Ack!

the Creatures in my Head.
Daily illustrations by Andrew Bell

Great little joys to greet you every morning.
Very cute. And damn, that's diligence!

How Rich Are You?

My sisters and I often talk about how rich our lives are in our experiences, in our family, in the friends that surround us. Growing up, my dad (a tri-lingual former intelligence director) worked as a cashier at a grocery store for 27 years, bought a house and got five of us through college with a piddly salary, and my mom's hard work from home. As kids, we WORKED HARD. We helped our parents through tough times, we sold food at the county fair (since I was seven until I was 21), we labeled packages, and had assembly lines. Though we were allowed only one pair of shoes a year, wore hand-me-downs from the local charities, and were thrilled to receive one new toy under the Christmas tree, we never considered ourselves want for anything. In fact, we had a pretty perfect childhood and we look back on it rather fondly.

As an adult, single and financially stable, I always appreciated that I lived relatively comfortably - even when I'm unemployed and paying student loans. In fact, I think I even blogged about it a few blogs ago, aware I was 'up there' for what I ought to be grateful. I spent a year in Vietnam where the people I knew made $50 U.S. dollars a month (and sent money home to provide for their families outside of the city). I watched my cousins, who couldn't flee in 1975, selling fabrics in the 98-degree market - could've been me. Children playing with rubber bands, sticks and stones. My appreciation for my environment and opportunities, my life in America, for what I actually have, while always there, grew. I don't think most people realize how well off they are, but here's a REALITY CHECK. See how rich you are.

This is how I once stacked up in my last job (I've had six in ten years). Now that I'm retired/unemployed/a vagabond, I'm sure my ratings have dropped a few billion.

You are in the top 0.77% richest people in the world.
There are 5,953,760,935 people poorer than you.
Oh, and in case you’re interested you are the 46,239,065 richest person in the world.

Another thing to note: only 107,565 in the world make more than $200,000 a year.

It's a lot to be grateful for. And I'm happy to donate to several charities a year. If you're looking for a place to donate, please read about my friend Jeff Dreiblatt's Paradise Ride event and consider an hour's salary.

This blog has moved

If you still have a bookmark to the old blog, http://www.bigappleliving.blogspot.com, please change it to the new one.

New posts will not get synced to this page.

March 15, 2006. update: Nevermind, this has been moved back to http://bigappleliving.blogspot.com

Google Blog

Google Blog has begun.

new digs

Blogger went through a major overhaul, and prompted me to do the same. Get your blog here.
And look, a place for you to talk back!

Brood X (that's ten)

How could I not blog about it?

The Economist wrote about it and so did National Geographic. National Geographic also has a good "quick facts" on the lower right column of the page. And even better, they can tell you how best to prepare cicadas for a meal.

All I remember about the swarm in 1987 is that they blanketed the area, and you couldn't help but crunch them under your feet because they were literally all over the ground. I guess the point to remember however, is that for every mating couple, the females lay 400-600 eggs, which then hatch, and these billions of cicada nymphs fall from the trees to burrow in the ground. Mental Note: If you don't want them on your head, stay away from trees!

Apparently, Brood X is the largest of the twelve broods of the 17-year cicada (there are three additional 13-year broods). Disgusting. Good thing I'll be in California for 3 weeks.

Just like that.

OK, so my plans changed, just like that. Like always. I forget what I've told anyone and everyone's got a different story whether I told it or whether they heard it from someone else.

First, a gmail update. I sent an update to about 300 peeps yesterday and G-Mail is just brilliant. It collected every person's response to my message, it color coded each person, and when I responded to each person and they sent a follow-up response, it keeps their color for each conversation. Therefore, conversations within conversations. I know, this doesn't make sense to some of you, but believe me, it's an amazing and very cool feature, and it's keeps everything so neat and tidy.

So the update said I was going to be in Santa Monica in June, and I booked my ticket tonight -- I'm going to be around in May instead, leaving in a couple of weeks, and then going to stay there for about three. At least now I know where I'll be past May 30th -- in Santa Monica until June 16th. Now I have to figure out where I'm going to be beyond June 16th.

I plan on going to Rehobeth for a weekend in late June (to finally meet Kurt), and possibly a quick trip back to the city. Dad's asked me to escort him on a trip to visit his 96-year old brother up in Boston (must travel by ground as Dad -- who was trained to jump out of airplanes in the military -- has an aversion to flying). And maybe by the time I get back, the billions of cicadas will be gone.

naturally ephemeral

Andy Goldsworthy is one of my favorite sculptors, whose work I've been following for over ten years. He was invited by the Met Museum this year to create the installation for the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden. The special exhibition just opened today, and if you want, you can read the Met's press release. You can also try to go see the documentary on him, Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time which will be screened at the Met. Unfortunately, I missed the chance to sit in on one of his lectures on Saturday!

The Roof will be open May 4, 2004–October 31, 2004.
The Met is open late on Friday and Saturday evenings until 9:00 p.m., and closed on Mondays except for certain holiday Mondays (listed on their site, here).

In 2000, I went to see Goldsworthy's special exhibition at Storm King Art Center, a unique 500-acre outdoor art center whose collection includes gigantic Calders, a 40-ton granite sculpture by Isamu Noguchi that you can sit on and in, and Goldsworthy's 2,278 foot wall built over two years (the other installations are no longer there). If you ever want someplace to go on the weekend away from the city, Storm King is a great spot for a picnic.

Paradise Ride

Some of you may have met my dear friend Jeff at my party the other night. In his past four rides, Jeff raised more than $30,000 on his own to benefit three comprehensive AIDS service organizations in Hawaii: Life Foundation in Honolulu on the island of Oahu, Malama Pono Kauai AIDS Project, and Maui AIDS Foundation which serves the islands of Maui, Lana'i and Moloka'i.

His goal is to raise at least $6000 this year.

It is a great, grass-roots fundraiser and the people of Hawaii can really use the support.

You can easily donate online and visit his personal web page to help Jeff's efforts in Hawaii!

Cornelia Street Goodbyes

After two years living in the heart of Greenwich Village, I packed up my belongings, drove a truck to Arlington, Virginia, unloaded things into storage, and returned to New York on a bus. I cooked dinner (on borrowed pots, pans, utensils and furniture from my fabulous neighbors) for a group of about 60 people who kindly bore through the disorganization of it all and enjoyed themselves in our courtyard. If you're looking for the Beef with Lemongrass recipe, you'll have to wait for my mom's cookbook. It's a family secret; and trust me, we're WORKING on it!

Pictures of the party are on ofoto so have a look. If you're looking for a tiramisu recipe, I'll eventually stop being lazy enough to post the translation here. The difference in the brand of mascarpone is key -- the one I made for Gene and Marianne a few weeks ago was the best, and you can buy the tub of mascarpone at FAICCO's Pork Store on Bleecker Street. The cookies must be Pavesi Pavesini which can be bought in the Italian Food Center on Mott and Grand (I think that's where it is). It's on a northwestern corner in Little Italy at 186 Grand Street. The espresso, of course, is Italian Espresso from the Porto Rico Importing Company.

If I promised anyone anything, please email and remind me because I have no idea what I told anyone that night.

If you're wondering where I am at the moment, I am physically in Arlington until the end of May. Beyond May, I can not tell 'cause I have no idea where I'm going to be. If you keep reading this, or read the East West Adventures blog, you should get a pretty good picture of where I'll be.

You've got Gmail!

so glad i got back into the blogging thing recently 'cause it had been awhile, and i've had my blog account since ... 2000? In fact, I even became a BloggerPro user when it was first introduced in ...2001? 02? -- which adds a lot of features -- if you don't own a Mac (which I do). Doesn't matter though. I sent in my money for BloggerPro as a token of thanks for letting me have my free blogger accounts. I don't mind not being able to use those extra features.

But today, being a devoted Blogger user has paid off. When everyone I know was going to Movable Type, Typepad... I logged in to my Blogger home page and saw my invitation to be sign up for a beta account of Gmail. In Google's Gmail intro e-mail message they tell you, "You're one of the very first people to use Gmail" and go on to say how valuable your feedback is to them. The coveted gmail account, and I got it for loyalty to Blogger (and apparently, you can't open a new account to get the invitation, nor will you have gotten the invitation if you haven't blogged "in a while" they say). Pretty cool.

Besides, maybe they knew I quit my job and was about to go on another traveling spree, when I blog nearly daily. Heh heh. Do you know that at Google, they require you to spend 20% of your time (that is, one day out of the five weekly) to work on your OWN PERSONAL project, unrelated to your work there? That's how Gmail was born. Amazing company.

Don't know why so many people are up in arms about their computers scanning the lexicon on your screen to place targeted, yet unobtrusive text ads to the side of your email. Shit, your grocery discount card tells the grocery chain exactly what you eat, whether or not you buy tampons, TV dinners, and the kind of toilet paper you use. Your credit card companies have a record of every purchase you've ever made using their cards. In fact, the ads are interesting as far as ads go. Got a message about a friend's studio sale in Brooklyn and a couple of good ads -- only two mind you -- that had to do with Brooklyn guides (About Guide to Brooklyn as in about.com and Hello Brooklyn) came up which I thought would be RATHER USEFUL! In addition to that, there is a very clear link just below these that leads you to a page that EXPLAINS how everything is occurring through Google. They know WAY less about you than your grocery store or CVS store.

yum

Image is the property of Vanilla Bicycles.

Vanilla bicycles are gorgeous. So this is what people do with all their extra money. The lugs are beautiful. Man, I want one! Custom everything too.

like an 8-foot soda straw

WOW. i said it out loud. you might too.
Read today's NY Times article about the new Hubble Images and then go to the NASA official web site for more info on the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. They say it's a narrow and deep view, like "looking through an 8-foot soda straw." You can also watch quicktime movies and other panned images from the nasa site on the Ultra Deep Field. Really amazing.


For a full size image, click on the photo.
Photo credit: NASA/ESA/S. Beckwith(STScI) and The HUDF Team.

i love little italy

For my 30th birthday last October, Agnese, the housekeeper of our Tuscan villa, made my birthday dinner including the most delicious tiramisu I've ever devoured. I posted the recipe a few blogs ago, and went on a mad search for PAVESI brand Pavesini biscotti. They're these little cookies that are similar to the french langues de chat, and they're used in authentic tiramisu in Italy -- not the Savoiardi or lady fingers which are too thick and spongy. Looking everywhere online, I finally found ONE U.S. supplier, in North Carolina, selling for a "discount" at $5.99 a package. Forget it. I saw them for less than 3 euro in Italy. I went on a trek today to Little Italy in NYC. The first italian grocer's I went to, "Italian Food Center" on the corner of Grand and Mulberry Streets had a package -- the last package -- for $2.99. Perfect. I picked up my cookies and I'll head back next week to buy the mascarpone. I'll keep you posted how the tiramisu turns out. I love that you can get just about anything in New York City, especially in Little Italy and Chinatown without having to pay all those damned gourmet prices!

More on the media

Want to know how educational programming for children is plummeting, and other fun facts about the Media in the United States? Not as fun as the Necco candy facts I posted a couple of days ago, but far more fascinating.

Ten Things you ought to know about Big Media.

Two blogs in one.

I was in Saigon, Vietnam when the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked. I spent my first 25 years living in Arlington, VA, a mile from the Pentagon and the following five years in New York City, a mile from the two towers. My home -- and my home -- were attacked and I was, like the Americans who were my friends and family, emotionally shocked. People in Vietnam -- a communist country with state controlled papers -- said to me, "oh, but Hani, did you know that no Vietnamese people died? The newspaper said so."

"ARE YOU JOKING?" That's what I asked them incredulously. "If I was in one of those towers, I would have been reported as an American death."Do you believe EVERYTHING you read?" I'd say.

"What do you mean?" they'd ask, in total surprise, like I grew three heads. It has never occurred to most Vietnamese citizens that if they read something in print, it may not be true. That if ANYTHING is in print, then it must be true. Because it's in print. The Vietnamese education system does not allow the free thinking we were raised with here in America -- to question what you're told. To think outside of the box. To create. To innovate.

Who controls print? The communist government -- to benefit the people. This is why when I worked in Vietnam, we had to pay a government censor to censor our publication -- a directory listing of restaurants and shops. Once, I gave an employee the task of designing a new notepad with our new company logo. I gave him a sample -- for size and ideas -- of a notepad with our old rectangular logo placed along the bottom of the sheet. How did he 'design' the new notepad? He placed our new square logo -- stretched out and distorted into the shape of the old logo, so it would fit on the bottom of the sheet, just like the sample notepad I had given him. The Vietnamese fit square pegs into round holes -- and lack imagination, creativity, and innovation -- because they were taught great things, like respect for their teachers and their elders. They were taught to never question authority. Well, isn't the state-controlled media an authority? So, goes the logic, it is not to be questioned. Unfortunately, like the Communist-educated Vietnamese who were never given the choice, most Americans never question the media input they absorb everyday.

The voter fund of Moveon.org, an online advocacy group in the United States, recently sponsored a contest for Bush in 30 seconds ad spots. They were willing to pay the $2 million for a 30 second spot during the Super Bowl, but CBS refuses to air it. They say they don't want to cause controversy. Sources say that CBS, however, will air the advocacy commercials of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy -- which in the past has casually compared drug use with supporting terrorism -- a notably controversial piece.

You don't suppose it has anything to do with Viacom -- CBS's parent company -- lobbying for the lifting of Federal Communications Commission limits on media consolidation and conglomeration do you?

Nearly every channel you watch on television, cable, and satellite; every channel you listen to on the radio; movies you watch; and newspapers and magazines you read are owned by a mere six corporations owned by a mere few people, predominantly affluent white male. Kind of scary, don't you think? The fact that so much of our media is owned by so few people who regularly lobby the government to make their wishes come true -- paid for in the form of political contributions -- makes me begin to think that our media is becoming state run. Isn't it?

I [heart] you

I was at the Porto Rico Importing Company trying to use up my $84 of credit there (don't ask). Since I can only drink so much coffee on my own, I noticed they had the original Necco Sweetheart Conversation Heart Candy for a mere $3 a pound -- about 500 or so candies.

While the company history is pretty amazing -- they've been making candy since 1847 and the original recipe for the hearts began as the wafers (still sold today) since 1866. In recent years, they've acquired ten companies and they're debt-free. They've been using the SAME machines to make the candy since 1908 (or replicas), and they consult the original blueprints all the time to make repairs. They do zero consumer marketing. The most interesting tidbit on the company's fun facts page? "In very low humidity NECCO Wintergreen Wafers spark in the dark when broken." Those would be the pink ones.

Since the 1990's they started to change a handful of the sayings each year to reflect the times. This year's new sayings, as stated on their site, "promote sweet dreams and new beginnings:" [although "IM Me" is a bit odd!]
3 Wishes
Ever After
New You
Magic
Dream
Charm Me
Start Now
New Love
IM Me
I [heart] You

That last one is in honor of the new Love postage stamp.

The Culture of Fear

I keep meaning to read Barry Glassner's book, The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things featured in Bowling for Columbine. Even while I haven't, I completely understand his angle -- and am glad that I don't watch TV.

It's sad.
These are headlines for today's news, literally, copy and pasted from WNBC's website:

Man Shot Twice In Head On Manhattan Subway Train
Woman Dies After Being Struck By Two Hit-And-Run Drivers
Newborn Girl Found Dead On Atlantic County Beach
Police Officer Kills Himself In Standoff With Authorities
Long Island Teen Killed While Skiing Upstate
N.J. Couple Finds Grieving Mother's Message In Bottle
L.I. Bishop Holds Extraordinary Meeting With Diocese's Priests
Sharpton Leaves Campaign Trail For MLK Day But Stays On Message
New Jersey Not Most Corrupt, But More Than Most
Autopsy Confirms Woman's Electrocution
City Says No To 'Oy Vey' In Brooklyn
Police: Teenager Fatally Stabs Father, Injures Brother
Cab Driver Charged With Raping Passenger
Physician, Former Drug Company Exec Charged In Wife's Slaying
Flight Instructor, Student From N.J. Die In Fla. Plane Crash
Mourners Gather In Randolph For Cheerleader's Funeral
Man Falls Through Ice On Lake, Apparently Drowns
Woman Dies After Clothes Catch Fire

Deep Freeze

In my teeny tiny village studio, I have a teeny tiny fridge. It's one of those half-size ones, a little bigger than what you had in college. And it has one of those dinky little freezer shelves -- not much use ever, and a pain in the ass to defrost. Since I just got a Fresh Direct delivery yesterday, and I haven't had a chance yet to bake my fresh parbaked bread that they make, I'm taking advantage of the New York chill, and I'm storing the breads on the fire escape in their sealed bags in an additional bag (wouldn't want any fire escape drippings from the neighbor upstairs)... Seems to be keeping them pretty well frozen. While my annual salary is probably more than 95% of the world population, I haven't a decent place to store my food -- the life of lower-middle class Big Apple Living.

Tiramisu d'Agnese

Still haven't had time to translate, but if you know Italian, you're in luck. If not, try plugging it into a translation program, and then decipher from there.

INGREDIENTI
5 UOVA
5 CUCCHIAI DI ZUCCHERO
GR 200 BISCOTTI PAVESINI OR SAVOIARDI (biscuits)
GR 500 MASCARPONE
1 MOCA DI CAFFE

PROCEDIMENTO
5 cucchiai di zucchero unire solo il rosso dell'uovo (tuorlo) e mescolare. Poi unire il mascarpone e mescolare bene . Separatamente montare le chiare ben solide e unire il tutto mescolando bene. Prendere i PAVESINI e bagnarli leggermente nel caffe e stenderli nel contenitore di portata. Fare un suolo di biscotti e 1 di crema fino alla fine. Spolverare di cioccolato il sopra e mettere in frigo per 2 ore circa.

Shaking Up the Governor

The first time I spoke to the governor, it was in August 2003 in the stairwell at work, walking down 42 flights of stairs with him and several others in the New York City blackout. I don't think he remembers.

This morning I was formally introduced to the charismatic Governor Cuomo. We shook hands. He paused.

"Do you play tennis?" he asked.
"No, I don't."
"Let me shake your hand again." We shook. "Do you lift weights?"
"No, I don't," I shook my head grinning.
"Karate?" he asked, seeking out a reason for the strength behind the shake.
"No."
"Anything?"
I confessed. "No, nothing. I shake hands."

After he watched a little presentation that I created for the firm, he turned to me and said "Let me shake your left hand."

We talked about the presentation a little and we parted, he said, "You're very valuable to the firm."

Cool.

long time no hear

ok ok, so everyone says to me, "hey, hani, you haven't posted to you blog in months" so before my readership is reduced to one (my mom), i suppose i better start up again.

Italy was fabulous -- I went in October for my 30th Birthday and of course, loved it so much, I went back for New Year's. We rented a villa in Segromigno in Monte, just outside of Lucca and it was gorgeous. 17th century farmhouse, surrounded by olive groves and grapevines, gravel paths and cypress trees in rows. If you're interested at all, the company from whom we rented was Salogi, and the villa itself was Il Leccio. Marcello is the owner; a veritably sweet italian agriculturist, and the Fattoria-Mansi-Bernardini villas (there are five homes for vacation rental on the estate) are managed by the very kind Monica. Agnese was our housekeeper and she made my birthday dinner for me, complete with the most amazing tiramisu I've ever had. Recipe forthcoming, though it is in italian at the moment and I haven't had the time to translate.

art photos and video

A couple of weeks ago I went to MoMA to see the Max Beckman exhibit, Ansel Adams at 100, and the Andy Warhol: Screen Tests. All pretty cool. The Beckman and Adams exhibits stand on their own, and the Warhol screen tests are worth seeing only if you're already out there. Adams' show are mostly small prints, with so many from the early years and a single lone city shot of downtown New York which I happened to really love.

Warhol ends soon on September 1, Beckman on September 29. Adams will be around awhile as it just opened up last month. By the way, don't forget that MoMA offers Pay-what-you wish admission on Fridays from 4:00-7:45 p.m.
Adults $12; Students (with current identification) and seniors (65 and over) $8.50; Children under 16 accompanied by an adult free

soar.

Winged Migration a Jacques Perrin documentary. Just stunning.

Air Family

My sister got married at a food and wine museum. Need I say more?

Two weeks ago, we all went out to Napa, California to celebrate the marriage of Kiki and Emil at Copia - the same place where Julia Child celebrated her birthday. The family all got together in a gorgeous house in Napa Valley, we ate well, drank well, and were awfully merry. Cousins re-unite. Totally fun. Had a Mother's Day Brunch the following Sunday in honor of mom and Joan (Emil's mom), and all the other moms who joined us. Man, I love my family.

Copia

Live webcam of Copia
Here's a live web cam of where the wedding was held (the ceremony took place down on the lower left corner of the web image where those tables and chairs are). The cocktail and photos were taken in the gardens.

Verizon Sucks

I can't even go into it.
But I haven't had a dial tone on my phone for five days now.

wish list

if i had a wish list, the 30GB version of this would be number one:
Apple iPod

snap

look at what i got.
cool.

Easter Sunday

Went to Washington Square Park today and studied a bit of Italian but spent more time with my eyes closed and face to the sun as I sat on a park bench. Saw about two dozen different breeds of dog walk by including an albino doberman. Kind of like that scene in Disney's 101 Dalmations, the owners generally appeared to match their dogs. Walked around the neighborhood just a bit but many of the shops, owned by Italians, were all closed for Easter Sunday. Was an especially beautiful day in the city and pretty peaceful actually.