45 Rock. Mucho Moss.

8430 Steps

Ah New York in the winter. It is a time of lights. It is a time of dark. It is a time of cold. I LOVE IT!

I saw my first rat on the subway tracks tonight. It was the F track. I never take the F, I am a 1 red line person. I have never seen a rat on the 1 line. As I mentioned many weeks ago when I was on the 6, people look DIFFERENT when I am on a line I don't usually take. It is either my imagination or it is true. I think they all know I am not really a regular rider on whatever non-1 line I am on. That's it: non-1 line people tend to glare more. Maybe because they have more rats.

After work I went the Puck Building on House Ton and Lafayette to the Television Academy's "Evening with 30 Rock." I brought my ex-pat California friend Lisa and we had a great time. The reception beforehand was even nice. They had risotto in mini martini glasses which my LA head thought was SO 5 minutes ago - just long enough to make it "unfortunate," but not long enough to make it retro. I thought the potstickers in the wee Chinese takeaway boxes with chopsticks was quaint and something north of "precious." But don't get me wrong, I appreciated the free grub and the lovely setting.

They showed us the episode with Carrie Fisher, but what really stands out is Alec Baldwin role playing Tracy Morgan's parents in a therapy session. It is the Emmy moment and you should go see it on nbc.com. That guy is really, really damn good. My jaw dropped the first time I saw him do the whole thing. Tina Fey was off the cuff brilliantly funny. I used to want to be Bono from U2 for most my adult life, but lately I have really wanted to be Tina Fey.

If you look at the photo you can see that Brian Williams was the moderator and there is Lorne Michaels. What a cast. Fun night. And I even saw people I knew at the party! It still amazes me because I thought I would feel like I was in the witness protection program in New York for years.

So they answered questions for aspiring actors and writers from the audience. That was nice. Why does no one address the mid-forties aspiring writer/actor? He (I'm sure) has dreams too! Why does no one want to mentor a middle-aged man who has a lifetime of experience not attaining anything really remarkable, yet he burns with a passion that needs to be hurried along? Where are these peoples' voices being heard? Why can't "people in college always thought I should write for SNL" not go prominently on a resume? Anyway it was a fun evening. Especially if you have your whole life ahead of you.