A Man and His Hoover

Sorry but I have to rant and vent a little......

Apologies in advance if this is going to sound a little petty and whinny or if you don't live in NYC but I really do have to get something off my chest. I am sick sick sick and fed up with the west side of Manhattan suddenly becoming the center of the universe!! I love the west side park and reconstruction (completely finished and renovated in no time flat) and the High Line is totally amazing (an elevated park converted from an old railroad track at a cost of $86 million!!) but how come the East River Park renovation which has been inching forward for the past 8 YEARS is still no where near to being completed (in fact some of the early renovation now need to be redone!) How can it be fair that the west side of Manhattan which is already totally gentrified seems to be getting the lions share of all the money being spent on improvements and other areas of the city are being left behind?? I have said it before and I will say it again could this have anything to do with the location of public housing in Manhattan? Do ya think!!!!

To add insult to injury the Macy's fireworks for the 4th usually are set off from barges in the East River. Last night of course everything was switched over to the west side and occurred in the Hudson all along the newly renovated and completed water front! Nuff said!!!!

Getting Our Pride On

I might still be a fat f#*k but now I am the fat F#*k that just ran five miles!!

I ran my first Pride run in 1999 I think, before I became a member of NYRRC so there isn't a time record. The last time I ran it was in 2002! WOW I can't believe 7 years have gone by since then. OK so I ran it a little teeny tiny bit slower than I did it back then.....but hey its the journey that counts not how long it takes to do it.

I also got to meet up with my old running compadre Edna! Yay Edna! (Damn you and your orange... so I get to run with the real runners bib).

I bought a scale yesterday and I am pleased to say that I have lost around 5 - 6 pounds since I started running again a few weeks ago. On a slightly heavier note I had lunch today in Silver Spurs and probably put 4 of those pounds back on again.
Silver Spurs is a very remotely 'Western" influenced diner on Broadway at 9th St. It is relatively inexpensive ( slightly pricier that a real diner but way less than a restaurant) and it seems to specialize in that everyday brunch/breakfast/bad but oh so good type food (think burgers omelets onion rings etc). It is very popular with a weekend brunch crowd and also with an everyday local workers lunch group, but it also serves the same menu to a cross section of hungry visitors pretty much anytime of the day.
You should know that unlike many modern NY diners there is very little that is healthy on this menu so if you are looking for a salad this or a steamed that.....then think again. It also does not do the traditional Greek style entrees that have taken over most other diner fare. Service in the restaurant is fast accurate and relatively friendly given the turn over of customers and the slightly chaotic atmosphere of the space. I don't go here to eat often but when I do I regard it as my little guilty weekend pleasure.

Arrrghhh I don't believe I missed national running day ! To make matters worse I didn't only miss it I actually was supposed to run that day and because it was raining and because I was tired I decided not to ! Am I lame or what?! I mean I could have worn a button and been all pround and virtuous and instead I sat on the couch and watched TV.

Yesterday I left work early and went to see "Up" in 3D. I hadn't see a 3D movie since I saw "The Muppet Experience" at one of those Florida theme park places ( I have no idea which one). 3D is amazing, it is so sophisticated now and after a while you stop even noticing that you are wearing stupid glasses and it all looks sooooooo real. "Up" btw is amazing also. It doesn't have the slapstick humor that many animated films have these days but that doesn't mean its not funny but just that the humor is much more simple. Best thing about "Up"? It has a talking dog and not a dog that talks like a human but a dog that talks like a dog would talk if it could - and it is so adorable.

 

Even when Dug is not talking his eyes are talking just like a dogs really do. Lovely film!

Circulating

So although the last few months have been difficult it seems a little bit like the clouds have been lifting these past weeks. Summer is my favorite time of the year and one I have very happy New York associations with and it seems it is finally here. Spring semester was a very long haul and I was so glad to finally get it over with. Although I have moved right into the summer semester and will continue classes until August, somehow there is just a small little glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Not a lot but just enough to make it seem that little bit more bearable.

DC had a birthday this past week and we celebrated by going to a concert at Lincoln Center. We had not been to any sort of concert or event for so long that it seemed like quite an occasion. We had tickets to see Pierre-Laurent Aimard last year in Berlin when the concert was canceled but this year we had better luck and he performed right on DC's birthday. The program was Stravinsky, Debussy, and Bartok (rather too many wrong notes for my non-musical ears) but it was tremendously exciting and energetic.

Today we went to a movie ( a real live movie, in a movie theater - curse you Netflix!!) I was momentary stunned when the thirteen year old behind the the ticket booth window asked for $25, thinking perhaps I had accidentally wondered into Tiffany's instead of the IFC theater on 6th Avenue. When did the price go up again? Seriously people who is going to pay this money if you can wait two months and have the film delivered to your living room and played on a TV that frankly is bigger and sharper than many screens in the theater. Also the person behind me kicked my seat for two hours! In case your interested we saw the film "Summer Hours" which is French and in the tradition of French cinema is beautiful, haunting, and full of language whilst at the same time being almost totally devoid of any discernable plot. I actually liked it more than DC, who told me that at one point he was silently pleading for something to happen other than what was happening. I wonder if that was the point of the film?

We have also found time to plant our summer window boxes. Actually to be truthful DC picked out the plants, and planted them, and goes out every morning to water them and also trims them and turns the box around twice a week so my participation in this has been small to minimal, however I like to think I mentor the window box experience.
Here are the fruits of our labors......

Beginnings, Endings, and Everything Inbetween.

I started to write this particular post in March but it has been sitting in my draft pile since then waiting for me to decide what I am going to do with it.I decided to post it as is without editing but I also want to say that this will NOT be my last post. I might decide I want to change things around a little but I still feel like I have some things to say and I am just not ready to stop writing just yet. Here is the post.

So lets kick this off by saying that this will be the last post to this blog. My faithful reader might have noticed that postings have become few and far between over the past few months and truthfully I had been wondering for some time if my heart was really in it. However recent events have forced me to dramatically reconsider my writing space here and decide that I just can't come back here every day to write and read and to remember.

Hoover passed away peacefully and comfortably cuddling with me and DC on the couch February 16th. The truth is, in her youth Hoover was never really one for much cuddling but in her last few months as she got older and weaker she seemed to want more human contact. She would lay quite contentedly on the couch nestled in the crook of my arm or just touching the back of my legs. It was as if she finally relaxed and accepted what was happening to her.

These two photographs were the last ones we took of her. Although she looks well at this point she was having difficulty walking or moving and had stopped eating. Curled up in her bed she looks so peaceful and it is comforting for me to know that now she is and always will be.

 

Its My New Titfer!

England was pretty cold and damp and frosty .....wait a minute I told you that already. Anyway it in no way compares to how cold NYC is at the moment. When I took Hoover out for her walk this morning it was 6 F which for all you Euro's and Brits is around minus 14 C!!! To combat these extreme temps I have been forced to purchase a smart new hat. It is the best thing I have EVER bought in my entire life. When you go out side it is like someone wrapped your head in warm cotton wool.

Also for all you Americans......why Titfer? Well it is quite simple really.
This for That becomes
Tit for Tat
Tit for Tat rhymes with Hat
Tit for Tat and Hat become Titfer!
Gottit! Good!

UK Update.

Greeting from foggy and damp England. Yes true to popular mythology it is both, with snowy white crispy frost on the ground and on the tree's most mornings. Dad and I have been entertaining ourselves shopping for a new computer and creating gourmet meals for ourselves.

Who would have thought that boiling potato's is so difficult, not to mention dangerous!

Wot I Dun On Me Holidays! Part 2

Before

After

.....and yes that is a TV. I gave in after holding out for 7 years!

Wot I Dun On Me Holidays!

See although I have been absent for the past several weeks....I have been thinking of you and working very very hard. DC moved in officially on Dec 28th and unofficially over several weeks before that.

Before

After

Thanks DC for turning this apartment space into a home for the first time.