Arby's

I've spent the last few days in Detroit and Chicago due to a death in the family and while traveling I couldn't help noticing that there are a lot of Arby's restaurants out here. I love Arby's but I sure can't find one in the New York area. When I lived in New Jersey, there was one near Princeton that I could get to, but when I moved to Brooklyn, I found myself Arby's-less. There was one in downtown Brooklyn but it didn't last long. What's up with that? Do New Yorkers dislike Arby's???? Inquiring minds want to know.

Local Weather

If you've read my book, Clean Hands (available for sale on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBookstore, and other e-book vendors), you know I have a character who's a local weatherman and, I admit, I'm a little obsessed with local news meteorologists.  In NewYork, the field is vast and wide.  You have reliable, steady folks like Elise Finch, Chris Cimino, and Lee Goldberg who deliver the forecasts without a lot of drama.  Then you have the personalities like Lonnie Quinn, John Elliott, and Mike Woods who seem more interested in self-promotion rather than the weather itself.  Then you have someone like Steve Villaneuva whose voice alone causes me to change the channel.  Who hired this guy to do the weather on Channel 4?  He has a voice made for silent movies.  A weather man or woman should have a voice that commands authority.  Steve Villanueva does not have this kind of voice.  He sounds like a boy whose voice hasn't changed yet.  Who did this guy pay off to get a job on a major New York news station?   I don't get it.

Que?

I was reading about the recent huge Powerball winner who lived in Passiac, NJ and was surprised to read that, despite living in the United States for over twenty years after leaving his home country of the Dominican Republic, he didn't speak English.  Well, he claimed he didn't speak English well enough to answer reporters' questions about his new-found winnings.  How do you live in an English-speaking country and run a business in that country (he ran a bodega in Passiac) and not speak English?  I find this hard to believe.  Maybe he was lying about his language skills so he wouldn't have to talk to reporters.  Whatever.  If I lived in a Spanish-speaking country for more than twenty years, I'd hope to be able to communicate somewhat in Spanish.  Sure, I'd probably sound like Mike Bloomberg when I did it, but at least I'd be making an effort. I'd like to think I'd be able to at least say what I was going to do with millions of dollars I'd just won:  help my family, take some vacations, buy a new car, etc.  If people live in a country for a long period of time and don't learn the native language, they're not trying to learn it.  They're choosing to insulate themselves in an environment where they can speak the language of their home country rather than trying to go beyond those barriers and communicate with others.  I find this sad and a little lazy. 

Them That Gots Gets!

I was reading about the delayed New York bike sharing program on Gothamist today and the city put out a new map detailing where these bike shares will be available.  I didn't see any kiosks around where I live in Brooklyn (no surprise there).  The majority of the Brooklyn sites seemed to be around Williamsburg and Brooklyn Heights.  But, as someone commented, "Them that gots gets" meaning those who have a lot get a lot.  Hello!  There are other parts of Brooklyn!  Kensington may not be Williamsburg (and thank God it isn't), but I suspect people around here would use a bike rental service if available.  I know I would.  I'm hoping if this thing ever gets off the ground I'll at least be able to rent a bike somewhere around Prospect Park.  Wouldn't it make sense to put bike rentals near the park where there are actual bike lanes?  I guess the powers that be are too busy trying to appeal to the hipster and moneyed crowd rather than serving the needs of Brooklynites who might actually appreciate these kind of services.

Man Panties

The new issue of Rolling Stone is out and Jon Hamm is on the cover looking very Don Draper-ish.  Hamm's been getting a lot of press lately about his tendancy to go without underwear and in the interview, he said he's not happy about it.  (If you haven't seen any of Hamm's crotch shots, they're all over the Internet.  All you have go to is Google "Hammaconda" or "Hamm Dong" and the stories will come to you fast and furious.)  Let me say that I like Jon Hamm.  If he came to me and said, "Kim, I want you" I'm pretty sure my response would be, "Okay!"  I still can't believe he's older than I am (one year, but still).  He seems like a nice guy, he's good looking, he's from the Midwest, and he's funny (when he's allowed to actually cut loose on Saturday Night Live or 30 Rock or Bridesmaids).

But I digress.  This post is about Jon's underwear problem.  According to gossip reports, he's refusing to wear man panties while filming the latest season of Mad Men and his freeballing is causing problems on the set.  If I could talk to Hamm, I'd say, "Jon, baby, put on some drawers when you're at work.  If you want to go commado off the clock, then do so, but when you're on the job, wear some undies.  It's the right thing to do.  It's the sanitary thing to do!  Think of the children!"  Okay, maybe that last line would go, but you get the general idea.  I don't think it's unreasonable to ask someone to wear underwear on the job.  But what are the Mad Men folks going to do?  Fire Don Draper?  I don't think so and neither, apparently, does Jon Hamm.   

Kindle Sample Complaint

Before I start complaining, let me just say that I love my Kindle and I love the fact that I can get samples of books on my Kindle to read before I decide if I want to purchase a book.  However, I recently got samples from two books I was considering purchasing and both of the samples were filled with lengthy introductions rather than actual book chapters.  This is so frustrating!  When I get a sample downloaded, I don't want to read some critical analysis of the work, I want to read the work itself.  Give me the first chapter, not some blowhard's discussion of how "groundbreaking" the novel was for its time. 

Do the Time or Pay the Fine?

A guy seated next to me on the F train was talking rather loudly to his friend across the aisle about going to court and being given the choice to do 20 days in jail or pay a fine of $680.  I don't know what kind of crime he had committed, but it must not have been too serious given that he had a choice whether to do time or pay a fine.  I'm sure most folks would choose to just pay the fine.  However, maybe a little time behind bars would help a person to get it together mentally.  Personally, as someone who is terribly claustrophobic, I doubt I'd choose to do the time, but if I didn't have this phobia, I'd probably do the time and try to use those twenty days of incarceration to reflect on what I'd done and how I was going to work to improve my life once I got out.