Newspapers

There is no paper quite like the New York Times. Even before I moved here, I read it as often as possible. In my opinion, it's gone downhill a little bit. I think the Times' publishers have tried too hard to make it "America's paper." That's watered it down a bit. Nevertheless, it's a great paper.

On the subway, though, you don't see as many people reading the Times. Maybe it's because it's a normal-sized paper. (Experienced commuters can fold a copy of the Times so only about a 5-6 inch wide section is revealed, thereby not crowding other commuters too much.) Maybe it's because it's up to $2 on weekdays and $5 on Sundays. Maybe it's something else, like those damned earbuds that do NOT prevent music from blaring loudly.

NYC has several papers, but the other "Big 2" are the NY Daily News and the NY Post. For the most part, I wouldn't use the Post to line a bird cage. It is a farce, the National Enquirer printed on a daily basis.

Then there's the Daily News. It isn't the repository of serious journalism that the Times is, but it is a quick, informative read. The editorial page is pretty fair, although some of the letters to the editor make me cringe. And at 50 cents a copy Monday-Friday, 75 cents on Saturday, and $1.25 on Sunday, it's still a bargain.

Sweet!!!

Not only are the Yankees now tied for the best record in the majors, not only is NY 3.5 games ahead of Boston in the American League East, but it turns out that two of the players credited with leading the Red Sux to the title in 2004 and 2007 had the help of some juice - and I'm not talking about orange juice.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/sports/baseball/31doping.html?hp

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2009/07/30/2009-07-30_report_boston_red_sox_sluggers.html

Maybe Theo Epstein should go ahead and change the team name to the Roid Sox. I have a ticket to the game when those bums come to The Stadium on August 7. Oooooooh, it's gonna be fun!

Sweet!!!

Egad! That's tacky!

Very close to the building where I work is Grant's Tomb. (Old riddle: Who's buried in Grant's Tomb? No one. President & Mrs. Grant are entombed, not buried.) It's really a beautiful structure and well worth the tour. The NFT rates Grant's Tomb as one of the best "hidden secrets" on the Upper West Side. Well, I don't know that I'd go that far, but it is nice.

My mom's maiden name is Grant. Some in the family claim we're connected to Ulysses S. Grant, while others say we aren't. I don't know, and it really isn't germane to this blog.

What is germane is that this beautiful monument is marred! It's surrounded on three sides by these surreal, absolutely tacky mosaic benches. Yesterday, a colleague of mine and I braved the July humidity and ate our lunch there.

I almost wish I had had some sort of inebriant. As gabby as I am, I am almost mute trying to describe these things. I think John Lennon had these in mind when he was singing "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." There's one section in particular that depicts several faces. I think one of them is William Shakespeare, but he also looks like Kyle's dad from South Park. There was another depiction nearby that tried to look Greek. All I could think of were the plates from La Cage Aux Folles / The Birdcage and wouldn't be surprised to see a delegation from the Village making jokes about sitting on penises.

Oh, well, I suppose tackiness serves the fitting contrast leading to better appreciation of the tasteful.

MTA - Bus Style

I've shared with you a few experiences about the subway, but a lot of commuting takes place on the bus as well. This morning was a bit muggy, so I didn't feel like walking the 3/4 mile from the subway station to the office. (My co-workers appreciate that as well.)

The quickest bus for me to take is the M60. If you've ever flown into or out NYC through LaGuardia Airport, you may have taken the M60. Cheaper than a taxi, though not quite as adventuresome. I usually skip it, though, and take the M104. the M104 takes a little longer but is never as crowded.

This morning, as I came out of the subway station at 125th and St. Nicholas, there was the M60. I was just able to squeeze on. The annoying thing is that there were empty seats in the back. People just bunch up and won't move back. Some drivers won't move the bus until they do - with absolute reluctance and a bunch of complaints.

I can't believe this is what Rosa Parks had in mind.

I'm built like a football player, albeit an out-of-shape football player. I just start moving back, saying, "Excuse me, excuse me..." I get some glares and a few mutters, but once I get about halfway back, it's easy to walk. Even if there aren't any seats towards the back, it's easier to hold onto the pole.

There is one rule of etiquette that is much better observed on buses instead of subways, though. The unwritten rule for both is to let exiting commuters get off first before boarding. That's a joke on the subway, but it's pretty much followed on the bus. If for no other reason, the driver will tell people, "Let 'em off, let 'em off!"

Southern wedding

Ok, so this doesn't really have anything to do with New York, except that it made me appreciate NYC even more.

Recently, I returned to the South for the wedding of one of my nieces. I did enjoy being with my family again, although it was very hot. My daughter, who isn't quite 2 yet, is not accustomed to that kind of heat and humidity. On the first day, she and I went with my mother and her husband to pick up some things from various stores. Each time we'd leave the air-conditioned stores and walk into the heat, my daughter would say, "Hot! Hot!"

On top of that, my niece opted for an outdoor wedding. In late June. At 1:00. Egad! I thought I was going to dissolve into a pool of perspiration. As we were leaving, my wife asked, "How did we ever do this on a regular basis?"

The coup de grace, though, came at the rehearsal dinner. A cousin of my niece's fiance/husband offered a toast. She talked about my niece's fiance/husband's love of hunting and proceeded to weave this train wreck of an extended metaphor comparing their relationship / engagement / wedding to a deer hunting trip. The woman even compared my niece to a 12-point buck. How utterly moronic! At the very least, couldn't she have compared my niece to a doe? In her addled mind, popping the question was equal to raising the rifle and setting the deer (my niece) in the sights.

It gets worse, if you can believe it. The exchange of vows would be when he would pull the trigger. Mush-for-brains even said that when her cousin said, "I do," it would hit the target and my niece would jump "...even higher than that 12-point buck." Finally, she drew a close to this crap - which she was reading from a memo pad - and invited everyone to raise their glasses to toast the couple. As she raised her own glass, she revealed that she hadn't even put anything in her glass. It still had a folded dinner napkin in it. I wanted to call out one of my favorite NY expressions: "Go stab yourself 27 times in the eye with a dull fork, you moron!"

I can only hope that my niece will be happy.

Neighbor is gone =(

If anything, New York City is a transient place. I mentioned in yesterday's blog that I had helped a neighbor move out of his apartment. He's moving to Colorado, where he has family. Last night, after we had moved almost everything out, he and his sister came over to our apartment to have some pizza and have a time of farewell. I'm really going to miss him. He had only lived in our building for about 15 months, but he's a nice, trustworthy guy.

Good luck, "bread".

Manhattanhenge

Wow! I knew it had been awhile since I added anything to this blog, but I didn't realize it had been over a month. (More on that soon - with descriptions of a wedding in the South, agency restructuring, and a lot of stress!)

A good neighbor is moving from our apartment building. I really hate to see him go, but I'm inclined to think it's best for him. He's gone through a lot of crap this year, and while I think NYC is a fantastic place for new beginnings, its support systems can fall short. In our building, I'd say that most people are friendly, but they aren't particularly sociable. So, he's heading out to Colorado, where he has family.

After helping schlepp some boxes down for him yesterday, I rinsed off to try to catch a twice-annual solar phenomenon called "Manhattanhenge." With its grid system and tall buildings, as well as its western border of the Hudson River, two time each year, the setting sun is perfectly aligned with the east-west streets on Manhattan. The skyscrapers make a precise frame.

Since the best views of this are on the east side, I thought I'd make better time by transferring to the #4 at Yankee Stadium. Unfortunately, instead of running express, the train made all local stops, and by the time I got out at Grand Central, the sun was almost completely set. I was only able to see the top rim of the setting sun, but it was still cool. The weather was gorgeous, and I walked over to Bryant Park before returning home.

Oh well, I'll try again next year.