Wii the People

My second grade cousin has a thing for all things related to money. For fun, he asks me if we can look up currencies on Wikipedia. "What kind of money do they use in Sweden?" he wondered. I made him type into the search bar, but he paused: "how do you spell it?"

I made him sound it out.
"Ssssuh..." I sounded
"S" he typed.
"...swuh..."
Sw.....
"sweeeee..."
Swii he typed.
"Uh, no, Ari, it's not wii. What else sounds like 'eeee'?"

In Rainbows

I'm listening on phones right now. Yes, it's late, really late, nearing my regular sleep time of 4 a.m., but this is a great midnight, or rather 2 a.m. treat. Thanks, Radiohead. Your fans love you.

Breakfast in NY, Canadian Style

Why these things happen to me, I'm not sure, but I wish I could bottle it up and hand it out. Check this out and here, too.

"Do you need a fourth chair?" I asked the gentleman arranging tables next to me.
"Not unless we have an unexpected guest." he answered.

I had just finished my breakfast and was drinking my pot of coffee from Le Pain Quotidien. He ordered his coffee and we chatted for a few minutes, then I turned back to my New Yorker.

A few minutes after his wife joined him, they leaned over to me and asked, "Do you know the difference between a caffe latte and a café au lait?" Other than one being Italian and the other being French, I gave them my best guess that a caffe latte was made from a shot of espresso with steamed milk and the café au lait was brewed (or pressed) french roast with hot milk. But in this day and age of part- skim- soy- decaf- macchiato- over-easy, who knew?

This was the start of a wonderful conversation. The Browns were from Toronto, and the night before had gone to see their son, a trombonist, perform in Brooklyn, away from his usual gigs with Michael Buble. Eventually, Josh joined his parents and our chat. Mr. Brown encouraged me to have an additional pot of coffee, which I did. They made me laugh, and I hope I did the same for them.

When it came time to leave, I asked for my check. The waiter nodded in the direction of Mr. Brown; "He already paid." I was told. I know people have been kind to me my entire life, but it still always amazes me how often and how much it happens, and each event is as sweet as the next. Thanks Mr. & Mrs. Brown!

Jump New England

My sister and I took a road trip to the Berkshires and Vermont for John and Erin's gorgeous wedding.

Happy Autumn!

The Mill in New York

Oh man, this place is magic.
Our friend David said "It's the sort of place you imagine a Katherine Hepburn movie would be filmed."