Stolen from Pat

Sorry - I don't know how to link to your blog! Can you teach me?

100 things.

The ones I've done are bolded.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
9. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square (more like RAN thru to get the hell out, every day)
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Self Control

Does anyone know where I can get some?

Last night, I was planning on going to the gym, doing laundry and cleaning my kitchen. My roommate had been out of town for work all week so I sort of let some dishes pile up. From Sunday. When my roommate was still in town. So that plan was to clean it all before he got home at 10pm.

At 6:21pm my phone rings. My friend Joseph was going to Tonka's bar for drinks. What a dilemma. I really wanted to work out. I had been feeling gross this week. And I needed to do laundry otherwise I'd have to wear mismatching socks the following day. (I am currently in mismatching socks as I write this, so you know where this is headed.) And most importantly, I needed my roommate to not realize that I am a slob when he is out of town.

But I can't say no to happy hour. Tonka's bar has half price drinks until 8. I checked on citi-search to make sure. That sealed the deal.

I arrived at the bar at 7pm, even though I was in the opposite of what I would have liked to wear to a bar: a Gap puffy coat from 2000, an Animal Planet hat and my gym bag. You know, the usual for a young(ish) professional in New York City.

Why can't I say no? Fast forward six hours and at least three "Single Ladies" dance offs later...I was still out. I thought Happy Hour ended at 8pm, not 1am.

If you know where I can find - hell, even BUY- some self control, please let ExPage know. Because I am getting too old to be doing this on a school night. I am, as you know EX page, not Current Page, when this would have not only been appropriate but encouraged.

A Brooklyn Ferry Tale

Every once in a while you have one of those moments. A moment that even when fully immersed you know it's something.

Something amazing.

Something beyond cool.

Something so New York.

This was not one of those moments.

Sure, as I stood on the dock with the Statue of Liberty in the distance, the wind whipping my hair into my face, I imagined myself swiping it away with the graceful ease of a model. Ms. J would be so proud. And Tyra, too. Maybe even Tim Gunn for good measure. He deals with models. Sort of. I mean, he tells the designers to "make it work" so the models aren't naked when they walk down the runway. That totally counts. Right?

But when my arm flew into sky I misjudged the distance between my forehead and nose and poked myself in the eye.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

I heard my bag crash to the concrete as I squealed in pain. Awww, the crunch of a home improvement purchase gone wrong.

Why oh why did I go to the Brooklyn Ikea? Again?!

To save a buck or two? Well I hate to break it to you, but the free NJ Transit bus to Elizabeth will get you cheaper state tax rates and more overheard storage. No freakin' ferry can beat that.

But the boat does have music playing. So when you cruise past Governor's Island and the BQE you can rock out to Rihanna. Just don't scream SOS too loud. After all, you are on a boat.

So I grab my mangled 20x30 frame from the ground, scared to examine it. As I peruse the slightly scuffed wood I breathe a sigh of relief. No crack in the glass. Riiiight. No crack in the PLEXIglass. That's what you get for being a total cheapskate.

One ferry ride, one subway ride, one walk, and four flights of steps later I deposit the frame into a corner of my apartment. Where I'm sure it's doomed to sit for a couple weeks. You can't put just anything in plexiglass...