I have had TWO people stop me and ask for direction this week! TWO! ON SEPARATE OCCASIONS! TO TWO DIFFERENT PLACES!

I was in the same place each time, between Amsterdam and 9th on 62nd street walking to my gym. Maybe it was because I was in my gym clothes that told people I was near home.

Now, I won't say that the directions I had to give were all that complicated.

In the first instance, it was a couple who was looking for Lincoln Center. Wait for it... wait for it... wait for it... Lincoln Center is on 62nd St. between Amsterdam and 9th. I just pointed across the street and said, "All of those buildings right there. If you walk up 9th right here, the fountain is in the middle." I was nice about it and they were surprised they were so close. Of course, I thought it was a joke because I saw them walk from that direction.

In the second instance, I was in the same place and this lady asked me how to get to 10th and 61st. Amsterdam IS 10th Ave. The name changes at about 60th St., so she was tricked by that and the construction happening there.

There are only about six native New Yorkers here. Everyone is from somewhere else. So, people LOVE giving directions because it's like, "I'm a New Yorker! I know my way around!"

Posted by: Flibbertigibbet at 03:53 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Category: Happy
Post contains 241 words, total size 1 kb.

On balance, I'm in a pretty good mood today and life is good.

Good News
The weather in New York for spring is gorgeous.

Bad News
I have a bit of a cold complete with congestion, swollen glands, sore throat, and achiness.

Good News
I got to enjoy a really nice walk through midtown this afternoon as I left work at 3.

Bad News
I left work at three because we had connectivity issues so I'm working from home.

Good News
I got a SWEET deal on a completely legally licensed copy of Adobe Photoshop this week and when it comes in the mail I will be able to start posting pictures for you guys. Now and then. When I feel like it.

Bad News
My bank account didn't need Adobe Photoshop, just like it didn't need for me to pay for 3 months of personal training.

Good News
I hired a personal trainer! I'm gonna be smokin' hot for summer in NYC!

Bad News
My foot surgery from last year really has not healed the way it should. I'm afraid I will have to undergo surgery again to have my foot corrected from the correction.

Good News
Foot surgery is not today and the weather is great!

Posted by: Flibbertigibbet at 11:14 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Category: Happy
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I've heard a few songs by Regina Spektor from a friend of mine. I hated them. So, when my friend IMed me the other night and said, "Check out her new album," I barely raised an eyebrow to indicate my lack of inclination.

"At least check out these two singles: 'Better' and 'Fidelity.' " They're from her album Begin to Hope, which is due out this year on June 13th.

As far as I can tell, Regina Spektor is a Russian version of Ani DiFranco without the extreme lesbionic feminist communist ideology. Which is kind of sadly ironic if you think about it. But she, Regina Spektor, shifts her pitch, warbles, squalls and generally just makes noise most of the time. She does things that sound like abuse of her vocal chords, but I'm not a doctor or a vocal coach, so suffice it to say I don't like it that much.

Well, apparently, she has a new producer and maybe some actual hired help to play the music. I can't speak to the rest of the album because it's not out yet. And "Better" didn't grab me from the clip on iTunes. "Fidelity" sounded a little better, so I downloaded it out of good faith.

LOVE IT.

Fidelity is loads of fun. It's sweet, sure, plucky, fun, and romantic. Spektor uses her "skills" to her benefit here, so I recommend this song. So get on your iTunes and download it today. It's $0.99 and if you don't like it, well, you're not out very much money at all.

Here's my best transcription of the lyrics:

Fidelity
by Regina Spektor

I never loved nobody fully
Always one foot on the ground
And by protecting my heart truly
I got lost in the sounds
Right here in my mind
All of these voices
I hear in my mind
All of these words
I hear in my mind
All of this music
And it breaks my heart
And it breaks my heart
And it breaks my ha-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-eart
And it breaks my ha-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-eart

Suppose I never ever met you
Suppose we never fell in love
Suppose I never ever let you
Kiss me so sweet
And so so-o-oft

Suppose I never ever saw you
Suppose I never ever called
Suppose I kept on singing love songs
Just to break my own fall

Just to break my fa-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-all
Just to break my fa-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-all
Just to break my fa-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-all
Break my fall
Break my fall

All my friends say that, of course, it's gonna get better
gonna get better better better better better better better better better better

I never loved nobody fully
Always one foot on the ground
And by protecting my heart truly
I got lost in the sounds
I hear in my mind
All of these voices
I hear in my mind
All of these words
I hear in my mind
All of this music

And it breaks my heart
And it breaks my heart

I hear in my mind
All of these voices
I hear in my mind
All of these words
I hear in my mind
All of this music
And it breaks my heart
And it breaks my heart.
And it breaks my ha-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-eart
And it breaks my ha-aah-aah-aah-aah-eart
And it breaks my ha-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-eart
And it breaks my heart
Breaks my heart
And it breaks my heart
And it breaks my heart.
And it breaks my heart.
And it breaks my heart.

Posted by: Flibbertigibbet at 07:43 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Category: Happy
Post contains 576 words, total size 3 kb.

Tonight, the Blogless Fourth Axiom and I dined at Xing. The decor (along with the name "shing?" "ching?" "zing?") is uber hip, but faddish. The walls in the back where we sat are a red velvet. The ceiling and many of the walls and floor panels are a green, yellow, and blue striped plexiglass that is sometimes lit from behind, which presents an interesting contrast to the red and black color elsewhere. I'm afraid the decor is going to be to out of date in a year or so.

I will say that the bathrooms are nice, though. I love the unisex/stall thing the New York does so often and the bathrooms at Xing are dark, but nice and hip.

Anyway, the food was solid.

For cocktails, I had something called a Rickshaw and the BFA had something that came in a Buddha; I think it was the Electric Karma. The Rickshaw was delicious; very citrousy without being excessively sweet, which can make me sick. His drink came in a Buddha with a straw protruding out of the belly button. The result of the position of the straw was a somewhat vulgar scene that we took in good humor.

Before our appetizer came, we were served tiny bits of raw tuna with a tiny bit of cream cheese and garnish. It was good; just enough to pique the curiosity, but not enouogh to really overwhelm.

As an appetizer, we had the "Crispy Asparagus & Avocado Roll." It was great. It had a slight hint of that fishy taste that I associate with sushi, but it was not unpleasant. The outer crust was thin, crisp, and flaky. As I said, delicious.

For entrees, I had the Crispy Chicken and he had the Seared Tuna. I assume he enjoyed the Tuna; I rudely neglected to ask.

My chicken was flavorful and something I would certainly consider eating again, but I would not call it extraordinary. I was mostly disconcerted by the fact that the "crispy" part of the chicken is the skin. Yes, they served me a dish that had crispy fried skin on the outside. I pushed those pieces to the side and ate the chicken, which was perfectly moist. It was served with some fried rice and a blob of green oniony stuff, which was pretty good. I did appreciate that my food was not stacked but each element was placed on its own space on the place.

For our wine, we had a Syrah/Grenache blend. I don't think the wine was well-paired with the food, but it was good. Bold, spicey, only slightly fruity. The wine selection was limited but covered a wide range of prices. The low end was about $30 and the high end approached $100.

Before dessert, we were served a little plate of three things that we could not identify. The first seemed to be a bit of marshmellow. The second was some kind of cookie. The third seemed to me to be a bit of lychee gelatin, the texture of which disgusted the BFA.

For dessert, I had the sorbet (I love sorbet) and the BFA had the chocolate spring roll. He seemed to enjoy his. The sorbet was superior. It was tart without being acerbic or astringent. It was smooth and not at all chunky. I highly recommend it.

The service was generally good. Our waitress had the odd mannerism of not tilting her head forward when speaking to you (or maybe she actually tilted it back) which had the result of forcing her to look down her nose at you. But she was friendly and recommended the most expensive wines to us for our meal.

With the noise and bustle there is no worry that it would be excessively romantic or anything. I would recommend it for a nice meal out with friends or for a first date.

XING
http://www.xingrestaurant.com
759 9th Ave (between 52nd and 53rd)
New York

Posted by: Flibbertigibbet at 04:46 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Category: Happy
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There are a few songs here and there that make me tear up when I hear them. One of them is Emmylou Harris' "Red Dirt Girl." It's sweet and tragic. There's a soft, driving beat through out the song that is accented with sweet, moaning guitars.

Me and my best friend Lillian

And her blue tick hound dog Gideon,

Sittin on the front porch cooling in the shade

Singin every song the radio played

Waitin for the Alabama sun to go down

Two red dirt girls in a red dirt town

Me and Lillian

Just across the line and a little southeast of Meridian.

She loved her brother I remember back when
He was fixin up a '49 Indian
He told her 'Little sister, gonna ride the wind
Up around the moon and back again"
He never got farther than Vietnam,
I was standin there with her when the telegram come
For Lillian.
Now he's lyin somewhere about a million miles from Meridian.

She said there's not much hope for a red dirt girl
Somewhere out there is a great big world
Thats where I'm bound
And the stars might fall on Alabama
But one of these days I'm gonna swing
My hammer down
Away from this red dirt town
I'm gonna make a joyful sound

She grew up tall and she grew up thin
Buried that old dog Gideon
By a crepe myrtle bush in the back of the yard,
Her daddy turned mean and her mama leaned hard
Got in trouble with a boy from town
Figured that she might as well settle down
So she dug right in
Across a red dirt line just a little south east from Meridian

She tried hard to love him but it never did take
It was just another way for the heart to break
So she learned to bend.
But one thing they don't tell you about the blues
When you got 'em
You keep on falling cause there ain't no bottom
There ain't know end.
At least not for Lillian

Nobody knows when she started her skid,
She was only 27 and she had five kids.
Coulda' been the whiskey,
Coulda been the pills,
Coulda been the dream she was trying to kill.
But there won't be a mention in the news of the world
About the life and the death of a red dirt girl
Named Lillian
Who never got any further across the line than Meridian.

Now the stars still fall on Alabama
The night she finally laid
That hammer down
Without a sound
In the red dirt ground

Posted by: Flibbertigibbet at 09:04 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Category: Happy
Post contains 435 words, total size 2 kb.

I am in a fantastic mood this morning. I slept well. I went to the gym to participate in that damnable spin class. I got my clean laundry from those people I pay to wash it. And I walked to work in beautiful weather wearing a new jacket I bought at H&M.

While I was walking to work, I listend to my "I Heart the 80's" playlist on my iPod and the shuffle gave me a damn near perfect playlist for my walk from 10th and 57th to 8th and 39th.

Check it:
Tide is High - Blondie (4:42)
Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes (2:24)
Mickey - Toni Basil (4:14)
What I Am - Edie Brickel & the New Bohemians (4:57)
Footloose - Kenny Loggins (3:42)
Karma Chameleon - Boy George and Culture Club (4:01)

Total time in transit: 22 minutes. ("Tide is High" was almost done when I turned my iPod on this morning.)

A couple of those songs are kind of ehn, but they were paced perfectly for where I was when I was walking this morning.

So, join me in having a happy Tuesday!

Posted by: Flibbertigibbet at 03:19 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Category: Happy
Post contains 194 words, total size 1 kb.

"We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks."

Apropros to nothing this totally 80's moment was brought to you by Bonnie Tyler and a "Total Eclipse of the Heart."

Posted by: Flibbertigibbet at 12:39 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Category: Happy
Post contains 36 words, total size 1 kb.

Oh my god, girl! You will not believe! Hanes has a commercial on right now with all these hot guys playing dodgeball in their underwear. I'm not kidding! You've got to see it!

I'm going to go smoke a cigarette.

Posted by: Flibbertigibbet at 09:25 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Category: Happy
Post contains 46 words, total size 1 kb.