So, I have a ton of things on my mind as the holidays are fast approaching. In the spirit of my friend John B. (akafrankgreen), A LIST!
1. When you see glamorous New York on TV or the movies, and its raining, they never show that every single person has soaking wet pant legs. This morning's walk into work was beset with torrential, stand-five-feet-back-from-the-corners-so-you-don't-get-splashed rain. The kind that turns your umbrella inside out, and in which it is hopeless to stay dry. Everyone....and I do mean everyone...shows up to work dripping wet. It is just a fact of life here, but not one you ever see in the movies or TV.
I made the rain manageable by breaking my personal rule of "No Christmas Music Until the Day After Thanksgiving" and played the new Starbucks "Stockings by the Fire" album on my iPod on the way in. Rufus Wainwright's "What are You Doing New Year's Eve" is a haunting thought-provoking take on one of my favorite holiday songs. It fit the rainy chill perfectly.
2. My family (all 8 of 'em, ages 6 to 86) is coming to New York starting this Sunday. We have a full week of activities: dinners at places like Pastis and The Cookshop, shopping (Macy's 30,000 poinsettia runway), THE PARADE, Thanksgiving dinner at Tavern on the Green, Hairspray on Broadway (I am holding out hope the strike ends), Ice Skating in Rockefeller Center, walking the Holiday windows on Fifth Avenue, a ballet performance at the Joyce...I CANNOT WAIT!
3. Moving day is fast approaching, so I will be headed back to Atlanta the first weekend of December to get my stuff. Because delivery vans are not exactly fast, I will have the joy of staying in my new place without any furniture for...get this...2 to 10 days. That is the delivery window they gave me. You thought waiting from 12 pm to 4 pm for the cable guy was bad. I am thinking about getting the blow up mattress, putting up a small Christmas tree and re-enacting the scrawny tree scenes from A Charlie Brown Christmas.
4. Barack Obama spoke at Google yesterday, announcing his technology initiative where he will commit to investments in green fuels and technology, broadband connections for every school, library, and every American, and the creation of a searchable database of all Federal spending. I love that he supports the idea that more information, and access to information, creates real change and real accountability. I bet that government procurement officer will think twice about paying that fat cat contractor $5,000 for a hammer if he knows that every citizen with a broadband connection can find that out with a simple search term. Today, Obama has my support over Hilliary.
5. I say it again, my family is coming to New York. I cannot wait.
