New York, NY

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

Some of my favorite things about the city:

Reading on the subway and the train

Lights on all the time

Manhattan is an island

There are burroughs

How I Met Your Mother, The Muppets Take Manhattan, Serendipity, Sex and the City

Central Park

Broadway shows

Bars where you can dance

Restaurants with mechanical bulls

Thai food and sushi available everywhere all the time

Diversity

Downtown

Midtown

Westside

Eastside

Uptown, kinda

Museums, lots of art galleries

92nd Street Y and Gotham Writers Workshop

Cityfoot (the kind of black the bottom of your feet can be when you wear flip flops all day in the summer–there’s nothing like it–gross, I know, but still NY)

Non-stop good times every minute of every day

Happy Birthday to me.

NYC, New York City

Times Square is the place to be for lights and lunacy. This past year brought us an unparalleled karaoke party to add to the crazy scene. Spotlight Live is the place for dinner, drinks, and a bit of singing. Supposedly, the likes of Tyra Banks and other superstars have taken the stage to sing. However, anyone sings. Everyone sings. With multiple floors and dark corners, you can hang out in the background or be in the spotlight. It’s all up to you.

Oh, and have I mentioned that you can be seen outside on their Times Square screen? Yeah, it’s that kind of karaoke.

They want you to be famous. Maybe you will be.

Medieval Times were not the way we think they were. They were dirty and gross and smelly. That doesn’t come across in the movies. What does come across and holds true is that the artwork was spectacular.

Go back in time at The Cloisters. Located steps from Fort Tryon Park, the Cloisters will make you feel kinda monkish. You can view illuminated manuscripts (that means that they have pretty, decorative script–they don’t light up), stained glass windows, and religious paintings.

The be-all, end-all of exhibits is the Unicorn Tapestries. They are beyond gorgeous. Go before the weather turns yucky.

When you think of NYC, you probably do not think of farmland. You probably think of skyscrapers and taxis. That makes sense because that’s what the city is. Still, NYC does not ignore our rural neighbors. We embrace them.

On Sunday Sept. 9, Farm Aid 2007 comes to town. Enjoy music by Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds, The Allman Brothers Band, and Counting Crows. Other acts will be there and these guys will switch it up and perform together and make great music.

Randall’s Island will be rockin. Get your tickets soon.

9/9 Farm Aid 2007 at Randall’s Island

9/4 Michael Palin at B&N Union Square *
9/5 Alan Alda at B&N Union Square ***
9/5 Joyce Carol Oates at B&N 82nd and Broadway
9/6 Stanley Crouch, Alan Kaufman, Erik LaPrade, Julie Obaso, Barbara Probst Solomon and Mike Wallace at Housing Works Bookstore and Cafe’s Reading Room *

9/7 IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!! EVERYONE CELEBRATE!!!!!!************************

* denotes personal favorite