My pitas page

"it's kind of porny"
william f. buckley jr. gets his mitts on the summer abercrombie & fitch catalogue. i think he's dismayed at what he finds inside.

how rude!
all of the shooting gallery's employees were laid off yesterday...via e-mail.

for all the co-habitators out there
this group works toward the acceptance of unmarried people who live together. some of the content is inadvertantly funny, like the FAQ's.

worst country song titles
i think #12 is my favorite, but there are so many "good" ones, it's hard to say.

the doctor vs. ducklings
state legislators in mass. are squaring off to declare either "make way for ducklings" or dr. seuss the official state children's book/author. why can't we all just get along and have one of each?

women can't retire as early as men
the reason this is here: someone from wilbraham, mass, is one of the examples in the story. also, some gossip for you agawamian(s) out there: james willis is getting married!

salman rushdie digs u2

jim henson tribute
who wants to go with me sometime before september rolls around?

"picnic, lightning": sold my copy to the strand
billy collins, one of the very few commercially successful poets around, has been named u.s. poet laureate. this is all well and good except for one thing: his poems read like ones i used to churn out for my creative writing classes. now, that could mean i'm one heck of a poetic prodigy, and goodness knows i would love that to be true, but i fear that's not the case. i fear that, instead, simply because he has some clever turns of phrase and writes about everyday matters, people think he's The Man. i hate to write that, because i really do think poetry is something that people should be exposed to more, and having collins as poet laureate i think will achieve that, but i want byron or something! complexity and allegories and allusions! i want the poet laureate to be better than clever.

roommate drama update
she offered my room to a really, really, really nice guy last night who only wants to sublet. he's calling her today around 3:30 once he finds out when at the end of the summer his future apartment (being renovated) will be ready. basically he's already told us he'll take the place, but until i get the call from her, i am not going to count any chickens at all. so get those chickens outta here!

sun-times columnist is hot
says people magazine. he describes himself as "not hideous." way to work the self-esteem.

lobster rolls
after only having to wait 1.5 hours, we were called on the cell phone for our table at mary's fish camp, the newest hipster doofus seafood place (that the city even has more than one hipster doofus seafood place is so...new york). anyway, the table wasn't ready when we got there, so it meant more waiting. at last we were seated, and someone in our party knocked over the huge beer glass of the girl at the table next to us, sending glass and alcohol everywhere. heh. for once, it wasn't me doing that sort of thing! now, the much talked-about lobster rolls. being from massachusetts, i am used to hunks of lobster and mayo on a hot dog bun. and this was similar, but, as h. said, "fancier." it was slightly lemony. but still good and i would happily eat one again. came with a tons of skinny fries. for $18 it was, yes, a rip-off, but this is new york and it was an experience you're basically only going to go through once. so all in all it was a good evening! *** now, if only my roommate would find a subletter for my bedroom and i could cure myself of severe cramps, my life would literally be perfect. got any potential subletters for me? drop an e-mail to nerdgirl@angelfire.com (i am about to take matters into my own hands. watch this space for updates on the drama).

titou
last night began here for me, two girls, and a guy, drinking beer at a tiny outside table after being informed we'd have to cool our heels for two hours while waiting for a table at mary's fish camp down the block. cool we did, and i think had a nice time. after one beer here, we adjourned up the street to what looked like a newly-opened (meaning: totally empty except for us) "martini bar", where two of us had beer, one had wine, and another had a bright green apple martini. a. pegged it exactly: it tastes like a jolly rancher.

martha's penning her autobiography
i cannot wait!

b-day for betsy
happy birthday betsy! hope saturday night at fez went late and felt great (i'm a poet and don't i know it).

publishers, beware
soon there will be a fairly accurate measure of how well books are selling. make fun of people who buy books at walmart while you can--you'll have to start being nice to them very soon.

wednesday night happy hour
me and three of the girls went here, the boxcar lounge, all the way over on ave.b. i took the L train for the first time ever--i quite enjoyed it. the bar itself was pretty empty, but the bartender/owner was nice and he has a great happy hour special: buy one bottled beer, you get another one free. i indulged in a "malternative" beverage myself, hard lemonade. i am indeed a girl.

120 greenwich st.
where i'm moving at the end of the month. we have an "a" model apartment. very happy and excited. i'd even go so far as to say blissfully so.

contraception and the court
yet another court decision saying that employers should cover birth control pills as part of their employees' health plans. when will these slacker employers finally all wake up without having to get dragged to court? it's cheaper in the long run, folks...

murray's bagels
on a sunny sunday morning, there is nothing better than walking with boy to get warm bagels with some sort of spread, then eat them in washington square park while watching the dogs be silly in the dog run. a favorite new york moment.

mini marathon results
a. and i ran this on saturday morning. i actually felt kind of ok afterwards. you can search by name to see how well we did.

emack & bolio's
there's a branch of this ice cream shop on 7th ave. and i truly believe they have some of the best-tasting low fat frozen yogurt around. tonight i had a cup of black forest chocolate...mmmm....perfect day for it, too.

got real estate?
all of us who started jury duty yesterday were sent home today and do not have to bother returning tomorrow. so that's nice. i think i shall spend my free day, then, calling relators with 1 br listing in today's voice that are not completely outrageous price-wise. they can't all be fake ads, right? (and if you know of a 1 br in nyc coming open between now and sept.1, could you let me know? thanks...you will so be invited to the housewarming.)

india.arie
this cd, and npr, have been the soundtrack to my life lately. i'd recommend it highly.

guide to jury duty in nyc
in case you ever get called, here's a fun TONY piece about places to eat and shop when trying to kill time in the courthouse neighborhoods. wish i'd known about the lunch recommendations, though my vietnamese food was fine.

jury duty, a civic responsibility
funny thing, this: in most places, you either serve one day or one trial and you have fulfilled said civic responsibility. but in nyc, you serve either THREE days or one trial! so i spent today at the criminal courthouse and will be returning there tomorrow and thursday as well. hopefully that will be the extent of it and i will not be chosen to serve, as bad as i kind of feel about my scheming to get out of being a good juror. today i was called for two jury pools, but on both occasions i was excused once i explained i was supposed to start a new job on monday. the judges and lawyers and such really don't seem to care--there are lots of other folks waiting to take your place, i guess. the best part of today, besides the quiet morning walk through tribeca, which was a new neighborhood for me, was the orientation film they showed us at the beginning, hosted by diane sawyer and 60 Minutes' ed bradley. they both seem to think that we should be pleased as punch to be inside on a lovely day like today, potentially deciding the fate of alleged murderers. i bet they never go to jury duty.

one girl cookies
used the cookie delivery service today that is described in the first question on this page. it was a big success, so order some for your friends today. everyone likes surprise cookies!

SEX!
"sex and the city"'s season premier was last night, so a few of us gathered in front of the rivington tv and laughed ourselves silly. first episode was kinda depressing, second episode is what that series is all about: fab clothes and fab-er girls who are real like us.

french roast
went here for brunch sunday morning after the riving ton kids' great partay on saturday night. the belgian waffle with fruit was good, but i like my maple syrup warm, which this was not. and the hostess had such prominent nipples that a. was very disturbed by them.

shop til you drop
a. and i did just that on saturday at these outlets about 1.5 hours north of the city. we both kept our spending in check but walked away with stuff we are madly in love with, so two thumbs up to this consumerism experience. just one question: why are pants always made for ridiculously tall girls? getting them shortened is always such a drag...

fashion magazine futures
a good piece about "wither fashion magazines," if you're into that kind of thing. which i am.

shakespeare on the lower east side
this sounds charming, and it's free. perhaps i could talk the rivington kids into checking it out one night. if only we had lawn chairs!

wanna be like the sex and the city girls?
citysearch knows you do, and gives you the 411 on where to go. season premier on sunday!

getting even
girls who get felt up on the subway are taking matters into their own hands, and making a few bucks in the process.

camaje bistro
this is where i went for dinner last night. i ate So Much, but it was all So Good and this place is So Romantique, with its votive candles and red walls. recommended. (and how do you like the fresh new page? for past entries, check out the archives to your left.)