Groovy flashing lollipop rings.

A friend who works in the kitchen at Essex House told me that they are freaking out about the Michelin guide. Every time they seat a solo diner, particular a european diner, the kitchen goes into a tizzy. Unfortunately for you europeans, though, they won't comp them because Michelin guide reviewers aren't allowed to accept comped meals. But you would get great service if you went right now by yourself.

It's a pity I am on their compooter already. I do a great "European inspector" impersonation.

Grocery shopping at Associated on 57th/Broadway (fab people-watching, a mix of tourists curiously prodding the hot table food, and local face-lifted eccentrics mumbling to themselves); in the line behind us was an old salt, about 70-ish, short shorts, hawaiian shirt open down to there, medallion nested in chest fur, ancient yachting cap, a formidable twisted moustache, and very, very tan. He's got, among a few other items, 10 or 12 tins of BumbleBee oysters. Boyfriend, who fearlessly strikes up conversations with anybody who will listen, addresses the man "so, there must be a sale on canned oysters?" He smiles, very twinkly eyes, and replies "oh no, I eat oysters every day. They're just not in season right now, so I buy the canned. Yup, I eat them every day after sunbathing. A splendid combination, sunbathing and oysters!"

I love New York.

In a storefront ATM this morning, a woman was shouting into her cell phone about her infertility treatments, her husband's refusal to be tested to see if HE was the problem, her sister's lamentable parenting skills, someone else's vicious custody battle...

Unfortunately, this is more everyday than surreal.

Or maybe this should be in the "free will, determinism, etc." thread?

http://homepage.mac.com/vasu42/PhotoAlbum5.html

A woman just walked into the office and asked, "Do you guys sell anything?"

A man walking down 6th Avenue yesterday wearing a headscarf with an large feather and doing bird impressions.

I wonder if the dwarfish folk for hire at 149$ an hour can wiggle their ears.

From the Too Much Information realm, this quote from a recently updated blog at Typepad...

I seen him in a book:

I might e-mail this to Katie, later. An interesting archaeological discovery. Personally, I held it together until I got to the quotation marks at the beginning of the third paragraph.

Dig!

Anyone else have typical scars from knapping flints?

Ah! Venus of Willendorf. There was a woman!

Outside, it is 96 F. In my office, it is so cold that I am drinking very hot tea.

I used to see Moondog in person, all the time, when I worked in a building at 51st and 6th. Remember Adam Purple?

Yes. They used to ride a tandem bike.

We used to buy, um, stuff from them in the early 80's in Central Park. I had a friend who used to let them sleep in her basement.

Outlook spellcheck just attempted to change 'prosecco' to 'prosecute'.

A women in the elevator with two enormous Viagra carrier bags. Drug rep or nympho? Who knows.

Looking out my window and noticing 6-7 large buzzard-like bird critters perched on the parapet of a building across the field. Pretty omninous looking.

Perhaps the pleasant weather has brought smaller animals from their burrows, so they can become lunch?

Some nutter has stolen a peregrine falcon:

http://www.peregrine-foundation.ca/species...ly24th2005.html

I hope it's not some daft animal rights activist who thinks he or she can turn it into a vegetarian.

Fly

I walked by a group of Boy Scouts visiting Philly from Salt Lake City. Their troop was sponsored by Jell-O; they had Jell-O patches and everything.

har!

One of our interns, a junior at Dartmouth who we have put to work researching mutual funds (translation: boring as hell), just said what he really wants to do is be a paleontologist.

It could be worse. He could have decided to be a classicist.

Shudder.

Looks jolly interesting:

Client send me an email this evening. Last line reads:

"If you don't get this email, please try my other email address or call me on my cell".

The sender was a Partner at a HUGE U.S. law firm.

Two women from the Dept. of Agriculture rang the bell today and said to my husband, "We understand you have a Japanese maple." They were checking for signs of a beetle infestation. We're clean.


Who ratted us out?

Channel Surfing the other night.. come upon a xtian program. 2 women and a man, the man speaking "...you know, it's hard for a man of God, you know, when I see some of the things these young kids wear, it's, it's NASTY! I just want to go up to these young girls and tell them 'what you are wearing is NASTY' I think no one has ever told them that" Women nod in agreement. Woman 1 says: "Oh yes, you know, when you get dressed, you should go look in the mirror, if you look sexy, then GO CHANGE YOUR CLOTHES!"

Walking home yesterday while it was still broad daylight, I spy a small knot of people pointing and gesticulating. On the side of a building, a few feet above the ground, is a swarm of waterbugs. Eeek. Ewwwh. It is extremely disconcerting to me to know that these things sometimes travel in packs.