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Gluten Free

Brownies...not bad. A little dry but they will do to satisfy my chocolate sweet tooth.

In response to one of my earlier posts about gluten free pizza...I actually found a place in NYC, Luigi's on 88th and 1st. It is really good. The crusts don't rise (for obvious reasons) so deep dish is out of the question, but thin crust is a good (only) option.

Continued list of Gluten Free foods

Bread: Horrible. Way too crumbly. I tried to take a slice out of the bag and 4 pieces crumbled. I tried to salvage the some-what sandwich worthy pieces by putting them in the toaster for a few minutes, but that did nothing to stop the crumbly-ness of it. So I tried to put peanut butter on it to "glue" it together, but it was so crumbly that more bread ended up on the knife than peanut butter on the bread. Fail. I think I will try crackers.

Next up...Brownies.

New York City Subways

Here is a list of things that have I have observed over the past two years of riding in the subway:

*The subway is not a bathroom. I have seen way too many people urinating on the tracks. Luckily I have never seen anyone defecate.

*When an alarm goes off (such as a fire alarm) no one seems to notice. What happens when there is actually an emergency? Will people still continue to ignore the lights and sirens of the alarm system that is set up for that very reason? I got to say, I ignored it also, but it was because no one else was reacting (reverse crowd mentality?)

*Cockroaches. Everywhere. Eew.

*When a train is delayed because of "an earlier incident" (which is usually someone jumping in front of the train, or getting sick on the train or having a baby on the train all of which are valid reasons to cause a delay in the train schedule) people get PISSED. They are late for work and these "incidents" have slowed them down and wreaked havoc on their daily commute. I understand a little bit. If you are going to commit suicide, don't do it in a way that inconveinces other people (this reasoning does not apply to the sick or pregnant who cannot control those "incidents") . ON the other hand-someone just died! Have a little respect.

*Dogs on the subway...weird.

*Some of the outfits that people come up with are pure entertainment in the morning. This morning was a fabulous display of a lack of fashion sense. Woman with dark blue shimmery top with grey athletic pants. She was carrying a blue pleather shimmery purse (it was a slightly different hue of blue so it looked weird). To complete the outfit she had light blue pleather shimmery boots (again, a different hue of blue). She got the idea of matching, but she went a little too far...in the wrong direction.

*Music. I have no problem with people listening to music. But people don't understand that no one else wants to hear their music. When you come on the subway, leave the boom-box at home.

*While we are on the subject of music, if you are good at the guitar or the violin or you even have your own mariachi band (those are the worst) don't bring them on the subway to perform and think I am going to give you money. I will not because it is annoying and disrupts my reading time. If you want to make a living as a mariachi band, audition to work at a Mexican restaurant. At least there it will be appreciated. The last thing I want to hear in the morning is songs in Spanish. I can't even understand them (it wouldn't matter if they were in English, it would still annoy me). Plus, as the announcements state "soliciting money is the subway is a crime and we ask you not to give in order to maintain a safe and orderly subway. Thank you for riding MTA New York City Transit".

*Subway poles are not meant for dancing. I understand that you are very flexible and can do cool acrobatics on them, but you could be seriously injured and you take space away from those who actually need to use the poles to hold on to.

*There have been so many movies/TV shows shot in the subway stations...why haven't I ever seen one?!

*The worst feeling is when you: swipe your card too fast, have to swipe it again at that same turn style, or swipe it and there is not enough on the card, but you don't realize it and move forward anyway. Not only is it annoying to be stopped by the bars, it kind of hurts your legs. This has happened to me many times and it is very frustrating.

This concludes my list of nusances and interesting experiences that I have observed in the New York City Subway systems.

Cool!

I can type 82 words per minute, that's 128% above average. Average is 36 words which is really hard for me to understand because that means one key stroke every 2 seconds. How many people are taking these tests that the average is so low? People of my generation have grown up with computers and can type faster than 36 words per minute. I figure that old secretaries are taking this test.

Music

I have just gotten back into my itunes playlists and have started to love classic soul music: Stevie, Earth, Wind and Fire, The Temptations etc. Will upload play list soon.

Gluten Free

Every day I am finding more and more things I can't eat because they are gluten filled. Today I ventured to try the gluten free bread. It is very crumbly. It doesn't taste so bad with peanut butter and jelly but you have to be careful because it will fall apart with the slightest wrong movement. Some other reviews of gluten free products:

Chocolate chip cookies-ehh, they are no chips ahoy and also crumble very easily, especially in milk

Home made chocolate chip cookies-they have the consistency of muffin tops but sort of good.

Home made pizza (I have yet to find a pizzeria that is gluten free-I don't plan on finding one. Ever)- pretty good actually! the crust is kind of lame but the rest of it is good.

Cereal: Envirokids (yes, products for children) are very good. I like how they have jungle animals on their boxes also!

Snack bars: also from Envirokids and also good with fun boxes

Pasta: same. with enough sauce.

I do have to say that I am kind of getting tired of having eggs for breakfast every day (since Gourmet Park does not carry gluten free muffins, pastries, cereal etc. and why would they? You can't do gourmet very well without wheat.) Fruit smoothies and potatoes have become a staple for lunch. I am feeling much better so I think I am going to stick with this for a while...at least until I go to Italy...

Travel

Andrew and I have officially booked our flights to Italy! We are flying into Bologna and from there we have to decide what to do. We are going to spend a few days visiting Molly in Florence and would like to go to Venice, do a day trip to Pisa, and spend some time at a Vineyard (one of the Antinori estates probably). We may go to Rome but all of this is still up in the air. The only thing I am sure about is that we need a hotel room to stay the night before we go home since the flight is at 630am. woof. Will update as the details are ironed out. :D yay!

Street Observations...

#1: On the way to work this morning I passed a blood drive mobile. I can't give blood because I almost pass out when I have to have it taken for medical purposes. But their slogan made it even less likely for me to donate blood. On the side of the all red truck (gross) read: "We bring out the *very* best in you". That sounds like it should be a slogan for a boys and girls club or some organization increases kids' self esteem. It makes me cringe to think about what that actually implies.

#2: If you are ever in the neighborhood of Bloomingdales here is a vital piece of advice: ALWAYS pretend you are on the phone. Given the high volume of foot traffic in that area, there are people from every type of organization trying to get you to sign up for something. It ranges from everything from hair care promotions to the ASPCA. They are really good with the guilt trip but can't they tell that I am in a rush by the speed at which I am walking? Does it look like I have time to talk about how much I pay to get my hair done? No.

Random Thought...

Second one for the day...
Why does the news report things as being a "near-miss". In reference to air planes or boats almost running into each other, they say it was a "near-miss". If you nearly miss something, YOU HIT IT! They should use the phrase "near-hit".

Random Thought...

Why would someone think it is a good idea to have the first few floors of a building copper plated? People have to polish it every week...that's just poor planning.

Arcade Games

Random thought for the day...

The one thing I miss about having Windows is Minesweeper.

July 31st

Helped move Pat and Terko in today. And when I say "helped" I mean, sat on a chair in the back yard and caught some rays. I was more useless than the last time I helped the guys move in a year ago. At least that time I brought pizza...even if the pizza guy ended up carrying it all up the stairs for me. I paid for it and it is the thought that counts! I did get them their first (new) bottle of Absolut, so I think that counts :)

The most exciting thing that happened today was the formation of my first official book club- Pat, James, Jess, Jenn and I will be starting with The Great Gatspy. All meetings will require a case of beer and a bottle of wine for discussions. I approve.

Future books include: Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, Sex, Drugs and Coco Puffs (James's pick...is that even a real book??) I am currently in the middle of the "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series (reviews to follow) so I might have to juggle two books at the same time, but I spend enough time on public transportation that it shouldn't be a problem.

Andrew is currently snoring...I may be awake longer than expected.

My first NYC celebrity sighting!!

Well, not really...let's start from the beginning. I have been working in NYC for 2 years at a store with a high profile address with some pretty high profile customers. I figured at some point I would see a celebrity come into the store especially after hearing stories about Jim Carrey, Daniel Craig, Kim Cattrall etc. but I to this day have not seen a celebrity in the store. I have seen the likes of Andy Roddick, Brook Shields, Mary-Kate Olsen, Fergie (Dutchess of York) and others at special events, but they don't count because they're supposed to be there.

I never really thought about seeing celebrities on the streets whether it was walking around like normal people or filming a movie UNTIL everyone else I knew was talking about who they randomly saw during their lunch break. My friend Mara makes me jealous almost on a daily basis with her sightings. So I changed up my lunch time routine and decided it was time well spent wandering the avenues of NYC just to catch a glimpse of someone...anyone. It is pretty much the old "a watched pot never boils" type situation. I had pretty much given up hope of having a random encounter and went back to eating indoors (this also may have something to do with the fact that NY was hit by a MAJOR heat wave, and staying outside for long periods of time was not an option).

Yesterday, everything turned around. You could say it turned into a "when you stop looking you will find the one" type situation. I leave for my lunch break and 1 block away is a movie set. My first "active" movie set since I've been here. I had absolutely no idea what they were filming or if it was over, but after walking around the block 7 times (that is not an exaggerated number) I got lucky! As I am approaching one of the trailors, Russell Brand is walking in. I immediately send a text (in all caps) to Mara that "I JUST SAW THE GUY FROM GET HIM TO THE GREEK!! I'm so happy". At that point I knew who he was but I couldn't remember his name...worst. fan. ever.
The signs around the block said they would be filming there yesterday and today. I bet you can guess what I did today for my lunch break. This time I was sure to have my camera on my phone ready for action. As I am standing outside the Bloomberg building looking like a tool he comes walking by and I took this little snap shot. He looks funny in suspenders...and a little like Michael Jackson. Anywho, I will continue to keep my eyes out!