The Dirty Look

On the train this morning two people who were sitting down got up and exited the train. Two women standing next to me immediately sat down in the empty seats. They were quite comfortable but each smaller than their predecessor which left some room on the seat. At the next station a woman manuevered her way to the empty space and smushed herself in the available space. I watched the woman seated next to the smusher give her the dirtiest look I have seen in a long time. For some strange reason the whole episode was a great way to start my day.

City Transport Skills

While living in Los Angeles I became quite good at looking ahead while driving on the city's highways. The best drivers acquired this skill because ultimately they had to plot out their route to get around the slowpokes in their way. Another key to decreasing traffic is to learn how to properly merge on and off major highways or roads. Someone who couldn't merge correctly would end up causing a lot of aggrevation to those impatiently waiting behind. These transportation skills were essential to get anywhere in a timely matter and avoid traffic pitfalls in the jungles of Los Angeles. Lately I've noticed that the same skills are necessary here in Manhattan, most just don't use metal cages on wheels with bad music blaring.

Here people jockey for position within the subway cars or buses. I know I'm very aware when my stop is coming so I can move closer to the doors in order to beat slower people up the stairs and out of the station. In the morning I get out at a very busy subway station. Inevitably there are close to 80 people who take my chosen exit and climb the three sets of stairs up and out. Typically I will use the skills I acquired on the LA roads to manuever myself closest to the exit by constantly merging into gaps left by slower folk. It could shave off an incredible 10 seconds from my commute time. And we all know time is money.

It was surprising to learn that transportation skills can be used regardless if you're in a car. I don't know why it came as an epiphany on my commute this morning, but I'm glad it did because it connects what I learned in LA with my present life in NYC. For some reason, that was comforting to know.

Falling from the Sky

When I walked out the door of my apartment building this morning I noticed something falling from the sky. It was white, fluffy and seemed to be floating down to the ground where it disintigrated into liquid. Finally I was able to remember what this falling stuff was once I reached the train station...it was snow. You must forgive my lapse in memory since it has been close to a year since I have seen the stuff in New York City.

New York is a beautiful place all the time but there is something about a light dusting of white on the sidewalks and snow flurries floating down that give the city a sense of calm and renewal. I was somewhat saddened that my trek from apartment to train is short because I was reveling in the city's snow beauty. I guess if I ever find myself saddened about missing snow I can always dredge up the memories of living through the #1 and #4 worst snowstorms in New York City history. If you combine the snowfalls of those two storms it would total 52.3" or over 4' of snow. Now that's a lot of snow!

The Love of my Momma

Joani came to see me for a brief amount of time on Sunday and Monday. She was on the east coast for my youngest cousin Emily's baptism. It was a blast to be with my momma for any amount of time. Being the great mommy that she is - she did not come empty handed. I mentioned while with the family for Christmas that I missed the Taffy cookies made by Mother's. She brought me the cookies because she loves me and probably wanted someone to share them with since my other siblings don't enjoy them much. We had a great time dunking our cookies while watching a couple of stellar flicks.

I also received my box of goodies from Christmas on Monday. It contained a pair of shoes, a cookbook, the game of Settlers, my grandfather's personal history, and two of the most gorgeous coat rack wall hanging thingeys made beautifully by my brother Coyote. It was with great pleasure that I nailed them to the wall and began to place my beautiful coats upon them.

I'm in love with Steve Jobs

The main man behind Apple, Mr. Steve Jobs, has again made my little heart a-flutter. He unveiled the wonderful features and stylishness of the iPhone. I am a little perturbed because Cingular is going to be the only cell provider to utilize the phone and I am stuck in a long contract with another vendor. Errr!

This beautiful phone has an iPod video ingrained, web access, widgets, texting and a 2 megapixel camera that can shift to either a portrait or landscape view based on an internal sensor.

Everyone is going to pay the big cost of $500 to own this new Apple electronic wizardry. It doesn't hurt that it just looks so pretty.

I am going to have to wait until my contract expires before I can own one which will probably make my wallet happy since the cost will inevitably decrease.

Way to go Steve! Again, a "job" well done!!!

It's Christmas

Blakers is the main reason why I went back to Joani's place for Christmas. I hadn't seen the little guy since my birthday at the end of July when he was about 2 months old. At the ripe age of 7 months Blakers had a bigger smile and budding personality. He and his parents picked me up from the airport and the first thing I did when I saw them was take him into my arms. From that moment on we spent as much time together as I possibly could. Moocher wasn't especially happy with me when I would refuse to give up Blakers to her. At least she gets to see him on a daily basis. Punkin and Sunshine have done an amazing job as parents of Blakers. He even dresses really well.

I had a great time with my family and friends during the Christmas holiday. It was fun to be in a car, pay for a matinee movie, enjoy chain restaurants, and play games, games and more games with my family. I look forward to doing it all again at Moocher's graduation in May.