Papa's got a brand new...

laundry bag. Yes, Readers, a slow news day for yours truly in Gotham. I went to the S & D Launderette on 80th between B'way and Amsterdam to pick up my wash&fold and I decided to buy a bright, shiny laundry bag. I felt so Big City and New Yorkey, but the truth was I wanted to be like the rest of the kids in the neighborhood and not be toting my tarnished togs in a plastic trash bag. So I says, "Give me one of those, those bags. You got bags, yes? Yes, give me one of them. How much? A fiver? That'll be fine. Oh, ho, ho... You have different colors! (laughs/snorts/blusters to disinterested guy who has folded other men's briefs all day) Ha! I gotta pick one? I see, I see, ya little feller. "


(mentally punches the poor agingbeforehistime laundry guy lightly on the left shoulder)


This is BEYOND where a normal man about town would go with this. He wouldn't even pick, he would have the guy pull the one off the top. I tried to act like this "guy" but inside I was thinking and thinking fast.


"This is the laundry bag FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. DON'T BLOW IT. Sure you ALWAYS go for green or blue. (mocking) GREEN or BLUE, GREEN or BLUE."

"But I LIKE green or blue. Aren't I old enough to feel okay about the colors I like?"


"Yeah, but this is a chance to BREAK OUT, to make a statement to New York, to yourself. Don't blend into the trees with that earth and sky shit every time. Be bold!"


"But it's just a laundry bag. And the guy is waiting! This is NOT me agreeing with you, but those green and blue ones are light and would really show the dirt. If only they had DARK blue. I would go for that. Why don't they have DARK blue? Isn't that really the color everyone would want? Maybe he ran out. I should ask him and I could come back when they are in."


"Just pick a damn bag, they are FIVE friggin' dollars. If you don't end up liking what you chose you can drown cats in the East River with it and get a new one."

"Okay, Okay. Don't push me."


"I'll have the red one, please."

I take the bag and inspect it in the same spirit of gaining familiarity and comfort as a dog would with sniffing another dog.


"Oh, the black plastic pull on the string is not one of those button push ones. I was expecting a button push one. It's a cheap plastic slide. I should have asked to look at it first."

"$14.20 total? There you go. Oh right. That's great thanks. Good evening."


"Okay breathe. Breathe. You got a red bag. Not your color, I know, but it is your birthstone color. And it should hide the dirt should you plan to go sledding on it in the winter. Or when you have to sleep in the park when this job ends. Oh, it is so loud."


"Fer God's sake man. Shut your head up about the bag. If you feel so awkward about it why don't you draw further attention to yourself by photographing it on this busy street corner here?"


"I think I will. I think I will."

IN-dian and OUT-fest

I got up this morning and knew the temp had dropped. I put on my wool coat and brought my bag of laundry to be washed and folded. Apparently I no longer do my own laundry. Who knew? I was so exhilarated by the fresh, cold morning that I impulsively said "Good Morning" to everyone who passed me on the street. I felt like George Bailey coming back from the bridge. Just why can't it be like this every morning?

Today was my first day on the job all by myself. I got in at 8 and left at 7. Could have kept on. I really worked hard today and it felt good. I will get this down and it will amount to something.

I left my office at Times Square and met my good pal Dave who was in from LA on business. Seeing him at 7th and 28th was as if we both grew up on that corner playing stick ball. Great visit over Indian food and a good chat after with the people I cornered and art directed to take our picture. I would have kept the subway light off my head, but he meant well... Anyway Dave has been a lifesaver to me and a mentor and I think the world of him. I hope he has to come back here on business a lot!

I dumped Dave like a hot chapati and headed off to Lincoln Center to go to the after party of the "Parting Glances" screening. It was the first film restoration project for Outfest and I saw the film and heard the panel when they did it in LA. It was so good to see so many of my Outfest colleagues and see so many people I knew from New York. I had no idea. I saw Richard Ganoung who starred in the film. Nice guy. We know each other from LA. He lives in Madison, WI now and I am going to get him to go to the Sundance Channel screening of Nimrod Nation that we are doing at the Sundance Cinema in Madison.

My friend Michael is here working for an entertainment law firm and I just crashed into him at this event. So proud of that boy. He went to law school and passed both the California and New York bars. I pass them now too - I just don't go in! Yuck, yuck.

Saw a filmmaker pal Sam who I met at Outfest this year and his partner told me about Jack's 99 Cent World. I asked if they had Ziplock bags and he said yes. I have to see this with my own eyes. This town may work out yet. I showed them all my pedometer and their friend said I should walk home and so I did. A pleasant, happy stroll up Amsterdam Avenue in the cold and refreshing Autumn night.

I live here! I really live here!

18568 Steps

NY Stock Exchange


To steal a phrase from my friend Marjorie when she speaks of San Francisco, I was tripped out today walking around Manhattan when I realized how "I live here, I really live here!" and I love it.

A gorgeous Autumn day after yesterday's rain. I met friends for breakfast in the Village and then took off and went for a walk along the Hudson River down to the Battery and around towards the Brooklyn Bridge. Seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time this time really brought the excitement and thrill home to me today. Wow, I live right where I can see the Statue of Liberty anytime I want. I know I could have gotten this same thrill for cheaper by moving to Las Vegas, but this is far superior! I trotted all over Wall Street and was right at the church where George Washington has his own pew! There is a painting of him walking right by where I was. That you can't get in Vegas. (Though I wouldn't be surprised if they actually buy the flagstones and moved them to the Strip.)

I gave directions to 5 English women wearing matching "I (heart) NY" sweatshirts at South Street Seaport. They asked me if I was a local and I said "Yes, I am 30 days into be so, where do you want to go?" Amidst all the surrounding history of their crushing defeat lo those 200 odd years past, I was able to direct those sweet English roses bedecked in their American finery to where they wanted to go --Abercrombie & Fitch.

I took the subway home and talked to a guy standing next to me who has been here a year from Sicily. We spoke until his 42nd Street stop. Will I ever see him again? Doubtful, but possible, in what is turning into being the biggest small town in the world.

I have to be thankful for such a wonderful day. I even got home and made myself some vegetables (which I offset with a mushroom lasagna that must have been 80 points.) I watched a film for work and I talked to a guy about joining a pipe band that practices in the Bronx. His name is more Irish than even mine - Byrne O'Sullivan. Isn't that the greatest name you ever heard? Nice guy too. So we shall see.

The Site where George Washington was inaugurated.

Me talking to my sister Seona in California. Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in bg.

The Street Where People Who Own Stuff Work

.

Church that George Washington went to the day of his inauguration.

South Street Seaport. Like a back lot movie set to me! Loved it.

Potage Santé

12942 Steps


Awoke to the rain beating against my subletted window. A very secure, amazing feeling that I never had enough of in LA. It was the kind of day where one would stay in and drink really milky tea and read a classic. But I had films to watch for work. So I had strong coffee and French indie cinema. As I mentioned before, I have to assign a TV rating to non-rated films. I was all about giving this one a TV-14 with no daytime restriction until I saw that they were a bunch of guys playing Russian roulette but shooting each other in the head for winner-takes-all money. Last man standing sort of thing. Very imitatible. I think I will give it an 8pm restriction so that kids who would get an idea to blow their pals away for cash would already be out doing such things when the film comes on. This is my thinking.

I also finished up my last doc screening for the Festival today. I was so sad to send it knowing I will most likely not be in Park City this year. The place that made me happier than I have ever been. How, dear readers, do I suggest to the higher ups that they need to send temp scheduling boy to Sundance?!

Tonight I was at the Paley Center. Formerly known as the Museum of Television and Radio which I much prefer. The Paley Center sounds like one of those places that has all those tanning beds. I was there for DocDays07 to atttend a screening and Q & A for "Nimrod Nation" - an 8 episode series premiering on the Sundance Channel on November 26th. Watch it, it is good. About a town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula who are mad about their high school basketball team - the Nimrods. It really gets into the life of the town of Watersmeet, MI. It was good to go as my boss was there and it was good to support the channel.

I decided to walk home from 52nd and 5th where the Paley Center is. Right next door to the uber posh 21 Club. I was like a cultural salmon swimming up stream past diners and theater goers out on intermission and then throngs of Devils, Angels, Prisoners and Mermaids. I even passed by a woman dressed as a fork. And plenty of hookers, but who knows if they were part of the Halloween party goers. After making it through that I hit all the folk getting out of Lincoln Center where I swam up Broadway through many well-groomed couples smiling and holding playbills to reach...

Ahhh, finally the Saturday night losers shopping in the market. Alone. I was in my element! I have really gotten hooked on "Potage Santé" from Fairway Market. It sounds like the name of a singer you would want to see in a swanky jazz club, but it is in fact a soup. It has leeks, spinach, "assorted lettuce" and potatoes. It is SO good and feels so healthy. It plays itself off like it could be a colonic or a facial treatment, but it is really a soup. It is that good!




I think I have said enough for tonight.

These boobs weren't made from walking...

Today's pedometer reading: 4815 Steps

Not much walking was done today by the guy wearing the trousers that hold the pedometer. I need to keep my numbers up. With these 4 digit results I won't be able to rationalize my really irrational sweet tooth binge behavior of late. I tell myself I as plow through ice cream or cookies or vending machine candy bars that I am "walking it off." Not at 4815 steps, I ain't.

Dream swirl like on Bewitched: I am sitting in the finest cubicle success can achieve in a laundered shirt, boxers and a tie that says "Got Milk?" with titles of obscure indie films push-pinned all over one wall of my cube. I hold three darts as I lean back on my chair to give myself some distance. "Ah, now that I have made it in scheduling in the Big Apple, I got some poor intern walking around Manhattan in MY PANTS making my pedometer really rack up the numbers. This is the LIFE!! HahhHaahhahhahhhhh!" - mad maniacal Hollywood laugh as cookie crumbs fall from my mouth while I throw a dart which hits a piece of paper that says "Ai no corrida" on it

Show Time Folks.

9414 Steps

The woman at work who is training me leaves tomorrow and I am all on my own. Once again. "Sure just walk out that door and leave me here." But isn't that the way it is supposed to be? The natural order of things? She says she is off to have a baby. And here I will be. All alone. With a desk, a pencil and 24 hours, 7 days a week of blankness that I have to fill in with compelling television selections.

It is funny how life is when I (or anyone else for that matter) thinks about it. Here is this woman who lives in New Jersey (and she is FANTASTIC by the way. Truly someone I think I may want to be: patient, kind, smart.) Where was I? Oh...lives in New Jersey and she and her husband decide to have relations one night and that is essentially why I am in New York City. When I meet this child I will tell him that he changed my life because he did. I moved 3000 miles because someone I never met before got pregnant. And I am grateful for that wee bundle. Thanks, E or H. (That is all I know is that his name will start with either of those two letters.)

So today I had to write an e-mail to Legal and to my boss that included the words "cunnilingus" and "erection." I haven't written those two words on the same page since I was 29 years old and had a very big decision to make! Besides being the program scheduler, I am also the Standards department and I supply the TV rating to anything not rated. There is this Scottish film that I happened to see at the Sundance Film Festival this year that has both those items in it. And we are planning to air it so I had to draw someone else's attention to it besides my own. It is not a sexy movie at all, but these actors put Robert DeNiro getting fat on purpose for "Raging Bull" to shame. Getting up for the part and going down on someone in character! That is dedication to one's craft. How many takes?!!

Don't Worry, Bee Happy

7490 Steps



Another slow news day! I must turn this around. But they can't all be glamourous.

It was raining lightly today. I quite enjoyed it. Everything seems more real in the rain to me. But rain with even mild humidity is not as real as I like it; it needs to be cooler to be real. I look forward to a true, cool autumn day in New York.

My friend Hilary and I went to a screening of Jerry Seinfeld's "Bee Movie." It was more of a C movie to me, but it was nice to see New York City animated. (it was animated in "Short Bus" too, but that is a WHOLE NOTHER MOVIE as they say...) Back to Bee - a key animated flower shop is very close to where I live on the Upper West Side: if I were animated and living in an animated New York. The park looked beautiful and I could see how fun it would be to be a bee and fly over it. But the movie seemed oddly targeted and funnier on the page than on the screen. And I haven't heard any buzz either.

When I got home tonight I played Bobby McFerrin's version of "Don't Worry, Be Happy." It really says it all. I used to scoff at that song, but it really brings it home. So don't worry, ya'll. Be happy. I will too.

Lights out early tonight. I need rest, exercise, no sugar and some vegetables.

Cynopsis Dinner

Steps 22,281

Went to the Chelsea Piers tonight for a fundraiser dinner where work had bought a table. My first New York media event! I lie as I went to my first BAFTA East Coast TV Committee meeting this morning. It looks like I am on the committee. I made some proposals they liked and I look forward to being more involved.

But anyway, I went to this event tonight. Right on the water overlooking the Hudson and New Jersey. These are the piers where the big boats like the Lusitania docked. And Malcolm Forbes' yacht was there. Cool. It was nice to hang with colleagues and get to know them better. The woman responsible for the whole black tie optional evening, Cynthia Turner, started Cynopsis - a series of electronic media-related newsletters that has grown into a big business. I wish I spoke to her afterwards as I would have told her that I saw my New York job posted on her site and because of her site my life has truly changed. True story. She spoke and was so charismatic and lovely. You could tell that she lights up a room where ever she goes. I was impressed. I need to write and tell her so. It was a fundraiser for kids and oceans, basically. Two causes that she supports with her foundation. Jacques Cousteau's grandson spoke, but I was put off by his American accent and blond highlights. Let's say I am in the shallow end of the water on that one. But if you are in the media biz and do not already get her newsletters go to her site and sign up for the daily ones. They are really good.

I decided to take advantage of an oddly warm October night to walk back to the subway from the river. I thought it was a good time to return calls. I was on a call with my friend Mary and we chatted me all the way home on foot! That was 60 blocks! I am going to sleep tonight. 60 blocks in dress shoes! It was a good visit.

In. Out. Repeat.

Got into the office at 8am and got home at 10pm.

That would be today's blog, but I got to thinking if there was anything lovely about today. Nice. Pleasant.

Well I did bring Metaphysical Meditations by Parahansa Yogananda with me to work. On purpose as I think I need to read it. I think Michele B. gave that to me so many years ago and my good pal Marian is a follower of the Yogis at the Self Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles. Lovely place. Anyway, I opened it randomly and read about overcoming Fear and Worry. Two killers in suits with matching sunglasses. I had neither today. I didn't stop to notice that. That is a good thing.

I had a nice chat with a co-worker Cara on my way to the bank. She is really a pleasant person, upbeat. That is such a good quality, I find. She gave me some great places to have good pizza here and she claims she is an expert. I like that.

So two good things today.

Tomorrow offers far more excitement for my dear readers to gnaw on. I must start taking photos again or my numbers will drop. After all, big city glamour is visual!

Good night one and all.

Subways are for Sleeping

Woke up at 9am as if I had been drinking all night. Just not enough sleep. Scraped out for coffee on the terrace. Met friends in the Village for a late breakfast. Ended up hanging out all day. I took the subway home and was falling alseep reading my msytery novel about a murder at the opera house in Venice. Almost missed my stop. Got home to watch TV and crash. I am going to get in early tomorow to work and get cracking. Really wish I got more films for work screened. Must just call it quits today and surrender my eyelids.

Snaps Judgement

I left my camera at home because I didn't want to carry it in my jeans' pocket all day. I didn't want the inconvenience of a tiny digital to be in the way of my...lines? Ah the memories I could have had with that camera todayas it turned out to be a day of photo-ops that I wanted to pass on to my readers. Alas, nothing but words. Here is what you should have seen:

#1 Dining at Danal on E 10th for lunch with Max, Julian, and Cedric all from France, Mel from MI, Nicole from L.A. and me from SF. All smiling beautifully and wearing the perfect clothes to wear to such a place. Garden in the b.g.

#2 Nicole and I on the subway crashing into my friend Sue whom I have not seen since I got here. We were in all same line in the same car! I was told "If you crash into someone you know on the subway, this town is too small for you!"

#3 Me at Tom and Phil's excellent cocktail party at their beautiful apartment in the Village on the 12th floor with the corner view. Picture cool NY water towers, sunset, terraces, church spires and villagy goodness below. Tom and I worked on producing the "Ugly Betty" panel at Outfest this year and it was so great to see him here. My first Manhattan cocktail party and it was superb. Lots of really nice people and excellent cheese from Murray's Cheese on Bleecker. I feel badly as I said goodbye to the excellent hosts and did not say "it was a pleasure" to all the nice people I met.

#4 Me at dinner with my friend Nancy and her friend Gino in the West Village. A cool retro diner. The conversation was great. It was the kind of round table talk that would have had us shooting milk out our noses had we had milk. So (much) fun. Great to meet Gino.

#5 Me having drinks with my friend Dawn in the terribly so-"anti"-its-trendy East Village. She was here on business from LA. We used to work together many moons ago in San Francisco. As you can no doubt see in this photo from my "so happy to be here with you Dawn, you're the greatest" smile, it was taken before she said that Chicago was more sophisticated than San Francisco.

#6 Dawn and I at Ron's restaurant OG in the EV. WE are smiling because Ron is giving Dawn more wine and I am eating an amazing dessert and drinking freshly made coffee.

#7 Dawn with the boys: Ron, Jay, Chuck and me at a bar in the East Village. She is one of two girls for miles.

#8 Dawn and I on First Ave trying to flag a cab back to the Waldorf and talking to this guy who was trying the hail one too. It turns out he went to the same high scholl as I in San Francisco! We talked about Brother Draper and Fr. Sauer leaving. In New York at 3am on the street! How random is that? He graduated in '03 so we didn't have classes together.

#9 This picture is of my ceiling as I passed out at 5am upon getting home from a non-stop day.

I stare at screens, that's what I do.

I went into work early today to get ahead. I will never get ahead there. I was the last to leave. I could have kept working. I came home and watched a Danish doc for work about an 82 year old man who bought a castle in the countryside in Denmark and wanted to turn it into a monastery. He gets mixed up with a Russian Orthodox nun and they have a battle of the wills. And what did you do on Friday night?

I had lunch with a very nice young woman who is the niece of a woman I know from LA. She was really lovely to talk to and has had an interesting life. It was so clear we were from two completely different generations.

The Wedgewood Vase or Writing in Jr. High

I have eaten too many cookies. I need a gym. I am watching movies for work and eating cookies. I had broccoli and chicken. My feet have cuts from friction with my shoes. I have the door open to my patio. I am thinking about taking a walk. I think this city is wonderful. Working full time is a lot of time spent working. I have to get some trousers hemmed. I am reading on the train in the morning. Standing up. I brought my lunch today. I am impatient. Restless. I have joy in my life. Tonight is okay.

I had a vase once. It was Wedgwood. So I kept it. I got rid of it recently. And I don't miss it. I don't care that it was Wedgwood.

I Waited Over 350 Years for This.

9708 Steps

Tonight I went with my friend Ron to the Frederick P. Rose Hall at Columbus Circle in the new and swanky Time Warner Building that looks out over Columbus Circle and Central Park South. Amazing view from up there. And the lower deck is taken up by a HUGE Whole Foods with tons of people buying expensive food items. It was a sight to see. The salad bar is $7.99 a pound there. I could swear it is $6.49 in LA. Will someone check for me?

After some spinach and a coffee at the Whole Foods we went upstairs to see Zélindor, roi des Sylphes put on by the Opera Lafayette. It was a whimsical piece, or divertissement (a word I will be using tomorrow in conversation no doubt) commissioned by Louis Ex-Five for his court at Versailles in 1745. Though populaire @ les temps it hasn't really been performed since...until now. [Can't you just hear this all read in a movie-trailer, slasher film voiceover? Well, I can.] I thought it was amusing as any in King Louis' court, but we got extra added amusement when one of the dancing sylphes pants kept falling down. To his ankles. He didn't break character, but did have to finally leave the stage to get pinned up before his big number with the dancing lizards. But then his hat fell off. That must have been one pissed off sylph. Good thing he didn't dance in the original as that would have cost him his head.

Isabella Rossellini and the Dead Mouse

7301 Steps




Tuesday. Of all the days of the week, I find this the most meaningless. It doesn't start a week, end one, or hump one. It isn't a "one more day until Friday" day and it is doesn't begin the work week. Hard to find less meaning in a day than a Tuesday. And befitting this day, I was just hunkered down at work in my cube plugging in info in the system and trying like hell to get better at Excel and quickly. Not a lot of GLAMOUR in my Times Square, Manhattan, Television job. And then I hear that Isabella Rosellini is taking a meeting with my boss in the room just down the hall from my cube! Crikey not only was her mom in Casabloodyblanca and her dad directed the great Anna Magnani in "Open City," and she, herself, was a world famous Lancome model and lover of big time directors, but she worked with Tiny Fey on "30 Rock"!!! What would Lucy do indeed? Well, I decided I would print out something I didn't need because the printer was right by the room where she was laughing and air kissing with the others. I timed my walk to the copy machine and return right as they were coming out of the meeting. There she was, all international and beautiful, and there I was all cubically and sheet of paper holding. It had to have meant something to her.

Having had enough glamour for a Tuesday, I headed home. Still thinking to myself "I wonder if Isabella has trouble with Excel and what she does about it?" I was snapped back into my domestic issue. A few nights ago I saw a mouse scurry across the floor as I was watching TV. I told my landlord and he said he would stuff up some holes with steal wool. He did that and left some mouse traps behind just in case. A few days ago I left my garbage tied and ready to take out in the morning. I heard some scurrying in the night and assumed some jazz musicians were just home from a gig. But upon wakening I found my bag had bits taken out of it and the mouse took a dump on my floor. Something had to be done. I put my garbage in the freezer to keep it safe. Much like hanging food to keep it from bears. Yes, Virginia, in New York I freeze my garbage. So with my mouse I imagined a Tom and Jerry scenario where I lose all the time. I decided to set the mouse traps. But I couldn't figure out how to use one since we don't have mice in California. I could not get the thing to stick under the thing. So I looked on line and found instructions. Not only instructions on how to set a mouse trap, but a video as well! That solved it. I set two and went to bed to watch more movies for work. I had the laptop resting on my chest when I heard SNAP! and then a little scurry and then nothing. I could not handle waking up to carnage so I got up to look. And there was the CUTEST little field mouse all Stuart Little with its eyes wide open and its cute little tail and its neck pinned under what we video watchers call "The Bow." He was staring up at me in frozen animation as if caught in the the realization that he forgot to pay a bill on time. I felt awful, but it was me or him and I need to make it in this town. I put him in a plastic bag and outside for the night. In the morning we parted ways. I know under different circumstances we could have been friends.

And you animal lovers with your mice-hating pets in your rodent-free homes, please don't write about "no kill" mousetraps. Where do I return a mouse to safety in New York City that isn't really just putting him in my next door neighbor's living room?

That was my Tuesday.

A girl and her dog. Borrowed.

Had a glorious day walking through Central Park yesterday. Another sunny, perfectly perfect day with all the extras in my "head-movie" cycling, strolling, jogging, protesting, paddling, canoodling and enjoying right on cue. It is the civic-est of civic parks. It has large fountains and statues and paths and open spaces and closed spaces and musicians and jugglers and promenades and band shells. Nothing like it anywhere else. I went with my friend Nancy and her dog. A beautiful girl, a happy midsize black lab mix dog and me. We were the perfect couple out in the perfect park with our perfect dog. I live on the westside, she on eastside and it just works for us.

Another house of cards built on a pack of lies, but it was a great day.

Last night I went to the Village. It was good to get out of my neighborhood and go somewhere else. I love the Village. It still has this old charm to it. It was bustling too. I met 3 new friends and we went out for Chinese. A perfect ending to a perfect day.

Today I got stuck more into work. I worked hard today and am ready to hit it again tomorrow. I went shopping at Fairway afterwards. It is crowded and cool like the Berkeley Bowl, but I see why Amy would hate it. Crazy crowds crashing into each others' plastic hand baskets. But what a selection!

It was good to buy some veg. Even if I throw it out later, it was just good to look down and see myself handling some broccoli. I had to get some orange juice the other day because my body seemed to be craving vitamin C. I didn't know that I was on an all-blintz diet and was not getting any balance, but I do think my system is a bit thrown off by the change. Lots of change.

Taking a break from screening films for work. I have to determine the TV ratings before broadcast as well and I have no time during the day to watch movies. I only wish I had more time in this fantastic life I am living. When I pause, I smile.

LA Has The 99 Cent Only Store and All We Have is The Met

22,493 Steps




It is a funny thing... Wait, first I wanna say I am going to say YOU, but I mean ME, but maybe I mean YOU, but I can't speak for, well, YOU, so I mean ME, but I feel more comfortable in the "YOU form."

You know how you sit around for maybe years and wish things were different and say/think things like "If I was only in France this would be way better." Or "If there were two of those and they were fried and not steamed and I was with a LOVER that I really LOVED and I was twelve pounds lighter and had even skin and my job was really highly coveted (by others) and I was just published but didn't talk about it and the whole thing was in FRANCE, then I would finally be able to...blah, blah, blah." Am I alone here?

Well, I was in LA for years and thought how much I wanted some change in my life. And how LA just didn't make me feel that feeling. As many of you know, the walls of my apartment were closing in on me in the last few years and it felt like a cave, but it was MY cave and I stayed there frozen for long past my due date because it was a familiar cave and I felt safe, if uninspired, there. But still I wanted change. But not on my watch. Oh my God, am I going to say/write..."I wanted to be rescued."? Wow, I just wrote it.

So here I got this job in New York City and in 14 days I totally change my life and I feel SO great and no buyer's remorse and I have that smirk that one only gets when they have just had sex with a new person (the cat just did the canary) and have yet to tell the story to a friend or when they have just moved to a place where they feel awake and alive and completely sold?

So what is my point? I mean YOUR point?

Well, I have these moments in New York where I THINK/say things like "The launderettes are small and why don't they have bigger ones...ready for it?... like in LA with chairs and some light?" Or "$7.49 for a 1/2 gallon of Dryers Ice Cream?! [N. B. They call their Dryers, "Edy's" BTW.] It is usually on sale for $2.50 in LA. How can I ever afford this closeted addiction I have, here in this town? This is ridiculous." My biggest thing surprisingly is HEFTY One Zip storage bags. I LOVE them. All sizes, all uses. I just love them. I like the ones with the zipper pull thing. And it amazes me they, whoever they are, did not invent them like in the 70's when we just had the flimsy ones with the fold over flap. I mean what technology still lay ahead that prevented their invention until late, late into the last century? These are strong and you can keep coins in them, or a sandwich or cut a small hole in a corner and ice a cake. So I would get these all the time at the 99 Cent Only Store by my house in LA. I knew they were there and they were plentiful. Here one small box of bags cost me $2.49 or $2.99. I can't remember exactly because I just choked. But it is like triple. Just to drive this home, it costs the same for 3 Angelino children to enjoy a sanitary, airtight sandwich for their school lunch, as it does for only one New York child. Can this be going on? I may as well eat at a French restaurant every noon during the week at this rate.

Don't even get me started on Trader Joe's and how there is like only one on this island and it it just a zoo.

Breathe. release. Breathe. release.

"I embrace change and all the new energy that comes with it and I am a child of God and loved by the Great Spirit and my needs are all met."

Whether they are sealed safely in a HEFTY One Zip Storage Bag or not.

Ohmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMiwbd_EjWE

Is a crime

12,341 Steps





I had a wonderful day. Just loving these weekends. I got up and walked to Riverside Park. This is blocks from where I live. It is lovely. Makes one want to get a bike.

Got back and took my pipes to Central Park and played. I am out of shape, but this feels like a good idea. I got home and e-mailed bands in the area to find out about joining. I think that would be great both for playing and to meet new people. The fact that I could end up playing with a bunch of firemen just cracks me up. We'll see.

I went down to 27th Street to the Aperture Gallery to see the Lisette Model exhibit. She influenced a bunch of photographers including Diane Arbus and Bruce Weber. Great exhibit I have to say. Back uptown to go to watch the France vs. England semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup. Sadly England pulled it out to win it 26 to 18. One side of the pub was very happy. The other, triste.

Ron met me at the pub and he came to see my place. He also had my two UPS boxes of stuff that he kindly let me ship to his house. Great to see him. I am thrilled that we will be able to hang here. It is good to have him back after his trip to California. (I say that like California is this place that is far away and I have never been there. Odd.)

Tonight I went out to dinner on the UWS with my landlords. We had a great meal and it was fun to get to know them. They even invited to come up to the country with them some weekend. They also told me Christopher Walken lives next door. This is a comfort. Having celebrity neighbors helps me not to feel homesick.

What is a crime? Using fake ID. Not sure what this was doing here, but I liked the image.

The Whole Package

8738 Steps



I have now finished my second week of work. Today I started trying to do all the scheduling myself. Even though I had taken notes, listened to the professor and even created my own Procedures Manual with Step-by-Step instructions suitable for the brown-throated three-toed Sloth, there was serious blankage once the blue book was handed out. I felt panic. As if I absorbed nothing. I was a grasshopper sans pebble. Finally I decided to leave the building as if that would clear my head. It was like the murderer was right there on the page, but I could not see it. Very important to step away and regroup. I did talk to my very pregnant scheduling master and like the zen-mama she is, she set me back on a path. Whew.

Brian sent me a package which arrived at my office yesterday in midtown Manhattan. (I like to write the location because it still sounds so cool to me!). It was a care package from the Pacific Northwest! How wonderful is that?! I was so touched. Summer Sausage and couscous and a sleeping mask and photos from camping on Angel Island and Halloween Candles among many other things...and all wrapped up like a fish supper in the Seattle Times. Thank you, Brian!!!

Today Was a Good Day

8043 Steps

The heel stretches are really helping. And the Band Air brand blister pads. But I am not out of the woods yet. Patience. Ohmmmmmmmmmmm.

Today was a good day. How great it is to be able to say that. Today was a good day. I am starting to get it at work and get to know the people and I finally felt good today because I felt a part of something. Then the light went off. That is what is often so important: to feel a part of something. Often we crave this and don't realize what that is. So today I felt like I was there for a reason.

It was raining cats and a few dogs after work today. I went to the bank to deposit my first paycheck! The subway stopped running and I had no umbrella. I bought one for $5.99 and was going to hoof it home when I thought to check again and it was back on. I got home and crashed into my landlord on the street. I had asked him earlier if he would consider dropping the rent $200 a month and tonight he said he would! So I am going to stay in my flat for 6 months! I love this flat. And even with the decrease it is still dear, but I am really lucky to have landed so well. This is really great news for me. I can settle, join a gym, date, have that baby...

Which way did he go George?

9196 Steps

Wow. Almost hit the daily 10,000 steps today. This is thanks to having no inner compass I have to admit. New York City as most people know is mostly a grid divided east and west by 5th Avenue. Fairly simple. And I use the Empire State Building as kind of my divining rod (Dividing rod?). New York is very, well, masculine in its presentation and the Empire State Building stands out most proudly. Though it would sadly shy away from lathering next to Chicago's Sears Tower in the showers, it still is quite formidable. And useful, if you know what you are doing with it. I like to pride myself on the fact that I do, but I rarely do really.

I had to meet a friend at 36th between 10th and 11th. I am at Broadway at 50th. Broadway being between 7th and 8th at this point. Follow? No, this is not a word problem. So I get out at 34th and 7th where Macy's is and the miracle happened and I walk up to 36th. I see the Empire State Building and know to walk west to 10th. But the Empire State Building is at 34th and 5th so I am looking south when I think I am looking north and therefore I walk east instead of west. I don't discover this until 5th Avenue which is 2 blocks in the wrong direction. And it is really 4 blocks in the wrong direction since I have to double back and these are four HUGE New York City blocks. So that was 7.5 long ass city blocks I walked when I really only needed to walk 3. And that is how I got so many steps tonight. For extra credit: if a fire hydrant at 35th and 8th were spewing water at a rate of 27 gallons a minute...

I could bore the pants off a...pants enthusiast. And I think that is about all.

Another day at the office

5027 Steps

It is raining outside as I type this in my cozy office under my bed. There was thunder and lightening earlier. I could not be happier. Save for the sore heel, the blisters and today's stomach ache. Save for those things. And the mouse that ran across my floor. Save for that. I just love the rain and it has cooled it down a bit which is nice.

There is a magic here that I feel. I hope I get to stay in this brownstone in the West 80s. I would love that. We shall see.

I had soup tonight. From Zabars.

I need more vegetables and a good workout. That is all.

Sue has come back to New York and I will see her soon. Ron is due back this week. That will be great.

Okay. I have to just add one more thing. There is a woman singing opera to someone playing the piano in another apartment somewhere. I hear them outside my window that looks out from my office underneath my bed in the brownstown where I live in the West 80s in Manhattan. How New Yorktastic is that?!!!

It is all possible.

Monday in Manhattan

6287 Steps

I woke up. I stretched my calves and heel. Made a cup of coffee and got ready for work.

Work today was uneventful. More of the same. Still learning all the programs and things to remember and things to do once a week, a month, and only if this other thing happens. That sort of thing. I did get invited to a black tie optional dinner at the Chelsea Piers on the 23rd of this month. I said yes.

Still hobbled by my foot injuries. My steps are way down as a result. I am hoping these stretches do some good as it is miserable. I do feel it is getting a bit better. I am just so ready to walk to work every day and walk all over the place. But the blisters and heel problem seem chronic at this point.

Went to a screening of "Control" about Ian Curtis of Joy Division. It won prizes at Cannes and Edinburgh, but was a bit lost on me. Brooding artists are not my thing unless, of course, it is me!

So warm out still. I sat out on the terrace and had dinner and am typing this blog. I thought i would try and do a few self-portraits to convey. It is lovely out here. I had kd lang on amidst the pleasant din of people cheering on the Yankees from neighboring apartments. It is quiet now and I feel like the only one in the world as I type from my patio amidst 8 million + people.

Greg and George Turn 25

7947 Steps

Today is the day of Greg and George's 25th Anniversary. That is 25 years together. In a row! And these boys are young. Even in people years that is a long time and deserves a HUGE celebration. And so there is! It is in Long Beach, California today. I should be there, I should beam there, I should blink there. But I am not there because I have taken this job in New York. My best wishes go out to my dear pals and I wish them health and happiness and many trips to the East! These boys even have their own logo for the event! Pretty clever! Word on the street was this was the party not to be missed. I truly wish you 25 more!





I had coffee on the terrace (it was a "patio," a "little place outside." Today it is a terrace!) and enjoyed the early morning. Went downtown to 13th Street. Saw a friend of a friend. By accident. This island really is a small town. It was after this I realized that I was done for. My blisters were so bad and my heel was so sore I had to get off my feet as the man in the shoe shop told me.

So home with a quick stop at Zabar's for provisions and to the laundry for pick up. Home and icing my heel and doing stretches. That was going to be me for the night, but I realized there was a screening of "No Country for Old Men" at the Director's Guild East on 57th Street that night. I am really not a huge Cormac McCarthy fan, though he is a great writer, but the film is the new one by the Coen Brothers. I hobbled down there and so enjoyed it. I am sure this will be in many reviews - "These guys are at the top of their game." Really well-made film. Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem (yow!), Kelly MacDonald (love her!) and Josh Brolin were there for the Q & A.

More importantly I met Susan at BAFTA East and the head of BAFTA East. I told them I wanted to be on the TV Committee as I am in LA and they were thrilled. They are going to put me in touch with the chairperson. I think this is going to be great.

This kind of says it all about New York living for me right now: Food, bag for stuff, subway map and washed and folded service!

New York Social Whirl - I love it!

Let's just get this out of the way first. I got a new battery for my pedometer and here is Saturday's recording: 17,979 steps!

My blisters and I got home around midnight last night and people were still wearing tank tops and shorts. It has been so warm here that Central Park is a virtual beach. Someone told me that the beaches have been opened and there are lifeguards on them. Global Warming to be sure. It is all kind of creepy when you think about it. But enough of ending in fire rather than ice...I had a fantastic day yesterday!

Morning Glamour

Met my pal John from my LA bookclub and his partner John for breakfast. They are bi now. Coastal. John non bookclub is gettig his masters theatre management/producing at Columbia which sounds amazing. I am so jealous, but I will not show it. I think it is fantastic and he is a really nice guy. And John Book Club works on the East Coast so this whole thing has worked out great for them. And me because we are neighbors. I love that they are here and I hope I get to see them often.








We ate a great place they recommended called Good Enough to Eat on Amsterdam. It was good and quite popular. While waiting in line for the Johns I chatted to Marjorie in SF all New York self-involved like. There was a parade coming down the street of something about Mary. Couldn't figure it out, but who doesn't love a parade?

















And if you look by John on your left's ear in the photo, Alicia Witt who played Cybill Sherperd's daughter on "Cybill" and was in "Mr. Holland's Opus" with my friend Alexandra was sitting right there. But not by the time this photo was taken. You will have to trust me on this. I have a keen LA eye for such things. And "No makeup and a hat" should get you extra points. I also noticed a lot of plaid one-piece preppy summer dresses and turned up polo shirt collars on guys. I hated the trend when it first blew through in the 80s and do not like that it is back. Mr. Blackwell in a wrinkled t-shirt and saggy ass jeans has spoken!

Chores

Now it was time for chores as I WORK ALL WEEK! So funny to say really. Hmmmm. Laundry and trash. Trash you just bag up and through under the front stairs. There is a black metal door that faces the street. Inside are just heaps of trash bags. Done. Where is the recycling? It is amazing how much garbage this island produces. And the carting off of cardboard boxes from grocery stores is a whole process. I digress.

Trash. Done. Now laundry. I have a small box of Tide and a roll of quarters. The launderette is a block away. It is awfully cramped and the machines are all taken. "75 cents a pound for Wash and Fold?" Laundry is done like that. (I have to go pick it up today as I didn't have it delivered. Pain." With all this free time I can go and buy proper training shoes. I have that plantar fasciitus and it is killing me at the moment. I was told proper trainers help such things. I went to the Super Runners Shop on Amsterdam by my place. I discovered I am now a size 13 shoe! They didn't have my size and I WANTED THEM NOW so I called the shop on 72nd and 3rd and they had my size. I walked across the park and chatted with Scott who was loading his dishwasher in Huntington Beach. At the place on 3rd I met Rob a former runner. He was so great. He thought the shoes I wanted were all wrong for me. He brought out a bunch of shoes and he even made me go out on Third Ave. and run down the block and back in a pair! And here is the kicker: he told me not to buy the shoes today and to just do these exercises he gave me for my heel pain. I did buy inserts which he said could help too. These were $110 shoes and he passed up the sale and advised me instead. I will go back to Rob on 3rd at 72nd and so should you all.

Sports

Met Nicole at The Parlor Pub on W. 86th. This is a cool Irish Pub where they were showing the France vs. New Zealand quarter finals rubgy match. Max and Maude who are French were with us (or we were with them!). It was so much fun and France won! Exciting game. I am hooked. Scotland plays today. And all the guys looked like they could have had their own month in a calender! Wow.



If you look at the photo notice the two French people watching the match on telly and the two people who used to live in LA looking straight into camera. And that Nicole is a knock out!




Village Groovy




I left my compatriotes français and headed Downtown to the Village to meet my sister Eileen's friend Nancy. We met 11 years ago at Lisa's birthday party in San Francisco. I guess it was such a good party as neither of us really remember each other though I remember her more than she does me, but wouldn't you? Through Nancy I met Peggy and we went out to dinner at a macrobitic restaurant. All so very, very. It was a great time. As I type this Nancy is with her dog out of the City on "Outward Hound." Once I get my heel in order I want to join her on an excursion.

Wow. What a full day. I walked through the Village checking out the scene and then headed home. 17979 steps and many blisters later.

Week 1: The Early Years

It was just a week ago I took my surfboard off the playa and said goodbye to my moondoggies and gidgets and headed East for turtleneck sweaters and talks on things, not about things.

I cannot say if it has been a long week or short one. I will need a few more to have some perspective. But I finished a week of work and it was fine. I am tired and I am ready for the weekend like every other drone across the country. This office 9-5 (8-7 in my case this week) is new again for me. But I am so happy to be doing something and be involved in something. I guess I have a hard time being new at something. But I busted my butt and made some progress. Day One I didn't think I could get the hang of the job because I was overwhelmed by all the bits and pieces and Day Two I wanted to skip the position all together and be in charge of the whole channel! Day 3 I got on track and got into what I was doing. Now at Day Five I have written a first draft of a procedures manual and scheduled out the whole month of December for a first pass. All ready for Monday. I just have to watch some programs over the weekend and rate them.

And forget about turtlenecks. It is 11pm and people are out in shorts. It is warm and humid. Loads of couples walking and dining al fresco. I only see couples on the Upper Westside. It is a thing. Couples and students and me. Couples and students and older people and me. Couples and students and older people and young joggers and kids going to school and me. Couples and students and older people and young joggers and kids going to school and guys like me and me. Okay everyone is up here.

Well week one in NYC was pretty great. I am thrilled to be here and I love my place and I am starting to adjust to my new school.

I was even going to go to the Westside Y tonight, but I could not find my tennis shoes! I think they did not make the final cut of my packing. WHAT was I thinking? I want to work out so badly! They got tossed for weight. Weight that I have now gained!

Enough tonight. I am going to chill. It is 11pm and I have the door to the patio open and the fan on. Chill....

Oh, in the category of "You can take the boy out of LA..." I was on my phone with my soulmate Jan and I was walking through Columbus Circle and passed by the Warner whatever. There were limos and red carpets and photogs. I felt right at home. I was standing waiting to cross and was standing right next to Harvey Weinstein. A limo came and a supermodel got out. I think this was the premier of the Bob Dylan movie. Cate is in town I know for a fact! So that was my little H'wood moment.

Long Day/Delightful Night

I got into the office at 8 this morning with only 6 hours of sleep. I wanted to be there early to work on my procedures manual and get scheduling again. It takes me so much longer because I don't know the inventory or the system. And there are meetings all day so I can't get a lot done. And in those meetings I have no idea what anything means. Yet. I left the office at 7pm. A long day, but I am learning by doing and that gives me some confidence. I still grin when I walk out in Times Square at lunch hour. Amazing area to work in. Wow. Almost the epicenter of the world, really. Times bloody Square! I wish I could grab some handsome stockbroker, back dip him and kiss him, but the war has not ended.

Tonight I met Hilary for dinner. We have not seen each other in I would say 12-15 years. Wow. Can that even be true? We met at Josie's on Amsterdam and 74th. A great, healthy place so I could pretend in front of her. I did fess up that I have a deli/Zabar's problem. We talked about gyms so I felt that I was at least making an effort. It is time now to get back on track. I have "tasted" a lot of the area and now it is time to sample a gym.

So wonderful to see Hilary and I felt we had so much to cover. I am so glad to have her in town! Another person who makes me feel like I am in the right place. That is an amazing feeling to have and to give. And she also gave me the loveliest welcome to New York gift bag AND took me to dinner. Wow. So now I have a Zagat Guide for Restaurants in NYC, a Zagat Guide for Shopping in NYC and the indispensable laminated ( this is key) map of Manhattan with all the subway lines.






















Tomorrow makes ONE WEEK I have been in New York City. This is amazing to me. I almost don't even know what to feel about it. It has just been a whirl and yet a total breeze. I love my sublet, my office is so convenient, I am meeting new people and old friends and the weather has been amazing. One week on a totally new journey. What is not to like?

This Ain't No Backdrop

When I was in my final days at Fox in Los Angeles back in the early part of the turn of the century, I was banished to a broom cupboard in "the Bunker", Bldg. 87 or 89, I believe. It was the kind of room where you would put someone until they turned on their countrymen. I had no windows, a desk, a TV and a phone with a cord just long enough to hang myself. I played freecell and watched the Food Network and waited to be saved. That was my fault, I see now. I didn't know it, but I was in "Chez au Fond du Baril." I used to seek comfort by going down the backstairs and ending up on the New York Streets where Streisand filmed Hello Dolly and where they were filming NYPD Blue when I was there. I would sit on the stoop of the brownstone that appeared right outside the back exit to my building. And I would smoke. And maybe plan my last meal which at that time was this great breakfast quesadilla from the lunch truck. I even knew the truck's afternoon route and would often drown my sorrows in a pack of Ding Dongs and a BLT around 3pm. Sigh.

I guess what is so funny about all this now is when I walk down the REAL New York Streets here, they are so real that they look phony to me. I have been on practically all the NY Streets in Hollywood and here I am on the real ones and loving it, but they are sur-real to me. I even live in a brownstone here! It is amazing and beautiful and right off Central Park. The only difference is I no longer smoke and I weigh 60 lbs. less.

Tonight I left my office in Times Square and took the C train to meet a new friend on 34th Street. His name is Tony and we have common friends in LA. (I should say mutual, not common!) Joe and Stu. Two really, really great guys. (Joe and Stu, not Tony and me.) Well, Tony is really pretty nice. It was a pleasure to meet him and he has really made me feel most welcome here with he calls and e-mails. We had dinner in a New York Diner. I am still the shameless tourist and got the waiter to take our photo. We were right across the street from where Stu's film played in New York at Newfest this year.




Afterwards we walked outside looking up at the Empire State Building shrouded in fog. Wunderbar. Tony went downtown, I went uptown. And so it goes.

Tomorrow I am going to get my carcass in the office early so I can try and catch up and be prepared. I have a lot to learn.

Today I was Melanie Griffith

Day two on the job. I got there early and started working. I went down the hall to get coffee and saw that the CEO was in his office. I knocked as confident as you could be and introduced myself. He is really nice and we had a good chat. He told me that usually people start here temporarily and don't leave. I got to tell him a little about myself and he asked me to give him my resume. I told him I wanted to work in programming and development. He said there was going to be a lot to do. This is not a promise of anything, but it was encouraging! I just have to work hard and realize possibility. Full stop. Tonight I started working on a Programming and Scheduling Procedures Document. This is my own idea, but I am going to need it when I am left alone! Attended a lot of meetings and got to meet more people. I have no idea what people are talking about, but I know it will all fill in. I am watching some of our programming tonight and am going to try and snag a promo reel tomorrow. A good day at the office.

I commuted home like a true New Yorker and didn't go in the downtown entrance this time. I went Uptown,ma'am. Uptown!





Went to Zabars tonight for some food shopping. New York has the BEST markets in the world! I love Zabars, Fairway and Citarella! I am sure there are more, but these are all walking distance from me. Zabars is on my same street just two blocks away. I will need to change my ways or I will be broke and wide! All this gorgeous take out food and baked goods. It is too much. I love it all. I had poached salmon tonight and a bean and artichoke salad . And then a brownie and some other bar with a cup of tea. Nights like this need to be replaced with the gym and a salad.

Got some chanter practice in tonight. I am researching pipe bands to join here. It would be amazing to play in the Thanksgiving Day Parade! I have a conflict about the St. Pat's one. Will cross that bridge should I need to.

The social whirl begins this week: I have dinner with a friend on Thursday, a brunch on Saturday and another dinner on Saturday night. I am busy. I am engaged. This I do not seem to worry about. It is the down time I have a problem with. This is where Johnny needs improvement. This is the time to read, write, exercise and practice pipes. Being in New York is a chance to make changes. I would most like to change in my concentration in these areas. Will keep you posted.

Last night I met a woman who lives in my neighborhood in Los Angeles. We talked about the awesome new traffic light installed at our Trader Joe's! For years you took your life in your hands making a left out of the parking lot. We talked about this traffic light in the middle of Manhattan as if we were talking over the fence in Silverlake. This is a small town already to me.

I guess it is no longer my traffic light.

First Day at a New School/ Pinocchio

So I walk out of my Upper Westside brownstone down two blocks to Broadway and then down to 79th to catch the 1 train to 50th and Broadway. I look like I work here in New York City! I am dressed like I have one of them city jobs! And down on the platform EVERYONE is standing and reading a paper. If you can imagine this were a musical starring me (and it is!) all the readers on the platform start snapping their papers to the pulse of the oncoming train and do that "My Three Sons" toe-tapping thing in unison. I then get to sing the internal monologue lead of going to a new job in a new town with new shoes that are killing me. (I lie about the new shoes, but I think it fits, don't you?)

The musical continues when I enter the Paramount Plaza building at 51st and Broadway. My new office building.



The security lady issues me a temporary badge and I goes upstairs. The minute my name is mentioned everyone knows who I am as they were all expecting me. Some song about the "Temp from Tempe" (the being from AZ will be artistic license and add a homey quality). I get whisked (not really, but this entry is getting long) to the 15th floor and get a real live security badge with my photo on it. JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE. But there is the GLARING expiration date. The ticking clock. The "Back the the Future" subtle disappearing thing. I have a due date! It reads: "2/29/08" in RED.






I am not a Consultant...
I am a TEMP!

(But aren't we all, really?)

Here is where the lead sings a ballad called Pinocchio. This will be the "Memory" or the "As Long As He Needs Me" of this show - the stand alone number that Barbra or Anne Murray will record.

I digress.

I have to confess that I always felt like Pinocchio BEFORE he becomes a "Real Live Boy." When he is still wooden and covered with strings. I look like all of you, I dress like all of you, but only I know I have a hole in the bottom of my shoe. And it is raining and my sock is soaked. You are ALL dry and soleful. (Hey, I know you all relate on some level, but this is my self-involved story!)

So here I am looking like a Real Live Employee, but I know I am "Weekly" as they call me and I don't have benefits. But when I flash my badge you think I am all flesh and 401K. But I know different.

So it is one of those bordering-on-whiny ballads that I seem to always struggle with. And here I am again. But when the Magic Otter appears to me in Act 2 there will be a lesson about being grateful for what I am and what I have and what I bring. And then I will get the girl, talk her ear off, and want to marry the prince. And he will have a very similarly-sized hole in the opposite shoe so when we are both lying on the ground on our backs facing each other (staging still needs to be worked out) our soaking socks will touch and so will our souls.

Where am I going with this? I meant to talk about my day and only slightly brush on my self-image issues...

There will be other numbers like "Why Didn't I Buy When I Coulda?" and "God, Give Me a Jawline," but that is the basic idea. Of how my first day went.

Oh I am having bagels and cream cheese with lox for dinner from H & H Bagels RIGHT ON MY BLOCK! How fantastis is that?!

All in all a GREAT day!

xo,