Friends

"Friends are more important than money."

This morning I read that on a Lululemon bag. It makes perfect sense; everything in that store is wildly expensive. After shopping there, you look great, but you're totally broke. At least you have your friends to buy you food.

The city is in a panic over the impending blizzard that is supposed to arrive late tonight. One would think I lived in New England, not New York City. Starbucks is closed. Fuckin' Donuts is closed. The hoarding is so bad at Key Foods that I'm waiting to see someone put the actual empty shelves into their shopping cart.

I just turned on the water and it's brown. Like coffee. Or worse. The water in my toilet looks like I took a dump. (I didn't). I called the Super and he says it's a problem throughout Washington Heights. It hasn't even started to snow, and already the situation is grim.

As everyone freaks out around me, I try to stay calm. I think about my friends, old and new, local and in cyberspace. Here's to you, my friends. I cherish all of you.

In spite of everything, there's no place I'd rather be than in this crazy town where anything is possible.

F*ckin' Donuts

The wind chill factor today is eight. Eight! I didn't have the heart to send Aissata all the way to 181st Street,  but I had a free drink coupon from Dunkin' Donuts that expired today. There's a Dunkin' Donuts around the corner from my building, but it's so bad that I call it Fuckin' Donuts! They never get my order right. Instead of giving them an order, I should just say "surprise me-you decide", because that is what they do. I was warned by everyone not to go there, but I took a chance today.

True to form, I got a free large cup of something that tasted like it was made from water out of the toilet and prehistoric beans. A brown crayon dipped in water would have tasted better. At least it was brown, and hot. I told Aissata, "If you had any doubt about how much I love you, you certainly know now!" She suggested adding more Splendas. I told her all there weren't enough Splendas in the state of New York to save this cup of tasteless sludge. The bright side was, at least I didn't pay for it!

What Is Up With Starbucks?

First they offered a holiday red cup so early that we were still eating our Halloween candy. Then everyone complained because they weren't the fancy holiday cups that some of us looked forward to. Just plain red. Then they tried to spin it "to allow everyone to tell their own holiday story". Do they think we're stupid? (We're stupid enough to pay six bucks for a cup of coffee; maybe they're right.)  They don't think we realize that the plain red cups are cheaper and were selected by some random bean-counting Scrooge?

Just when we were reluctantly getting used to the plain red cups, they ran out of them. The white cups are back. Pumpkin Spice Lattes are gone until next year. It isn't even Thanksgiving! Will they try to spin it "to allow our customers to tell their own holiday story about snow"? They didn't even write my name on the cup. They had no answer when I complained. This should come as no surprise; this particular Starbucks location ran out of ice on the hottest day of the July heat wave.

I'm disappointed and disillusioned. What is wrong with you, Starbucks? Worst of all, why do I care?

Quote of the Day

The best thing to hold onto in life is each other. ~ Audrey Hepburn

Two Inspirational Quotes from Big and Small Screens

"You have to lose everything before you can find yourself" ~ Rachel's dad on Glee, telling her that her dads are getting divorced and their home is up for sale

"It's not how many times you get knocked down that counts. It's how many times you get back up again." ~ Rocky Balboa

I'm watching too much television. So what else is new?

Sometimes A Picture Says It All

How Cold Is It? It's So Cold That. . .

. . . Starbucks is serving coffee on a stick
. . . The majority of pigeons have gone into hiding, and those that remain perched atop the building across from my window are wearing parkas
. . . Even the ducks and geese are wearing down vests
. . . You have a frozen hot chocolate from Serendipity to warm up
. . . My freezer is a heater, compared to outside

Why is it in New York, the dogs have nicer coats and boots than I do?