... World Tour in HD on the DVR...

Brilliant!!

I highly recommend...

The Chancellor Devil Wears Prada

Look at this high-heeled photo floating around the media...

My caption suggestion?: The Chancellor Devil Wears Prada.

This Vanity Fair woman is soon to be the next millionaire Chancellor of the nation's largest school system... Ordained by the nations' biggest billionaire third term Mayor... Meet Cathie Black.

State Education Department cut a deal (slipped in over Thanksgiving weekend) for a number two with some education credentials to sign on... Are we really supposed to think this guy is really gonna make a difference??

See... Billionaire CEO's (Michael Bloomberg) think all millionaire CEO's are interchangeable... And anyone can run anything... Widgets, cars, magazines, young minds...

Data, statistics, numbers... You don't like the numbers??? Quick change the criteria, and re-crunch...

"Oh, that school doesn't exist anymore so throw out those graduation rates". "Um, these scores are nasty, must be the State Test criteria was messed up"...

And when you're done with all that: BLAME THE TEACHERS...

Deny teachers even a meager cost of living increase, slash their benefits, publish their names in the paper if the population that they are involuntarily assigned doesn't meet the same percentage increase as the school and kids with those added resources and advantages on the other side of the tracks...

How much longer will this top down manipulation go on before someone says: "Let's get back to the kids". "Start with the kids." "Children first"... ???

Obama and his Arne Duncan don't get it either...

Here we go...

"Call my limo!"; "Get me my spreadsheets!"; "Slash these budgets!"; "Hire more consultants!"... "Let's do lunch!"...!

And let private corporations rake in millions in contracts for new books, curricula...

... And then blame the teachers...

When you've had enough with the Chancellorship... Go work for a billionaire media mogul and sell stuff to the next millionaire CEO Chancellors...

Unfortunately, there seems to be no end in sight to this madness...

OK, that's enough about all that...

Enjoy your day!

Thanksgiving: This and That

Twitter is essentially dead, IMHO... I used to rely on Twitter for more of these quick thoughts... But since they seem to have lost or hidden all my past tweets, even from me, I'm relying more on the blog on these freewheeling thoughts... I woulda liked to be able to search through my own tweets from Thanksgiving's past to see where I ate and what I did... Not possible, anymore. Twitter is virtually dead as far as me using it for output anymore... It's become a profit-making business tool... Good for them, but Blech for me...

Am still slowly getting better from a stomach bug... It's definitely something that was "going around"... At least one of my students was also a victim...

Thanks to one blog reader for the delicious Cinnamon Babka...

Neighborhood business opportunity available at this prime Hell's Kitchen location at the corner of West 55th and Ninth... Who will set up shop??

Caught Kermit the Frog balloon and a giant white character with an X for a mouth (?) On my way to the gym... Ronald McDonald balloon best captured the disgusting corporate commercialism of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade... Soooo crass! Gym was busy, btw.

Been watching TV stuff like a delightfully creepy vintage Twilight Zone episode of the cruise ship Lady Anne starring Joyce Van Patten... And the Stephen Sondheim tribute concert on PBS... Barbara Walters is having an amazing comeback... Cher gets credit for functioning at 62... Look at Barbara... Old enough to be Cher's mother...

Dr Oz sez use Licorice Tea to cure sore throats and sage extract to cure a cough. Elderberry juice boosts immunity... Dr Oz also sez use Malt Vinegar instead of BBQ sauce... And frozen Greek Yogurt instead of ice cream. Avocado slices instead of mayo. And switch out garlic herb mix for salt... Dr. Oz sez never use hydrogen peroxide to clean wounds. It kills good cells & doesn't cleanse. Use cold water and an antibacterial ointment instead. Who knew?

"I really believe creative work is subconscious". sez Steve Martin. Charlie Rose did an amazing interview with him on the process of writing Martin's first ever novel...An Object of Beauty. Martin writes music, too... for the banjo... And declares the only reason he plays the banjo is to do his own music since he can't possibly compete with the really great technical players... Interesting (to me anyway).

Mee Noodle Shop's steamy seafood (mei fun) noodle soup take-out for dinner. Gotta remember this as a wholesome and steamy winter-time take-out option... They put the broth in a separate container that keeps the noodles from getting soggy...

What to do about these magazine subscriptions coming due?? I'd really rather have an e-reader & save the trees. But still no perfect option... So, I'm thinking one more year of paper subscriptions to Men's Health, PCWorld, New York Magazine, and Time Out New York... Will see what this time next year brings in options...

I still get the New York Times home delivery paper, too... Good articles like: The effect of multi-social media on kids today??:  Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction . After reading their reviews of Burlesque and Tangled, I decided to save my money and didn't bother seeing either film yesterday... The power of the Times! I wish I could experience the power in a digital form. Seems a waste of dead trees...

This Asian pear is PERFECTION!! Get your own @ Greenmarket @ Ninth Ave and 57th tomorrow! Cider too. And these little Meredith Home-Made Pumpkin Pies are to die for. No preservatives! ...

Be sure to drop by to see Joe and family of Morgiewicz Produce for fresh kale, collards, squash, and potatoes while autumnal pre-Frost supplies last.

The Christmas tree guys have started loading in trees in the last few days... Ugh on that!

We had a frost advisory in the city a few nights ago. But it got canceled... Late November and still no frost...

Tomorrow's Thanksgiving 2010

Thankfully I don't have to fool with airport grope-my-junk madness...

Or Amtrak crowds...

Or turnpike traffic...

I'm not going ANYwhere!

Nope, not me...

What are YOU doing for Thanksgiving?

Set the Tone: Don't Be Conquered

"Anyone who angers you conquers you."
~ Elizabeth Kenny

On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century

Yesterday, I hopped over to see the MoMA exhibit-in-waiting... A Member Preview of On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century...

The curators chose to organize the exhibition into three areas: Surface tension, line extension, and confluence...

As usual, I was drawn to the collage. My favorites included:
Picasso"s Guitar 1913 collage, Kazimir Malevich Reservist of the First Division, by Kandinsky; I'm Schwarzen Viereck (In the Black Square), and Joan Miro's 1929 collage:
Jacques de la Villegle Bleu o Noir 1955.

And a wide array of the collage genius of Kurt Schwitters, generally acknowledged as the twentieth century's greatest master of collage. You'll see why.

Here's MoMA's press release:

On Line explores the radical transformation of the medium of drawing throughout the twentieth century, a period when numerous artists subjected the traditional concepts of drawing to a critical examination and expanded the medium's definition in relation to gesture and form. In a revolutionary departure from the institutional definition of drawing, and from the reliance on paper as the fundamental support material, artists instead pushed line across the plane into real space, thus questioning the relation between the object of art and the world. On Line includes approximately three hundred works that connect drawing with selections of painting, sculpture, photography, film, and dance (represented by film and documentation). In this way, the exhibition makes the case for a discursive history of mark making, while mapping an alternative project of drawing in the twentieth century. The exhibition includes works by a wide range of artists, both familiar and relatively unknown, from different eras of the past century and from many nations, including Aleksandr Rodchenko, Alexander Calder, Karel Malich, Eva Hesse, Anna Maria Maiolino, Richard Tuttle, Mona Hatoum, and Monika Grzymala.

The exhibition is organized by Connie Butler, The Robert Lehman Foundation Chief Curator of Drawings, The Museum of Modern Art, and Catherine de Zegher, former director, The Drawing Center, New York.

The exhibition and accompanying performance series are made possible by MoMA’s Wallis Annenberg Fund for Innovation in Contemporary Art through the Annenberg Foundation, The International Council of The Museum of Modern Art, Maja Oeri and Hans Bodenmann, The Contemporary Arts Council of The Museum of Modern Art, and the Robert Lehman Foundation.

My Saturday...

Love... Need... Gotta Have.... My Saturdays... Already been to Greenmarket and Health Food Store... haircut, and

Look, Ma, No Cavities... I love going to the dentist... I think my blood pressure actually lowers when the guy is scraping and picking and polishing... I know, it's strange...

NYTimes has an article on the ethics re-touching of kid's school pictures... Now a widely accepted digital process... OK, so a scab on your cheek is one thing... Mole removal, braces removal, and nose jobs are something else... What kind of a message does it send to a kid about self-acceptance... Mr. Rogers would not be pleased.

I had to deal with four individuals who think that control means controlling me... Um that didn't work out so much for them... I handled these situations sooo much better than I would have in the old days. And I put each neatly back in their own places with humor, kindness, and respectfully standing my ground... Amazing, how much better I deal with things these days today... One day at a time...

I sometimes think "One Day at a Time" is a religion in it's own right... It's certainly an awesome chant, mantra, prayer, and way of life...

Cher is talking in interviews how getting old stinks. Anyone over 50 who doesn't agree?

MoMA is having a member preview today... I gotta get over there... I like taking advantage of my membership...

Am looking at a few charities to possibly donatea small amount to this Thanksgiving month... Not much, mind you... But enough that I feel like I'm making a contribution...

A guy I know donates his time to a local Soup Kitchen... Wikimedia is important, me thinks. Clinton Global Initiative rocks. And a woman I know at work started a scholarship fund with the Boy's Club for her late son who was killed a few years ago in a tragic act of random violence...

Set your DVR's: Sondheim!:The Birthday Concert airs on Wednesday at 9pm. Mine is already set for a High Definition pickup!

Gail Collins has an interesting take on why zombies are hot right now.

And how is your weekend?

TGIF!!

The weekend starts now...

Back-Ordered Thoughts

Been eating a lot of those locally grown crisp, tart, Stayman Winesap apples... Available at local NYC Greenmarkets now... I do love 'em the best. Ever since I was a kid... My second favorite?: The Nittany... But I haven't found those in NYC yet. My parents go to some farm in PA every year and get em, They always give a huge bag of em over the holidays...

Rest in Peace Jill Clayburgh... 1944-2010. I did a movie with her waaay back in the early 1980's. Nice lady. Last saw her in the audience of a staged reading of Don Cummings' "A Good Smoke" at the Public Theater...

I LOVE having two wide monitors on my desktop 'puter. Thanks again, Moe! Makes editing, multi-tasking, blogging, & browsing SOOOO much easier... Three would be too many though... Seriously.


Two new kids were abruptly added to my already full caseloadrecently. Both are a handful! I do like kids with personality though... My caseload is waaay heavy now... Day at a time...


Added a new groovy Windows 7 theme to my desktop... Fun! Outer space. And the sounds are lovely! Here's how you can get your own free theme downloads from Microsoft.

Speaking of Microsoft... I've tried Internet Explorer for a few months now. Some things irk me SOOO much that I'm about to upload Firefox and ignore IE... When blogging, every time I create a link it requires three steps to get past the Scripted Windows security error... Why isn't there an "allow for this site" option? I trust Blogger. Another beef... Every single comment I leave on other blogs requires a multi step click through to decide if I want to allow the unsecured logos that accompany the comments. Firefox, here I come... Plus I do miss TwitterBar and some other cool Firefox apps...

Keith Olbermann did the right thing in donating his private money to whatever candidate he wanted. So did MSNBC in keeping to their rules and maintaining journalistic integrity. OK. So, this drama should repeat itself each election cycle forever... That would be a perfect and regular act of civil disobedience and good example to us all! I hope Keith enjoys his mini-vacation. I doubted MSNBC enjoyed the ratings drop though... But that too passed... They got a ratings boost!

Dear Twitter: I want to see what I did on this date in each of last few yrs. Where are my tweets? They're mine. I WANT MY TWEETS BACK!

Wednesday's Word(s): Shelf Esteem

shelf esteem

def: The condition of a person who develops self-esteem from self-help books.

Usage: "I've always been a bit of self-help book junkie. Though I wouldn't say I rely on it as shelf-esteem".

Adapted from Urban Dictionary

Sooo Wrong

Billionaire media mogul Mayor Michael Bloomberg in this third (illegal and completely bought) third term selects Millionaire media mogul lady to to run NYC education. This is after multi-millionaire media lawyer who had the job before goes to work for Billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch to sell educational media... Soooo wrong!

I say no waiver...

Meanwhile teachers slave without a contract and get continuously demonized across the board...

What's wrong with this project???

Or what's right with it??

I can't find anything right about any of this...

Set the Tone: Three Words

"In three words, I can sum up everything I've learned about life; it goes on!"
-- Leo Buscaglia

Chicken Soup, Naps, Steam, and Boxes of Kleenex...

Fact is, have been feeling like hell...

A nasty cold this early in the season has knocked me on my butt...

Yes, it's getting better... Slowly.

But no, it ain't done yet...

So I'm cranky, tired and still plowing through boxes of tissues...

Have had the last four days off to rest and drink plenty of fluids and blah blah... But still feel pretty blah...

A five day work week looms ahead, and I WILL pace myself...

Bleh.

A Decade: Collected Works by Fountain Gallery Artists

Some of my favorites are featured at the current retropective at the Fountain Gallery...

Martin Cohen

Greg Brent Hilsen

Justine Hall

Fountain Gallery, celebrating its 10th Anniversary year representing artists with mental illness and located at 702 Ninth Avenue, today announced the upcoming opening of A Decade: Collected Works by Fountain Gallery Artists, showcasing artworks acquired by collectors over the past 10 years and loaned to the Gallery for this exhibition. 
 
The show is currently on view from November 5 through December 29, 2010, 
 
A Decade is curated by Elizabeth Szancer Kujawski and Suzanne Lemakis.

Over the years, Kujawski and Lemakis have acquired numerous Fountain Gallery artworks for the corporate collections they oversee.

In 2009, they were recipients of the Esther Montanez Leadership Award, presented at Fountain Gallery’s annual Celebration of Life benefit. The 2010 Celebration of Life will take place on November 15 at Citi Executive Conference Center in New York City, where 100 original artworks by Fountain Gallery artists will be displayed
for sale.

Hell's Kitchen Scribbles

McCoy's Pub, teeny stalwart neighborhood sportsy Irish bar is soon to be dwarfed by a new gay entertainment complex next door. New place has drag queen posters plastered on the windows and a giant martini on the signage... Here comes Flavor Lounge, apparently. (Formerly Bossa Nova, Brazilian restaurant). Grand opening festivities on Saturday the 13th...

Seem to recall a ruckus between a homophobic patron out on that very sidewalk a few months back that made the papers... I don't think the straight bar patrons will want to tangle with marauding gangs of drag queens, and their admirers, on a smoking break... McCoy's runs a good business, and that aforementioned incident was an anomaly, as far as I could tell...

I'm sure everyone will get along just fine...

Neighboring Renaissance Diner will certainly welcome a new late night breakfast business...

I'm never big on sandwiches, Portuguese or otherwise... But if you are... Check out City Sandwich... Midtown lunch rave reviewed it...

I'm eating healthier... Dry Roasted Soy Nuts from Westerly: The good: This food is very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Vitamin K, Folate, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Copper, and a very good source of Protein and Manganese.

New management of the Soup Man is gruff, rude and nasty without the charm of the original Soup Nazi... I recommend that you move right on by... Which is what one of the dudes advised me to do when I pointed out that "I knew the Soup Nazi and you, Sir are no Soup Nazi". Never had a problem with the original guy, who would stuff my bag with extra goodies as he knew I was a reliable and dedicated customer... They wonder why there's no lines??? Get the nasty owner (or manager or whatever he is) outta contact with the public... No soup for me!!! My choice... Let's all just walk on by...

Actually the best soups near that intersection??? Waaay in the back of the Westerly Market at 54th/8th is a self serve station of multiple options daily... Get the large ones and chill em for multiple microwave reheats. I get em and then throw in my own own fresh veggies before serving... Most are healthy... But ya gotta read the fine print for some surprises... A health food nut lady pointed out to me recently that the Lentil soup, and the Beef Stew, both have sulfites in them??? C'mon Westerly... You can do these recipes without the dreaded sulfites... I know you can! Check out the Maryland Crab on Thursdays! Great prices, too!!

Have still never set foot in Hale and Hearty... He said proudly... The other day, when Kitten needed to run in for something, I waited curbside so as not to destroy my record...

I tend to avoid the chains for the local businesses... I think it's better for the local economy...

Veteran's Day

Wishing everyone a peaceful and reverent Veteran's Day 2010.

Vote for Prompt Today!

This is a friend of mine... His Stage name is "Prompt". Check out his remix here and give him a vote:

Gritty Times Square Circa 1986

Gothamist did a photo spread on Times Square before Guiliani's sweeping Disneyfication...

In July of 1986—eight years before Rudolph Giuliani took over as the city's Mayor—LIFE magazine visually documented Times Square, and its bevy of XXX-rated establishments. 

Here's what that summer in the Crossroads of the World looked like. An article in City Journal once noted that many are nostalgic for this old Times Square, because it "provided a harmless, playful way to subvert stuffy bourgeois morality." 

They counter that nostalgic longing, however, with the fact that in 1960 the New York Times was calling 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth the "worst block in the city." 

Two years before these photos were taken there were 2,300 crimes on the block, with 20% of them being serious felonies. 

Could there ever have been a happy median between murder and Mickey Mouse?

Which Times Square do you prefer??

Set the Tone: SBS

"Smile, breathe, and go slowly."

-Thich Nhat Hanh

The Only Way to Fly

Spent some time this AM, decluttering my list of website memberships and passwords and just finally deleted my accounts with Friendster, Connexion.org, WheresGeorge, 43Things and a few others... They all seemed like pretty good ideas at the time... LOL

While I was at it, I dropped by and left a bone for Oscar on his Dogster page... It's been over a year and I still think about that little devil daily... (No, I'm not ready for another pet... No way...)

NYC Marathon Sunday... I hear some choppers approaching in the distance... Should prolly turn on the tv to glimpse on the national networks what is actually happening right around the corner... A LOT happens right around Hell's Kitchen and vicinity... New York is great like that...

Loads heaped on my plate lately... Lots of added responsibilities with family, friends, and work... But I'll cope... An especially tense and busy week lies ahead but I'll get through it all...

One day at a time, clearly, is the only way to fly

Don't Forget!

Clocks tonight!

Although most of mine do it all by themselves...

Some still have to be changed back an hour by the old fashioned way...

Friday Gratitude

Weeks do fly by when you're busy...

There are several words that describe my work week: Busy is one... Also, interesting, exhausting, challenging, fun, inter-personal, never boring, and important.... Not a bad bunch of words to describe a workweek...

And I'm lucky to have a work week!!

And some friends are lucky too: Congratulations to my Bub for recently finding a job in telecom in Atlanta after a too long and scary hiatus... BMB is gearing up with some more work projects which should keep him out of unbridled mischief... Juliebaby is working in a hit show. Danny is enjoying a fabulous paid vacation in Hawaii... Nicomar has his lucrative Macy's gig... Moe told me last night he and Priscilla are expecting and the kid will have two strong health insurance plans to rely upon...

Grateful for the weekend too... And that today is Friday...

And so on and so forth... Gratitude...

Have a great weekend to all my tens of readers...

Batman Intro

If I Were The Emperor

OK... So the Suntanned Lizard is indeed the Speaker of the House... Everything is meant to be...

Now he'll be right in the spotlight and more and more Americans can see his complete lack of answers on what to do with the deficit, and all the other stuff that he doesn't have an answer for, except to yell "Hell, No You Don't"...

 I can't wait to see the montage that MSNBC's Laurence O'Donnell will be doing in the coming months... O'Donnell's editor would already be Knighted, If I were the king...

And, if  I were the King...

Marijuana would be legalized nationwide, and taxed across this great land (Like alcohol). It would put criminals and gangs outta business, and would provide much needed revenue...

Sorry, but taxes MUST be paid... Middle class and the Wealthy, too... Sorry, but we can't function without taxes... A couple modest jumps would pay off the debt relatively quickly...

If I were king, Bloomberg and Quinn woulda been oustered at sunrise with the voter's referendum that they violated voter's rights with their three term adjustment for themselves...

Immigration reform...? YES! Now!

Now... About the jobs... They will never come back... Unless we scratch free trade to a large degree and for certain targetted industries... Heavy tariffs on certain foreign goods to protect American industries to provide American goods... Cars, trucks, and many other areas... I will have my advisors devise a list... But Detroit and all those midwest abandoned warehouses and factories would be put back in business...

Education: Abolish all this testing data crap... Empower teachers with small classes and little red school houses to empower children based on their strengths instead of a one size fits all modality... Arne Duncan and Chancellor Klein would be sent to work camps...

Some immediate new industries to provide jobs in America: Green industries, free broadband everywhere, renewed Infra-structure (yes private business can play a role) and socialized medicine. (Yup, I said socialized! You don't like it??? To the gallows with ya!)

Tea Partiers? Off with their heads! Except that hunky (ex Playgirl model) cutie from Massachusetts, he would be my personal inner-sanctum play thing... And Levi Johnston, too. Think: Caligula...

All gay men would have to read and pass a written exam on The Velvet Rage by Alan Downs...

A Queen?? Don't EVEN get me started...

Mid-Term Day 2010

Happy Election Day! Don't forget to vote! Unless you're planning to vote Republican... Then, please, forget to vote! LOL...

Just think, this time tomorrow, a suntanned lizard will likely be the Speaker of the House...

 I'll be off to the polls shortly to cast my paper ballot... The primary election in September was a massive mess... We'll see if this one is any less than a mess... These same poll workers could made a regular mess outta the old fashioned method of lever booths from the sixties too. And they had 50 years to get that one right, and didn't... So I have my doubts that this process will run smoothly after a mere two months since the primary... LOL

Over the weekend... I was reminded that doing a complete furniture re-arrangement is the best way to also do a thorough cleaning... I did that Sunday... And I'm definitely sore today... I really do like this new arrangement best... It makes the place feel more spacious... I really should post some photos sometime... Also a good cyber record for documentation in case of ever needing to exercise the pay-out Home Owner's policy, God forbid!... Yikes, what a horrid thought!!

Twas a cold day on Monday!! Brisk! Crisp! Blue skies!! Heavenly! Too early to see what Tuesday weather will bring... But I'll be cooped up all day in an auditorium in the Bronx for a training day... So except for the commute, I'll see little of it...

Went to meet someone on Saturday at one of those new lower Hell's Kitchen hotels down on 40th street and vicinity (Between 8th/9th)... There are MANY of them, side by side and back to back... All kinds of little Holiday Inn Express, Stansbridge Inns, YouNameIt Suites... I got confused and was actually outside a room on the 32nd Floor of one of em when it occurred to me that it might be the Fairfield Inn and not the Hampton Inn after all... They all look so much alike... And they ALL popped up within seconds of each other in what seems like the last few hours... LOL

Luckily the person at the wrong hotel had a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door or they woulda been disturbed by a lost me banging on their door... That's what got me thinking and pulling out my cel phone to confirm where I was supposed to be...

Anyway... I noticed right away upon entering the correct hotel suite the stark absence of carpetting... I would venture it's because of  bed bug paranoia... Actually, I was surprised the upholstered couch and chairs were't replaced with wooden benches... I think that's where we're headed...

In fact, I was at a meeting place the other day where a woman refused to sit on an upholstered folding chair... And I'm sure that movie theaters are paying the price of scared patrons sitting home waiting for the DVDs... Bedbugs are good for Netflix!

I guess there will be more and more of these kinds of adjustments in the years to come...

Have discovered a terrific Japanese restaurant on the UWS called Kouzan. I grab lunch there whenever work takes me into that area... I'd never had Beef Negamaki before... And now, I'm a huge fan... Along with all the other fresh and delicious Bento Box fixins... Kouzan beats any of the Hell's Kitchen Japanese Restaurant options, IMHO...

New Rules

Many more veggie meals... Many less dead mammal meals...

Many less diner breakfasts...

Paperless New York Times...! Paperless magazines too? If available? It might be time for an iPad...

One slice of pizza is really quite enough... Two? Maybe... Three = obscene!

Bill Clinton's Cholesterol Diet.

Less coffee. More tea!

Set the Tone: Live Lightly

"He lives well who lives lightly,
hoards nothing,
lets go of the air he breathes -- to draw in more."
-- Peter Abbs