This is the longest winter of my NYC life. While I like tights and scarves more than the average person, I’m ready to step outside without a coat.
I refuse to buy spring clothes, because 1) it’s not like I can wear them anyway, 2) I don’t really like warm weather clothing, and 3) I’m operating under this new mantra of “Less space, less stuff, more life.”
I totally lifted that last reason from an episode of Oprah I saw when I was really sick at the beginning of the year. It was the first and last time I ever watched the show - perhaps I’m missing all sorts of other gems.
Anyway, I’m glad I saw that episode and not the one about what one’s poop may be trying to communicate.
When the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus comes to NYC each year, it promises fun for all ages. The NYC Elephant Parade, a sort of circus-welcoming tradition, is better suited to those of us without strict bedtimes.
Each spring during the wee hours of some day in March, elephants get off the circus train in Queens and walk through the Mid-Town Tunnel to Madison Square Garden. This is a necessity, as the elephants can’t ride the Penn Station escalators. But if you want, go ahead and imagine how that might play out.
Giant pachyderms lumbering down 34th Street! In one of the busiest areas of the city! In the same spot where people from New Jersey and Long Island weasel their way into Manhattan!
Lemme be more graphic: My dad has had to get cancerous chunks of skin cut off his arms and nose. It’s painful and expensive and I’m sure he prefers to keep his body parts where they normally go. Most of us do.
Then a few years ago, my dad underwent chemotherapy. He was weak and nauseous throughout. It’s really hard to see what’s supposed to be a treatment make someone you love even more ill.
Skin cancer is more common in people with light-colored eyes and fair skin. I have blue eyes and very fair skin with pink undertones.
Russian people at Brighton Beach have actually shielded their eyes when I took off my wrap and revealed two black strips of bikini and a whole lot more of “Goddamn, she’s a ghost.”
I’m getting really tired of people who say “Spring has sprung,” but I think it may be time to pack up all the warm, woolen clothing I’ve been wearing for months.
Don’t say this aloud, though. It seems there’s some sort of strange curse unleashed when one remarks that the weather’s finally warming up.
Ahem. I know it’s technically spring, and I certainly hope to start dressing like it. Emphasis on the tentative. Ahem.
Mike started this whole gringo-fied Mexican food lunch trend, and I had to continue it. Like him, I bought a rotisserie chicken and started to think about what I could put it inside to make a simple meal.
Then the clouds parted, and a deep voice like that of James Earl Jones, but more judgmental, boomed, “Chimichangassssss….”
Oh, blast. I’m starting to feel like I’ve created a food blog. This is not a good situation for me, a person who thinks of food mostly in terms of “ewww” and “meh,” with the highest rating being “good.”
For me, life is more about burning calories than consuming them. I mean, I still cut the crust off my sandwiches.
Last night I ate lobster with a companion. I shook a claw tentatively and squeaked, “Can I name him?”
Some of the most interesting comments I receive are about teaching in NYC. Longtime readers (or people who’ve read the About page) know that I started blogging to chronicle my first two years as a middle school teacher in Harlem.
Those first two years turned out to be my last two years.
It was an experience I don’t regret, but it showed me that I didn’t want to stay in the education field for myriad reasons.
@lisettevoytko Nope! My doppelganger, I guess. 12 hours ago
"Leadership is action, not position." - Donald H. McGannon Sep 2, 2010
What does Twitter link wrapping mean for URL shorteners like bit.ly? (This is the part where I'd link the answer, but I don't know it yet). Sep 1, 2010
