Native New Yorker

I'm Back and Deleting Lots of Spam

2010-10-14T19:59:00.004-04:00

I haven't written in awhile. I'm sorry. I have no acceptable excuse. But lots of things happened.

I will list them in order:

1. I got married.

2. I got braces. Yes, the metal ones. Yes, it was a poor decision on my part.

3. I got a therapist. This is the first time I am analyzing my past. Not pleasant but helping me grow.

Otherwise, things are just the same. Some more white hairs here and there - seriously, I am developing a serious Rogue-like (Did I tell you I was a huge X-Men fan?) streak on the right side of my head. I blame it on my job. Hence the therapist.

I came back to my blog because I started to get five million messages that my blog was idle. Then I realized that I had five million spam messages which I am now deleting. I got spam in several different languages - Chinese, Japanese, Russian - weirdly, they started to form a strange pattern. Maybe I'm reading too much into the spam or have spent too much time deleting crazy messages about how i should look at their new Viagra product.

I'm hoping to update this blog more. The most popular posts seem to be the uneven eyebrows, parmasen cheese and being petite. Definitely will write about these topics more and I have developments in the uneven eyebrow front. I have decided to get surgery after my braces are taken off. I can't be dealing with metal teeth and crazy eye stitches at the same time. I am a also a serious myopic so I will also be wearing super thick coke bottle glasses during my recovery period. I will keep you posted once I start costing out my options.

Of course, I am leaving my job at this time so this will all depend on whether I get a job or not. At this point in my life, I am tempted to join the unemployed masses. Yes, I am that burnt out. As much as I love working in non-profits, you really start to burn out in year 5 at the same organization. I should have left a long time ago but I was lazy and the people were nice. But the time has come and I must move on my way.

Anyway, thanks for sticking with me even if I haven't posted in 4 years - WOW, has it really been that long? I'm REALLY sorry. Poor blog.

Remembering 9/11

2006-09-13T20:22:00.000-04:00

I wish the media would just stop sucking as much photo time as they can out of this tragedy. Work declared September 11th a holiday this week and that was probably the worst thing that work could have done. I spent the day watching memorial services and getting upset. I would have much preferred to be at work to keep my mind off the anniversery.

I remember the 1995 bombings and being really freaked out. I was a junior in high school at the time and I sat by the window facing the World Trade Center during English Class. I think it was snowing at the time and I saw smoke drifting up from one of the towers and suddenly there were tons of fire engines, ambulances and helicopters. My English class crowded around the windows and we eventually turned on the television to watch the news. I was horrified that it had happened, a little scared since I worked as a secretary in the World Trade Center but strangely enough, I also felt safe. I was certain that a plot like this could never succeed. Chalk it up to youthful optimism and US based centrism but I truly believed that plots like this were meant to be thwarted.

I worked on the 102nd floor of 2 World Trade Center as a general secretary for 5 people in an insurance company after school. It was a lot of work for $10.00 an hour but it was really good pay for a high school junior with no experience at the time. I used to work late and I would love to stand on top of the window sill of those huge windows and look down at the little people. Mostly, I wouldn't see anything because we were so far up but on clear days, you could see for miles around. It is strange to think that the building is no longer there. My partner, D, worked in the World Trade Center and was walking to work when he saw his building fall down. Luckily, no one in his office was hurt. I think he is still upset about the collapse and would prefer not to hear about it. I understand that families want to share their memories of their loved ones that have passed away and treat this as a memorial day but I think the media has made this all rather tacky. Not to mention, George W. Bush seems to treat this day as his own personal political cash cow. I'm so disgusted.

I would think it better to take this day and really think and contribute to a discussion on how to make things better in the world and prevent events like this from happening again rather than showing video clips of those planes crashing into those buildings over and over again. Maybe the rest of America wants to see it as a guilty pleasure of being part of this big tragedy as an American, but please spare the rest of us who were actually here.

I Have No Butt

2006-09-08T00:11:00.000-04:00

I have no butt. Well, I have somewhat of a curve and it isn't as bad as most white women (thank god!) but it is not as bootylicious as I would like it to be. I'm pointing this out because of two reasons: I spent a lot of time at the International AIDS Conference with African women who made fun of my butt and it is hard to find a decent pair of pants that I can fill out properly in the booty area.

It was lovely meeting all the African women at the AIDS Conference and it was refreshing to be shown a different standard of beauty. Skinny little things aka models are not considered attractive in most of Africa but Africans love their zaftig women. They especially love women with big curves. No point in being big if you don't have curves because what would you grab onto? Of course, at my measily 98 pound weight I'm not considered much of a catch. Now I have to clarify what I mean by attractive zaftig women as I had penned a previous post about obesity and really fat people - Big African women are beautiful because they are healthy and eat proper portions and exercise. They can actually move around and they carry their weight well. Obese people in America are different because the fat gained is not healthy and I am disgusted at the way they advocate for benefits and welfare for totally preventable diseases.

But getting back to my butt, it is a sad little thing. I would post pictures but it would be too obscene. I guess there are lovers of all body types out there so I'm hoping there are many lovers of small butts.

Bad Blogger Vacation Recap

2006-09-06T16:28:00.000-04:00

Yes, it has been ages. I should have written earlier but I was in that happy dream state after going on vacation for 2 weeks and then I went away to Las Vegas for a friend's wedding AND THEN I had to go away for nearly two weeks for the International AIDS Conference in Toronto. So I had an excuse. It's been nearly two months and a lot has happened.

D and I vacationed in lovely Amsterdam, Brussels, Brughes and Ghent for 2 weeks in the beginning of July. I love Amsterdam and would gladly move there in a heartbeat. I am slowly trying to convince D that we can easily retire there even though we would be forced to ride our bicycles when we are old and have arthritis and a number of other elderly diseases. Poor D had his first experience with a certain green substance in Amsterdam and I'm afraid he will never smoke again. I was excited to get D a little stoned and so we went over to the Grey Area to get some bud. Unfortunately, I misjudged the amount to give poor D. He is twice my weight and he kept complaining that he didn't feel anything so I kept on giving him more stuff. Finally, he stood up and went outside and nearly collapsed. As I was not too sober myself, it took me a really long time to get him some Coke as none of the bartenders would let me purchase a glass of Coke. They rightly thought I was very high and would not let me buy anything. I finally got some Coke at a cafe while D was babbling by my side. We managed to walk back to our hotel and ate a lot of donuts.

I think the best part of Amsterdam was the fast food. The croquette sandwiches and the turkish pizzas were truly glorious. I have yet to find anything similar in New York. The turkish pizzas in New York taste like crap - they make the crust too thick and they put far too much lamb in the thing and oil leaks out of the pizza continuously. The turkish pizzas in Amsterdam however had this thin crispy crust with a slight smattering of tomato and meat and a slathering of shredded lettuce/cabbage, mayo and hot sauce with the whole thing wrapped into a convenient burrito form. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! The highlight of our trip to Belgium was definitely the restaurants. We made a point of visiting as many Michelin starred resturants in Belgium as we could possibly afford. My favorite was Aneth located just out side of Brughes and rated a one star. In terms of quality of food, I felt that there were very tiny differences between each star rating. I think that a meal at the one star place was as enjoyable if not better than the meals at the two star and three star places.

We ate at one star Aneth (Brughes), two star Bruneau (Brussels), two star Sea Grill Radisson SAS (Brussels) and three star Comme Chez Soi (Brussels. My favorite course was the whipped potatoes with chives and caviar at the Sea Grill in the Radisson. It was similar to the oyster and pearl concoction at Per Se but with the added yumminess of mashed potatoes! The biggest surprise was the seared and glazed foie gras at Comme Chez Soi. I hate foie gras! Yuck! But they actually made it taste pretty good. *sigh* Yes, I gained like twenty pounds on this vacation but it was well worth it.

The biggest disappointment in the vacation? Definitely our hotel in Brussels. If you go to Brussels, please do not stay at Royal Windsor Hotel. The hotel bills itself as a luxury five star hotel and charges accordingly but their standards are no more than a three star nice hotel. I assume they only got the five star rating based on the amenities they "claim" to provide. While we were there several problems popped up: our door would not open and our concierge had to show us a "special trick" to open the door - this is acceptable in a quirky three star hotel but certainly not in a luxurious modern hotel; our bathroom had a defective toilet seat and flusher so it never really flushed; the shower either had blazing hot or really cold water; the lights had gone out in one of the pictures so it looked rather shoddy; furnishings were rather worn; the telephone did not work and we had to request a repairman; certain amenities like the gym and the nightclub were not available and will not be available for a few months with no mention made of this on their website. It was a frustrating experience. Even more so because D and I look young for our age so staff never really treat us very nicely. We understand this and tailor our expectations accordingly but even with lowered expectations, this hotel was atrocious.

D thinks I'm getting spoiled in my old age. *grin* He's probably right but I think that we try really hard to be nice and it never really pays off. The chocolates in Belgium more than made up for all of our woes. I think I survived on chocolate for about 3 days of our trip. The pomme frites in Belgium were way over hyped as the fries weren't that great. I tried the fries in all sorts of different combinations - plain, plain with ketchup, plain with ketchup and mayo, plain with ketchup and mayo and onions - it was all gross. We had the best waffles in Brughes - freshly griddled with caramel on top and powdered sugar! The oddest thing was that there was a Blue Note Jazz Festival in Ghent during our stay. It was rather strange to hear Belgiums singing along to old American jazz tunes and even country music. Bizarre! We managed to catch the tail end of the World Cup game. D and I know absolutely nothing about soccer but we were cheering for Italy. D got very drunk and was chanting Italia. Some old man actually thought he was an genuine Italian fan and started talking to him in Italian! We kept up the pretense for a few minutes before the man left us disgusted that we didn't actually know Italian. A belligerent drunk French fan nearly beat up D after hearing his chant. We managed to get back to our hotel safely with no brawls.

We were so happy to come home after our travels! It's amazing how good home feels after you have been living out of a suitcase for 14 days. I think that our vacations in Italy, Spain and Costa Rica far outshone our Holland/Belgium trip but it was nice to travel in English speaking countries for a change. The people are just so much nicer in Italy, Spain and Costa Rica. I'm thinking furiously about what our next vacation destination will be. Any suggestions? I am a little afraid of Latin America due to the kidnappings. I'm intrigued by Africa (especially Kenya and South Africa) but D is deathly afraid of going especially since he would no longer be allowed to donate blood. I have been thinking a little bit about Greece but I much prefer an adventure vacation somewhere.....

Bad Tippers Update

2006-06-28T11:34:00.000-04:00

Remember my post on my trip to Junior's in Brooklyn? My post was partially about how badly black people tip and me wondering why. It seems that fellow blogger, Hungry Cabbie, also had the same experience in a soul food restaurant in the Bronx. It is almost like waitresses in establishments that serve primarily black customers don't even expect tips anymore. Plus, there is the general assumption among cabbies that black people are poor tippers.

I did some research on this phenomena and it isn't just us. Other people have noticed this too! This article from the Seattle Times lays it out pretty rationally. It may be a self-reinforcing cycle that waiters/waitresses do not give good service to black people because black people tip poorly and black people tip poorly because they get bad service and the cycle continues. The article also noted that it isn't purely a race thing as the "race of the server didn't affect the tip size". In fact, black waiters/waitresses hated waiting on black customers! I was really glad that this article explored this issue and suggested possible reasons why it happened and solutions to the problem. Apparently, black people tip their hotel maids and bartenders more than white people so perhaps this restaurant and cabbie tipping part is all a big misunderstanding or simply just not knowing the social rules of tipping.

The article suggests outreach to black churches and informative placards. I'm not sure that this would actually help as I have seen in person the way black customers treated their waiters/waitresses and it was not pretty. But perhaps it was an isolated instance. I would say that really wealthy (read ENTITLED BUTT-MUNCHERS) probably also tip the same way. This also confuses me because the really wealthy do have enough money to tip and know the social norms about tipping but it is probably their natural tendency to be entitled butt-munchers.

Peter S. Beagle

2006-06-28T11:12:00.000-04:00

Remember the old animated movie of Lord of the Rings? Remember the movie, The Last Unicorn, that used to be aired on television every year? Both were written by a fantastic author, Peter S. Beagle. The reason why I mention him today is that I got a newsletter from his website today which broke the news that his mother had died. It sounded like she had led a long and happy life but I was most interested in her writing. The newsletter linked to vignettes that his mother, Rebecca, had written and they were pretty interesting! It was also good to hear that Peter and Rebecca are also native New Yorkers born in the Bronx!

If you are ever looking for something to read, do pick up the Fantasy Worlds of Peter S. Beagle. I'm not actually sure that they sell new editions anymore but I am sure you can pick it up used. His writing really cuts to the heart.

But as much as he is a great writer, he is a poor businessman. According to the backstory on his life, he basically wrote the screenplay for the animated Lord of the Rings for a mere $5,000 dollars. Apparently, the producer had promised him more money but reneged on his deal after the movie was made. I think the same thing happened with The Last Unicorn. Poor guy! It makes you wonder about those copyright laws. The laws were written to protect the interests of writers and artists and to help them get paid for their creativity and original work. In then end as with every other law, the copyright laws seem to benefit major companies who can hire lawyers to protect their interests - one of the worst offenders being SONY, of course. Who could forget about the rootkits and their MP3 fiasco?

I am waiting anxiously for his next book, The Line Between, and I sincerely hope he can afford to continue writing!

Fear and Trembling of Bad Female Bosses

2006-06-27T14:46:00.000-04:00

I watched "Fear and Trembling" last night. I had rented this DVD through Netflix and had kept the DVD on top of my shelf for ages because I had curiously forgotten I had rented this film. "Fear and Trembling" is a French film about a Belgian woman working in a corporate Japanese office. The movie had narration in French and the character dialogue in Japanese. It was a semi-autobiographical account of a Belgian woman's traumatic experience navigating (or blundering, in her case) through the intricacies of Japanese office etiquette. I cringed throughout the film at the punsihments her boss inflicted upon her. A Japanese company will not fire an employee but will subject an employee to ever degrading tasks as punishment for perceived errors or any indication of individualism or self-promotion. As masochistic as the film became, I was oddly intrigued.

I was interested in the human interaction between two women: the Belgian woman subordinate and the Japanese woman boss. It reminded me of some of the female work interaction that happens here between a female boss and a female subordinate. I think women are very competitive with each other. In this age, we are raised to be strong women capable of having a career, raising families and managing a workforce. I think many women mistake this striving for independence and strength as an excuse to be uncompromising, unpleasant and selfish aka BITCHES. There are some women who are genuinely great bosses and completely care about their co-workers and subordinates but I think the majority are often not very helpful and are looking to take advantage of your work to get to the next level. I find that most of the lovely and kind boss women are often sidetracked by marriage and family obligations as I assume the that no one will marry the bitch women.

So I prefer to have a male boss. I have had up to 6 bosses during the course of my career and I find that male bosses tend to manage their employees better. Male bosses also offer the most support for career development and future jobs. And no, this has nothing to do with sexual pressure as many of my male bosses were gay! I really really wish this was not the case because I hope to have my fellow sisters in positions of authority and working as mentors and sounding boards to the next generation of women. Why are we competitors rather than allies? Why do we have a natural inclintion to backstab? I hope that if I am ever in a position of authority again, I would make sure to treat my female employees well and encourage them in their careers regardless whether they surpass me or not.

Take Back America

2006-06-26T13:32:00.000-04:00

How amazing was Barak Obama's speech at the Take Back America conference???? A man like this who becomes involved in politics comes along only once in a lifetime. Working briefly in politics, I have come to really despise the professional politician. In my two years working in a district office, I have only met one politician I truly liked and admired. The rest of the politicians were in their position to pursue a salary, an ambitious position that would eventually lead to a lucrative job, and/or bask in some sort of fame to feed their giant egos.

So who was the one politician I truly admired? Liz Kruger - check out her website. And no, I did not work for or campaign on her behalf but I may in the future. She was the only politician that I have personally met who truly cared about people and their needs. She was just as kind to her constituents who had no money as she was to her donors. I haven't ever met Barak Obama but he kind of gives me that vibe.

Certainly George W. Bush never gave me that vibe. But on a another note, what kind of idiot votes for George W. Bush when they are not part of the wealthy one percent? I mean, I can totally see why you would vote for Bush if you were really wealthy. Bush gives out tax breaks for the wealthy and he supports the abolishment of estate tax (aka Paris Hilton tax aka the death tax) so that people who have a lots of money to pass down to their heirs will no longer have to pay taxes. Please note that if you are not wealthy, you do not have to pay this tax to pass money to your heirs. What kills me is the average blue collar middle class American voting for Bush. What the heck? He will screw over the middle class American to keep his wealthy one percent tax base secure. This was very clear from his past position as governor of Texas.

I only hope that we are able to elect a competent president next time around - Barak Obama???

Uneven Eyebrows II

2006-06-26T13:16:00.000-04:00

So I have reconciled myself to my uneven eyebrows. It seems like facial exercises seem to work. I figure that if I keep on contorting my face, I will eventually become symmetrical. =D. Just kidding. I think makeup works quite well if one has the time to use eyebrow pencil to shade the sparse areas in just right.

I also have those eyebrow cutouts that simplify the process of creating perfect eyebrows. They are plastic paper squares with the shape of the eyebrow cut into them. You hold them up to your eyebrow and dust the cutout with brown powder, and poof! - you have eyebrows. The problem is that the eyebrows are too dark for my face. I am thinking of getting maybe a lighter shade.

Sometimes it is just really frustrating to look at my face and the see the uneven eyebrows! There has to be a better solution. Tweezing definitely does not work. I figure there are really a few options you have with uneven eyebrows:

1. Tweezing - only works if the unevenness has to do with the amount of eyebrow hair

2. Eyebrow gel - this works if your eyebrow hairs grow in the wrong direction and make your eyebrows looks weird and uneven

3. Eyebrow lift - this endoscopic surgery lifts the eyebrow muscles permanently so that you can fix the permanent uneven eyebrows. The problem is that the surgery can also permanently fuck up the eyebrows if the muscles aren't pulled to the correct height.

4. Eyebrow tattoo - You can shave off your eyebrows and get permanent makeup by having someone tattoo the eyebrow on. Can we say ew?

5. Praying to the eyebrow god - If all other solutions fail.

Petite People Unite!

2006-06-20T14:29:00.000-04:00

Check this out. Oh yes, my petite friends. We are back in business. We may be small but we are fierce! Do not discount us because we are tiny as we have the persistance and the voices to make this happen.

I have noticed that petite sections have slowly been reduced in stores. Last time I checked, there were still plenty of petite women out there. Maybe we just take care of our clothes better than our taller brethren do allowing us to cut down on the number of clothes we purchase. Or maybe my generation is a generation of giants.

Per Se

2006-06-19T14:22:00.000-04:00

This weekend was fantastic with the exception of a few minor hiccups. I surprised D with a hot air balloon ride on Saturday and a dinner at Per Se on Sunday for his birthday. I'm not sure that he was as excited about the hot air balloon ride as he was about our dinner at Per Se. But that is why I usually line up more than one gift - to make sure that there is at least something D likes as he is really picky.

I had reserved a car through Liberty Car Rental for D to drive to the hot air balloon site. I printed out the confirmation from the online website and everything! Unfortunately, we went to the garage to pick up the car on Saturday and found that Liberty Car Rental no longer exists. !!!!!! The guy at the garage told us that Liberty Car Rental went out of business three months ago! The bastards still have their website up and operating and accepting reservations. I was so MAD! This had happened before to other people who had reserved with this car rental company so the nice guy at the garage gave us directions to another car rental place on Astor Place, Action Rental.

If you are trying to rent a car on a beatiful Saturday in June in New York City without any advance notice, you are pretty much screwed. Every New Yorker is just itching to get out of the city to get to the Hamptons, Fire Island, New Jersey, or any place where there is fresh air. I was panicking because I had already put down money on the hot air balloon ride and the money was noonrefundable. Action Rental had cars available but had only Lincoln Navigators and Escalades left over. I hate SUVs with a passion and I especially loathe gigantic hulking mini monster trucks such as the Navigators and the Escalades. I was willing to give up my trip and forgo all the money as long as I didn't have to ride in those shitty cars. How would you even get through tiny Manhattan streets in those things? It's a wonder that the car rental place even stocked those things.

Luckily after many taxi rides and calls, we managed to get a much smaller SUV at a Budget car rental. I think it was a Ford Rav4 which is infinitely better. I'm willing to compromise on a smaller SUV as long as it gets me to where I need to go without scraping through streets and being in danger of having our wheels slashed by SUV haters like me. We had a lovely time at a Bed & Breakfast in Stewartsville. The B&B was a mini farm with lots of rabbits, chickens, sheep and even a llama! But the ground was covered with poo! =( I guess that is to be expected with a farm but it just solidified the fact that I am a city girl through and through. I was ew-ing all over the place. We ate at a fairly average restaurant: Spain II and had a hot air balloon ride afterwards. We had a balloon all to ourselves with the exception of the guide handling the balloon and the views were beautiful! I was terrified. I was hundreds of feet up in the air holding onto nothing but a flimsy wicker basket. But D seemed to enjoy it and that was all that mattered.

One of the couples in another balloon got engaged that day! The balloon guys had set up a "will you marry me" sign directly under the couple's balloon. I secretly thanked my lucky stars that they took the sign off in time so that D didn't see it. How weird would it be to have D think I was proposing to him in a hot air balloon ride? It would be really confusing. Especially if he said no!

We drove back to New York on Sunday and got lost in Jersey City searching for a gas station. We finally managed to make it home and collapsed into the sofa for a good 10 hours in time for our dinner reservation at Per Se! Per Se was fabulous in every way. It was the best meal I have ever had. Of course, D and I had starved ourselves all Sunday as I had warned him that we should save our appetites for something special. We ate nothing except for a few pancakes at breakfast. We desperately snacked on 5 cheesy Pepperidge Farm goldfish a few hours before dinner but we pretty much came with empty stomachs. The meal began with mini cheeseballs which tasted amazingly like the cheesy goldfish we had just eaten. The amuse bouche was a buttery salmon tartar with creme fraiche in a sesame cracker cone which was very tasty. We scarfed these down and waited for the feast to roll onto the table and into our tummies. We started with what was my favorite part of the meal, Oyster and Pearls. I only wish I could make this at home! It was two oysters with lots of black cavier on top of a buttery broth and tapioca. There was no skimping on the cavier unlike some places (ahem! Tribeca Grill.). We sat there for ages scraping our dishes. It took every ounce of decorum not to lick the bowl.

The courses after that arrived in a whirl. I think we had Belgian Endives with Kumquats as a salad dish. We opted not to go with the Foie Gras (I know! I know! Everyone loves the foie gras dish here!) because we hate foie gras. We are not big liver fans. We ate a fish with a crispy crust and white asparagus and wild asparagus. We moved onto a succulently tender quail. I had never had a poulty dish that was so tender! The tidbits just melted in the mouth! We had lamb in au jus with lamb sauce. I was not a huge fan of this as I normally hate lamb, but it was good enough that I actually did eat it and enjoy it. For a hater of lamb, that's a big step! I went a little foggy after the lamb course because I was SO FULL!!!! I think we had a cheese course with a delightfully light and fresh buffalo cheese that almost tasted like a buffalo mozzerella ricotta. It was on paired with a poached cherry tomato and a fresh cherry tomato on top of a toasted bread and drizzled lightly with olive oil.

We had a sorbet dish after that and a chocolate kind of dessert for an end. We were stuffed! It was amazing that we stumbled out of the restaurant at all as I was sure that we would explode in our seats. This dinner was such a pleasure after the terrible food at Daniel's. *Sniff* Thomas Keller has renewed my trust in fancy restaurants. I must advise that if you do want to eat at Per Se, you must be persistent! Call 2 months in advance of the reservation date and keep on redialing until you get through. It was totally worth it!!!!

Size Zero Petite

2006-06-16T14:51:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned before, I am a skinny little bitch. I am a petite size zero. I am 5 feet 2.5 inches tall and I weigh about 100 pounds. This makes shopping hellish. Back in the day, I used to be a size 2. But sizes slowly started to get larger. And larger. Now a size 2 appears to be comparable to size 6 of ten years ago. I have slowly been pushed back to a size 0. Size 0 did not used to exist but thanks to the efforts of clothing marketers to convince people that they are not gaining weight but are indeed still the same size, size 0 was invented to take up the slack for the poor schmucks who actually were a size 2. I don't fit into most size zeros as they have started to make size zeros larger also. For example, Anne Taylor Size 0 is not a true size 0 - it's for the "womanly" woman in their 30s who still harbors delusions that she can fit in the same clothes she used to wear in her 20s. I would go as far as to say that the Anne Taylor size 0 of today is comparable to the size 4 of yesteryear.

Suffice it to say, my clothing shopping options are limited. Which is good, I guess, because it saves me a lot of money in the shopping capital of the world. However, I cannot seem to get proper work clothes or nice designer clothes as everything in my size is made for women who are 6 feet tall aka models. Even if the stores do cut them down to petite size, the fit doesn't seem to be quite right as the clothes are really fashioned for taller people. All the stores do is hem the sleeves and the pant lengths without tailoring the lines for the smaller customer. So I am somewhat limited to teen stores. See below the list of stores I frequent to find clothes that fit:

Abercrombie & Fitch - Size Double 0 (00)

Banana Republic - Size 0, hit or miss, once in awhile I luck out and fit into something they had cut particularly small

Petite Sophisticates - Size 0 but their clothes are soooo old. It's made for women in their 40s! Get with the program!!!

American Eagle - Size 0

Bebe - Size 0 or Xsmall

Tahari Petites - Size 0

JCrew - Size 0 although their clothes are starting to get bigger again. What's up with that? They are also not consistent with their sizing.

Forever 21 - Size xsmall

Gap - Size 0 or xsmall

H&M - Size 4

But as teens start to get bigger (read obese), size zeros are also magically getting larger. I sincerely wish that designers and clothing manufacturers would abide by a standard clothing size standard so that we could at least figure out where exactly we are on the spectrum without trying five million things on in seventy different stores. There has been a movement to standardize clothing sizes, it hasn't happened yet. The manufacturers are probably thinking of our steadily increasing obese population in America who would never face shopping again once they hit the dead zones of size 14 and over.

At the very least, it would be nice to have sizes designated by inches the way guys have their clothes measured. For example, guys sizes are dependent on the number of inches around the waist and the length of their leg inseam so a size of 30 by 34 is 30 inches around the waist and 34 inches from their crotch to the ground. How amazing would that be if women could just know how big they actually were? Maybe it would force some of these lardos to control their food intake and not be complacent in their ever increasing size 10 proportions.

Luckily, New York City has a mobile population in that New Yorkers actually walk everywhere. I think this at least forces people to exercise. It also helps that the every so slender fashionistas walking around make you feel guilty enough to keep the weight down. Imagine my shock when I saw this report on the large amount of obese people in New York City. Sadly, a lot of these obese people are very poor which leads to them not knowing any better or not being able to afford better foods. Even worse, half (HALF!!!) of New York City children are obese. A friend of mine who is a teacher in a public school in Brooklyn confessed that she has no average sized or thin children in her class. The most svelte child in her class would be considered quite chubby by our standards. I'm thankful that I missed this chubby era by a few years. I had access to the same junkfoods and regularly ate McDonald's everyday when I was young so why is this not happening to my contemporaries and striking the next generation? I'm convinced that the fast food manufacturers added something new to the fast food in the last ten years that they aren't fessing up to.

Regardless, I think these obese people should seriously control their eating habits. I have seen the lardos eat and it wasn't pretty. How could one man eat 3 full size meals and still complain he's hungry and then blame it on genetics? Sorry dude, it has to do with willpower. Millions of people didn't suddenly grow fat overnight due to genetics. If it was genetics, we would have been seeing millions of families be obese for the past century. The numbers don't lie.

I know people get really upset about us "size zeros" because they mistakenly assume that we are all anorexic. We get a lot of grief from our friends and relatives because they think we want to be this small. We don't have stores dedicated to our small size like the Lane Bryants of plus size women. We don't have skinny help support groups and we are constantly teased for our small size. I would give anything to be a normal healthy size 4 or 6 (well, the size 4 or 6 of 10 years ago. Not the current size 4 or 6). In our case, it truly is genetics. I hate that I have to pay for an airplane coach seat that is much bigger than I am and comfortable only to have a huge fat person sit next to me and take up all the extra space that I paid for!!! I hate that I have to pay the same for my clothes which are just scraps of fabric compared to the same clothes in size 14 which take up a great deal more fabric. I subsidize the fat women's clothes!!! I think that the size zeros get the raw deal. We should at least get some compensation for taking up less space, consuming less resources and generally being faster.

Of course, this is never going to happen. We are nation of mostly large people who are getting ever larger. There will be a point when it will cost too much to subsidize the health problems of obese people and companies and government will just drop obese people as it will cost too much to keep up with them. This is already starting to happen. Why do you think our government is now concerned about a nation of obese people? It is costing the government and special interest groups tons of money to pay for treatment for obese diseases like adult onset diabetes. The government and insurance companies are just waiting for the time that they can wash their hands of the whole issue. They will say that they tried, they called attention to the issue and started programs to prevent it but it didn't work. Then they will leave obese people to eat themselves to death. I certainly don't want to keep on paying for obese people to eat themselves to death. I believe in a social welfare net for people who have lost their jobs, families that are in trouble, children who are abandoned or abused, etc. but I don't count obesity as something that should be within that social net. Certainly not to pay for gastric bypass surgeries for people who can't control themselves!

I keep on thinking back to that scene in Monty Python and the Meaning of Life when that tremendously fat man explodes in the restaurant after devouring a giant meal. Maybe if obese people actually exploded from giant meals, people would control what they ate in fear of dying a terrible and dramatic death from overeating.

The Unpopular Blog

2006-06-15T16:28:00.000-04:00

It's odd. I don't receive many clicks onto my blog for obvious reasons:

1. I haven't told my friends and family
2. It's my own personal journal
3. I don't think I write about anything that really targets New York City life
4. I'm a weirdo

So, it surprises me when people do come upon my homely website. Looking through the stats, I think they mainly come to my site searching through Google for some of the New York City resturants that I mentioned. I guess I can become more of a food-centric blog and get more visitors but I don't think I want to spend my time writing about food ALL THE TIME. It's fun reading about food and I do peruse a number of food blogs (look at my links on the side! Amateur Gourmet! Chocolate and Zucchini!) but I would rather write about things that are affecting me day by day and food is not usually the major topic.

But I will write about food every now and then. For example, I finally got reservations to Per Se! I will be eating there this Sunday and will write about all the details. I am a little wary about rating expensive highly rated restaurants as I find that most of their food does not live up to the hype and I do not want to disappoint people who are looking forward to eating there. But I pride myself in being honest about stuff like that. If the food does not taste better than your standard fast food fare, I'm going to point that out.

Anyway, I have to say that this blog is such a great place to vent my frustrations about living here. But in reality, I'm not a hater. I work for a nonprofit and I truly believe I should be doing something with my life that would help the city I love get better. I visit my parents every week. And I love dogs and children. You see? I'm not such a bad person. But as I am Korean, my temper is as spicy as Korean food. I think Koreans are known as the "passionate Italians" of the East due to the amount of hot peppers in our food. When I get distressed, I express my disappointment strongly but I usually come to my senses very quickly and then I am a huge pushover. But I'm still a lot to put up with so I have to be grateful for all my friends and family that do put up with me.

I am also kind of shy around new folks so it takes awhile to get accustomed to new habits and surroundings. I think I am just getting acclimated into my blog. I hope to be more direct and entertaining in the future and HOPEFULLY my writing will become better. I think that is another reason why I blog is to practice writing. I read tremendously but I rarely write and I need to work out the kinks on my writing.

TriBurbia

2006-06-12T19:32:00.000-04:00

Weird. I was just talking about how Tribeca was turning into Stroller City and this article just came out in the New York Sun. They went a little bit further and coined a new phrase but the intent was still the same. Where are all these little kiddies popping out from? What happened to the Tribeca I knew?

I remember back in the day when Tribeca was pretty bare. Not many people lived down here and there were a couple of copy shops, weird construction stores and a wonderful Science Fiction, Mysteries & More bookshop on the corner of Chambers and West Broadway. There wasa pretty good McDonalds on the corner of Greenwich and Chambers that went out of business recently. I'm not sure why as I think they would have had a rock solid business with the BMCC (Borough Manhattan Community College), Stuyvesant High School, PS 234 and PS 150 right next to them. There was also a deli where the Wireless Telephone store used to be next to the former McDonald's. Why are these stores going out of business on Chambers Street? I'm convinced that there is a curse or the management is charging way too much rent.

One of my favorite places that went out of business had to be the Pennsylvania Pretzel Company. They occupied the space where Sale & Pepe are right now across the street from the now defunct McDonald's. The PPF was pretty popular and served the best pretzels. They clearly got the most customers. I have always been curious as to why they went out of business. I fear that Sale & Pepe are not long in the offing. I tried their sandwiches and the sandwiches were awful. I will be glad to see them gone.

Oh, Tribeca. At least they haven't built across the river. Yet.... I fear the day that we will be connected to Jersey City.

Vacationing in Amsterdam

2006-06-12T16:31:00.000-04:00

D and I just bought our tickets for vacation! We decided to go to Amsterdam, Brussels and Brughes this summer for our annual treat. Every year we decide on a different location in the world for vacation. So far we have been to Northern Italy, Spain, Costa Rica and the Bahamas. I chose the Netherlands and Belgium this year because I spent a short business trip in Amsterdam and I loved the city. The Van Gogh Museum is amazing and I especially like the concept of using my bike as public transportation. This is hard to do in New York as you are normally in danger of losing your life due to dooring, getting squashed between trucks, and dropping into enormous potholes. Fatal bicycle accidents are at an all time high and I can totally see why. I'm not sure why New York City isn't taking more active measures to improve the public streets for bicycle riding as it is great exercise, cuts down on pollution and allows more people to travel on the streets with less traffic. Plus, there are tons more cyclists than ever before because of increased subway fares and gas prices.

I am also excited about visiting Brughes and Brussels as they are reputed to be very beautiful. We just heard of an apartment to rent or swap in Amsterdam today from my boss at work so hopefully we can do this on the cheap (or at least reasonable as Europe can be pretty pricey). I am a little hesitant about swaps as I am not sure I feel comfortable with strangers living in my apartment especially with the weird New York City tenant laws (It could take you up to six months for you to evict the person if your swapper takes over!). I also don't want strangers sleeping in my bed. Have I mentioned I am also obsessive about cleanliness? I don't like shoes in the apartment. I bend the rules for visitors but I would feel funny having strangers tramp around the apartment in their shoes for two weeks. Who knows what they might track in? I think we will mostly likely reserve rooms at hotels. Any recommendations on hotels? Restaurants? no parmesan please =).

I will give more details once we get to our destination as I think I can swing by the internet cafe every now and then. But I may be having too much fun! If I could live anywhere in the world besides New York City, it would totally be Amsterdam. After all, New York City was once New Amsterdam. =D . We are planning our trip beginning July 1st and will be getting back in two weeks. It will be crazy next weekend also because it is D's birthday!!! I got a surprise hot air evening balloon ride in New Jersey with champagne and hors d'oevres. I'm so excited! We are also sleeping at a bed and breakfast and driving around town the next day. I am crossing my fingers and hoping D will love the present.

It is hard to keep the concentration on mundane activities when there is so much to look forward to in the upcoming weeks. As a way to procrastinate and pass the time, I have been cataloging my books on Library Thing. This site totally rocks! At least for geeks like me. I have tons of books and this website lets me enter their ISBN number or title and keep track of all my books. The best part of the whole operation is that you can look up people who have the same taste in books! Library Thing will rank other people in the order of how many books they own that are the same as yours. How cool it that? yeah, yeah, I know that I am a nerd. I feel no shame in this as long as there are other people like me out there. You know who you are!

I keep a full wish list on Amazon.com that never seems to get any smaller no matter how many items I buy. I have a secret obsession with looking up friends' wish lists on the sly. I guess it is creepy to get a surprise gift through a wish list you never told anyone about but I think it's a quirky kind of good surprise. Unfortunately, not many people I know keep Amazon wish lists. Suckers. They would be getting more presents if they did! I love giving gifts because it makes me feel good to buy something for a friend that I know they will love.

Rude Churchgoers

2006-06-12T12:11:00.000-04:00

I sincerely believe that attending church does not automatically make you a better person. I think you really have to work on being a good person by caring for others and treating others the way that you would like to be treated. Giving money to your church or going to services is not going to make up for the bad things that you do. I bring this up because of a recent incident we experienced at Junior's in Brooklyn after a lovely long day in Prospect Park on Sunday. D and I rented bicycles and rode across the Brooklyn Bridge to celebrate our friends' birthdays. My married friends, S and P have birthdays quite close to each other and they usually celebrate with a big picnic in the park.

I guess there was one incident before going to Junior's that made me sad and very thoughtful. Our group had collectively brought frisbees, kickballs and games from home to play in the park. As we were playing frisbee and kickball, two young black boys came and started to play in our game. As they were very young and cute (about 7 years old), we started to include them in our game. Then, one of the boys took our kickball and ran away. We were flabbergasted. D ran after him across the lawn and asked for the kickball back. The little boy claimed it was his ball and he was keeping it. Obviously, we didn't want to force a little boy to give up a ball so we kept on asking for it back until the boy dropped the ball and D picked it up quickly. What was really disturbing was that the boy's family did nothing while watching this argument take place when it was very clear that the boy had stolen the ball. Later, while we were playing backgammon, the other little boy pretended to watch the game and stole our frisbee. I evenutally managed to get the frisbee back. We took careful notice of our possessions after that. The group which the little boys belonged to looked to be an after church group and that made me furious. I'm not sure what they were teaching at that church but they certainly should not be condoning this kind of behavior. Later, I saw a woman from the same group try and cheat the poor ice cream guy out of a dollar. It was just one dollar! Geez!

We enjoyed the rest of the day in the park. Everyone in the group had brought their children so it was especially cool to play with the new babies and carry them around. As I had grown up in Park Slope and spent most of my childhood in Prospect Park, I was surprised that I didn't remember much of the park. I took a ride around on my bike and I could only just barely remember the Zoo. I think everything must have been a lot bigger back then and maybe places are unrecognizable now because they are out of proportion? At least, that was my theory and I'm sticking by it!

We eventually left the park at 5:30pm and rode our bikes to Junior's. The restaurant was full of afterchurch folk in all their Sunday finery. Hats, suits, dresses, the whole nine yards! We were probably the only people who had not gone to church. We were also probably the only non-black people in the place, which was kind of surprising as I had always thought of Junior's as being more of a multiethnic crowd. I had never seen this kind of Sunday getup - huge hats, startlingly pink dresses and shoes, it was kind of crazy. The manager was nice enough to let us park our bikes in the back room so that we could eat. We were especially grateful because the place was very crowded and we were kind of sweaty and gross. As we sat down to our hearty meal of matzoh ball soup, ice cream soda, baked meatloaf, potato pancakes with brisket sandwich and applesauce, we observed the Sunday crowd. We were astonished at how rudely they treated the waitstaff and the stingy tips that they left. Ladies who were clearly churchgoing ladies tried constantly to send food back to the kitchen and get a free meal. They were harassing the waitstaff and asking for special freebies and being a general nuisance. Our waitress was clearly not the best waitress in the world but we just felt so bad for her because she had to handle these sorts of people the whole day. We just watched this abuse go on and on. We got our bill and left a huge tip for the waitress. The waitresses had been fighting to service our table in the beginning of our meal and I can totally see why. We also left money with the manager for being super duper kind to us by letting us take in our bikes.

Who are these people and why is there no sense of decency? Is this the norm in these neighborhoods? I suppose this is why stereotypes and racism arises. I suppose it was a coincidence that these incidents revolved around black people but I tend to think it was more a correlation to class rather than race. I think the fact is that a majority of blacks are low income and this kind of behavior arises from low income families. But growing up in a low income immigrant family, we never experienced this kind of breakdown of morals and decency even when we were clearly struggling for food. I have heard that this kind of behavior happens with other churchgoers regardless of race or class so that brings up another question of what types of people involve themselves in fundamentalist religions? Obviously, these are just generalizations based on a single day's worth of experiences but this is also added to my father's 30 years of experience with this kind of behavior. How do we change our society for the better? How can we help stop this kind of behavior without being obtrusive? Is it a cultural thing? I'm so confused!

Retirement Jitters

2006-06-07T10:48:00.000-04:00

I am 27 and I'm scared to death of retirement. I know, I know, I have ages until I retire and why worry now? I am comfortable now but I know what it is like to live on welfare and to stretch every dollar to the max. My family of 4 lived on my father's salary of about $34,000 for most of my childhood. I just don't want to have to deal with the same situation of making difficult choices about buying necessities when I am 80.

Plus, there are those seriously scary stories in the papers about Americans not saving enough for retirement. I would think it would spur anyone to get out the financial calculators and start planning. I'm not sure exactly how much I will need at retirement as there are a number of factors we just don't know right now like:

1. Future inflation rate
2. How long will I live?
3. Will I have a spouse?
4. How long will my spouse live?
5. Medical or health issues when I am older

Any of this could impact my retirement budget. I figure that about $1.5 million is pretty safe as a goal for retirement. The funny thing is that saving $1.5 million for retirement wouldn't even give me a luxury lifestyle or even an upper middle class lifestyle. I think it would probably afford me a lower middle class to middle class lifestyle. Weird, huh? $1 million dollars seems like a lot.

Currently, I've set up with the following budget. I recently made about $45,000 a year but that was pushed up to $55,000 a year (yay!) this year. What I have total in assets are:

1. $11,300 in 4013b plan
2. $1540 in a CD
3. $4000 in Emigrant Savings
4. $3030 in Citibank Savings
5. $2,000 in checking account

TOTAL $21,870

What I usually put away or spend per month:

1. $600 RENT
2. $150 Emigrant Savings Account
3. $100 Student Loan Sallie Mae
4. $100 Student Loan with School
5. $700 my average credit card bill per month
6. $700 4013b plan contribution
7. $400 Petty Cash

TOTAL $2750

I have it pretty sweet in terms of rent, health insurance and credit cards. I used to live with my parents where I paid no rent but now I live with my boyfriend where I make a monthly contribution of $600. My job pays fully for my health insurance and I don't have to pay any premiums. I paid off my awful credit card debt immediately after college so I have no credit card debt. My take home pay of which the 4013b contribution is already deducted is $2686.54 per month. As my expenses without the 4013b contribution are $2,050, I can expect to save about $636.54 a month. This is the optimal formula but I usually end up saving less than that. Whatever is leftover, I move into my Citibank esavings account.

What I would really like to so is:

1. Open a Roth IRA - stock index plan with Vanguard
2. Lower my monthly expenses
3. Pay off my student loans so I can start saving for my parents' retirement

The thing about my 4013b plan is that you only have the option of choosing annuities. I think most people agree that in the long run annuities are not going to pay out as much as a stock index mutual fund. I have the option of choosing indexes within the annuity structure but the earnings have really sucked. I see no load index funds making gains of over 10% a year and I'm stuck with measily 5-6% gains. It's a total rip-off but I have no choice. This is the reason why I would like to open a Roth IRA but it's really hard to motivate myself to pull money out of my savings to do this. I think I may wait until I have saved a little more to pull it into a Roth.

I think I spend entirely too much on food and "necessities". I'm not a huge clothes or accessories shopper so I know my money mainly goes to eating out. I think it is hard to cut back as my boyfriend makes much more money than I do and we are usually going to expensive places. I just don't want to be the nag that holds him back especially when he is paying most of the rent so it's a tough situation. I try to cook one or two meals during the week (cooking is probably too sophisticated a term for what I do) and my lunches consist of Subway or Blimpie's. But occassionally I do splurge on Starwich ($15 a sandwich!) so maybe I can cut back on that. Controlling extraneous expenses are difficult in New York City especially when you live in an expensive neighborhood!

I am whittling down my student loans but I still have a ways to go. I can probably pay them all down now but since I have locked in an interest rate (3.625%) that is lower than my current savings rate (4.75%), I see no point in paying down my student debt when I can save the money and accumulate more interest. I have about $3,800 left in my Sallie Mae account and I have about $3,000 left in my other school loan. I pay about $100 a month on each loan. If I wait one more year, the interest rate on my Sallie Mae loan lowers by one percentage point.

The main reason why I want to pay down my student loans is that I want to set up a separate account for my parents' retirement because let's face it, my parents have not saved up enough for retirement. I'm not sure why my parents are retiring at 55 (next year) when they haven't saved up enough. I'm trying to convince them to work at least until they get to 65. I come from a very long lived family so I think my parents will be around until their late 90s. My mom has about $200,000 in her retirement account. The really good thing is that they do own their home and will completely pay off their 30 year mortgage in September (yay!) so that is another $400,000 in equity. My dad owns his store and is planning on selling his lease and store so I guess that is another $100,000? I know they can live frugally but I worry especially about their medical expenses.

I think I will start to tuck $100.00 a month for them in an account. I wish I could get a tax deduction on this or get a tax deferred account in my parents' names but the main thing is to keep them from finding out about the hidden stash. My sister is also going to contribute $100 a month. So at $200 a month for about 10 years can get us a pretty good emergency stash of at least $30,000 to pay for emergency medical expenses.

I know I'm totally psychotically scary about this but keep in mind that I worked at a community district office helping seniors get benefits! I really do not want to be a senior struggling to get by and not being able to survive without government benefits because who knows how long it would be before the government totally does away with social welfare programs? My generation is the most apathetic generation of all time and I doubt enough fuss will be raised by the time my generation's benefits start being totally wiped out. ARGHHHH!!!!

Have I mentioned that I am paranoid about everything?

I Hate Parmesan Cheese

2006-06-02T10:48:00.000-04:00

I do, I really do. I hate parmesan cheese. I wish I didn't as everyone seems to love this stuff. Can't you smell the vomit? A combination of rotting meat and smelly feet is not even comparable to a stinky shaving of parmesan cheese. And restaurants love to grate this stuff all over their patrons' food without even asking. I hate to send food back to the kitchen because they had sprinkled this heinous stuff all over my meal as I know that kitchen staff is probably spitting all over it. But I would rather have their spit than the scent of parmesan cheese anywhere near me. Everytime I smell this stuff, all I want to do is puke in my mouth.

Seriously, I'm not a complicated customer: I always tip 20% on the after tax total, I eat everything (except for parmesan cheese and other smelly cheeses such as romano, limburger - yughhhh!) even if it is burnt or undercooked, I never send things back to the kitchen (except for parmesan infested meals), I'm nice to the waiter and I try to make my order easy. But it really ticks me off when the restaurant adds something like parmesan cheese when they don't even indicate the ingredient in the menu!!!!!! I feel really bad for people who are allergic to cheese as this is probably a life threatening addition for them. I'd probably sue the freaking restaurant if I was allergic.

Other things that tick me off - yeah, it's that kind of day:

- Construction - It's happening everywhere and there's nothing I can do about it. They start their jackhammering and thumping early in the morning. I hope the housing market totally crashes and these people get their instant karma punishment.

- Domestic Tourists - Fat. Very white. Wearing the perpetual T-shirt, shorts and white sneakers - the uniform of middle America. They block the sidewalk and generally make a huge nuisance of themselves. Plus, they are the cheapest people ever and thus do not really bring in that much money for the city. They are also really loud. I sometimes wish I could start a paintball contest - whoever shoots the most tourists wins!

- NYU Undergrads - The bane of my existence. Whatever happened to the NYU as the kind of shitty school that you put down as a safety school? Do girls really want to be Felicity that much? Most of the undergrads are concerned more about fashion than getting an education. Just wait until you graduate, suckers, and have to pay back loans and credit card debt and deal with parents are no longer willing to pour their cash into your insatiable coffers. I await the day that New York City is no longer trendy enough for Paris Hilton wannabes.

- New Jersey Cars - Yeah, you know the cars that I mean - The huge SUVs with the New Jersey license plates and the Eurotrash music blaring out of their souped up stereo systems. These guys create havoc on the road because they don't know how to drive on roads that aren't like the New Jersey Turnpike. Even the cabbies hate them. They get stuck on tiny streets because their giganormous gas guzzling cars can't fit on our tiny roads. They should be banned from New York City. Not to mention, they clog up the Holland Tunnel and the West Side Highway for miles and miles on the weekends. Poor fools who can't afford to live in the City. At the very least, the New Jersey bastards should be paying a commuter tax to compensate for all the rage, pollution and general stench they bring in.

Boyfriend Birthday Gifts

2006-05-24T15:02:00.000-04:00

It ticks me off that when I search for "unique gifts" and "boyfriend" on the web, I get links to websites that sell personalized mugs, teddybears, pens and other useless things that will eventually accumulate dust in the corner of his closet. The same go for girlfriend gifts I suppose. To save the trouble of thinking about getting that truly fantastic boyfriend gift for someone that has everything, I have listed my gift thoughts below.

1. Hot Air Balloon Ride - I love this kind of stuff. You can get an exclusive balloon trip for 2 plus a romantic dinner and a bed and breakfast and a champagne party. But it will cost you - $695 (includes tax). And it's in New Jersey but New Jersey has to be good for something. Check out Inflight Balloon Adventures.

2. Flying a Plane - Not for someone who is afraid of flying but if they aren't, this is a pretty cool deal. A Discovery Plane Lesson/Ride is available from White Plains. Your better half can attempt to drive the plane for a short time while pretending he's a fighter pilot. May be helpful to get a pair of Ray Bans for the event. Price is pretty reasonable too - $55. Check out Panaroma Discovery Flight.

3. Renting a Luxury Car - Not for the faint of heart or for the empty of wallet but it's a great gift for your boyfriend if he really loves cars. You can rent a luxury car like a Lamborghini Gallardo for $1150. Mind you, this is only for a half day. And it doesn't include the insurance. The full day costs $1750. And these are just the weekdays. Then again, you could be spending that grand on something more worthwhile. But if this is something that your honey has been dreaming about, check out Gotham Dream Cars.

4. Luxury Watch - I like this because it's the kind of item that will be with him for his lifetime. If it's a really good watch, that is. I know that my Dad kept his Seiko Kinetic watch with him for over 30 years and counting. I tend to like Movado watches. Especially the simple kind with a silver band but for the more ostentatious, there is always bling to cater to any fashionista's desires.

5. Monogrammed Cuff Links - This may seem like a boring gift but done the right way, I think it could be truly memorable. Especially if you get silver cuff links from Tiffany and monogram his initials in front and engrave your message in the back. I'm not sure if they can engrave your message in the back but that's what makes the present so special so the search should be more than worth it. Everytime he puts on his cufflinks, he will think of you.

6. CD - This is kind of cheezy but I like it. I picked it up from a Board somewhere a long time ago. You can make a CD of all of the Number 1 songs from each year since the year your boyfriend was born. It would be even better if you could package it up in an iTunes gift certificate for retrieval on the iTunes website but sadly, they have not caught onto the idea of pre-purchased gift iTunes yet.

7. Magazine Subscription - You know your boyfriend likes reading magazines be it football, porn, finance, cooking or gardening. I think most guys are too lazy to get a subscription or just don't think about it. How about buying a subscription to a magazine he will love? Some ideas include Playboy, Hustler, Maxim, Stuff, Discovery, Football Digest, Sports Illustrated, etc.

8. Of The Month Club - Let's face it. Guys are lazy. They like to have stuff delivered to their doorstep so they don't have to think about leaving the house. And guys love the "Of the Month Clubs". Who wouldn't? You get an assortment of beers, scotches, cigars or other vices delivered to your doorstep once a month. No hassle. And sometimes they pop in a freebie. Prices range depending on what assortment you get and for how long.

9. Make something he'll actually use - Knit him a sweater or a scarf if you are a good knitter. Make him stereo speakers or a bookcase if you would prefer. Personal gifts are always nice but follow 2 rules: 1. The quality should be as good. The made at home bonus is negated if there are huge gaping holes in the scarf. 1. Make sure it's something that they want/need. It's useless to give them a homemade bookshalf if there is no space in his apartment for it!

10. Sports equipment or cooking/gardening - Whatever his hobby is or just an interest he has been thinking about, equipment is always needed. So far my boyfriend has received a tennis racket. Lessons may be included in the future. Other ideas could be golf clubs/bag, snowboard, rollerblades, grill, kitchen aid mixer, etc. Lessons could be included in the gift also. Maybe even a trip to somewhere where he can really use his present. Make a whole weekend out of it!

11. Car Race Track - I haven't tried this yet but doesn't it sound spiffy? I think there are racetracks in Connecticut where you can get an instructor and rent a race car to drive around the track.

12. Porn - 'Nough said.

13. Tickets - This could be tickets to his favorite football/baseball/basketball team. Or it could be tickets to his favorite Broadway play. Or tickets to dinner theater or whatever. It's a nice gift.

14. Video Games - You're lucky if you are gift giving during the video gaming system/video games release dates. It makes things easy. Things to look out for: XBOX 360, Nintendo Revolution, PS3, PSP, Nintendo DS Lite. One video game that I would really recommend for true gamers - Oblivion.

Disappointing Four Star Restaurants

2006-05-22T16:27:00.000-04:00

I love food. I may be a skinny little bitch but I eat like a champion food eater. I can outeat most men. Thus, I like to go to restaurants. A lot. Because I can't cook to save my life. I frequent my favorite restaurants often but I try to hit one or two new restaurants a week. I really like New York food but I have to admit that the food is much better in Europe. *sigh* I think the food in New York gets worse year after year. Low end to mid priced food is OK but it doesn't have the flavor of that grouchy guy in the neighborhood making you your favorite dish and snuggling up with the kitten on the counter. I love that special made with love quality! Or maybe it's the lack of fresh food as I have to admit that even the food in San Francisco is better. And celebrity chefs are always looking for something that makes people go ga-ga but they don't pay as much attention to the taste. I don't give a fuck about presentation. Give me the real thing! Or barring that, give me something fried. I guess they are looking for a way to present artwork that can be eaten and a high enough price to keep the riff raff out.

I made reservations for Daniel last weekend for my anniversary. The service was impeccable but the food was....eh. For a dinner that came out to more than $300, I was expecting more than just eh but we pay for the reputation, right? I find that when it comes down to it, most fancy restaurants cannot compare to really well made pigs in a blanket (so good!) or Totino's pizza rolls!!! I guess I have proleteriat tastes but I'm proud of it! There's a reason why this stuff sells!

I'm always open to revising my opinions so I have made a reservation for Jean Georges next month. Hopefully, they will serve better food. I'm also diligently calling to get reservations at Per Se but no luck. I figure I will get through one of these days. The only expensive restaurant which was really worth it in my culinary experience was Bouley. The food is fantastic! Other than that, I have never really had a memorable experience with high end French restaurants.

Nobu reminds me of certain meals my mother cooks which are great but not so special when you can just have your mom make it at home and save the $300 dinner tab. From just randomly picking new restaurants, I listed my favorites below:

- Grace - Pulled Duck Sandwich
- Shopshin - Half an order of Mac n' Cheese Pancakes with Sausage Walnut Hash
- Peter Luger's - Steak and Creamed Spinach
- Gray's Papaya - Recession Special
- Basso Est - Pasta!
- Dekk - Garlic Bread with Pesto
- Bouley - Whatever they have
- Tea & Sympathy - Welsh Rarebit with Tea
- Queen of Sheba - Vegetarian Ethiopian
- Agave - Brunch
- Grimaldi's - Pizza
- John's Pizzeria - Pizza
- Gallo Nero - Special gnocchi if they have it
- Blue Gans - Weiner Schnitzel
- Aki - Chef's Choice
- Moran's Restaurant - Seafood
- Assenzio - Gnocchi
- Bruxelles - Fries
- Nathan's Hot Dogs - Hot Dogs

This is really a quick list as I just typed what came to me at the spur of the moment but it's a good list to get started on.

Uneven Eyebrows!

2006-05-17T11:44:00.000-04:00

I have uneven or asymmetrical eyebrows. One eyebrow is higher than the other and this drives me crazy. It has nothing to do with the way I pluck my eyebrows. The muscles on my right eyebrow are just lower than the left eyebrow. I bring this up because I am seriously considering surgery to correct this. The reason why is that I had a disturbing conversation with my doctor.

So I'm in the doctor's office and she asks me about my weight and height and all that other stuff. Then suddenly, out of the blue she starts saying:

"I'm trained to notice small details and I noticed that that one side of your face is lower than the other. Did you have a stroke in the past or something similar?"

WTF? At this point, I'm shocked and I'm mumbling something about getting my eyebrows fixed or something. I mean, it's good that she was forthright and asked because it is better to know that other people notice rather than pretend not to notice but it was a huge shock. Plus, I guess she was doing it out of concern for my health but seriously, WTF? I never had a stroke. This is my NORMAL face!

Part of the problem is that I have an eyefold on my left eye and no eye fold on my right eye. For those of you that aren't Asian, this is the epicanthic fold or the crease in your eye where you put on eye shadow. A lot of Asian don't have this fold and so their eyelids look one-lidded or flat. Other Asians have the fold and it makes their eyes look much bigger and friendlier. Many Asians who are mono-lidded get surgery to artificially these eyefolds. My sister got this surgery a few years ago. This surgery has been vilified as a means for Asian to look more "Western". But really, the surgery doesn't make someone look more white, it just opens up the eyes and makes the eyes look a lot bigger which is more attractive in a lot of cultures. Sometimes the surgery actually makes the eyes look more Asian as it emphasizes the slants at the corners. Also, the eyefolds that are more popular and most requested look nothing like Western eyelids.

I digress. So this one eyefold thing is part of the problem of my asymmetrical face. The other problem is my uneven eyebrows. So how to fix it? I find that if I lift my right brow to the same level as my left brow, my left eye automatically becomes folded in resembling my right eye. So I'm thinking this surgery could be worthwhile. Am I taking this too far? I wonder if anyone else has had the same problem. I looked this up online and found patients who most often request this surgery are old white people with droopy eyelids and bags. Is there an easier way to accomplish this? I can't be the only Asian with uneven eyes!

I Love New York

2006-05-10T17:57:00.000-04:00

I think I write far too much about things that annoy me rather than things that actually have happened in my day. Mostly because I'm frustrated with the direction that New York City is going and I feel that a lot of the uniqueness that makes New York City itself is slowly being drained out. All the interesting people are leaving and being replaced with grown up frat boys and sorority girls who want to be Seinfeld or Friends or a myriad of other shows. I love New York so much and I don't think I could ever leave. My family is here and I would like to continue living here.

*Sigh* But everything is cyclical, yes? One day the construction will end and the financial markets will roll over and play dead and we may get some breathing room for the interesting things to start again.

My father has been working in Brooklyn at a stationary store for over 30 years. I think he is the longest running storekeeper in his neighborhood. I remember "helping" him work at the store during the weekends when I was 7. He has seen the transformation of the neighborhood from a predominantly Jewish neighborhood to a Caribbean neighborhood. He has been held up a gunpoint numerous times and witnessed his friend get shot in the chest by crazed druggie.

But out of all this, New York still holds that indefinable charm which keeps him here and working. He has his steady customers and his daily NY Post. Occassionally I go back to the store to help out during the weekends by watching the customers as many people steal - mostly kids take things and sometimes the parents help out by hiding the loot. But there are stories and these stories are slowly fading as are the neighborhood businesses. My father will probably retire next year and will bow out of his 30 year lease (Yes, they actually had 30 year leases back then).

The one good thing about gentrification is that the neighborhood is getting safer. The unspoken rule is that the less black a neighborhood gets, the safer it is. Crazy, huh? I wish it weren't that way but we have lived far too long in the city to not see the correlation. But I like the flavor of different cultures coming together and seeing poverty and wealth mashed up against each other rather than separated by a visible line.

Where will we be in the next 20 years? Will Manhattan be a fortress of wealthy white people being served by poor minority folk commuting in from the outer boroughs? It certainly is going down that direction right now. But perhaps the poor minority folk will no longer afford to live near New York and as the service in the City gets worse, the rich will be tempted to leave and go populate another city. I guess we will see.

Attack of the Double Wide Baby Strollers

2006-05-10T16:30:00.000-04:00

Battery Park City probably holds the most children per square foot in Manhattan. I can see why families would want to move down here because Battery Park City is a new development with great elementary schools and beautiful parks. I love kids and I hope to have many brats of my own one day, but as much as I love kids, it just sucks being stuck behind a mommy or a nanny slowly pushing the double wide stroller. Is it just my imagination or does there seem to be a very large amount of twins in New York? And an abnormally large amount of strollers? I long for the days of white flight back in the 1980s when families wouldn't be caught dead in the City parading around with their double wide stroller and diaper bag.

I just hate to be behind those double wide strollers because they take up the whole damn sidewalk and slow all of us regular non stroller pedestrians down. Mommies and nannies also love to use their strollers as walking weapons. I have seen strollers used to push a fellow pedestrians out of the way, ram open doors and prop doors open. I have also seen mothers hurrying across the West Side Highway with their strollers when traffic had the green light. What a way to put your kid in danger! I wish that these families would move out of the cities into the suburbs where they didn't have to deal with the frustrations of cramming their super sized lives in with us economy sized New Yorkers.

I think some families are good about getting an appropriate sized stroller and making sure that their children are under supervision and generally being respectful of other people. But the majority are not and I suspect that many of them are originally from places where stroller SUVs are perfectly acceptable because no one really walks anywhere. *SIGH* But I guess Manhattan is getting suburbanized. And Battery Park City is the prime example as it almost is like a gated community. All I can hope for is for crime to be on the rise once again so that families will scurry away to greener pastures.

One thing I noticed about New York families is there seems to be a hierarchy of status among the mommies. Just wait in front of an affluent elementary school and you can see that there are basically three main types of people who pick up children:

1. Nanny - She is hired by the parents as they are both working in professional jobs that don't leave them enough time to pick up or take care of their kids after school.

2. Mommy - The daddy makes enough money so that the mommy can be a stay at home mommy and take care of the kids. Or there is a trust fund somewhere.

3. Mommy with Nanny - The daddy makes enough money that mommy can stay at home plus hire a nanny to take care of the kids. Or there is a trust fund somewhere.

Of course there are situations that are different than the 3 main scenarios above such as the stay at home daddy or the work at home mommy that can pick up the kids or the recently fired mommy or the maternity leave mommy but those are the 3 major family care options in affluent NYC.

I point this out as raising kids in today's New York City is really status driven. This translates into competition to get your kids into the best schools regardless of whether the school is actually a good fit for the child. Research kindergartens in Manhattan and you will see what I mean. It takes applications and essays to get into KINDERGARTEN! I feel especially bad for those kids who don't have the resources to get into these schools because their parents can't be bothered to fill out applications or because their parents cannot read or write or because a variety of other reasons in which they cannot meet the high bar set by these schools to even apply. The bottom line is that you have to have parents who care and have certain abilities. If you don't, you are pretty much fucked because you are tracked to the worst possible schools.

As diverse and equal as the people would like schools to be, the natural inclination of schools is to be divided by income and class. This is nothing new but it is scary to think that this is happening from the kindergarten level and it is getting worse. I think at this point, homeschooling is the best option for parents in New York City if they have the time, ability and inclination.

Deodorant Without Antiperspirant

2006-05-08T11:10:00.000-04:00

I can usually get away without wearing deodorant. I know - ewwww! But seriously, I'm Asian! East Asian, that is. East Asians sweat but we don't get stinky. Well, not as stinky as everyone else. And it's been proven! But still, with years of mental conditioning from growing up being the only Asian in my class, I have the need to own and occasionally wear deodorant. If only for the reason of not having to explain that I'm not totally arrogant thinking I'm not stinky. So I always have a stick of deodorant in my bathroom cabinet.

I do get slightly stinky after really strenuous exercise so the deodorant is always nice to have. But I am the exception rather than the rule in my family as I think I'm the only person who has any kind of body odor in my family regardless of the exercise. However although I support deodorant use I have never been a fan of antiperspirant. Something about antiperspirant makes me nauseous especially when I apply the stuff in the morning. So I quit buying antiperspirant and stuck to deodorants. Then I found these intriguing articles about the possible link between antiperspirant and neurological disorders. Well, the link isn't really between antiperspirants and neurological disorders but between the quantity of aluminum we absorb and neurological disorders. Antiperspirants contain some form of aluminum as an active ingredient to block the pores from sweating. Yuck! I think that grosses me out the most - that these companies shove aluminum up the pores to stop your body from sweating out the bad stuff from the body system. Anyway, this further convinced me to stop using antiperspirant.

But it's really difficult to buy just deodorant! Walk into any Duane ready in New York City and you will find an entire aisle of deodorant. And most of them will contain antiperspirant. The guys' section of deodorant usually has half and half - Half of the deodorants are just deodorants and the other half have antiperspirant. But the girls' section of deodorants all have antiperspirant included. I think there is only one brand without the antiperspirant - Tom's of Maine. I refuse to buy Tom's of Maine because I have had bad experiences with their products in the past. I just don't think their products are effective. Where did all the plain old deodorants go?

I still have my stick of deodorant from Lady Speedstick from a few years ago. I don't use deodorant that often so a stick every few years works fine for me. I'm worried that I won't be able to find deodorants without antiperspirants anymore in my local drugstore to restock my supply. It also frightens me a little bit that drug stores are stocking antiperspirants with little or no alternatives for women. I can either use Tom's of Maine or that stupid mineral crystal ball thing that you rub under your armpit. I guess they are just responding to demand from customers. Is it that men know more about the possible dangers of antiperspirant use? Is it that women are more paranoid about sweating?

I may just cut off deodorant use entirely as I don't really need it.

The Perfect New York City Doctor

2006-05-05T14:45:00.000-04:00

I think everyone in New York City must be on the quest for the perfect doctor. Once you nab one, it is of utmost importance that you hold this information close to your heart and hope against hope that your perfect doctor doesn't get overloaded with patients. Once the perfect doctor gets outed, it's like a stampede. You would be lucky to get an appointment within three months. If you are one of the precious few that have always had access to the fabled perfect doctor, I hate you (but will love you again if you would forward me their information). It typically takes a series of wrong prescriptions, time spent waiting on the phone, unnecessary procedures and "oops! I'm sorry I made a mistake" doctors to find the right one. If you have found "the one", remember to properly appreciate your doctor!

I recently underwent a frantic search for a good OB/GYN as my previous perfect wonderful OBGYN retired. She was my mother's longtime buddy back in the day when my parents first immigrated to New York City. She was considerate, helpful, gave me free prescription sample medications and was very discreet. So wonderful that she successfully battled my mother into submission on OB/GYN visits when I was a teenager. My mother is a very nosy person and loves to be in the room with me wherever I go. Just imagine trying to convince your mom that you seriously do not need her in the bathroom stall with you when you really need to go! My OB/GYN would physically push my mother outside the room and lock the door. Of course, my mother would be pounding on the door trying to get in but my OB/GYN was probably the only doctor in the world who could keep her out and have it not affect her performance. *Sniff* I loved my doctor.

But one sad day she retired and referred me to another doctor. As I really trusted her advice, I immediately put the referral information in my Contacts and set up an appointment with the new doctor. I have now learned never to trust referrals from doctors. I had a hard time understanding my new OB/GYN as English was his second language. His nurses also had a difficult time understanding him and would frequently ask him to repeat himself. I was uncomfortable having a male OB/GYN but I trusted my previous doctor enough to try this new one out. Within a year of having this new doctor, I underwent unnecessary surgery, was assigned wrong prescriptions and was scheduled for appointments with the doctor when he was away on vacation. He also never called me back with the results of any of my tests. Granted, some of these problems were due to the administrative office but I really believe that a competent doctor would also keep a tight check on administrative issues like making sure that there are no appointments on the schedule before going away on vacation! I also think a doctor should call you regardless of whether the tests are positive or negative to at least let you know.

I recently found a new OB/GYN and she confirmed my suspicions about my previous doctor. I am now contemplating whether I should report my old doctor but I don't know if my accusations would be serious enough to warrant an investigation. It would also be a huge pain in the ass. So, I will most likely just move on with my life.

But I am so happy that I have now built up my personal arsenal of great doctors and a wonderful dentist. Still searching for the right oral surgeon. Have any tips? I need to get my wisdom teeth out! I went to an oral surgeon at the recommendation of my dentist (never trust professional recommendations!) and had a horrible experience. I'm not sure if it was because extracting wisdom teeth is in general a horrible experience or if the oral surgeon sucked. I requested general anesthesia instead of the local anesthesia because I wanted to be knocked out when they took those suckers out. I only asked for the left side to be taken out as I would be going to Russia shortly afterwards and I needed at least one decent side of the mouth to chew with and I was uncertain as to how to say - can you grind that food up into a pulp for me and pour it in my mouth - in Russian. I guess I could have survived on caviar and vodka but that would be a different story.

All I know is that the oral surgeon immediately began to attack my mouth while I was awake. I counted to ten and looked around for that mask they put on your face to put you to sleep. But I couldn't find the mask anywhere in my peripheral vision. As I was freaked out at this point, I started waving my arms and making ARGHHHH! noises and trying to get out of the chair. Finally, the oral surgeon stopped poking around my mouth and I explained that I requested general anesthesia. Then he put me under and knocked me out with whatever gas they use to knock you out. I still suspect he charged me for the local anesthesia as well as the general, bastard!

The beauty of general anesthesia is that you feel nothing. You also have no perception of time. It feels like you went to sleep and woke up immediately 3 minutes afterwards. Then you start to wonder why the clock is 3 hours ahead and what you are doing with a bloodstained napkin and why you are so groggy. I would imagine Roofies would feel the same way. Anyways, I was picked up by my loving boyfriend at the oral surgeon's office after receiving a prescription form for Vicodin. Little did I know that the oral surgeon did not give me any painkillers to tide me over until I got to the drug store to pick up my Vicodin. As soon as the numbing agent in my mouth wore off, I was in nailbiting pain. I started off whimpering softly and holding my mouth but that soon progressed into gulping sobs and tears with blood gushing down my gums. At this point, we were in Duane Reade on the line at the prescription counter. (A slight digression but I have to ask why the heck is there always a huge line at every Duane Reade prescription counter when there are like three Duane Reades on every block in this city????) As I was gushing blood and crying, my face had swollen to grotesque proportions. People hurriedly let me cut them on the line.

Then came the ordeal of the Duane Reade cashier. Now I know that these cashiers are paid minimum wage and they have a difficult life but I find that the Duane Reade cashiers especially the ones at the prescription counter are like really dim dinosaurs. They move at the slowest pace possible, have the worst attitude and it takes awhile for them to process anything. (I don't know if dinosaurs had bad attitudes but I assume they did. I secretly believe that this was the primary reason why they were wiped out as they pissed each other off and destroyed each other in a mutually destructive act.) Obviously, this is a generalization and I have met really nice and smart cashiers but I generally prefer if the pharmacist is manning the prescription desk as they are much nicer and faster. At this point I was babbling incoherently about needing medicine to make the pain stop. My boyfriend asked for an emergency rush on the Vicodin as I was clearly in pain and dripping blood on the counter. The cashier just stared at us blankly and said we would have to wait the requisite half hour. At this point, I was hitting my head on the counter (no really! I was hitting my head on the counter) because at least I could concentrate on a lesser pain rather than the huge explosion going on in my mouth. I think this among other things ( my boyfriend yelling at the cashier, other customers staring in horror, customers asking her to help us, the pharmacist stepping in) speeded the process up until I finally got my Vicodin.

So, all was well and I took my Vicodin and cried myself to sleep. I am thankful that my boyfriend continued to stay with me through my psychosis. I hope there is a special hell for those really horrible Duane Reade cashiers (not the nice ones but you know the ones I mean) and incompetent doctors. I think the incompetent doctors deserve the special hell more than the cashiers as I still harbour sympathy for the cashiers as I too have spent a year earning less than minimum wage, but maybe the cashier would be moved to a nicer level of hell. Remember, never trust professional recommendations! Always do the research when it comes to NYC doctors. I use www.webmd.com and the New York State Professional Misconduct and Physician Discipline. And check this NY Times article out.

Stop Having Sex with My Nose!

2006-05-04T11:40:00.000-04:00

Spring is hell for the simple reason that spring is pollen season. Severe allergy sufferers will overwhelmingly agree with me on this one. Those trees look so innocent and pretty but never forget that they will be trying to have sex with you. They spread their pollen far and wide looking for a willing partner. Damn them! I always forget how terrible my allergies are when spring starts because I am so happy to get out of my bulky winter coat. My allergies don't start until mid-April which gives me a teasingly short amount of time to enjoy the sunshine before I am holed up in my apartment with my Claritin and tissues and begging any god in the heavens to make it stop. After my allergies stop which is around the end of May, I conveniently forget this all happened and the cycle begins again the next year.

I spent my formative years on Staten Island happily trolling along on tree-lined streets with standard front and back lawns as part of every neighboring house. So I have to throw up my hands and ask - why do I have allergies????? I was exposed to pollen at a young age! I should have built up immunity or something! My theory is that this is all because I was born and spent part of my childhood in Brooklyn in an apartment building that was surrounded by comforting concrete and asphalt. I think my body went into rebellion when I moved to Staten Island at the tender age of 7. I blame my parents (sorry mom and dad!).

The important thing with allergies is to identify which allergy sufferer you are. For example, I am a tree. This means I am allergic to tree pollen. My boyfriend is a grass - allergic to grass pollen. Pretty silly until you realize that people are allergic to a lot more things and it's easier to cut it down to the essentials. When you commiserate with fellow allergy sufferers, you can rattle off your list like a pro - "I'm a tree, grass, chocolate and nuts. Whatta about you?" Identifying yourself can also help figure out how to mitigate the impact on your social life. I know that my allergies are really bad right at the peak of tree pollen season so I cancel any family photographs, camp outings, picnics until the ordeal is over. Grass pollen season begins right after tree pollen season so I know that my misery is ending when I see my boyfriend suffering. I give him medicine and pat him comfortingly in the middle of his hell but I'm secretly jumping up and down with joy that I will finally get to breathe again.

It sucks to be the allergy sufferer especially as a kid because remember the kid with the runny nose who never seemed to get it cleaned up? That was ME! Remember the kid with the bloody nose who had to be taken out of class? That was ME! (I blew my nose so much it always bled) Remember the kid who peed at his desk? That was.....er...that wasn't me. I am so thankful that Claritin and Allegra and all those other fine non-drowsy medications are available for me. Thank you drug companies! I hate you for all the bad things that you do but I love you for the allergy medicines!

Speaking of effective allergy medications, check this one out: http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2006/4/30/91945/8971
I don't think I would go this far but if things get much worse, I might try this out.

So, I'm wondering how many native New Yorkers are affected by this blasted disease? I'm sad that I can't visit my family in Staten Island during this time because of the clouds of pollen hovering in their borough. Are you the same? Let me know! How do you combat your allergies? I am considering wearing goggles and a filtering mask outside. Has anyone done this before? Does it work?

Native New Yorker

2006-05-03T16:35:00.000-04:00

One reason why I put up this blog is that I really enjoy reading other people's blogs and I thought that I should add something to the blog universe. The second reason why I put up this blog is that the term "Native New Yorker" has been taken, abused and generally gimped out to sell everything from pizza to toilet paper.

Case in point, www.nativenewyorker.com. You would think that this would be some sort of guide to New York or a diary of a native New Yorker. But no, my friend, this is the website of a state-wide franschise restaurant in Arizona. To add insult to injury, the founders of this restaurant are not even from New York City. They are from the illustrious city of Buffalo, NY. No offense to native Buffaloers.

I have very definite ideas of what a native New Yorker is. A Native New Yorker is a person who was born and raised in the glorious five boroughs of New York City. If you weren't born and raised in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens or Staten Island, you are not a native New Yorker. Period. It also helps if you still live in NYC but not a requirement by any means. There is an image of the native New Yorker cultivated by our real New Yorkers such as Woody Allen, Humphrey Bogart, Robert DiNiro, Seinfeld, Jennifer Lopez, P. Diddy, Ed Koch, Al Pacino, the list goes on and on. People start to use this term "native New Yorker" in conjunction with people who fit this image and it is now a term used to describe one born in New York City rather than New York State. It would be a disservice to use this to describe something other than what people know to be a "native New Yorker" (especially to sell things!) as it is deliberately leading them astray.

People from Buffalo are generally just known as up-staters. Upstate New York has a lot going for it (pretty leaves! fresh air! apple farms!) but us native New Yorkers really hate those guys because our tax money gets siphoned upstate mostly because the upstaters have much more political power. The political power in New York state is proportioned based mainly on land and not on population size. New Yorkers have a secret dream of seceding from the state and marking out our own territory but we know it won't ever happen. We just generate too much money for the rest of the state to let us go.

Now, I know how one describes a New Yorker can be highly controversial so I welcome any comments. Please note that I am describing a "native New Yorker" not a just plain old "New Yorker". I believe one can be a New Yorker if one moves here, falls in love with the city and sticks around for awhile. I appreciate anyone who loves my city as much as I do.