MLK Day at the Big J: January 19, 2015

Since I was so fortunate to spend yesterday's MLK Day back at the Big J, I thought I'd share some of the random pictures from last year's visit. 

I was still getting over some weird stomach thing, so I wasn't eating much, but I still had time to sit and toast to Ms. T---'s presence for a long leisurely breakfast. (Indie Food and Wine)

Ms. T--- had to go back to work, so I think I hung about the lobby of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and used their wi-fi to set up more appointments for the day. I also ran over to the Bed Bath & Beyond, Gracious Home, and Gourmet Garage for some errands.

Lunch was with Cynthia at an Upper West Side institution I had missed, somehow, in the seven years I worked in the area.

"Big Nick's" TOO (Because sadly, I missed going to the original Big Nick's. It shuttered in 2013.)

One of those tiny, hole in the wall vintage dives which are becoming more rare on the UWS. The menu was so huge, but again -stomach ailments, so I had chicken soup, fries, and eggs, of all things. I am hoping for a redo one day. 

On the way back, we spotted one of those random things in the City that you just have to question. Cynthia and I actually turned to each other just to confirm that we were seeing what we thought were seeing. In fact, we back-tracked and crossed the street to go over and take a picture.

Um? Okay? I thought the UWS had zoning for JUST this kind of thing.

Cyn had to peel off, but I set up camp down in the tanning booth (aka under the main front steps of the Big J)

to use the wi-fi until Matt could run down and give me a hug, and/or it was time for my "coffee" break with Brent back over at Indie. (Coffee for Brent, Diet Coke for me).

I had a "tea" appointment to see Susan, but she was under the gun on a print deadline, so basically she ran out of the building on a "coffee" run (more Diet Coke) from the coffee cart on the corner and we basically power-walked around the block three times while smoke came out of her ears and we literally cooled off in the frigid January weather. 

After our "tea," I did head upstairs to the "new" suite of "off-site" offices to check in with my former boss Ed, but I kept my profile pretty low, because I like to be respectful of their working day. I plan these visits very carefully and strategically - and often make sure it's off-site.

(There is nothing more annoying than a former employee swanning in on their break while you are frantically busy working, or on a deadline, who wants to catch-up. I know. I have been one of those resentful busy worker bees.) 

One of the best parts of the day however, was getting a big old hug from some of the security guards. It'd been over a year or so since I had ducked in - and it was just like I had never left. I DID get scolded that I hadn't brought THEM baked goods.

Figures. You feed them a few times, and they think you'll feed them all the time. (I would if I could.)

~ photos by iTouch

That Time I Saw POTUS: January 10, 2015

Sadly, my (first) trip to DC last year had to come to an end and I had to wend my way home. But no trip to DC would be complete without a sighting of the big man himself, POTUS.

I didn't say it was the real POTUS.

I just said there was a sighting... in the gift shop... at Union Station. By a very one dimensional version.

It was another beautiful sunny Amtrak train trip home, with all the free wifi I could enjoy, while texting to catch up on work, keep people apprised about half hour delays due to people falling down boarding the trains in Baltimore, and for me to stay plugged in to take pictures out the window. I did look up a few times to snap the sights.

 *President of the United States

~ photos by iTouch

Past Pun Pondering: January 7, 2015

A year later and I still can't figure out a few things from this display 

in a suburban Maryland discount shop: 

WHY doesn't this typewriter have paper in it?

 Random messages from shoppers could be marketing gold. 

Just image the riff on this trio:

Big Fish turns to Buddha and asks: What do you  think of Squirrel over there?

Buddha: He's a tough nut to crack.

Big Fish: Buddha, your jokes flounder.

Why wouldn't you bronze up a big fish, a Buddha, and a squirrel?

~ photos by iTouch

Photos of the Day: Out on a Limb

The last time I was in the City, back in June, my friends and I were strolling down the streets of the Upper West Side - with their very nice brownstones. I love wandering the side streets, looking at how "the other half" lives.

I can't remember WHERE we were, but I had to play tourist when I came to this dwelling. First I spotted this stoop staircase artfully entangled in the roots of a climbing vine:

THEN I looked up and spotted Ragged Annie up out on a limb.

Further study of this scene on my computer revealed that Annie wasn't alone, but hostessing an entire party.

Can you spy everyone who got an invitation?

This charmed me more than I can say.

~ photos by iTouch.
Taken June 22, 2015

So This Just Happened ...

I can't make this stuff up. This really happened to me tonight.

I'm at the Chinese place on the corner getting dinner on the way home from the train. As I'm paying for my food and about to pick up my take-away sack full of food and hot mustard packets, the guy behind the counter really looks at me and says: "Where you from?"

Please note, English is NOT his first language. And I was NOT anticipating any personal interactions or potentially loaded conversations.

Not quite understanding, I give him a quizzical look.

He responds: "Where are you from?"

I very hesitantly reply, “America.” But my voice trails up, questioningly, because I have NO idea why he's asking.

He tries to clarify: "Where is your family from?"

I still have NO idea why he's asking, because ... Look, I just want my Chinese food and my sweatpants. I didn't know I was going to get an inquisition with my beef and broccoli.

I give him the easiest, briefest, least complicated answer: "England a long time ago. Why?"

 

He points to my head: "Because, your hair …"

Now, could I tell him that once upon a time in the '70s I did look like a little semi-ethnic child, with the flow of raven locks to the middle of back, or later in the '80s when I have my semi-bowl haircut that I might have been mistaken for someone possibly from Asia and not almost 100% European ... but again, this was just supposed to be about my beef and broccoli. 

Instead, I answer:"Oh. Well. Thanks? We think that’s maybe because of a native American ancestor."

And I quickly left.

I mean, I could try and explain a about the possible native American ancestor, or the possible Spanish relative, or very likely Black Irish or Welsh ancestry - but ... Do you expect a DNA test when you order your no-MSG meal?

So … That happened. At least he didn’t make a comment about the grey, I guess.

Maybe it's time to order the AncestryDNA kits and finally get the answers to the questions. Just so I can finally go back to the Chinese place again.

You Should be Writing

There's a whole series of memes online, usually perpetuated by authors, academics, or freelance writers, that distills down to:

You Should Be Writing.

That could be the theme of the blog the last few years.

It's not that I don't have material. It's not that it's not germinating in my brain. It's not that I don't have letters to write, or emails to answer. I just haven't had a chance to put it all down on screen or paper.


One snowy Saturday, I was blessed with some free time between appointments, so I snuggled in at a Cosi's, with free wi-fi, all the bread I could eat, Diet Coke I could drink, some letters, a fresh fountain pen and a journal - and started writing what would turn into an epic 10+ page Jane Austen-esque epistle.

Baring time for epistles, I dash off notes, or I often use Twitter and/or my phone to jot down the kernel of the observation or inspiration. Things that might end up in other forms, later in my life. [In fact, there's one coming up this week that started out as a jotted down note.]

Here are some of my musings lately:*

Crew @ my @7eleven knows me a little too well: "Wait, you're back. What'd you forget this morning. Oh, you must be baking again. No refill?"

Overheard at train station: "Having your therapy dog stolen is a double whammy." #futurefirstlineofmymemoir #therapydog #random #whyIwrite

It must be spring in the country. I can hear the red-tail hawk crying out for its mate again. #nestingseason #springsoundtrack #countrylife

Overheard near the local donut shop. Said by father with 2 small kids. To son: "No, you can't call shotgun. It's her birthday." #birthdaytraditions

Things I ponder during my commute: Why is there a dried up, decapitated corpse of a #pineapple in the middle of the train tracks? #random

Who needs that BökFace thing when Google images helps you look up an ex just fine. Especially when you can make judgements on aging better.

Me: I really resent having to go to work tomorrow. Her: That's a problem. Where can you get a sugar daddy? Us: *laughter* #friendsarethebest

My favorite thing today was hearing how my 5yo #nephew very precisely articulates all the syllables in: ACT-U-A-LY (Very toothily) #actually

I don't normally watch the 10/11pm local news, but when I do, I miss YO-LAAANDA Vega telling me which numbers I didn't pick to win. #nylotto

3pm: Must mean it's time for an impromptu solo rave dance party in a colleague's office. I mean...3pm and SOMEBODY ELSE was, I swear. #notme

Talking to the 10yo #nephew. Accidentally broke into rhyming pattern. Was told in no uncertain terms, "Stop rapping. You can't be a rapper."

And lo, it came to pass, in the 4th decade of the life of Nettie, did she find that the balance of her coffer ledger was accidentally nil.

Mighty was the flop sweat of she upon finding it thus. Much foul words were spoke, repenting undertook, & relief upon remembering overdraft.

Forsooth, and verily, I must confess...I was not paying attention to the balance o'the coffers whilst using the card o'debit.

Yon spendthrift was trying to curb her ways of the other cards o'credit, by freezing them, but still must learn economy.

Alas, I think I've been enjoying tweets by @LeVostreGC a mite bit too much. I'm starting to tweet/writ in homage. That and scriptural style.

Excuse me? Have you seen my motivation? I seem to have misplaced it.

When you are already feeling guilty about NOT responding to a letter from a former intern c. 2/14, & she calls you today from SPAIN to talk.

I know there is all kinds of symbolism to seeing 3 crows/ravens, but what about when you spot 3 large turkey vultures "lingering" nearby?

OH at office: "Please note. That was my nose. I didn't actually lick you. You probably shouldn't lick your colleagues." We're a close bunch.

Working in the country and commuting means if you miss your train by 35 seconds you have to wait 35 minutes for the next one. #sigh

Walked by the site of my former job today. Security guards came out of the building to give me a hug. So sweet. Guys were big teddy bears.

Why was there a bowl of milk at the foot of the stairs outside my apartment door this morning?

[This was a photo reminder to myself. In the almost decade that the Attic has been located in this building, this has NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE!]

Stay tuned...

Maybe I'll actually start really writing again.... Can't you already envision the tale of the stolen therapy dog?

In the meantime, enjoy these random observations.

The next time you feel bad about your inbox, remember that tonight I answered some e-mail that was 15 months old. #BadPerson

— Jen Yates (@cakewrecks) April 28, 2015

Too lazy at the moment 😂 pic.twitter.com/sOzDd0zmjM

— ☆ Nica ☆ (@Nhycca) April 27, 2015

*Or to be precise, in the future. I'm back-dating this from May 2015.
TIME TRAVEL. It's not just science-fiction. It's called "retro-blogging!"

43 Ideas for Birthday 43: Random Acts of Kindness

Say or do something thoughtful for somebody today. Your kindness will go a long way in making the world a better place.
— Anne Wheaton (@AnneWheaton) January 9, 2015

It's actually the middle of Random Act of Kindness Week. 

In honor of my birthday, please do something randomly nice for a stranger. Pass it on.

International Random Acts of Kindness Week is February 9-15, 2015. Take this week to step out of your normal routine or comfort zone and attempt a new random act of kindness each day of the celebratory week. 

Randomness

Dear Readers (mostly Parental Units),

Yes, I'm fine.
Really.
I just couldn't get my act together to write a series of real post(s).

So you don't a) call my boss b) call my other bosses c) call the neighbors d) contact my friends or e) call the NYPD (as you have threatened to do before), here are some random entries dating back a ways to prove that I'm fine, my weird observational humor is still intact, and that I am traveling/functioning/documenting on other forums other than this one.

In no particular order,

Drew might appreciate this concert poster. Killer Stegadons playing the trombone? The brass players at the Big J are a bit crazy. I think they blew too hard and ruptured some brain cells. This was just 1 of a series of concert posters for this particular musician.

In a fit of spring cleaning/blog writing procrastination, I've been going through the buckets and buckets of stuff in my Attic. Look who I found! My hand-made, vintage, childhood dollies. *Sniff* Proving once again, even though you thought you didn't need your childhood friends, your mother knew better and saved them for you.

I've been thinking about the CT house lately. (STILL ON THE MARKET, almost 2 years later. *Sigh* Send a prayer up for the market to swing upwards soon.) Some of the gang are cleaning up/out their houses and showing off the "decor" of their kitchens. I think I have the oddness beat -- Nothing tops 1950s vintage plastic turquoise tiles that only come up half the walls, topped by rockin' stripped mustard/orange/puce floral wallpaper. Good times. I enjoyed the latest incarnation, the reno Grumpa assisted with sometime in the last 10 years, but my formative year? Were spent looking at this -- on a much larger scale. [What? YOU don't have a tile and wallpaper sample from your childhood home framed for posterity? What's wrong with YOU!?]

I did manage to go exploring and enjoying time with friends. On Easter Eve, I had a delicious series of appetizers in the Bronx's "little Italy" Arthur Avenue with Christine. We did notice, however, that apparently you can only celebrate one religious holiday at a time on Arthur Avenue.

Christine and I also have spent time stress-eating/venting at other restaurants over the last month or so. In March, after, oh, 20 years or so of being a New Yorker, and over 5-7 of those years, heading in and out of Grand Central twice a day, I finally ate at the Oyster Bar. Here's the thing: The restaurant at the Oyster Bar is super $$$, but I had the best sea bass I've ever had. If I go again? We're eating at the bar/counter, where things are more in my price range. If I divide the cost of dinner by 20 years? Pennies on the dollar, but still.

What else?

Oh yes. My Internet/cable/wifi were down for a whole 30 hours - driving me crazy and forcing me out of the house. Sometimes when your technology doesn't work/keep you locked to a screen, you have go out and smell the flowers/blossoms. So I escaped to the New York Botanical Garden.

I've been working late a lot lately, so sometimes I get a ride home from my pal Cynthia. On our walk to the parking garage/street, we pass a bunch of day care centers that have their own version of social media "walls." Here are some humorous updates. (I want to be a kid again!)

Music AND art classes. AND playground time? Am I too old to enroll in this school? I wonder if there is nap time?

Another option: maybe if there was "juice time," my "self portrait" wouldn't be the title of their Book of the Day.

One particular morning, NOTHING went right with the subway portion of my travels, and I had to hoof it from stops that were nowhere near my normal. I was rushing, but I did happen to catch this shadow out of the corner of my eye. Cast by the eastern sunlight across one of the many new sculptural installations by the artist Woytuk on Broadway, it is supposed to be a normal sized bird perched on some apple -- with the shadow, it looked like a raven to me.

Spotted once upon a commute so ghastly.

Shadows of a sculpture Woytuk-ly.

Quoth the Raven Nevermore and nothing more

Let's see. What else has been happening? The semester is rushing by. Check it out: Apparently, even our work-study student is a little punchy - a wreck, you might say. I came back from some errand or another and discovered thatthe fund-raising ship had sailed. She adorned my computer, and

my desk was adorned with origami. Instead of shredding or filing the papers, she left these for me.

Maybe she was trying to tell me something? I usually am thinking this about MY boss.

Even though the winter wasn't cold, didn't have too snow, and generally wasn't much to complain about, the unrelenting greyness -- grey skies, concrete, asphalt, subway grime, travertine -- started to get to me. One day, though, a burst of color gleamed through the dim of Grand Central. Japan Week celebrations in Vanderbilt Hall brought cherry blossoms, kimono silks, and red lanterns to break up with the winter gloom.

You see all kinds of things on the commute.

You probably can't tell from this grainy, much zoomed, edited, and cropped iTouch photo, but this type of randomness happens a lot on the trains. You get absorbed in your book, 'nook, i-thingy, you look up, glance to yourself and go "huh": That Sudoko player is totally not paying attention to the stressed out bride-to-be next to him who just picked up her bridal bouquet of calla lilies and is clenching them for dear life. Maybe he's afraid to look at her, for fear she'll freak out. That, or this is the worst commute to a funeral EVER. The lilies were pretty, but I like lilies of the valley. Callas just make me miss Katherine Hepburn.

Check this little one out. Traveling to NYC via the train is fascinating at any age, especially if you have your best friend to snuggle.

Just ask my fellow Big J commuter friend Jess. Commuting is hard. Stuffed animals help. Hey. Whatever gets you through the daily grind.

Finally. I'm popping multivitamins, aspirin, and Vitamin D like candy these days -- just to stave off the stress. I'm also popping Vitamin C. I prefer to get my vitamins from actual fruit (stop laughing people). However, I'm not sure I want to take any of these floozies home.

How's that for a random set of updates?

More soon. When I don't have writers block.

Random Retail

I was going through the phone book out West looking for another listing entirely, when I stumbled across this one.

Surely, it couldn't be real. Right? What kind of random retailer specializes in these three things. Much hysterical laughter ensued, resulting in a stitch in my side, and my sister-in-law agreeing to accompany me on a recon mission.

It's real. There are delivery vans.

Only out West, folks. Only out West.

Random Interaction of the Day

Setting: Work Environment, early Saturday Morning

Characters: Very-Sleepy-College-Student Worker and her More-Alert Supervisor

Upon observing the Worker dragging herself through her shift, the Supervisor somewhat jokingly asked:

“Honey, do I need to smack you with the wake-up stick?”

Question: Where does one purchase a wake-up stick and how much does it cost?

Random Overheard Comment of the Day

Scene: Packed elevator of students at renowned conservatory on the second full day of classes
Who: Undergraduate musicians reuniting after break and catching up on summer news
What happened: General elevator chitchat, whereupon a young 20 something female teasingly punched her male cohort in the arm, which brought her impressive engagement ring to his attention

Guy: Hey. What's that? Did you get engaged?
Girl: Yes, this summer.
Guy: Congratulations. Is he rich? He'd better be.

Doors to elevator open. Students depart.

Ah. The cynicism of young musicians. So sad. But so true.

Random Overheard Comments of the Day

Scene: On board a Metro-North train, just having picked up a load of rush hour commuters

Characters: Two conductors, amusing themselves whilst communicating over the intercoms

Conductor 1: You’re a good man, Charlie Brown.

Conductor 2: I’d rather be Elvis. “Thank you, Thank you very much.”

Conductor 1: I guess I did walk into that one.

Result? General amusement of passengers.

Dispelling the Myth

Working and living in NYC is nothing like the media portrays it. All of the Candace Bushnell-spawned television programs and Meg Ryan movies to the contrary, it just isn’t like that at all.

What brings this up? Recently I got a comment on the blog from a non-NYer offering a major appliance for the opportunity to live in NYC. I think this an instance of “the grass is greener,” so let me do my part to dispel the myth.

To go on the record, I don’t actually live in the five boroughs. I’m a commuter from a suburb just over the Bronx border. Thanks to a train, shuttle, and subway, I manage to get work everyday. On a good day with an express train door-to-door it’s just about an hour of colorful interactions with my fellow “happy” commuters. On a not so good day, the commute is much longer and emotionally taxing. The worst one-way commute to this job so far has been two hours – and that was because of rain* … and I think I stood up the entire time. In general though, commuting is crowded, stressful, and an often sweaty and grimy affair. Glamorous? I think not.

Fancy Corner offices that you get to yourself? HA! I work in a Big Grey Box that’s in the midst of a five year construction/expansion project. The dulcet drone of the massive drilling project directly below my feet has a massage-like, yet deadening quality to it. While there’s a window in my office, I don’t look out it. I have a Dilbert Cube wall that separates my desk from the rest of the office that I share with two other people. (I’m lucky; one office has 5-7 people in it on any given day). My view, such as it is, five grey filing cabinets and reams and reams of paper. To combat the institutional grey, lack of opening windows, and the institutional air that’s vented in directly over my head, I’ve brought in splashes of color through my decorating, my oh-so-delightful personality, and some plants for CO2. Feng shui? I laugh in your general direction.




For every NYC worker and dweller, there are millions of these examples, some funny, some sad, some poignant, and some hysterical. For the most part though, we envy you as much as you envy us—for your open green space, room to park, lack of tourists, your real grocery stores with actual room to take a cart up and down the aisle, reasonable real estate rates, low crime rates, etc.

Once and a while though, we’ll experience a totally random moment that could only happen in a big city that makes us go: hey, this isn’t so bad. Like last Thursday when I stood on the subway platform in my usual location, grooving to my shuffle (TM). All of a sudden this guy walked up to me. Now, you have to understand, people don’t often walk up to me, though I’m starting to look “native” enough that people ask me for directions more and more (or is the L on my forehead that flashes “librarian”?). I wasn’t too concerned. It’s a safe platform, it was rush-hour, and he didn’t give off a “vibe.” Lots of people were around, and we’re all paranoid enough now that if “we see something, we say something.”I didn’t really have time to react when he reached out and handed me … 1 quarter. Yep. Just one quarter. 25 cents. That’s it. That was the transaction. I was so completely befuddled that I let the guy walk away before I could ask "why?". The business man from ABC standing next to me got one too. Bemused, we both looked at each other, and then turned and watched the guy as he worked his way all the way down the crowded platform, handing out one quarter to each person from his Ziploc bag full of about $20.00 worth of quarters.

Was it performance art? Am I supposed to pay it forward? Or it is just one of those weird New York Stories that offsets the grind of the commute and that brightens the finish on working in the Big Grey Box? Where is the grass greener?

You decide.


* I’ve managed to avoid the commutes that were affected by 9/11, the East Coast power outages, massive flooding, and transit strikes. Keep your fingers crossed.