While on one side of town, the annual Gay Pride Parade was taking place, where marchers and supporters were either scantily clad and/or inappropriately (un)dressed, providing some very strange visuals (which forced me to cover my young sonÂ’s eyes as we exited the train station), on the other side of town Billy Graham was in town on what might be his last evangelical crusade.

The funniest part was seeing the stunned/jaw dropping look on tourist's faces as we emerged from the subway. They looked like deer caught in headlights. Oh to have been privy to their thoughts! Anyway, my amusement was short lived as I had to leave quickly because there were a lot of things that I really didn't want to have to explain to my 5 year old. BTW, did you get the title pun?

Events that I'm looking forward to starting this week:
The official start of my new job. It should be fun as the order for my separation from my old unit to the new one was not put through by the Temp from Hell, which means I'll have no voice mail access for 24-48hrs and my computer profile will not be on the new server, which means that I'll probably get close to 200 emails I'll have to delete, OH JOY!

My son's graduation. Ah yes, he's a big boy now as he moves on to 1st grade. Will I choke up and cry, or will I manage to take some good pics for next weeks Karnival of Kids w/out sobbing. I'll report back to you on Wed as to how it went.

People begin the mass exodus for the 4th of July weekend, leaving us seasoned New Yorkers to bask and have fun in a city that is virtually empty and easy to walk/drive through, shop and eat in restaurants with ease and leisure. In short, for two weeks I'll get a seat for my 40 min commute to and from work.

The salad bar at work will increase from the same 7 choices (lettuce, tomoatoes, peppers, carrots, mushrooms, Salmon and Chicken) to 15 items. Woohoo! a vegetarian's delight! Interesting how they never have onions even though I love them!

Finally it's the start of casual Friday's AND of me being able to go home early on Fridays, per my new dept.'s policy. That will be dearly treasured ME time! I have a choice of 3 places to go to for that time... gym, movies, and/or bookstore.

My first web hosting event - Karnival of Kids! I am so looking forward to this. I'm going to rest up my hands over the next few days, especially after having finished inputting over 100 contacts and events in my Treo these last 2 days. This means that commenting and posting will be light this week, as I deal with all these new, wonderful and exciting responsibilities. But look out, because now that I can surf on my Treo650, I'll be reading, commenting and posting like a demon starting next week. Ahhhh, I'm in technological heaven... more about this later.

Hope your Sunday was cooler and more fun than mine!

Posted by: Michele at 11:51 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 534 words, total size 3 kb.

I've just heard on the radio it's bear and tourist season in NY. One of the things that invariably happens if you have a big apt in NYC, is that you get to play host to a number of out of town guests (friends of family or of other friends). I have always loved playing host to my guests, and they in turn have always returned, which tells me they've had a good time in the first place. I've made some strong friendships that way. It's how I've been able to travel the world and visit places like Asia, Europe, Canada/Mexico and South America. Over the years, I've hosted and played tour guide to people from 17 different countries and 23 states and loved every second of it; after all none of them were New Yorkers.

The only time I have regretted playing host was to a former roommate's high school friend, who was originally from California. I haven't much cared for Californians since then. This group recently emailed me announcing their impending visit to NY and letting me know they'd like to stay with me. No, they didn't ask. How sweet of them to be so friendly! [NOT] After only a split second thought of how I was going to say no I simply hit the reply key and let my fingers take over. The result? A strangely amusing email that should do the trick w/these airheads. Anyone venture to guess if this email will work?
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Posted by: Michele at 11:31 AM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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New York's West Side is a haven for celebrities, from Milton Berle, Paul Simon, Kathleen Turner, and Madonna, to Donald Trump and Nicole Kidman. The West Side is teeming with celebrities for 3 reasons: 1) all the major theaters are there; 2) There's currently 11 TV series in production there; 3) all the national news and syndicated entertainment shows are taped on the the West Side.

So after awhile, celebrity spotting becomes no big deal and they just become part of NYC's backdrop, celebrity extras if you will. Oftentimes I don't recognize them till much later because they look so different without their makeup. Such was the case when I met up with Tom Cruise a few days ago.

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Posted by: Michele at 01:12 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
Post contains 634 words, total size 3 kb.

1 Palm Beach County is the same way. Everyone owns a home down here for the winter and so you go places and see people and after awhile, it doesn't phase you. It just... is. I am like you... it's all about the brains and the sense of humor. I tell people all the time, higher intelligence is the ultimate aphrodisiac. I don't even think about what someone looks like anymore... of course unless they're really dirty! Blech! Tom just doesn't come across as all that bright. He comes across as... mentally plyable. Heh.

Posted by: Bou at June 06, 2005 08:44 AM (z7nbM)

2 So... when he's not on camera, does he still just let his mouth hang open all the time like a slack-jawed yokel?

Posted by: Harvey at June 06, 2005 08:48 AM (ubhj8)

3 Actors "act". So they do "fake" for a living. Would you truly trust someone who pretended all the time?

Posted by: _Jon at June 06, 2005 10:18 AM (g9Y9+)

4 I know I'm going to upset Michele and Bou with this comment but here goes: I'd do him

Posted by: Machelle at June 06, 2005 01:55 PM (ZAyoW)

5 If your going to fall into the arms of a celebrety, make sure it's a hot one. Like Tom's ex, Nichole Kidman... then get pictures of it for us.

Posted by: Contagion at June 06, 2005 03:29 PM (Q5WxB)

6 When my sister first moved to NYC years ago, I'd get the occassional phone call about a celeb who had walked into the store she worked at... no matter who it was I just couldn't work up any enthusiasm. I'm not a "star watcher" and I'm not going to gush all over them because they can act in front of a camera... I don't really care who they are. I don't dislike them, but there are so many other people I admire so much more - and would be thrilled to meet in person. But that's just me.

Posted by: Teresa at June 06, 2005 04:42 PM (nAfYo)

7 He's not a nice boy. Not at all. Does nothing for me....and still wouldn't even if he did meet the minimum height requirement. I'm with you - humor and brains.

Posted by: Tammi at June 06, 2005 08:45 PM (F4oo1)

8 Like I told Bou, Cruise just doesn't do it for me! Your story reminded me of a story my brother told me. He ran up to Hollywood just to kill some time one day, and while there, Gary Busey ran into him. Literally. Flattened him. R said that Busey was very cool, very nice. Kept making sure that he was alright. (And he didn't get the feeling that he was trying to cover his ass!) Soon as R stood up and told him it was cool, Busey smiled and apologized again, then took off. He was hurrying to a taping of the Tonight Show. Kinda cool.

Posted by: That 1 Guy at June 06, 2005 11:34 PM (A27vL)

9 The only way to be around those with fame... bring on the ULTRADORK! Fall down, fart, throw-up, lick all of the doorknobs in the room... That is how you make sure they remember you.

Posted by: Sarah the Penguin at June 09, 2005 02:36 PM (d7t5G)

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