january 2

something told him he had nothing, and that's when he knew he had nothing to lose Observed, today, approximately 5:20 pm, 35th Street, between 5th and 6th: A snowman with a pointy nose, smiling grin, stick arms ... and a sign that read "Happy New Year. Now leave me alone." Ah, New York. Will try to take a picture of it tomorrow for future amusement. New Year's resolutions:  1) No channel surfing on the TV. Conversed with a gent over New Years who has no TV because, as he says, he'll watch it if he does. A logical argument; it's the reason I make it hard to get to my bank accounts. Inspired (and utterly unable to throw out the TVs), I've decided to only watch deliberately, when I know something's on I want to see, and only that. Which means Eddi Reader (another great missed Scot talent) is on the CD-Rom, crooning, "where are you now? Have the years been kind? Do you think of me sometimes?" from Angels & Electricity.  2) Keep the caloric intake to around 1200-1300. Which, for those who aren't privy to my various techniques, may seem tiny, but is actually about 200-300 more cals than I took in originally. What a splurge! Let's see if it works.  3) And, to hopefully enhance the power of #2, I'm doing a 30 minute constitutional every day. Which means, until it warms up to a reasonable level, just doing some quick walking through the snow outside; once it's nicer out, I'll do that goofy power walk thing. Just to keep the machine running. Is there anything better than caramel corn, though? Saw an apartment in Jackson Heights tonight which I'm putting a bid on. According to my realtor, it's in a part of town where the movie stars used to stay when the movie industry was largely based in Astoria. An interesting tidbit. A bit farther from the subway than I currently am, but it's nearly 900 square feet! I'm looking forward to having that kind of space, assuming my bid is accepted.  Reading Shrub : The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush, which is eye-opening, frustrating and a good laugh at the same time. (Comes recommended by same no-TV gent referred to earlier.) So far, a sample quote: "The political career of W. Bush is a fairly funny yarn, on account of being the son of a former president is not ... how to put this ... not actually sufficient job training for the governance of a large state. Fortunately, in Texas, this makes no difference. [...] Although the governor does have the power to call out the militia in case of an Indian uprising, by constitutional arrangement, the governor of Texas is actually the fifth most powerful statewide office." The older I get, the scarier lots of people look.  For another good fright, visit Michael Moore's web page and learn how the election actually was stolen, just as we were getting tired of discussing it. And on and on.....