I was looking for new sneakers the other day. I don’t know why, but out of force of habit, when I’m in NYC I go to the DSW store at Union Square and often I buy a new pair of sneakers.

My older pair isn’t really bad, so I leave them in the park somewhere where a homeless person may find them and hopefully get some good use out of them. But I notice that as you leave the store, they have a bin where people put their used shoes and sneakers, so that’s a great idea.

Anyway this article isn’t about that. It’s about the fact that I was trying to find comfortable walking or running shoes, so I googled “What are the best men’s walking sneakers.” And a list of 10 brands came up.

The top ones on the list were Brooks walking shoes, which to me is not a common brand name. But maybe it is.

I was sitting down on one of the little stool type things where you try shoes on and I thought to myself, “Where am I going to find Brooks sneakers around here?” Not thinking that DSW would have them. I figured I would have to go to a high-end shoe store or maybe a Brooks shoe store.

As I got up to leave, I noticed the whole time I was sitting in the aisle filled with brooks sneakers! The whole row. That image above is the actual row of Brooks sneakers.

I love when things like that happens.

I ended up getting a great new pair and I left my almost new pair at the front of the store in the donated sneakers box.

Till next time . . .

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I noticed something about the New York museums. I seem to go often due to the weather!

It’s either very hot, very cold or raining in NYC and to get out of the weather, I hit the museums.

This past week, into the weekend was brutal. The temps were up to 101 degrees, and that was not the “feels like” number, the “feels like” was up to 115 degrees!

Now as I write this, it’s 69 degrees, raining and the tv news keeps talking about flash floods.

The last time I was here was December, and the weather was brutally cold. So you can’t win.

I don’t want to sound like an old man, but when I was a kid, NYC weather was nice. I do remember some heat waves – but I don’t think they went up into the hundreds.

I remember so many years ago, there was a heat wave and I started drinking coffee and tea without sugar due to it.

My aunt would make iced tea and not put sugar in it. She said that people could flavor it to taste. I was so lazy and so hot, that I would just drink it as-is, without adding a teaspoon or two of sugar. And to this day, I don’t put sugar in my drinks.

A wondeful result of that period – a healthy way to drink tea and coffee. Bland – the way I like it.

A side note about the photo above. I wrote about this a few years ago.

The large image is Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, a Pablo Picasso painting, which he created in 1907. It’s always striking to me because I created a duplicate in college. The original is 8 feet by about 7.5 feet and my recreation was about 3 inches by about three inches.

In class, we had to recreate a famous piece of art by cutting out the colors from magazine images.

I haven’t seen the one I created in years, but it has always stuck in my head. and the first time I came upon the original in MoMA some years back, I was really taken aback by the size, since in my head I’ve always seen it as a 3″ x 3″ image.

I had a reverse reaction when I saw Starry Night for the first time. I was surprised at how small it was – I always pictured it being very large.

Till next time . . .

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Spent 4th of July in The Hamptons with my cousins. Beautiful day, except for the brutal temperatures, which have been the norm in New York this past week. Temps up to 101! And that’s not the heat index.

But it was nice, fun. Some family members are no longer with us, so that felt a bit odd, but things go on.

There was so much happening in New York this weekend, but I missed a lot of is since I was out east.

There was a Parade of Tall Ships on the rivers where dozens of tall ships sailed around the bay.

Taylor Swift had her wedding, which I was not invited to, so it didn’t affect me.

There was the FIFA games and the Nathans Hot Dog eating contest, which I have attended in the past.

And of course, fireworks – a huge 250 anniversary spectacular.

I missed it all! But but I saw it on tv, while luxuriating in Southampton.

But I preferred being out east.

Till next time . . .

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So Saturday was rainy in NYC, not much, a bit drizzly, but still wet.

Sunday was fantastic. Sunny and about 82 degrees. I’m enjoying that because upcoming this week, it will be 100 degrees! And that is not the “feels like” temperature, that is the actual temperature, so who knows what the feels like temp will be.

Each summer in New York, state and city, seems to get hotter. I think it is cooler in Miami to tell you the truth.

Sunday was mobbed, it was the Pride Parade, where millions of people show up. Over the years, I’ve seen the current mayor, the governor, and so many state and local politicians. Even Letitia James is there every year.

This year, the new mayor Zohran Mamdani was there – and look – he blew me a kiss, or at least blew a kiss to the girls standing next to me!

At Starbucks, I was treated like a mooching homeless man again – and I say again, because it wasn’t the first time.

The management at the Starbucks at Union Square East have chased me out, when I have been alone or with someone. It seems that they don’t like people hanging in the entry way – the vestibule.

But as you enter, there is a little bench-like area, where I sit to order on the app. It takes seconds but they always come over and chase us out, which could be quite embarrassing. Then they wonder why their sales are down at Starbucks.

I spend so much money there, especially in the summer, drinking cold brew coffees, but I may not go back to any Starbucks. Including my favorite one at home. That’s no way to treat regular customers.

We’ve even been told to move or leave in freezing winter, when we would just get in out of the cold. I’m not sure why. I could understand not wanting people to hand out there, but the whole place has many moochers sitting at tables inside the store. Most of them don’t buy anything and they just take up space playing on their laptops.

I guess I’ll boycott Starbucks for awhile. There are plenty of other places in NYC to get coffee. Plenty.

The rest of the trip, so far, has been lovely. I’m looking forward to 4th of July.

Till next time . . .

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European travel – is it better weatherwise?

Flight status – is my flight delayed? Probably, yes.

New contact lenses – can you see the damn things?

The Q queue – the bus schedule.

The Europeans are taking all of our ranch dressing home!

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I’ll be going to New York at the end of the week. I hadn’t been there since December, which seems so long ago. My life seems to be moving in slow motion again. It did that for years, which I liked. Who wants their life to fly by, right? So this past seven months went by very slowly and seems almost like a year or so ago.

I’ll be at my usual places, doing my usual things – hanging with my usual characters and probably getting bored after a week and wanting to come home, which is usually the case, but I am looking forward to going.

One of my cousins got us play tickets and we’ll go as we usually do. The fourth of July will be either in The Hamptons or the city, not sure which yet. I see that the city has moved the fireworks to another location. Again.

I finally found a perfect spot on the East River, and now it is back on the Hudson River. So New Jersey can see them, is what they are saying.

One year, it was at the southern part of Manhattan. We stood outside City Hall and I remember people cramming onto the Brooklyn Bridge to get a better view. Another year I went to the Queens side, when it was back on the East River, so as to see the New York skyline in the background. It was beautiful, except for the crowds.

You know where the Pepsi sign is in Long Island City? Across from the United Nations? That’s where we stood, along with thousands of others. Getting out afterwards was an effort though. Streets were closed – even to walkers. So we had to walk around the block to get to the subway station, which had people backed up all the way up the stairs onto the street if you can believe that.

It was an experience. A lot of fun even with the crowds.

The last few years I finally found a great spot on the opposite side of the river from the Pepsi sign, in front of the UN building which sort of blocked the view a bit on 45 Street and and then finally found a perfect spot a few blocks away, on 40th street, where there was an unobstructed view. And now they moved them. Again.

But no matter where you are on July 4th in Manhattan, it’s a lot of fun. You hear the fireworks from all over the city and even if you are not facing them, you can see the glow of the light on the buildings all around you. Even from blocks away. And the buildings like the Empire State Building and the Helmsley Building are lit up red, white and blue.

I’ll also be there for Manhattanhenge. Hopefully this year it will be great. It was a bit clouded over the past couple of years. But again, it’s more about the crowds all filling the streets, blocking traffic, making a thing of it, that I like more than the actual event.

I’ll take you along as usual, via this blog. See you there!

Till next time . . .

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