Month: August 2016

I started this blog eleven years ago, in 2005, the same year I got my first HDTV, it turns out. Yes, I can trace my tv ownership through this blog. My oldest tv is below on the left, my first HDTV is on the right. It weighs 140 pounds and it’s sitting in my bedroom (overwhelming the tiny room) because I cannot carry it down five flights and neither can any of my current friends! (You’re also not allowed to put tvs on the street, so I have to figure something else out.)

I had to re-arrange my furniture a bit for the new tv, and the pictures on the wall behind it. I also bought a piece of wood to put on top of the green cabinet, so the two cabinets were of the same height, and the tv wouldn’t sit crooked.

That monster of a tv has served me well, but the new one is below …

Gorgeous!! That piece of wood is still there, although I painted it to make it look nicer. I got the VIZIO M43-C1 43-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED, in part so it wouldn’t become obsolete within a year or so of buying it. It’s more than I can afford so I’m a bit freaked out about that ($499.99). Except!! All the reviews said the sound was bad and so I bought a sound bar. The sound is just fine however, so I’m returning the sound bar when it arrives. That makes me feel less anxious.

The only reason I can afford this is my relatives gave me money for my birthday and I held onto it, waiting for just the right way to use it! So thank you Peter and Karen and Dad and Arlene!

(I just noticed you can also trace the pairing down of devices. There’s three in the oldest picture, and now just one, the Time Warner DVR, which is currently sitting behind the tv. I’m researching cutting the Time Warner cord.)

First up: eponymous. I don’t know why anyone ever uses this word. It’s almost always redundant, and/or the information it is conveying is self-evident. I don’t know, it just sounds like you’re trying too hard. Let it go. Put it away. Forget this word.

I already tweeted this photo, but I like it. I like bakers. And their products. Thank you for existing bakers!

We had the party to celebrate NYC Parks and Recreation’s Lap Swim program this week. As usual, there was a mix-up about who was swimming in the relay race. It happens every year. I was supposed to swim, but they cancelled the heat for my division. I think it was to give the other people a chance to win (kidding.)

This is the Tony D’Apolito team (my pool) taking off. Following that is a picture of my medal. We got medals this year instead of trophies, which they draped around our necks while we stood on a podium, just like the Olympics. I got the equivalent of a bronze medal. Woohoo!!

As always, thank you NYC Parks and Recreation for a wonderful program, and for maintaining these pools so well every year. I love being able to swim. I should say, being able to afford to swim! It’s a fantastic gift, I always feel happy after swimming, and I am extremely grateful.

I’ve started working on the section about the Penitentiary on Blackwell’s Island (backstory: I’m writing a book about Blackwell’s Island for Algonquin Books). I find this great quote by Charles Dickens describing the stripes the men wore, and I wondered if the women wore stripes as well. But I couldn’t find a reference to what the women wore anywhere, not in decades of annual reports, or newspaper articles, etc. I also couldn’t find a single photograph of the female prisoners, although I found a couple of drawings, which kinda looked like the women’s dresses were striped, but it looked more like the technique they used to employ for shading.

Then I remember I have this great article by Emma Goldman, who spent a year in the Penitentiary. Surely she would think to include a detail like that! I’m looking around on my computer, but I don’t immediately find it. Where did I put it? And what was the title again?

Here’s the part that proves my brain no longer works. Recap: I’m specifically trying to find out if the women wore stripes. So, I suddenly remember the title of Goldman’s article. It’s, “My Year in Stripes.” But do I realize then that I now have my answer?? NO. I was just happy I remembered the title, and I read through the article, not realizing until I got to the line about what they wore that the answer was in the title. Idiot!

An arrest I recently walked by in the 14th Street subway station.

It’s eleven years old, so I can’t complain, it served me well. But I am absolutely freaked out at how much I spent. I can’t really afford it. I even tried to fix it. I took the back off, which was an insane amount of work, it’s this massive thing. I really should have taken pictures. I have one of the first HDTVs that came out, which were still the old CRT/tube style. It weighs 140 pounds! That in itself is causing another issue. How I’m going to dispose of it?? If I could even get it downstairs, I can’t just leave it on the street for pickup.

Anyway, I took the entire back off, replaced a fuse inside, but it didn’t fix the problem. I was so disappointed. I really thought I was going to be my own handyman to the rescue!

John Legend, and a shot of some of the audience, at the Westfield World Trade Center shopping center. The girl second from the right had an expression of bliss the whole time.