NYC sightings

i'm back in the city, and i actually witnessed a woman get her heel stuck in a grate. whenever i've seen this in movies (well, mostly in the trailer to a movie), i've always thought it to be foolish: why would any sane woman step down on her heel with all her weight (enough to wedge it in there) knowing she is wearing tiny heels? it's a recipe for a twisted ankle, grate or no. but there she was, mid-sentence, gesticulating wildly to her friends, and suddenly, stuck in one place, which made her already-flailing arms seem even more comical. i hid my guffaws so's not to be accused of laughing at her misfortune, as opposed to finally not bemoaning the real-life replay of the J-Lo, wedding singer-- no, flower arranger? something-- commercial as B.S... and then, today i saw a woman walk into a building. no, not as in, open the door, walk inside-- i mean, she was walking down broadway with a couple of friends, making a little noise, as if she might've been to happy hour, but otherwise exhibiting no signs of lunacy-- and next thing i know, BOOM! she walked into a wall and fell flat on her ass. she made so much noise that even the fruit vendor on the opposite corner turned to see what the commotion was. (and again, several folks stopped to see if she was ok. depending on which tv/movie reality you subscribe to, you may find this hard to believe. trust me.) why am i telling these boring stories? eh, i don't know. i guess i'm just excited that i'm in the city and actually had time today to notice such things. it's great fun-- people quite simply do not do these things at home. (tho, lest i seem like i'm all "this place is better:" no, dearies, at home, we have these places called fast food joints, which are located off of highway exits just outside the city, which are good places to redeem good karma earned in city traffic in trade for delicious strips of potatoes infused in grease. and are also great places to empty bladders of all the coffee that has to be consumed in the city to keep up. but not here. here, i must trade in my french fries for the pure entertainment of girls walking headlong into walls.) (and YES, there is a mcdonald's mere blocks from here! go away with your mapquest details! i don't want french fries while i'm walking around the city, i want them after i've succesfully navigated the west side highway withOUT removing, at a high rate of speed, the back end of a shiny new mustang convertible!!!) ahem. so, then tonight, at dinnertime, after i'd completed all that i could of the days' tasks, i asked the foxy doorman (who will most likely be mentioned here again) for a good burger joint reco, and as soon as he started to describe his favorite, i knew it was a place C had tried to take me before-- and his reco alone is golden-- so my tastebuds started jumping along with my pheromones, and i practically ran out the door... but wait. as soon as i got outside, i realized i needed to stay there. and i mean, i did not even want to go inside long enough to order takeout. so i took a right instead of a left and enjoyed the last several hours of daylight in central park. i managed to find the absolute worst NYC hot dog i've ever had, but no worries... i headed for the heckscher ballfields and watched several innings of high-energy softball. (is it normal to have four outfielders??) the balls were being hit so hard that two games were overlapping in their respective outfields, and i nearly got a ball in the face despite sitting on a bench well behind the bleachers & across a walkway. (it was coming right at me but bounced on a tiny rail separating the viewing grass from the walkway, so instead it went for the guy on the bench next to me, who garnered applause from the field for his bare, one-handed catch.) afterward, i wandered up CPW, gazed longingly at the dakota for the zillionth time (as if), and then crossed over to columbus, where i found much-needed coffee, and then a lovingly written article about the late larry brown... which makes me want to read instead of write. so there you go-- you're off the hook. :-)