June 2011
14 posts
3 tags
when life imitates katespadenyc
I’d like to thank the person who does the blog over at katespadenyc. (Do you think it’s Kate???) She/he/they posted a fun piece recently about buying flowers, and it helped me see the truth about myself: I don’t stop to notice flowers, let alone smell them.
Since reading that post I haven’t actually bought flowers (they’re expensive!), or even stopped to smell them,...
6 tags
good advice for grads and other people
Recently I was at the Strand bookstore to hear my friend Elaine Sciolino read from her book about France, La Seduction. Elaine is a firecracker of a woman—super smart, practically fearless, and totally charming. She was on the plane with Khomeini when he flew back to Iran to lead the revolution. Most recently, she was Paris Bureau Chief of the New York Times.
And she’s written a...
2 tags
pride
Normally, I don’t like parades. If I’m with a group of people, I want to be talking not cheering.
But I was bummed to miss this year’s Pride Parade. I had a wedding in Rhode Island. For once, so much to celebrate!
When I got back to the city, I felt like I’d missed a giant party in my neighborhood.
Which is kind of exactly what happened.
In case you couldn’t make it to...
5 tags
things to tell yourself when you get called for...
Recently I was summoned for jury duty. You’d think, given the fact that I write a blog called Citizen Kerry, that I’d have welcomed this month-long opportunity to learn about America with other randomly selected New Yorkers. Instead I went through the cycle of grief: denial, anger (why me?!), bargaining, sadness, and finally, acceptance.
I recognize the irony in this.
But here’s the thing...
4 tags
if mario batali is going to take over the world...
… at least he has great taste in gelato-cart-stylists.
And by “world” I mean “Lower Manhattan.”
First Lupa, then Eataly (aka “The Pedestrian Parking Lot”), and now, our public parks. I saw this en route to Bushwick and had to stop, and stand in the bushes like a creepy lady, and snap some pictures.
Promise to leave my bubble soon!
4 tags
an important personal breakthrough
I keep going to Brooklyn and writing profound posts.
(Is irony contagious?)
Ha.
This weekend, I went to Bushwick, which is a neighborhood in Brooklyn, to celebrate my sister Coco’s birthday 24 days early. We won’t be in the same city for a while, and she wanted to go to Roberta’s for pizza.
I learned three things:
1. Love means taking the L train on the weekend. 2. The...
1 tag
really, i just like this sign
If you move to New York, you’ll inevitably hear that all the cool people live in Brooklyn and that it’s the better borough. So much nicer than Manhattan.
I really hate to think this is true, because I live in Manhattan, and I’m so tired of moving. I prefer to believe people who say this are insecure about their decision to leave Manhattan.
(But what if they are right?!?!)
At...
6 tags
tip: get better at geography without really trying...
I admire my friend Kelly for many reasons: she is a champion bocce player, she took the Trans-Siberian express, and the girl zipped through Cloud Atlas.
And now, I admire her for this:
It’s a map of Africa!
In her bathroom!
The backstory is that one day, Kelly was talking to a cab driver, and she guessed he was from Ghana.
“Almost!” he said. “My country is very close to...
5 tags
how to leave manhattan (and simmer down) without...
Which comes first: Being a type-A person, or living in New York City?
It’s the chicken-or-the-egg question, and every city has one. For example, in LA, it’s: which comes first, living in Los Angeles, or wanting to write a screenplay?
Which brings me to Roosevelt Island.
Does everyone know that this place exists? It’s a tiny island between Manhattan and Astoria, located in the East...
3 tags
neat outfits
I’d like to be the kind of person who could rock this vest.
(Do you think that person exists?)
I also like this halter top, but I think it would get scratchy:
But I’d love to convince someone to buy this parasol:
I also appreciate how this is subtle, yet star-spangled:
This is what my group of friends could look like:
Do you have a strong opinion on flag print...
3 tags
It felt good and even revitalizing to be living in...
—Elizabeth Gilbert, Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage
Some thoughts:
1. I love patriotism in unlikely places!
2. Last month, I finally read Committed, Elizabeth Gilbert’s follow-up to Eat, Pray, Love because my dear friend Joanna gave it to me at her bridal shower.
3. Joey always gives me great books, particularly about divorce. She likes the...
5 tags
a place where being a foodie is never risking...
This is my last post about Indianapolis.
Recently I figured out something: it’s fine for me to be a foodie, I just can’t go around calling myself one. Or at least, I’m afraid to after reading B.R. Myers’ piece in The Atlantic. (If you haven’t read it, this is the tagline: “Gluttony dressed up as foodie-ism is still gluttony.” And that’s the nicest...
3 tags
giant dog
This weekend, I was walking around New York City when I spotted this:
It’s an 8-foot tall statue of a french bulldog!
And it’s in the courtyard of the New York Palace Hotel, which I’ve passed dozens of times, but never noticed until now. It blows me away how many expensive hotels exist in this city—too many to track.
More importantly: Who says there’s nothing to...
8 tags
how i learned to stop people-watching and love the...
If you have a bucket list, I hope the Indy 500 is on it. In fact, it’s worth starting a bucket list just to go the Indy 500.
Amazingly, I managed to ignore the marvels of this race my whole life. Had I known that Florence Henderson (aka Carol Brady), an Indiana native, sings “America the Beautiful” every year I might have paid more attention.
Amazing.
I had the good fortune to go to Indy 500...
