From Pearl Oyster to Hank's Oyster

I used to live across the street from famed Pearl Oyster Bar in Greenwich Village.

Now I'm in a historic art deco building with a view of just the tip of the Washington monument across from Hank's Oyster Bar. I'm here until I leave, so come visit, because you never know when that'll be. ;)

When life deals you a lobster roll, you've got nothing to complain about.

Baby E4

My sister is about to have the first grandchild in our family! We're calling him


Just had the baby shower -- tea and lots of great goods.
Three kinds of sandwiches, tomato quiche, spinach and cheese quiche, scones with mascarpone and jams, mini banana nut cupcakes with coffee buttercream icing, and chocolate covered strawberries.

Voice crush

"I think it's smashing," he said with a very light English accent, of my first name. I was talking to the customer service representative of my credit card. I had to dictate my name, since it's pronounced unexpectedly different than the way it's spelled. He asked me what it meant but I explained that my mom made it up. And then I explained how all my siblings have weird names too, to which I received his compliment.

I love the way you can hear someone smiling on the other end of a line. And how sometimes, you just make a sweet connection with a stranger, say goodbye, and think, there are still plenty of kind people out there.

Peace. Happy New Year. And more peace. We know we need it.

The nicest people live in New York City.

Just returned from a ridiculously fantastic two weeks in the city. I ended it the best possible way, by having dinner at my old neighborhood joint, the Blue Ribbon Bakery. I thought I was last there in June but just checking, it was Labor Day weekend of 2005 when everyone in New York was being so nice to me.

Eric, the manager there was gracious as ever, and is always super kind (he never corrected me when I'd been calling him by the wrong name forever). Jai, who has known me since I was seven years old met me there after his dinner date. I was starving, hadn't eaten especially well all week, and I asked him to join me so I could treat myself to a good last meal. Despite not having been there in 14 months, Eric remembered me, and offered us dessert on the house. He also knocked off Jai's soda, double espresso, and discounted our bottle of wine. Needless to say, I left a 30-something% cash tip and hope next time I could leave more (once I start working again!).

I've good reason to send the dozens of people I've sent to that place. And you should go, too.

P.S. I have always been a little unsure that Eric's name is really Eric, especially after I discovered I'd been calling him Ed for several months when I first met him. If you have any insight, please, share it! But for the time being, I'll keep calling him Eric. Besides, I think he hasn't quite figured out how to say my name either. :)

I'm not a serious drinker

And Peter has a way of making it very un-serious.

I started the evening at Fanelli Café in SoHo with Robert and Vera with a sapphire and tonic, extra lime. Headed to dinner in Brooklyn at their new digs. Parting with R&V, I left for Peter's place in the Heights. We started with a bottle of champagne. Gibsons followed with the last of the vodka. And we topped off with a bottle of sake, which he warmed in batches as we worked through it.

Luckily, I hold my liquor rather well for someone under a hundred pounds.

chased by the NYPD

I helped my friend Patti set up a new Mac, wireless network, printer, the works, going till just after midnight. Being on the way east side, she sent me home with cab fare and I walked over to First Avenue to pick one up.

First sign of wrecklessness, the cabbie I flagged down crossed four lanes and cut off others to get to me. I climb in. He doesn't know where my cross streets are so I just tell him to get me down near Washington Square Park. No big deal. Partway through, we're westbound somewhere down in the teens. In front of us are three other cabs and a tow truck. My guy decides he'll cut everyone off on the left and speed through the light. Just as we're getting to the front of the line, the tow truck begins to turn left in front of us. A slamming of brakes, arms waving and lots of cursing. It's an NYPD tow truck. My cab driver jumps out of his car and starts waving and screaming with total belligerence at the uniformed cop. The officer says to him pretty nicely, "Wait right here." Goes back to his truck. Comes back and asks for license and registration, adding that if the driver didn't comply, they'd have a problem. Cabbie cusses him out instead. Backs up (since the tow truck is across our front), and then takes off! I told him "You really need to stop the car." He told me to ignore the guy, he's not a cop.

NYPD truck chases us. Tries to cut us off again. Cabbie says to me, "You see? This guy is crazy!" Finally, the officer blocks us off again. He gets out, he waves at me to get out of the cab. I open the door and begin to climb out. The cabbie TAKES OFF AGAIN while I was getting out, so I shut it and slide back in. Cabbie says, "He's crazy! You're my witness!" The officer gets back into the truck and chases us some more. The cab gets me two blocks from where I need to be. I just want to get out. The tow truck cut in front of us one more time, totally blocking the cabbie. The officer comes out, waves me out. I'm ready this time, and jump out of the car as fast as possible. The officer tells me to get in his truck, he'll drive me home. The cabbie starts screaming at me for his fare and the cop just looked at him and told him he wasn't getting it. He clears off the messy front seat for me, and I climb in. He drives me around to where I needed to be, and says "That guy's crazy. He's going to be arrested."

I ask him, "Would you please wait for me to get inside before you leave?"
"Sure."
And he does.
And I figure I ought to get Patti her cab fare back.

Brooklyn Museum of Art

Currently playing at the Brooklyn Museum of Art are the Annie Leibovitz (through January 21) and Walton Ford (through January 28) exhibits.

New Year's Eve in the Hamptons

Teresa called me to come out to the Hamptons for New Year's Eve.
So I did.

Their house and the view from the deck.

We followed up with a delicious dinner at the Blue Room in East Northport for some seriously good eats, lots of champagne of course, a fun brunch in Southhampton, and a luxury bus ride back to the city.

Night Walk in NYC

If you've never taken a walk through New York City at night during the winter holidays, add it to your list of things to do in life.

NYC holidays

Happy holidays from NYC... I'll be here for a couple of weeks.



photo taken from my old street corner in Greenwich Village, 2003.

Could I ask for anything more?

Happy holidays to us from the generous folks at flickr, now with unlimited uploading of photos.

I can catch up with uploading all my old snaps and have a great place to store the visual adventure of my life.

Water outweighs Gold.

A friend of mine who lives in Africa and India forwarded me a chain e-mail about the Pascua Lama project.

I researched it and found that the Campaign against the Pascua Lama project in the Andean peaks (between Argentina & Chile) is indeed true -- though the folks at Snopes (where, as a responsible netizen, you should always double-check your chain mail & urban legends) indicate that the chain letter doesn't show the complete picture. I also found the petition site to sign where your signature will be counted, rather than signing the chain e-mail.

Here's more information:
Wikipedia on Pascua Lama.
Snopes' review of the chain letter.
MiningWatch, Canada's Campaign against Barrick Gold's Pascua Lama project
Barrick Gold Corporation's response to the chain mail. They also have a Q&A.
Upon making your own judgment of the case, you can sign the petition against mining (or not).

The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

For the better part of a week now, I've been pondering over how to build a philanthropic web site, based on a silly idea. Pete, his wife Heather, and their friend Karys, lucky for us, are much faster thinkers than me: Your Name On Toast :: Your Name, Except on Toast is simply brilliant.

You donate, they toast a piece of bread with your 'message' on it, they post it on their page, ranked by donation, and your piece of toast is a link to your url (in its own way, advertising). "All toasty profits go to Save the Children or World Vision or Christian Aid or Oxfam or something else brilliant. (You can help decide which)."

Have a look at their toasty creations!

I like buildings. Especially green ones.

The National Building Museum oddly appears to be mostly vacant, having formerly been the U.S. Pension Building and has a very unfinished -- temporary -- feel to the empty offices and unused rooms.

I did visit a few cool current exhibits including The Green House: New directions in sustainable architecture and design running May 20, 2006 through June 3, 2007 -- complete with miniature models of homes (and a piece about the affordable housing complex on Colorado in Santa Monica). Also, a continually running long-term exhibit, Cityscapes, highlights many items from the museum's vast collection.

Pictures up soon.

George would've jumped.

I jumped at Mt. Vernon today.

Doheny Thanksgiving 2006

Eileen and I cooked for two days. Just in case a 20-pound turkey was not enough for twelve people, she also picked up a baked ham and a second turkey. "We can't send people home without leftovers!" she cried. We also made two pumpkin pies (even though there was also an apple pie and apple crisp on their way with our guests -- in addition to vanilla ice cream and whipped cream). Our menu below.

Um, there was enough food for everyone. Success.


Pictures of the event to be posted on flickr for viewing soon.

Say Yes.

Beautiful Denise and Wavy Gravy on the morning of Day 3.

Spontaneity has its benefits. I used to live by a "Yes" rule. In college, I had the word "yes" in all kinds of colors and hand drawn fonts on the living room wall. People walked in and asked all the time, "why do you have yesses all over your wall?"

For the years I lived in New York City, my rule (third, among one and two) was to always say "yes" to a social invitation or attractive opportunity if I wasn't already obligated elsewhere. This is how I got to go see Neil Finn live in a theater of only 600 or so hardcore fans when I didn't know who he was, how I danced with Columbians in Sydney when I couldn't dance, and ended up living in Italy when I didn't speak Italian.

The last few months I seem to have neglected the rule, choosing personal time (I covet my time alone, a rare occurrence) over social time.

But then I got an irresistable invitation for a three day be-in to celebrate the 60th birthday of a dear friend on her organic farm on the island of Kauai. I hesitated for a day or two. And then I said YES.

So a little more than a week later, I set my bare feet on this lush island, pitched a tent on the grass, and encountered astoundingly kind and beautiful people. It was a remarkable affair of music, community, food and connection. We ate, sang, jumped, hula-danced, tie-dyed, chanted, and swam in the ocean. I bonded with old friends, recent friends and new ones, and I have a collection of memories I'm still savoring. Gotta go back to saying yes again.

air addiction

So I'm a little addicted to flying... headed to Kauai... eight days later flew to San Francisco for four, on to Santa Monica for two, and am now in Orlando for seven. I move up the coast to Washington and eventually to New York for a visit.

Yet I find myself searching airfare for Cairo, where a friend has recently moved, Italy (my beloved country), and other top cities on my list of places to go. Shockingly, airfare from Rome to Cairo -- nonstop direct on Alitalia -- is a mere $246 (that's with all taxes and fees!!!). Kayak.com is possibly the most recommended place to go if you're looking with lots of flexible search options.

Ed. update: ITA Software is for advanced users searching for great airfare deals.

birthday month

I'm celebrating the sixth birthday party this month...Nigel's bash at the Figueroa, Denise's Venice party, Mica's unofficial party, my party, Don's party, and this weekend, Denise's Kauai three-day be-in.

Note: Most pictures are set private for friends & family on flickr, the internet's greatest tool for onine photo sharing. Photos set to "public" are viewable by all.

Anthony Bourdain at the 92Y

photo from the 92Y web page

Next week, Author/Chef Anthony Bourdain is going to be at the 92Y in NYC.

While I'm sorry to miss it... I can't complain. I'll be eating away at OPA's free BBQ for Ocean Park residents at the Victorian on Main Street, hosted by Duck Duck Mousse catering.

The next day, I'm flying out to Kauai for a three-day birthday celebration of one of the most amazing women I know. The best part is that we'll sleep in tents on her organic farm!

Life is grand.

What I do for W O R K

I've been working lately, mostly in graphic design (print, advertising, corporate identity, invitation design, and copywriting).

For intrepid travelers who'd like a bit of extra insider information on Italy, I've got a couple of off-the-beaten-path locations for you to stay. And, I still offer my custom-tailored luxury tours to Vietnam.

Browse around past graphic work, and then contact me when you need invitations for a special event! Currently, I'm working on incredibly cool custom Bar Mitzvah invites and I'll post the design shortly.

In the meantime, spread the word.

The more work you throw my way, the more chances you have of visiting me in bella Italia.

Ahoy Land Lubbers!

Today is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Aaarrrrr!

Iwo Jima

Joe Rosenthal, the Photographer behind immortal Iwo Jima image dies.
I grew up just about two miles from the memorial in Arlington so this picture is somewhat deeply impressed. In fact, when I first saw it, I thought of it as an image of the monument, not of the actual U.S. marines in Japan.

Hellodeo

Odeo has now made Hellodeo.
Cool.

The Santa Monica Pier

Live music on Thursday nights at the Santa Monica Pier bring lots of locals and tourists together. On Tuesday "Madagascar" showed to a full crowd (including me and the kids); part of a free summer presentation of movies. "An Inconvenient Truth" will be playing on September 26.

FactCheck.org

FactCheck.org - Annenberg Political Fact Check Holding Politicians Accountable.

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

Time Magazine voted this as one of the top 25 sites we can't live without. It's a political fact checker, so stop by and read the facts. Don't be fooled by ads and mischaracterizations in the media.

How To Pay Rent, Get Famous, and Wake Up Before Noon

Matt Yeager is one of the funniest guys I know. He writes How To Pay Rent, Get Famous, and Wake Up Before Noon and is a writer for a new sitcom debuting online, The Burg, set in Brooklyn. Cast and Crew info.

Somebody, make this guy famous.

DOGFEST 2006

I spent all Sunday volunteering at Dogfest, a street party, dog party, and fundraiser for the Cian Griffin Cystic Fibrosis fund. Super fun. Great dogs. Good times.