good times

CSF invited me to join him and some friends at Pegasus, a bar between Lexington and Park on E. 60th Street. I did, and had a great time. CSF told me it was a gay bar, and I said I didn't care, I have been to lots of those. I found it interesting CSF was drinking a pink cosmopolitan -- his new friend Rob had introduced him to it.

Rob and I were amazed that CSF did not know how popular cosmos are due to "Sex and the City."

We must focus!

CSF, JDM and I went to SoHo to participate in a focus group on fitness trainers (i.e. all of us) and where we see the fitness industry progressing.

I was the token female.

We got sushi and $150 each! That rocked! I even had fun.

Now you're cooking!

For reasons unknown even to myself, I participated this morning in the studio audience of a reality cooking series called "Go Ahead, Make My Dinner!"

The studio audience had to sit on uncomfortable stools as we watched two chefs make dishes from a certain amount of ingredients that were just sprung on them. One made the rather unappetizing (or so it sounded) halibut pizza. Good God, man! Do you call that food?????

The audience had to clap, laugh and say "Wow" on cue. Such Emmy-worthy acting!!!

But we did get to taste the dessert the chefs whipped up -- literally. One made creme de chantilly out of whipping heavy cream with vanilla and sugar, then adding blueberries. MMMMM!

so not an accident

I have been on at least 4 trains on 4 separate lines (the N, 7, and 4 all come to mind) and have seen the same juxtaposition of ads for Mohegan Sun and Money magazine.

Puerto Rico memories

There is a car with a Puerto Rico license plate parked at 34th Street and 30th Avenue in Astoria today.

It makes me want some amaretto ice cream -- as yet unfound (by me, anway) in the continental USA. (See "Me gusta el amaretto!", September 13, 2004).

The last day in Flushing, Queens

Today is my last day working at New York's Department of Environmental Protection (now that I am out of there, I feel OK letting all 4 of you know where I worked.) Incidentally, I worked at the Bureau of Water Supply, and you have to admit that "Flushing" is the perfectly-named place for its location!

As for my new endeavor as a full-time personal trainer, I have already started it. Yesterday morning, I traine a new client at Westside Parkway, a park that is still under construction but promises to be gorgeous. There is already a pier and bike path, and grassy areas. It runs alongside the Hudson River and franky, the New Jersey towns across the way looked beautiful in the sunrise. There are also scores of waterfowl flying around -- we saw Canada geese, seagulls and mallard ducks all in one hour.

An aside: My coworkers and I are eating at Raj Gate today! YEAH!

Good food abounds!

The very best Indian food is at the Jackson Diner in Jackson Heights, two blocks south of the Roosevelt Avenue subway stop. They have an $8.95 lunch buffet.

Another favorite is Raj Gate in the Rego Park section of Queens. It has a $6.95 buffet Monday through Friday (and is $7.95 on weekends.) I have eaten there many a time and love it!

Jackson Diner
3747 74th St
Jackson Heights, NY 11372-6337

Phone: (718) 672-1232

Raj Gate
95-26 Queens Boulevard
Rego Park, NY 11374

Phone: (718) 896-6945

A New York poem

My coworker (for at least another day, as my last day here is tomorrow) asked me to find a poem on the Internet for his daughter, as it is Pocket Poem Day at her elementary school tomorrow. (He does not have Internet access.)

I came up with the following:

Just A New York Poem by Nikki Giovanni

i wanted to take
your hand and run with you
together toward
ourselves down the street to your street
i wanted to laugh aloud
and skip the notes past
the marquee advertising "women
in love" past the record
shop with "The Spirit
In The Dark" past the smoke shop
past the park and no
parking today signs
past the people watching me in
my blue velvet and i don't remember
what you wore but only that i didn't want
anything to be wearing you
i wanted to give
myself to the cyclone that is
your arms
and let you in the eye of my hurricane and know
the calm before
and some fall evening
after the cocktails
and the very expensive and very bad
steak served with day-old baked potatoes
after the second cup of coffee taken
while listening to the rejected
violin player
maybe some fall evening
when the taxis have passed you by
and that light sort of rain
that occasionally falls
in new york begins
you'll take a thought
and laugh aloud
the notes carrying all the way over
to me and we'll run again
together
toward each other
yes?

Silver Spoon Diner

Today is my farewell lunch in Flushing, Queens, even though I do not actually leave this job until Wednesday. I requested we have the lunch at Silver Spoon Diner, which is this little joint directly next to our office which I happen to really like. The staff in there is always so nice! And the food is cheap and good.

58-21 Junction Boulevard
Elmhurst, Queens
(Next to Corona-Elmhurst Post Office)
718-393-3000

Open 6 am to 11 pm, 7 days a week

I am having their coconut layer cake today -- only $2.25!!! YUM!

Ivy League reunion

I was wearing my Harvard T-shirt as I walked down 86th Street.

At the corner of Lexington and 86th Street, there was a drunkard lapsed in a doorway, wearing the same Harvard T-shirt.

Ode to Trenton

This poem is engraved on the wall of Penn Station, near the waiting area for NJ Transit

That bridge is a poem
he said, donning his jacket
as rhe wind whipped up the leaves
Trenton makes .....

--- Pablo Medina

Terrorism has no faith

CAIR-DC: THE ERIC RUDOLPH EXCEPTION - By Ibrahim Hooper
[Ibrahim Hooper is national communications director for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group. He may be contacted at: ihooper@cair-net.org.]

Rocky Mountain News columnist Vincent Carroll had the unfortunate luck to choose Thursday to release an Op-Ed titled "The McVeigh Exception," which claims Americans are justified in linking Muslims to violence.

SEE: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/news_columnists/(Scroll down in Carroll's April 14th commentary.)

Carroll sought to refute my own syndicated commentary, "Terror Knows No Faith," that attempted to sever the false link between Islam and terror by reminding readers of the anti-Muslim backlash following the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

In that commentary, I said: "As we mark the 10th anniversary of the Oklahoma City attack, let us all remember that the use of violence and terrorism is not the sole preserve of any race, religion or ethnic group. Let us also redouble our efforts to understand one another and promote peaceful resolutions to all conflicts, whether domestic or foreign."

SEE: "Terror Knows No faith: American Muslims and the 10th Anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing"http://religion.upi.com/view.php?StoryID=20050412-124811-1156r (The commentary above is available for local publication by through CAIR's free ISLAM-OPED national syndication service. E-Mail ihooper@cair-net.org for permission.)

Carroll wrote: "Hooper's thesis is that there are evil people of all faiths and nationalities (true), that it is vile for vigilantes to target innocent Muslims (true), and that it is wrong to associate terrorism with Muslims (dream on, friend) So long as (Oklahoma City bomber) Timothy McVeigh is the exception in terrorism cases and the (Muslim) men indicted this week are the norm, people will do what they always do: draw conclusions."

Perhaps Mr. Carroll was so busy writing his column that he failed to hear about the sentencing of Eric Rudolph, a member of the Christian Identity Movement, to four life sentences without parole for the 1996 Olympic park bombing in Atlanta and attacks on two abortion clinics and a nightclub. According to the Associated Press, "Rudolph called himself a Roman Catholic at war over abortion."

What conclusions would Mr. Carroll have us draw from those facts? I for one will never blame Christianity, or any other religion, for the deranged acts of individuals acting outside the boundaries of their faith.

Beluga whale in Trenton, NJ (my hometown)

From The Washington Post:

TODAY'S NEWS
Thursday, April 14, 2005; Page C14

Trenton Goes Bonkers For Beluga Whale

A geographically challenged beluga whale took a wrong turn and wound up in the Delaware River near Trenton, New Jersey, more than 80 miles from the ocean.

The whale's appearance Tuesday caused quite a stir. Reported one onlooker: "Four news helicopters are hovering overhead. The train is stopping on the train trestle. People are lining up along the river. It's like the city has gone mad."

A marine mammal expert speculated that the 8- to 12-foot-long beluga might be an ill juvenile or an adult that chased a school of herring up the river. Belugas typically travel in large groups except when feeding.

The whale was spotted again yesterday about 10 miles north of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, heading in the direction of the sea.

Belugas can live as long as 50 years, grow to about 16 1/2 feet in length and weigh as much as 3,000 pounds, according to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.

Taking Manhattan like a muppet

I have found a wonderful public relations expert with whom I am bartering personal training for PR.

As a result, I have so many inquiries into personal training and potential clients in Manhattan (and indeed I have booked some already) that I am resigning my full-time job with the New York City government today, and will be out there like Mary Richards, making it on my own (cue the hat thrown into the air! Wait -- I have no such hat!)

So ... this blog will no longer be daily, but it will still be here. Yay for you and me!

Yes, it is still there!

The wreath at the 3800 block of Steinway Street is indeed always there! It is there now! (See "It is February 9th ..." and "It is October 1st ...")

Suze Ormon in the house!

Suze Orman www.suzeorman.com, financial guru extraordinaire, came to the Y to speak on her newest book "The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke". She is awesome. She gave tons of good advice, and I am definitely picking up the book.

AND she brought out her hot co-host Jeff who said he was looking for a single woman in New York. When Suze took a question from an older single woman who had no kids to whom to leave her money, Suze pointed her out to Jeff and told him to go for it.

Sister Blogs on a roll!

I have been working a bit more steadily on my other two blogs

www.gymrants.blogspot.com

www.dc-diaries.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

For all you nature lovers

Duck lays eggs under tight U.S. security

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Security is tight in front of the White House for a new resident -- a Mallard hen sitting on nine eggs she laid at the foot of a sapling over the weekend.

The mother duck chose for her nest a fresh heap of mulch on the sidewalk outside the heavily guarded entrance of the Treasury Department, next door to the presidential residence.
Secret Service officers have erected metal stanchions around the tree to shield the incubating bird from passersby on the crowded pedestrian plaza in the heart of the U.S. capital.

The Pennsylvania Avenue fowl's reputation has grown, and it was featured on a national morning television show on Friday.

"I'm getting more calls on this than on the Chinese currency," Treasury spokesman Rob Nichols said.

Treasury staff have dubbed the bird "T-bill", "Duck Cheney", and "Quacks Reform", Nichols said.

Treasury Secretary John Snow, who "had been briefed on the duck", paused to pay it a visit after testifying before Congress on Thursday, the spokesman added.

The mallard chicks are expected to hatch at the end of the month.

A slice is very nice!

I was walking up Lexington Avenue from 59th Street last night when I passed a typical UES (Upper East Side) "society lady" walking her three dogs. She seemed very pissed off that the golden retriever had found a slice of pizza on the sidewalk and was insisting on scarfing it down while her two boxers looked on enviously.

It seemed like she thought her precious uggums should crave filet mignon, not a common slice!

Spring is here

My hibiscus plant has finally sprouted a gorgeous pink bloom.

Also -- the dogs on the Yupper East Side have officially shed their sweaters!

Grand Theft Train

He is at it again!

The 39-year-old Train Thief -- a New Yorker who has been stealing subway trains since age 15, when he drove a train from the World Trade Center to Times Square -- just got 3 years for trying to steal a Long Island Rair Road train. But he has been to jail before and it has not stopped him.

(Mainly, I wonder if he makes all station stops when he drives the train. And tells people if they "see something, say something" i.e. if you see someone stealing this train.)

If I remember correctly, someone wrote a Broadway play about him.

To overspend is human; to save, divine.

I was on the Manhattan-bound V train yesterday when I noticed that one side of the train was plastered with ads for Mohegan Sun, the casino in Connecticut.

One ad in particular caught my eye. It showed a woman laden with shopping bags, and the slogan "Attention, shoppers. I am a shopping machine with no off switch." www.mohegansun.com

The opposite side of the train featured ads for Money magazine, asking how you would save for retirement. www.money.com

Rats on the inside, rats on the outs

At the corner of Lexington Avenue and E. 86th Street, directly outside the Petco shop, there is a construction trailer, where several brown rats hang around. At night, they are especially illuminated by the bright lights, and they are pretty brave because they know they can hide under all the construction wires in a second. People stop and stare at their notorious disgustingness.

Inside Petco, they sell the exact same brown rat as a pet for $5.99.

Thought for the day

Because we haven't had one for months, and the last one was from Homer Simpson!

"You can't solve a problem with the same level of thinking that created it." Albert Einstein

Let the nightmares begin!

So, as a candidate city for the 2012 Olympics, New York has an ad campaign all around the city, including the subway.

Right by the door on any given subway car, there is a decal that says:

"New York 2012
Candidiate City

Let the dreams begin."

Right next to this, you see scores of miserable-looking people squashed up against the dirty windows of the subway doors.

In the name of love

Today marks the 37th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The day is immortalized in U2's song "In the Name of Love""

U2 Lyrics - Pride (In The Name Of Love)

One man come in the name of love
One man come and go
One come he to justify
One man to overthrow

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man he resist
One man washed on an empty beach
One man betrayed with a kiss

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

(nobody like you...)

Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

In the name of love
What more in the name of love...

The Grape of Wrath were eaten here

At the corner of East 72nd Street and 3rd Avenue, there is a plaque stating that John Steinbeck lived the last 5 years of his life in the building there. There is now a Bath & Body Works on that same corner.

Kind of like Mann's Chinese Theatre

At the corner of St Mark's Place and 1st Avenue in the Village is the 80 St Marks Place Theatre.

Outside of it, there are squares of concrete with signatures and handprints of stars as diverse as Gloria Swanson, Kitty Carlisle, Myrna Loy and Dom De Luise.

They have been there for decades. Amazing!

A new word

I learned a new word today from the Metro Transit Authority: scatchiti. It apparently is graffiti that is scratched into walls and the like (see "Recognizing what you need to work on", March 23, 2005).

It's raining piss! Hallelujah!

My friend CSF has reached new lows in laziness. Apparently, rather than go to the bathroom, he pees into a bottle. However, rather than get rid of it properly later by pouring it down the toilet, he pours it out his window!!! This got the attention of his landlord, who happens to live below him. CSF got a note on his door to stop peeing out the window.

No April Foolin'.