Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Cracking the Top 5


Famous Author Rob Byrnes has a trivia thing going on over there at his site. I try to play it as often as possible. Yesterday, for the first time ever, I made it into the top 5! If they ever do a theme on farm animals or tobacco production (or consumption), I'm sure to make it up to top 3!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Soon to Be Homeless...or, Do I Really Have to Move Twice?

The Good Nurse and I have a lease that ends on September 30 at our current apartment. We already have another place to live. However, the developer is waiting on a "certificate of occupancy" for our next apartment. Therefore we don't yet have a reliable "move-in" date. We have been discussing contingencies. Our current landlord has said that he won't allow us another month where we are now. So we are preparing for a month of being homeless.

Being homeless for a month or so doesn't really bother me. But what is driving me (nearly) insane is thinking about the fact that we *might* have to move our junque into a storage space and then a month later move it into the new apartment. That irks me to no end.

I suppose after we figure out the logistics, then we can figure out where we might lay our heads each evening. A quick review of the budget reveals that it will NOT be the Waldorf Towers...

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

We Shared a Moment


I was pleased and honored to be the guest of Marc and Jess on Sunday afternoon for an event to benefit LIGALY. The event was "On The Bay" and it happened somewhere in Long Island. The best part was spending time with Marc, Jess and Jeff. After the event we went for a nice dinner somewhere else in Long Island. Then I stayed over and went to work somewhere else in Long Island. (One of these days, I'll learn my Long Island geography a little better.)


I did impose on Jess to snap a photo of me with someone else who was there, though. Maybe you will appreciate seeing it also.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

The King is Gone...

...But Not Forgotten.

Monday, August 13, 2007

The Olympic Torch Must Still Be Burning

I returned last night from a business trip to Atlanta. I stayed in a lovely hotel next to Olympic Centennial Park. Aside from the heat, the trip was great! I got to sneak in a least a bite or two of authentic Southern food, including a dinner at Ms. Pitty Pat's Porch. (Look it up.)

The weirdest thing kept happening, though. Some guy in a red suit carrying a pitchfork was running up to everyone and asking, "what is your secret to keeping it so damn hot here?"

Yeah, so the heat stifles creativity. A little bit. But I'm back in the Big Apple. It doesn't feel much cooler.

Monday, August 06, 2007

4am Fireworks

Last week found me at the Holiday Inn Airport North, South San Francisco, CA. Work took me over to the left coast where I enjoyed much cooler weather. Autumnly, almost. The Bay Area is beautiful, but things still happen there that surprise me.

Item #1: I arrived on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday morning at 4am, fireworks started going off very near the hotel. I chalked it up as most likely being some kids or possibly even some late night drinkers. Then it happened again on Wednesday morning. And again on Thursday morning. They were pretty and I enjoyed them, but I couldn't figure out the reason for this 4am show. Since my body clock was still on New York time, I was already awake, so it was not an annoyance. Definitely a curiosity, though.

Item #2: My flight was due to leave SFO at 8:30 on Friday morning. Happily, though, I was able to catch a flight at 11:55pm on Thursday night. All is normal and well. Until I wake up somewhere over Pennsylvania as the crew is preparing the cabin for landing. That is when a flight attendant "re-seats" next to me a passenger who eagerly proclaims her intoxication. I think her exact words were, "this airplane isn't nearly as high as I am, with all the drugs and drinks I've had..."

But wait, there's more.

She introduces herself as Charlene, and asks me if I visited the Clandestine Club while I was in the Bay Area (I have used different names for her and her club). I confessed that I had not. She allows that she works at the club. She further clarifies by telling me that she is not a stripper, but that she is a "pro." At various points, she also tells me that she is a writer, a graphic designer, a jewelry designer and a fashion photographer. Busy girl, I would say!

The climax, if you will excuse the choice of that word, came as we were on final approach. Charlene asks me to hold her hand because she is scared. She doesn't really give me a choice, though, as she grabs my hand. Since I know, at this point, that she is a "lady for hire," I have to fight the tendency to jerk my hand back...fearing in my mind what her hands might have touched in the past years. As we are descending for the last few hundred feet, she begins making noises like women make during sex (at least in movies). Now I'm beginning to sweat. Why is this making me feel so dirty?

After touchdown, her respiration returns to a rate closer to normal, and she begins crying. She repeatedly asks the flight attendant if the police will be taking her to jail. The flight attendant will only say that an airline representative will escort her to the next gate and that she should have no more drinks or risk missing the next flight.

I manage to sneak out ahead of Charlene, and run to baggage claim, mainly out of fear. After all, Charlene won't be going to baggage claim, in spite of all the baggage she is carrying, figuratively speaking.

Her final destination was Florida, where she planned to meet her mom. I really hope she made it and I hope that she was sober enough to keep her mom from being disappointed. After all, if she enjoys landings as much as it sounds like, then she deserves another flight.