Overheard in NYC

Yesterday I was in a bagel shop and a woman walked in to order an iced coffee. This is how she ordered it:

"I'd like an iced coffee, lowfat milk, one Equal, one Sweet n' Low but put the Equal and Sweet n' Low in last because if you put it in first it sinks to the bottom."

First of all, gross. Equal AND Sweet n' Low? Why? And exactly how sweet is your tooth? Before I curbed my sugar intake I would put one Sweet n' Low in my iced coffee and that was pretty sweet.

Second of all, I do have to give the woman props for knowing exactly how she likes her coffee. In this town where so many places add your milk and sugar for you (something I can't stand by the way), you have to be specific or your coffee can be undrinkable. I know from experience.

For more things overheard in New York go here.

It's back!

This is one of my favorite shows on television and I am so excited it is back on. However, I think the producers and the editors are getting a bit predictable in their set-ups. I watched the first episode last night and I could pretty much predict that the person whose design initially seemed like a complete failure would make the cut and the person who was (one of) the cockiest in the interviews would be the first one eliminated. I also predicted that despite the fact that Blayne's outfit was HI-DE-OUS, he is playing the role of the quirky, flamboyant designer this season and probably won't be eliminated any time soon. This was the role Christian played last season but Christian had the chops and ended up going on to win. Based on his design last night, Blayne's got some work to do to prove himself.

Don't let me down Project Runway! Let's shake things up a bit please.

The unexpected

You see a lot of things in New York City - crazy hair, crazy clothes, crazy people. One thing you don't see much of: a woman in a burka walking down the sidewalk. Given New York's large population and given what must be a huge Muslim community, I was surprised at my surprise. Why don't we see more of this here? I see plenty of Orthodox Jewish women with their long skirts, long sleeves, dowdy shoes and wigs (I just learned that they wear wigs because they aren't supposed to show their real hair - wow). But today was the first day I saw a woman in a burka in New York City.

Finally

I finally watched the last two episodes of The Sopranos last night. I was prepared with my fear filter because some of the earlier episodes in the final season were very hard to watch. Some because of the violence and some because it was hard to let beloved/hated characters go or watch the ones I had hope for do something heinously unbelievable. As much as I can't stand to watch anything violent, I loved this show. It was so unbelievably well-written. The characters so complex. In one episode I could go from laughing at Carmella to being disgusted by her to feeling sorry for her. Edie Falco made that character. As an actor, I was consistently amazed by her ability to play Carmella without a hint of caricature or self-consciousness. She could be irate at Tony for his gangster ways but turn into pudding when he bought her an expensive watch. I loved watching Carmella and Tony manipulate their children without even realizing they were doing it and watching the whiny spoiled brats easily drop their angst in exchange for a set of car keys.

I won't spoil anything in case anyone reading this hasn't seen it, but the series finale was building to such a wonderful place in the last moments. I was so close to saying aloud "this is the best series finale ever" - a final look at the beloved Soprano family, a cheesy but awesome soundtrack making me want to laugh and cry, suspense up to the very last moments - when it ended abruptly. No Country for Old Men abruptly. I know I'm way behind, but I might have to spend some time reading old online discussions about this in an attempt to find my own closure.

So, farewell Soprano family. Thanks for a terrific seven years.

Blog paralysis

I do not own a laptop. We have a desktop and Rich has a laptop for work (so he can take his work wherever he goes - yippee). Because I do not own a laptop, I don't really blog when I go away. This leads to blog paralysis when I get back because I always have intentions of coming home and writing about our recent trip, maybe posting some photos, but then I inevitably have a bunch of other stuff I have to do when I get home - laundry, housework, jetlag recovery, etc. - and I don't make the time to sit and write. Then I get back to my life and encounter things in my day that I think I should blog about but then I don't and I just further and further into my blog hole and start thinking I need to write a catch-up entry but that will take forever and spending that much time blogging gets daunting so I don't write and on and on the cycle goes.

So, my new philosophy is to stop thinking about my imaginary blog hole and just write. Sorry to all three of you who read this that you won't get the exciting details of taking a 10.5 hour flight with a toddler. I know it's killing you. I am back in the present moment and doing my best to stay here.

Shiny, happy people

I love this video. Whenever I find myself thinking the world is full of people blowing each other up, I am going to watch this video to remind myself that 99% of people in this world are good and fun and love to dance just like everyone else. This video also makes me realize how neglected my passport is.