I'll Take Manhat--er, DC

I had the pleasure of attending a conference in NYC this past week. No, I wasn't part of the UN meeting and no I wasn't there to protest at Columbia.

I was plunk in the heart of the theater district (aka Broadway) and the neon lights certainly are bright except I don't think it's neon anymore. It all looks like flat panel screens running advertisement loops and animation so everything is bright and moving around you at all hours of the day and night. And there's always plenty of noise. Kinda like being in a pinball machine. Then there's the sea of people around you constantly which takes some getting used to, even if you're used to other cities. This is a whole new level of crowd.

All in all, I really did have a good time there, even if it wasn't what I'd call relaxing. I got to see the Broadway show "Curtains" and it was light and funny and had quite a surprising number of song and dance bits in it. Impressive and catchy, too. And lots of famous folks in the cast.

I stayed at a "boutique" hotel a block off Broadway and here's a photo of a hallway on the way to my room. Yeah, it was that dark and shadowy. I got the feeling I was in a Baretta episode. Here's another shot of the lovely establishment. Inviting, no? And such a deal! Only $289 a night!

I am not a New York gal. This not so surprising admission comes at a time when I've had a chance to think more and more about DC. Here I am planning to leave it within the next 10 years, hopefully for a tropical clime, and I guess I'm just starting to really feel that this is home.

I've lived in the DC metro area for 20+ years and I've always heard that DC is cold, hard, unwelcoming, unfriendly, boring, congested, mediocre, lacking vibrancy and I guess I've always bought the press at some level. But the more I'm here the more I think "What the hell are they talking about?" It just doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Yes, the traffic is heavy so, okay, I'll give you "congested" but the rest of it, NO!

I've found the vast majority of people here to be friendly, helpful, pleasant, even inviting.

The options the area offers are amazing. There's so much going on for every taste, budget and interest every day of the year! The restaurant choices alone should keep anyone happy.

And in thinking about the restaurants I begin to think that what DC isn't is about fluff. There's not a lot of extra frivolity and maybe that throws newcomers off. But there certainly is plenty of quality, understated elegance, and even sumptuousness if you seek it. DCers are not effusive but they definitely get the protocol right. It works for me.

Manhattan is nice once in a while but for every day, pre-retirement living, I'll take DC.

All Aboard Amtrak, All Aboard!

I traveled to New York City for a conference this week and took the train for the first time. Travel money permitting, it won't be the last. Having driven a car or taken a plane, I can tell you train travel beats these hands down!

It's faster than driving and, if you count the time for security and runway taxi-ing and such, it's a tie for flying, time-wise.

It's scenic! You see a different path through the countryside than you do when you drive or fly. The train seems to travel more as the crow flies.

Plus, and this is the biggie, it's a pleasure. The trains (I took an Acela up and a standard regional train on the way back) are clean and comfortable and even have meal cars. You sit back, have a drink, make a call, read a book, and leave the stress of travel to them! Ahhhhhhhh.

Interesting tidbit: there's a Penn Station in Baltimore, in Newark, in New York, ... makes me wonder just how many Penn Stations exist...? Then there's Union Station in DC, and in LA, and in Ottawa,... Not very creative with their names, are they?

Oddness: I passed a section of Jersey and was surprised to see not only homes built RIGHT next to the tracks but some with balconies and outdoor furniture set up to face/overlook the tracks. That's entertainment?

"Fa, Fa, Fa, Fa, Fashion" --David Bowie (Harper's Bazaar)

I fill out marketing surveys. Sometimes I get cash for my efforts. Sometimes I get "rewards". Recently I hit a threshold on one of the reward-granting sites and I got a 1-year free subscription to Harper's Bazaar. For some reason I was thinking this was the magazine with the "Harper's Index", those thought-provoking statistics that play off current topics, but, nay, that's in a magazine entitled Harper's Magazine.

What I got was Harper's Bazaar. Okay, so it's free, I'll try it, I think. It's gotta be better than Fly-Fishing Gazette. I'd already requested and received the first issue of a year's free subscription to Sherman's Travel and that was pleasant.

The first issue of HB arrived this week. I applaud the postman for hauling this anvil of a magazine to my door in what must have been a Quasimodo posture. This is the largest magazine I've ever seen--and I'm old enough to remember the Sears Catalog. This is the Fall Fashion issue and, according to the pagination, weighs in at 574 pages! Yee-doggies, that's a lot of fashion.

I sat down with it and worked my way through it slowly, taking breaks for rest and nourishment much like I might chug through a text book on the night before an exam, trying to glean what I could from this alien world. I do not use the word "alien" casually. Look at some of these fashion models in their couture and you are surely looking at some creative marketing genius' idea of an alien creature. These are some of the most bizarre, no pun intended, creations I've ever seen. I get that advertisements are supposed to be memorable but holey moley!

In the midst of all this glitzy fantasy is the occasional application article: what colors are coming in, what style of pants are going out. And so I dutifully try to apply it.

Gold is in. Hm, not good for me as yellow's not flattering to my skin tone. Jewel tones are back. Great, that works! The high-water pants are out, good news for me since they just make me look shorter. Hugely wide belts are in. Bad news for us short-waisted people. Pencil skirts are back. Wonderful--tailored skirts are good on me.

And so the pendulum swings back and forth, back and forth, with the more than occasional moment of incredulity: Who the heck wears an 8-inch wide belt unless you're in wench clothing at a Renaissance Fair--sorry, I mean--Faire? And have you seen the angle on the shoes that are coming in? I can't wear those, I'll break my neck!

Now don't quote me on any of these fashion trends. After all, this is from memory after only my first pass through. Clearly, I'm going to need to devote a lot of time and energy to studying this if I ever hope to not be laughed out of the room by the fashionistas.

Then, again, maybe I'll just pass the issues of HB on to my sister, who totally gets fashion to begin with, and stick to less perplexing conundrums, like peace in the middle east.

Lessons from Jillian

I saw a rerun on Bravo of an episode of Biggest Loser, a show that is Celebrity Fit Club without the celebrities. In it, Jillian, one of the team's coaches, is proud of her "tough" reputation. That's her in the "bully" shirt, there. In this episode, she gives each of the team members an assignment to do 500 push ups and 500 crunches and 500 lunges and their immediate reaction is "500?? That's insane. I can't do that."

She does this intentionally. She starts with what appears impossible and works with them and helps them to learn persistence and break down the goal until it's done. And it does get done. They do it. They are amazed that they find a way to do it but they do do it. She has pushed them to re-evaluate what is possible and doable.

That's what weight loss is all about. Changing "I can't do it." to "I will do it."

That's also what life is all about. We continue to face new challenges and our initial response to something new is almost always "I can't do it." or at least "I don't know if I can do it." And then, when there's no choice, when Jillian or someone or something equally as scary, is staring us down, we try. Most of the time we find that we can do it and, after the fact, we wonder what all that fear was about. Until the next challenge and it starts all over again.

What would it be like if, instead of looking at challenges with fear, we faced challenges as exciting opportunities to show that we can do this, even if "this" is entirely new and unknown? Not to operate with bravado but just to be open to our own potential. I guess the lesson from Jillian is that it's okay to be afraid, just don't let it stop you from believing you can do anything.

The Apple of My Eye

Why is it that work can be relatively quiet for weeks and then suddenly you have high visibility actions and deadlines flying at you from all directions? It's true, I'd rather be busy than bored but, wow, be careful what you wish for, for you will get it in abundance! Must be the change in the weather. People are shifting out of Summer mode.

Meanwhile, with the shifting weather a variety of apples have shown up at the grocery stores and I wonder at the years and years we lived with only waxed Red Delicious apples in the bin. How did these get to be the most prevalent? I don't think they're all that delicious. Give me a Stayman or a Jonamac or a Ginger-gold or a Gala or even a zippy Granny Smith any day over the so called Red Delicious. Did the red delicious catch on because of the bright color (much like the dyed pistachios) or were they the easiest to grow and keep on the shelf without spoiling (much like iceberg lettuce.) Valid arguments, I suppose. But flavor-wise? Would Eve really be able to tempt Adam with a Red Delicious? C'mon. And now that people have tried other varieties, how ya gonna keep 'em buying Red Delicious once they've seen gay Paree?

Let's see what Wikipedia has to say about this.
"Red Delicious is the most widely grown apple in the world." It also says...

"The Red Delicious, like many other cultivars, was a chance seedling. The legend is that a hardy seedling was found in 1868 by one Jesse Hiatt, an apple grower outside East Peru, Iowa, USA. Hiatt tried to kill it, but it kept coming back, and finally Hiatt let it grow, eventually bringing its fruit to a fruit show in Louisiana, Missouri. It won first prize. All Red Delicious apples are said to be direct descendants of this original tree."

And...

"This variety of apple became increasingly popular until the 1990s, when overproduction began to degrade the quality and when better storage and transportation techniques made other varieties more available. Recently, apple aficionados often consider this apple bland and deride the Red Delicious for its overly sweet, relatively simple flavor compared to other apple varieties."

Gee, does this mean I can add "apple aficionado" to my resume? Who knew?!

Will we start to see tags under apple bins like the tags you see under bottles of wine? You know... "A delightful but unassuming apple from the Russian River Valley with a pleasant nose, undertones of leather and zinc, and hints of spice on the finish. Excellent for picnic nibbling and brunch desserts. Apple Spectator rates it a 76."