Invitation by e-mail?

I find this funny - but only because it doesn't involve me, or my house, at all. It involves my friend P. One of P's old co-workers, from when she used to work out west, sent her an e-mail today. They were friends (still are), but haven't really spoken or had the chance to catch up in a few years. So, today said old co-worker sends P an e-mail. It read simply:

"Hi,
How are you? I was wondering if my kids and I could stay with you from July 1st thru the 6th? I wanted to go on a little vacation with them and that may be a good time. Do those dates work for you?"

I think that this has to be a belated April Fool's Day joke. I mean, that was the entire e-mail. That's it. No chit-chat. No 'how've you been'. No 'if I can't stay with you can you help me find a hotel'. Nothing. There wasn't even a 'thanks,' or 'talk to you later'. It was just too weird; but the ball is in P's court now as to whether she'll have an extra 4 guests for the 4th.

Hope everyone is enjoying the day :)

Well howdy black and white pics :)

A few b&w pictures. Why? Just because.

Some hustle and bustle

A lonely platform in the afternoon

Some more hustle and bustle...Grand Central Station style

Night :)

The twentieth day...

It's always hard to bounce back into work mode after a vacation - no matter how short the break. Today was a long, hard, strange day. Little annoying things kept happening this morning, and by 5:30 I was ready to slam my office door and flee the building for the comfort of my worn-in couch at home. Unfortunately, I am flexing this week, so I couldn't actually leave the office until after 7, but whatcha gonna do?

First, this morning on the train, the lady next to me fell into a deep, deep sleep. I completely understand being tired on the train - I think it has something to do with the rock, rock, rocking of the train car - and I didn't want to nudge her, but it was getting dangerously close to that time. I said excuse me a few times and she eventually popped awake and let me out of the corner seat. She was apologetic, and I just let her know that it was fine. The train hadn't even fully arrived at my stop yet, so no harm, no foul.

Once I got off the train and turned to walk up the steps, a fellow straphanger decided that he would like to try walking on my back, and tried to knock me down. I don't know where the lightning quick reflexes came from this morning, but I managed to keep myself upright.

Once I was topside again, I realized that I had like 5 minutes to sprint to work. I came across a family of tourists that were laughing and walking with linked arms and blocking the entire sidewalk. Cute family time, but they were moving at a pace of about a millimeter a minute. The woman in front of me who was trying to get past them was growing increasingly aggravated with each failed attempt. She finally just ducked under one of the sets of linked arms. It was like one of those old grade school playground games. As I was walking by - I opted for the say excuse me twice and then walk in the street route - my purse lightly and accidentally brushed the arm of one of the women walking. The woman started screaming. She was screaming "Oh my God. Oh man. What was it?!!! What HAPPENED?!!!" Her linked arm party members then also began screaming "What was it?!!! What happened?!!! What was it?!!!" I had already said sorry as I was passing and felt the bag touch her, so I didn't turn around at the overreaction. She then started saying "Hello! Helloooooo!!!" I assumed that she was talking to her group and not to me, so I just kept on going to work.

As I said, it was a crazy morning. It was made even crazier due to the fact that I got almost no sleep last night and was on edge and exhausted for the whole day as a result. Tomorrow has to be better - except that I'm still flexing so it is going to be another loooong day.

Oh well! On a bright note, I did some shopping today :) I got two pairs of adorable flats to help ring in Spring and Summer - if the rain ever leaves. I hate breaking in new shoes only to have them end up soaked and gross.

Dark metallic silver flats with beautiful shocking pink insoles and cute flats with black, gray and white hearts

I also bought a little silver clutch (no pic, sorry), which I didn't need but bought anyway, and hats for each of my sisters. Sis 1 got a cute pinstriped fedora and Sis 2 got a cute green military style bucket hat. Hope they like 'em :)


I didn't even want to buy anything today, but I do love a deal. Now I just need to be good for the rest of the week (or two).

Have a great night everyone!

Any other Tim Burton and Edward Gorey fans out there?

Back in college, one of my friends gave me the Tim Burton book The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy: and Other Stories for my birthday. It was weird, creepy and slightly disturbing; and I instantly fell in love with it. I'm a huge Tim Burton fan :)

Well, I was doing some cleaning earlier today, and when I ran across the book I knew that I had to try and find it online. So, enjoy all you Tim Burton story fans out there :)

The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy: and Other Stories

After finding that, I decided to track down the Gashlycrumb Tinies alphabet (by Edward Gorey). It's pretty Tim Burton-esque in it's own right (or would Burton be considered Gorey-esque?). Anyway, enjoy :)

Gashlycrumb Tinies Alphabet

Good night all :)

The nineteenth day...

Who's interested in the ghosts of New York? My sisters and I recently went on this Ghost Walk tour - the Peter Stuyvesant and His Ghostly Friends of the East Village Tour. It was great; a nice mix of history and fun. We were lucky to have a small group. In total, there were 8 people, tour guide included, which allowed us to have a nice even-paced, informal tour. Since the group was so small, we ended up having a tour that was about 50% tour activities and 50% laughter. This tour included walking around to some of New York’s historic locations. Once we arrived at each location, the tour guide told us some of the history surrounding the locations and the individuals/families that once lived, worked, etc. there. A lot of it was pretty gruesome, but it was all interesting. I think I'll check out the Ghosts of Grand Central and the New York City Subways tour next.

Some pics from the tour...

A bust of Petrus "Peter" Stuyvesant in the courtyard of St. Mark's Church. Supposedly, his ghost still haunts the church; and some still hear his peg leg tap-tapping around.

St. Mark's Church

McSorley's Old Ale House. This pub was a favorite haunt of Harry Houdini. They still have a pair of his handcuffs inside.

According to ancient lore, Edgar Allan Poe lived on the third floor of this apartment building above Il Buco; and the architecture in the Il Buco cellar inspired Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado".

Il Buco

Front door to the apartment building over Il Buco

There are quite a few historical places in NY that I've always wanted to check out, including the King Manor Museum. I lived right by it when I was a kid, but never took the opportunity to go inside.

King Manor Museum

So, does anyone know of any other interesting tours in the NY 5 borough area?

The eighteenth day...Where's my Easter chocolate?

Well, I wish that I had remembered to pick up some Cadbury Crème Eggs this Easter. I love those eggs :) Well, to be 100% accurate, I love the cream inside the eggs. I'm not really a fan of the chocolate shell. I've just never liked the taste of the chocolate that they use. Anyway, I know that the eggs, and all other Easter candy will probably be on sale starting tomorrow, but I've had a bad track record with how my stomach reacts to discount candy, so I might end up just not buying any this year, which is just too much of a shame to even consider...

And now, for your picture enjoyment...

I decorated my office window for the Holiday :)

I had to get a picture of this Pac-Man-esque shadow.

I found these figurines some time ago while cleaning/packing. The find included these Chipmunks, Monchichi, and one lone Bog Bird figurines, as well as some old TMNT and Honeymooners comics :) I used to have so many more, including additional Sesame Street figures and pretty much every She-Ra doll ever made. While I was initially going to sell them, I realized that they are too much a part of my childhood to let go.

Have a great night everyone!

Easter Greetings

Here's wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy Easter and a (continued) Great Weekend :)