tomversation

Tutti a Tavola a Mangiare!

Last week I was in Eataly at Madison Square and who do I almost bump into – Lidia Bastianich, the restaurant owner and tv chef. She was walking toward me and I was walking toward her and the place is always so crowded, we sort of touched.

I looked her right in the face and almost said, “Tutti a Tavola a Mangiare!” but she looked down and obviously didn’t want to be recognized, so I just walked by. She was with a couple of friends and they were taking and shopping.

I did want to ask her about my 10 With Tom column. I tried reaching out to her and I know a couple of her PR people opened the email asking her to participate, but I didn’t receive a response.

I watched her make zeppole on tv the other day – with some sort of cream filling, which I’ve never seen with a zeppole before. They looked like this image, with the cream and cherries on top.

I’m use to this type, which usually comes three or more served warm or hot in a paper bag.

I was at an Italian street fair, a Feist, in Brooklyn last week, I had some there (without the whipped cream).

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The dreaded beep

American Airlines is trying out this new boarding system, to avoid the “gate lice” problem. You’ve seen it. I just saw it yesterday when I was flying – that’s people who rush to the gate to be the first on the plane, whether their group is called or not.

I fly first class a lot only because I use frequent flyer miles by paying for things for my business with credit cards that give me miles. So I am usually in Group 1.

But even if I think I am one of the first on the plane, there is always someone sitting in the aisle seat where I have to ask them to move so I can get to my window seat. Always.

I give them a dirty look, which they probably don’t notice, but I boycott them during the flight by not speaking to them. I find them to be real “gate lice” and “hogs.”

They say people do this to get the best overhead bin space, maybe that’s it, I usually travel with a small bag that fits under the seat, so I don’t feel the need to rush onto the plane for any reason.

Right now, the new American Airlines boarding system is in Albuquerque, NM and Tucson, Arizona. The system works like this – if your group is not called for boarding, a beep will go off – a loud beep, which will alert the gate agent and the rest of the travelers, I would guess, that alerts everyone that you are not supposed to be boarding the plane yet.

So if you are group 7 and trying to get in with group 1, that ain’t gonna work.

I love that. I find these gate lice people obnoxious as hell. They all rush to the gate to stand and block everyone else. I guess they don’t realize the plane isn’t gonna leave without them. But maybe it all comes down to the overhead bin space again. So maybe they have a point. Who knows.

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Pumpkin picking in the Hudson Valley

A couple of my cousins and I did our usual October outing. We drove up to the Hudson Valley from NYC to pumpkin and apple pick.

This year we ended up at this huge farm in Hopewell Junction, which is near Wappingers Falls.

The weather in NY state has been incredible lately. 80 degrees today, 70s over the weekend. Bright, and clear.

The farm was sort of in a valley, we were surrounded by mountains an all four sides. We had a hayride and had hot apple cider and apple cider doughnuts.

We got a lot of stuff to bring home – pies, doughnuts, flowers, pumpkins. It was a perfect day.

We went to Beacon, NY, a very popular small town, on the way home. I’ll publish photos in my next post.

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New York Comic Con

Went to NY Comic Con yesterday, opening day.

The usual cosplayers were there, but this year I didn’t see Spider-man, Superman or Batman, at least not many. In years past, there were so many of them.

But still it was fun. It seems to be more about video games and movies and tv, not so much about comics, as was the original premise.

I ran into my cousin, who is there all the time, at the booth for the company where he works, it’s an auction house for original cartoon art. I’ve purchased some things from their auctions.

We kibitzed for a bit and then I walked around to check out some other comic booths.

It’s sold out for the year, but if you ever get a chance to go to a comic con in any city, I highly recommend it.

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Visited MOMA, again

Visited one of my favorite places again yesterday – MOMA – Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

My favorite painting, Starry Night, was crammed with people again, trying to get selfies of themselves in front of the painting, and I tried to get pictures of people taking images of themselves in front of the painting.

NYC has been very busy with tourists this week. Today is the opening of New York Comic Con, maybe that’s why. I’ll be at Comic Con, I’ll post about it Friday, subscribe to this blog so you don’t miss it. I’ll also have a story and images on our trip upstate to pumpkin and apple pick, as we usually do each October.

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October in NYC; the place to be

October is special in New York. The leaves are turning, the weather is cooler, everyone is out.

I was out and about the city today and every park was full with people. There were musicians, artists, skateboarders, greenmarketers and so much more.

Lots of tourists are in town, they usually are in October. I even caught Clark Kent and Lois Lane on the subway as you can see above.

I have lots of plans this week – NY Comic Con, pumpkin and apple picking upstate, family day with 17 of us at an Italian restaurant in Brooklyn, and lots more. I’ll take you along.

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Driving habits being watched

I have this thing from Geico car insurance that monitors my driving. It’s an app on my phone called DriveEasy. In the past I had something similar from Progressive. But when I used the monitor with Progressive, it was something I plugged into the car under the dashboard and it monitored me for a few weeks, then I mailed in the gadget to Progressive.

The monitor determines your insurance rate based on how you drive.

But now all the insurance companies have the phone app, which is permanent! It doesn’t always work correctly, the Today Show recently did a story on this. A guy was on a rollercoaster and it monitored him as driving and raised his insurance!

I never pick up my phone when I’m driving, yet every once in awhile I get a pop-up telling me I was texting and it was ruining my good record. Other times I’m on the subway and it rates me, thinking I am driving my car.

I’ve thought of just turning it off and letting the chips fall where they may. My rates might go up, but is is worth it to not be monitored with every move I make, or don’t make?

I’ve thought of it, but then I thought what’s the big deal, just go with it. If the rates go down, I win. If they go up, it’s what I had planned by shutting the app off. But so far so good.

Have you been using this app with your insurance company? I guess it’s the same as being tracked by Google and Facebook and others who are watching the websites you visit and things you buy. In this case you are being watched by how well you drive or don’t drive.

Big Brother is here and watching.

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Everyone has a plan till they get punched in the face

I recently published a list of ways to help hurricane victims in North Carolina and other areas in my 10 With Tom column and just yesterday, I published a list of 10 top imports that would be affected if the port strike wasn’t settled.

Interestingly enough, toilet paper and water are not on the list. As you know, people ran out to Costco and places like that and started hoarding toilet paper and bottled water.

It’s a stupid and selfish thing to do and mainly stupid because toilet paper doesn’t come in through the ports, it’s manufactured in the U.S. and gets places via railroad. And the water is basically all locally bottled unless you want in import like Fiji or Perrier, and I don’t even know if those are really imported.

But I’m reminded of what a mayor of ours once said after a hurricane when people waited in line for hours at a truck for bottles of water. “People, just go home and turn on your taps.” That always made me laugh.

My 10 With Tom column has changed.

I’m having a hard time getting people to respond to my interview requests for my 10 With Tom column, which is strange because for so many years it was such an easy thing to do.

I would contact a person, they would say, sure, they would love to do it, I would email them the 10 questions and they would respond right away. Now it’s not like that. So to that end, I changed my 10 With Tom column to 10 random things – a list of 10 random things. But I’ll add the interviews of the 10 questions periodically if and when they come in.

I would just abandon the thing, but I have too many subscribers to give it up. So I’m doing the list thing now and people seem to like it. Like Mike Tyson said, “Everyone has a plan till they get punched in the face.”

I have upcoming lists like:
The Top 10 Halloween Costumes
The Top Fall Fairs at Farmers Markets
Why Kathy Bates’ New “Matlock” is a must see tv show
The Top 10 Brain Foods
The Top 10 Ski Resorts in the U.S. this winter

And things like that.

They’re fun and informative and eclectic. My 10 With Tom is here if you want to check it out and hopefully subscribe.

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Meet Hilary Price, cartoonist of the year

Hilary Price is known for her cartoon “Rhymes With Orange,” which is published daily in newspapers all over the country as well as online in various locations. Just recently, Hilary won Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year at this year’s 78th annual Reuben Awards, presented by the National Cartoonist Society – it’s like the Oscars for cartoonists. The winner is chosen by fellow cartoonists by secret ballot.

It’s a very high honor won in the past by famous cartoonists like Gary Larson, Richard Thompson, Al Capp, Chic Young, Charles Schulz, Chester Gould and so many more.

She is featured in 10 With Tom this week. I ask her where the title, “Rhymes With Orange,” came from and what her work space looks like, and why she likes to work with a partner, among other things. You can read it all here.

A sample of Hilary’s cartoon, “Rhymes With Orange”

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Experiments and changes

I don’t know how you read this blog, whether it’s online or via email subscription, but if you see it online, you may notice a different look.

I was changing some things around and screwed up and ended with what you see. Basically the same thing, but a little cleaner, I guess.

It’s the same with the 10 With Tom site. That was unintentionally cleaned up a bit too. What happened was, I was trying to clean up one blog and the I had the other one online instead, so in the end, they both got the “clean-up” treatment while I was experimenting.

No big deal, it’s the content that counts.

I have some new 10 With tom and Tomversation shirts. I wore one around town yesterday, trying to drum up readers. I actually wore the darker one, which I like better. You can see them here.

I’m looking forward to wearing them on the subway in NYC in a couple of weeks. And probably at NY Comic Con, too, but it’s such a cacophony of people there and so many cosplayers, that I don’t think I’ll be noticed. I’m looking forward to that yearly event.

Speaking of 10 With Tom, I’m working on new interviews. My recent one was last week with Elizabeth and Jonathan who produce the War and Peas comic strip, I’m sure you’ve seen that comic. You can see the 10 With Tom interview here: 10withtom.substack.com/p/meet-elizabeth-and-jonathan-of-war .

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