I Did It! Get My Picture Taken With Smoking Hot Marines During Fleet Week

Cross it off the list: Get My Picture Taken With Smoking Hot Marines During Fleet Week

"I don't know about this whole Fleet Week thing," remarked my well-meaning friend.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I keep seeing all these dudes dressed in white uniforms, but they're all old and fat."

"No, silly, those are SAILORS, do not allow them to distract you from the task at hand. Stick with Marines. Trust me."

I was dismayed to find that only ONE measly ship was docked here in Manhattan - all the rest were on Staten Island, thus throwing way off the USMC Hottie to Single Female Taxpayer ratio.

Staten Island was too far to go for my photo op.

I was just hanging out at a bar, minding my own business, ready to throw in the towel on this goal, when all of a sudden three fine specimens of USMC hotness presented themselves before me.

"Would you mind being in a photo with us?"

Whatnow?! Way to turn the tables, Fellas!

Needless to say, I was more than happy to pose for their photos, and they for mine:

USMC Hotness, Exhibit A

All three of their ages put together still rendered them too young for me. More Devil Pups than Devil Dogs, they still definitely fit the "Smokin' Hot" bill.

Just as quickly as they appeared, they disappeared into the night. As they slipped away, the handsomest among them murmured in my ear, "Thanks for making my night."

"How did I do that?" I asked, perplexed.

"Just by showing up here tonight, looking as beautiful as you do."

Awwww.... now that's smooth. They must teach 'em that in Boot Camp.

Semper Fi, indeed.

To Do: Thursday Night Campfire with Martin and Craig

What: Thursday Night Campfire with Martin and Craig at the Gael Pub

The Gael Pub
1465 Third Ave.(bet. 82nd & 83rd)
New York, NY 10028-1926
212-517-4141

When: Thursday, May 24th

Martin and Craig bring the campfire along wherever they play, along with the relaxed, informal, no-rules-whatsoever atmosphere that comes along with it. Singing along is inevitable as the song choices combined with the completely-at-ease style with which they are delivered are all but guaranteed to have you tapping your foot, clapping your hands, and singing louder than you ever thought you could.

Expect a broad array of songs from all across the history of popular music, including some you'd never expect to hear in this setting. Expect passionate vocals. Expect masterful percussion. Expect a tapping foot (that would be yours). Expect a good ol' time. See you soon.

I see these guys every chance I get. If you were smart, you would too. They're sublime. I will miss them when I go. [sad face]

Bonus: If you get there at just the right time, you may even bear witness to an awe-inspiring performance by the US Olympic Synchronized Booty Shakin' Team (which consists of a drunken me and my very capable partner in crime.)

To Do: Annie Hall - HBO/Bryant Park Film Festival

What: Annie Hall - HBO/Bryant Park Film Festival

When: June, 18th at sunset

Turning thirty this year, 'Annie Hall' appears as fresh as ever. Neurotic N.Y. comic Alvy Singer looks back at various aspects of his life, including the women he has known. Annie may have been his one great love, but the relationship wasn't meant to be. For most fans, this is Woody Allen at his peak. 'Annie' took Oscars for Best Picture (beating out 'Star Wars'), Best Director (sorry Mr. Spielberg) and Best Script (a little California bashing is always fun). Diane Keaton, at her "la-di-da" finest, won a statuette too. Lobsters anyone? 94 Min. (1977) -- Jim Byerley

I can't believe I've never done this. I'm pretty sure its because NYC in June is generally hot, muggy, and buggy. And right around when they start spraying for West Nile virus. If nothing else, it will remind me of why I'm moving to LA. Ugh. Don't be surprised if I blow this one off...

To Do: Metropolitan Opera Presents LA BOHEME in Central Park

What: Met in the Parks - La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini.
Central Park - Great Lawn - Mid-Park from 79th to 85th Streets
FREE

When: Tuesday, June 12, 8:00 pm

Join thousands of other opera lovers as the Metropolitan Opera returns to the parks of New York City and New Jersey. A summertime tradition in New York since 1967 and in New Jersey since 1987, the series opens with back-to-back concerts in Manhattan's Central Park on June 12 and 13, with six additional performances in each borough of the city and two locations in New Jersey. Met in the Parks concerts are receiving major funding from Bank of America for the sixth straight year.

A Metropolitan Opera parks concert is the perfect way to experience some of the world's greatest music in a uniquely accessible and informal outdoor setting. This year's series presents Puccini’s La Bohème, a timeless story of love among young artists in Paris, and Gounod’s Faust, an epic drama about an aged philosopher’s pact with the devil. Both offer dazzling arias and ensemble pieces that showcase the Met's incomparable soloists, orchestra, and chorus.

All performances are at 8:00 pm ET, free of charge, and no tickets are required.

I do this every year. I pack my Marilyn Monroe lunchbox with essentials, like wine, cheese and chocolate, grab my blanket and head to the park. There's just something about laying under the stars and having a collective experience with what seems like the whole city; it defies description.

Do it.

I Did It! New York Transit Museum Store

Cross It Off the List: New York Transit Museum Store

I have to say, I was a little disappointed in the New York Transit Museum Store


Seduced by the shop's online offerings, things seemed slightly too expensive for what was available. The only thing that was even mildly appealing were the Poetry in Motion posters. Anyone who's ever ridden public transit in NYC is familiar with these.

I passed on the whole lot and instead enjoyed the lovely architecture of Grand Central Station:



I ended up walking up Fifth Avenue, and passed so many souvenir shops with better momentos.

In the end, I think all I really want is one of these:

"WE ARE HAPPY TO SERVE YOU" CERAMIC COFFEE MUG
The Classic NY Paper Cup (In Ceramic!)

To Do: 139th Running of the Belmont Stakes

What: 139th Running of the Belmont Stakes

When: Saturday, June 9, 2007 (if/when our tickets come through.)

Belmont Park is the largest track in the United States. It has three racing ovals -- one grand one-mile main track and two generous turf courses. A symbol of the track is the tree located in the center of the paddock. The Belmont logo represents that tree.

Easily the most cavernous and fan-comfortable of the Triple Crown host sites, Belmont's spaciousness provides relative comfort even in the presence of 80,000-plus fans. When the Triple Crown is on the line (as it has been in six of the last 10 years), excitement and headcount rises dramatically, spawned by the chance to see history in the making. Expansive paddock area provides much green, park-like area with tables to those quick enough to claim.

I've been to Belmont several times before, and although I've never won a dime, its totally worth doing and I'm looking forward to going again.

To Do: Visit the Museum of Modern Art

What: Visit the Museum of Modern Art

Proposed Date: Sunday, May 20th

In the late 1920s, three progressive and influential patrons of the arts, Miss Lillie P. Bliss, Mrs. Cornelius J. Sullivan, and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., perceived a need to challenge the conservative policies of traditional museums and to establish an institution devoted exclusively to modern art. When The Museum of Modern Art was founded in 1929, its founding Director, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., intended the Museum to be dedicated to helping people understand and enjoy the visual arts of our time, and that it might provide New York with "the greatest museum of modern art in the world."

I have never been to MOMA. Yes, I'm embarrassed about it.

I will be rectifying this egregious oversight pronto.

To Do: Visit the General Grant National Memorial

What: Visit the General Grant National Memorial

Proposed Date: Saturday, May 19th

Summary: The tomb of President Ulysses S. Grant and his wife, Julia. Also the source of a really stupid riddle -- don't fall for it!

Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?
This is an old joke to which the answer is no one. Our eighteenth president and his wife are, however, entombed here. Made of 8,000 tons of granite, with Massachusetts marble for the floors and fine Italian marble for the railings and trimmings, Grant's Tomb sits high above the Hudson River in the midst of a beautiful park. It was once one of the most popular attractions in New York City, although it rarely attracts much of a crowd today.

The weather here has been so great lately that there's positively no reason not to go. I may also hit up the Cathedral of St. John the Divine while I'm in the neighborhood.

I Did It! Visit the Morgan Museum

Cross It Off the List: Visit the Morgan Museum

The Morgan was VERY cool. And FREE on Fridays between 7-9pm.

Architecturally, it is fascinating. It was originally the private home a book collector, Pierpont Morgan:

The original house

After deciding that he'd run out of room for his extensive book collection, he commissioned the building of a library and study:


Recently, another section was built in the middle to serve as a means of connecting the two buildings and housing more of the museum's permanent collection.

Also added was a performance space and a reading room.

Among the highlights are THREE Gutenberg Bibles. Stop and think about that. I actually, personally laid eyes on one of the GUTENBERG bibles. And this guy had THREE. It is one of the first books printed with moveable type.

Walking through Mr. Morgan's impressive personal library, I was reminded of just how much I love the printed word. Sure, computers and the internet are great, but I love me a good book.

Mr. Morgan obviously did too.

"Mr. Morgan's library, as it was known in his lifetime, was built between 1902 and 1906 adjacent to his New York residence at Madison Avenue and 36th Street. Designed by Charles McKim of the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, the library was intended as something more than a repository of rare materials.

Majestic in appearance yet intimate in scale, the structure was to reflect the nature and stature of its holdings. The result was an Italian Renaissance-style palazzo with three magnificent rooms epitomizing America's Age of Elegance.

Completed three years before McKim's death, it is considered by many to be his masterpiece. In 1924, eleven years after Pierpont Morgan's death, his son, J. P. Morgan, Jr. (1867–1943), known as Jack, realized that the library had become too important to remain in private hands.

In what constituted one of the most momentous cultural gifts in U.S. history, he fulfilled his father's dream of making the library and its treasures available to scholars and the public alike by transforming it into a public institution."

The crowd was very "bookish" looking. I should have worn my glasses... 8-)

I also had the pleasure of seeing the Stavelot Triptych, which is purported to hold fragments of the True Cross:

The splendid twelfth-century Stavelot Triptych (from the Abbey of Stavelot in Belgium) is one of the highlights. Originally intended to hold relic fragments of the True Cross, this celebrated object is one of the outstanding masterpieces of medieval goldsmithing, incorporating champlevé enamel, silver, and precious stones in a deluxe setting.

The relic of the True Cross is held in a small Byzantine triptych—made of cloisonné enamel on gold—that is the centerpiece of the larger triptych.

It was fantastic and I'm glad I got to cross it off my list.

I Did It! Get COMPLETELY Shitty on Cinco de Mayo

Cross it off the list: Get COMPLETELY Shitty on Cinco de Mayo

Wow. When I set a goal, I don't do it half-assed.

I headed to a German Biergarten. On Cinco de Mayo. What can I say? I'm multi-cultural!

By what method did I acheive my goal? I'm glad you asked....

I drank a beer bigger than my head.

But when you get here:

You obviously have another...

Which leads to making new friends!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to soak my head. Ow.

I Did It! Tribeca Film Festival

Cross It Off the List: Tribeca Film Festival

I blew off the screening I'd planned on attending, since the weather just looked too iffy, but I got my act together and went to the Family Festival Street Fair.

All the coolest people were there:

Mr. Met


Clifford, the Big Red Dog

Even Lady Liberty took advantage of the fine weather and stretched her legs.

But then I met my match...

Paris and I, just moments before she was carted off to jail...

I Did It! Pearl River Mart

Cross It Off the List: Pearl River Mart

Pearl River Mart was fantastic and exotic and was everything I hoped:

I got a supercute parasol to protect me from LA's harsh sun and the icing on the cake is this sweet pair of Chinese slippers:

I even had a top-notch lunch in Chinatown.

Cheat on New York

Delta has launched an ad campaign called Cheat on New York.

These ads are everywhere, and I have to say... New York, I will never cheat on you, but unfortunately, I *am* breaking up with you. You're just too high-maintenance, and despite your wily charms (you are quite lovely in the Springtime,) I'm leaving you for good this time. Nothing personal.

XXOO,
Me