Cosmo Mafia

No it's not a harem of ladies who lunch whilst sipping pink drinks with their pinkies out as they plan the demise of their hated hairdresser. The Cosmo Mafia is apparently a group of gentlemen who hang out in steak houses with an older and scantily clad lady impressing her with their pink drink choices. Or perhaps their message was that they were so manly they didn't have to fear that femininely fruity beverage. Either way, Scott and I spent less time talking over his birthday dinner, than eavesdropping on the booth next door. Some lessons we learned include "It's about having lots of money and having people take care of you. That's what real love is." Ah apparently Scott and I weren't totally aware of the meaning of true love. It's taken us a few years, but now we know. We also learned some other life lessons through our eavesdropping. "It's not good to meet up with sketchy guys who you don't know very well. Even if you meet them in a public place, they could have guys waiting in the car." As a crime detective novel might say, I couldn't get a read on these guys at first. They came in wearing suits, a pair of fairly tall broad gentlemen, at least 60 years old. One had curly black hair that had turned mostly silver, pulled back into a low ponytail. The other one looked like a slightly hefty and greasy Richard Gere. It was really their drinks choice that threw me off. Then this 50 some year old lady comes in and shrugs off her coat to reveal a backless yellow number that I'm not sure I would have worn with confidence. But the gentlemen seemed to enjoy it. They didn't seem like normal businessmen or academic types. They didn't have that professional veneer, but they did seem to have money... Eh fuggedaboutit.

Worst CrossWord Puzzle Ever

Hello. I like this blog thing. It makes me think of other people all day. I walk around trying to see or find something that is interesting enough to write about. It really makes me notice things, or at least appreciate them. When you live in New York City you start to take things for granted, or well you take things for granted anywhere, but the things you're taking for granted are kind of remarkable. Some bad, some better. For instance I take it for granted that every restaurant I eat in has roaches, if I see one scurry across the table in the middle of a bite I don't yell and demand a refund I just shrug and shift away. I do draw the line when I find a little friend at the bottom of my rice carton. Then I stop eating at that restaurant. Yes, that really happened once, and that restaurant is now closed down. Anyway, all this week I've been weaving in and out of police barriers and secret service type men. It's because the UN is in session and all the foreign dignitaries are in town. Since I work across the street from the St. Regis many men in suits with earpieces stare at me as I walk past, and big black vehicles with signs like "Malaysia PM" are parked along the street. I like to covertly observe all the security dudes as I walk past and see how many I can spot, then I kind of get self conscious and worry that they see me seeing them and they're going to take me down for casing the joint.
And now for the picture portion of the blog. I was thinking of all of you today when I couldn't finish my crossword puzzle on the train. I know some of you are excellent puzzlers (by the way I've met someone who makes them as a profession.) and so you will be just as outraged as I was/am when I got to 5 across and realized that the stupid free newspaper can't even get the crossword right, let alone report any news. Now there are two free newspapers that I can get in the morning. One is "Metro" and the other is "AM New York" they're the caliber of papers that regularly sell their front page as advertising. I used to choose one or the other based on which front page story I found more interesting. Then one day I was doing the crossword in Metro and there was a blatant misprint in the puzzle, so I became an ardent AMNYer. But today just leaves me completely at a loss. Not one of the ACROSS clues matched up to the puzzle. Sigh, but the ones I managed to fill in before I gave up the puzzle for lost made me think of you guys. Dali- Hannah just got back from Dali's house in France. Oman- plus its clue, Sarah and I are going to Oman and Yemen some time. Wok- Scott wants a Wok. Ok that's a stretch but anyway, I just wanted everyone to know I think about them all the time. And I took pictures of the puzzle which includes most everyone else who reads the blog because of photography connections. Hah! I win.