I’ve got a boo-boo.
I took a header on a train platform last night and totaled both knees and the palm of one hand.
It hurt like hell, and there was blood. But perhaps it’s the adult in me who immediately had more pressing concerns.
— Did anyone see me fall? (Luckily, no.)
— Is my Palm Pre okay? (It went sailing through the air when I fell and the battery popped out, but it seems fine.)
I was headed to a restaurant for a meeting and had myself pulled together by the time I got there, so I just had to tell the story to the waiters setting up my room. I mean, come on — the video would have made money if someone had caught it on camera.
Only 20 minutes had passed, and it had already gone from tragedy to comedy. Ya gotta love that about life.
It reminded me of a childhood fight that my sister and I had over who was going to feed our parakeet Chipper. We disagreed on whose turn it was, and in the scuffle that followed, I got kicked on the side of the knee. The amazing technicolor bruise that appeared looked a lot worse than it felt, and I showed it to everyone.
The story of that bruise was so worth the pain. The jury is out on this new one.
(It still hurts.)
Posted in Beauty, Comedy, Commentary, Family, Friends, Health, Humor, Life
Tagged boo boo, bruise, childhood fights, comedy, dinner meeting, falling down, falls, knee, Palm Pre, parakeet, restaurant, tragedy, train, train platform
The Sticky Egg 
We’re not gonna pay rent
I love my Upper West Side neighborhood.
But today, I have a major beef.
Ditch Plains, a wonderful restaurant across the street from my apartment, has closed. And the rents in my neighborhood are to blame.
Owner Marc Murphy did everything right when they opened three years ago. Their ‘soft open’ lasted a month, offering the entire menu at half-price and free appetizers and desserts. By the time they officially opened their doors, the entire neighborhood was hooked. On the menu. The atmosphere. The friendly vibe.
During the past three years, I have been a loyal customer, and from my unique vantage point, I have seen them maintain a healthy business — far more popular with people of all ages than the two previous restaurants that occupied that same space for brief spans of time. But like their predecessors, Ditch Plains’ success still couldn’t scale the exorbitant rents in my neighborhood.
And they are no more.
If you visit my neighborhood, you will see several empty storefronts. They no doubt are victims, too.
This is just the first to hit so close to home.
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Posted in Business, Commentary, Food, Life, Restaurants
Tagged appetizers, atmosphere, Business, commentary, desserts, Ditch Plains, empty storefronts, food, friendly vibe, life, loyal customer, major beef, Marc Murphy, menu, neighborhood, New York City, rents, restaurant, soft open, Upper West Side