THE LAST FIVE ...

Closing up shop
- Wednesday, Aug. 02, 2006

It may be time for a change
- Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Entry in the air
- Friday, April 21, 2006

Still here
- Thursday, April 20, 2006

Music of the moment
- Wednesday, March 1, 2006

Or ... BE RANDOM!


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101 in 1001
American Road Trip, 1998


OTHER PEOPLE

Chupatintas
Dancing Brave
Fugging It Up
Kitty Sandwich
Mister Zero
Sideways Rain
Ultratart
Velcrometer


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Thursday, July 24, 2003 - 5:01 p.m.

No, really, the subways are safe!

Computer froze, entry in SimpleText not yet saved, a couple of paragraphs lost.

In review: One half of the duo known as Succubus living in the attic apartment is gone, or at least her ghetto gray Buick is gone. As are the late-night noises that made it sound like horses lived upstairs, since the one who wore the work boots all the time is the one who has gone. Or maybe it just seems quieter now that we have the window air conditioner running at night providing perfect "white noise."

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Also, Celia Cruz, that Cuban salsa singer who died last week? Died in Fort Lee, N.J., and I pass her apartment building every day to and from work. I made the connection yesterday while at Sears while my car got new tires. All of a sudden last week, a shrine of flowers, balloons and photos popped up in front of an apartment complex. I'd noticed because of the nearby traffic light allowed me to ponder it a couple of mornings. I'd seen a large group of people there one morning, and then recently � Monday maybe � I saw a man in a suit posing for a picture in front of it all. He was either smiling or joking with the woman taking his picture, which led me to believe that the flowers weren't there because someone died in a car accident, like you often see. I also took note of the flags there.

So yesterday, I sit down in the waiting area at Sears and pick up the Bergen Record and the front-page photo of Celia's funeral procession down Fifth Avenue provides the link: A big Cuban flag draped over her coffin. The same flags left with bouquets outside the apartment building. On the way into work today, I looked closely as I drove by and saw one flower arrangment sporting a big photo of a smiling Celia Cruz.

Mystery solved.

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We're spending the weekend in New York City. Yeah, it's a half-hour bus ride away, but since Casey's dad has some deal that got him a suite at a Hilton on 53rd St., we're crashing there so we don't have to shuttle back and forth (and be at the Port Authority bus gate by 12:30 a.m.). But seeing as how Casey's dad's main purpose every time he comes to New York is to walk everywhere (barely taking cabs and never taking subways) and eat at highly recommended restaurants, I am curious to see how this fills up the entire time from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon. Don't get me wrong � I don't doubt it can happen or that it will happen, I'm just interested to see how it does happen. I'm looking forward to spending a day in the city, but not if it's just walking from store to store. Casey and I have already decided that if the walking gets out of hand, we're taking a subway and saying, "We'll meet you there," without a second thought. Especially if it's hot. But if you ask me, you're missing half of New York if you only care about the food and the stores, and if all we're doing is stopping to eat on our way from store to store, I may cede myself from the group on Saturday afternoon.

Well, probably not, but I'll consider it.

I'll have my camera with me and I'm anxious to explore more of Central Park and to be staying so close, it'll be a shame if we don't get to it at all. Well, if I don't get to it at all.

And I have to wear a jacket to dinner Saturday night. But I won't complain about it if I get out early enough on Friday and see Kirsten Dunst at Olives.

Another reason to bring my camera.

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