PREDICTIONS, 2007

Baseball:
HoF-Hall of Fame predictions for the New Year: Gwynn, Ripken and Dawson all make it. Tommy John and Jack Morris are very very close. Mark McGwire gets less than 50%. Mattingly moves into the over 40% range. Dawson and Mattingly gain credence for their steroid-free exploits.
Misc.-Zito becomes a Met. Randy Johnson gets traded during the season. ARod has a great season. Jeter wins batting title.
Series-Yanks over Mets

Politics:
Dems- Clinton, Obama, Edwards and Dean all enter the Democratic race. Kerry enters but withdraws before December. Clinton and Dean emerge as favorites. Edwards and Obama consider running as a tandem. Gore looms over the race, waiting to see if Clinton shows clay feet.
GOP-McCain dominates. Rudy flounders. Romney becomes token catch-all opposition to McCain candidate.
Other- George Allen reemerges. John Murtha does something very stupid. Pelosi tanks. Rahm Emanuel gets discussed as VP candidate. Bush's job approval rises above 40%, but under 50%.

Globe:
Iraq- Concrete numbers such as a rise in trained police and reduced number of violent crimes hasten American departures. Sadr is allowed to fill power vacuum in a controversial move. Saddam is killed before February 1, issues second letter criticizing first letter that praised American forces.


I may have more ideas later. But this was a good start.

Time Flies

I've been remiss in my postings. Thats because I am a heartless human being.
We have not had lunch in a solid 7 days. In the mean time, I have been joined by AW and Courtney (not at the same time, but that would've been super). I've had pizza, burgers, quesadillias, cider, extra lunches, time with coworkers, lunch at my desk, leftover holiday treats, and more.
I am taking Friday and Tuesday off, turning a three-day weekend into a balls-to-the-wal five-day weekend. This means I am too busy for Ben today, too. Lunch at my desk is actually on my schedule.

Grillin

Yesterday I missed a Very Special Lunch, which I deeply regret. The boss invited the skeleton crew downstairs to the China Grill. It was tasty.

2fer

The only thing worse than getting lunch in midtown would have to be getting lunch and dinner in midtown. This is the sort of tragedy that befalls you when your boss decides not to let you out early for Christmas. The real kick in the pants is missing what I hear was a solid lunch with special guest(s) because I thought I'd get to duck out at 1.

So I got a sammy at Pret a Manger with the intention of taking it on the road. That is my go-to on-the-go sammy place ever since K$ found a ladybug in a wrap I got at the Au Bon Pain in Port Authority. BD. Pretty good bread and flavorful enough, with "premium"-type ingredients - though they always skimp on the actual ingredients (profit margins).

My actual on-the-go dinner was some old refrigerated vegetable sushi from the overpriced market on 55th Street. 7 bucks for 6 pieces. Not that I wasn't hungry, but I couldn't bear the thought of another midtown sandwich.

Happy XMiz!

Teleconference

Today we did lunch over the phone

Cider

We did go to Rockefeller Center for lunch and scarfed some pizza. Two boots pizza is pretty darn good for a speudo-chain, if a little unfilling.
Then at 3 pm we had the Secret Santa exchange...my gift of book (Gilead) and Godiva bar was well-received. I am the proud new owner of a pair of earmuff-headphones from THE SHARPER IMAGE...
I also enjoyed two glasses of cider, which Courtney is fond of and I felt would be festive...

Dos Bootatos

Back to the subterranean Roc Center situation room for Dos Bootatos. The pizza was, in a word, zany. Crazy names, unbelievable toppings! (Yes, I am exposed to far too much ad copy.) And I am so proud of B-Mar for putting the second-most exotic thing in his face that I've ever seen.
I had little patience at B&N chiefly because of the goodbye cake that is now being served in the conference room. The thought of which now makes me feel a little woozy.

I got something real important to give you

Thanks to reader "Jon," who requested some news on today's lunchings. It was a late Digby's Day, 1:30ish. Some sort of premade pressed ham sammy for me. Didn't taste too bad, but like most D's s's didn't exactly satisfy. Followed it up with some solid walkings around 5th Ave. and thereabouts. You know how we do.

Someones

So two people have decided to start reading the blog. Two people I know. One is Alan, who clearly has an awful lot of spare time on his hands (do you work?). The other shall go nameless, but I suspect that she is very jealous when she claims that it is "weird". You wish you had a blog.

Christmas in a box

Today is my day. Thus sayeth the Lord, and it is Good.

I'm going to advocate for a quickie lunch and a little Christmas shopping blitz. To me, this is early. I need to buy a Secret Santa gift and figure out what to purchase my mom. We work off of Fifth Avenue, this should be doable. So a lunch at the ole standby, followed by a store or two.

Up With Me

Today was my special day, where I get to decide what to do. Trip to the ol' Bagel & Bean, BofA...basically everything I love to do was done. It's just that time of year.

Tomorrow is Brian's day, so I'm guessing pizza and popsicles.

Also, B-Mar "got" me, but I "got" him back.

The Aftermath, Vol . II (the mixtape)

Ben felt a need to point out that I neglect this blog (which I don't, and which is anyway too meta for me to comfortably discuss here because things meta make me uncomfortable). So I have now made a conscious effort to post today, when maybe I should be attending to my law school bidness or facebooking Karissa's little sister.
I had a very nice time at the Chrismukha party on Saturday night, paganism be damned. The hosts were a delight. The cookies were green and blue frosted and shaped like various seasonal icons, from gingerbread men to dreidels. A strong current of irony propelled part of the festivities, e.g. the photo of Mel Gibson atop the holiday tree. I talked to a girl who quit a liberal arts school because she was hard science oriented. She worked for three years at a rock and roll radio station in Seattle before heading to Columbia, which makes a lot of sense for a future nuclear physicist. Ben's girlfriend stole the show, looking stunning in an elegant black party dress with a pretty pair of earrings. Ben screamed at a stranger not to tell him about the new season of "The O.C.", then he sat on the floor and napped for a little.
All in all, a wonderful time.

The Aftermath

The Chrismukkah party has come and gone, and due to overwhelming interest from our reader, today's recap is exclusively B-Mar related.

Clearly, this is a guy who had some bad to make up for. I'm happy to report that the illustrious B-Mar is firmly ensconsed in Mr. Santaman's good column after making this huge Chrismukkah move:

Pull your jaw off the floor and wipe it with a moist towlette: it is, indeed Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur. Like I said. Good.

In his brief stay, the B-Mar was the toast of the town (and not because of the above item, because I'm pretty sure I hid it once I noticed other people had the nerve to drink it). He was making acquaintances left and right and dredging up embarassing stories from years gone by.

As for today, it was burritos with Brian and the K-Spot @ Digby's. I usually regret such a meal, and today was no exception (apparently Tandoori chicken with bleu cheese crumbles and celery sounded like a good idea when I was hungry). Still, good times were shared, blocks were traversed to Barnes & Noble, and I got to see the XMas tree in Rockefeller Center again!!!!!!1!1!

Change is not good

This according to the illustrious B-Mar. We Bagel & Bean'd it, but Brian didn't see the difference from a Digby's sandwich (I contend it is about 3 lbs.). Tomorrow, a rare non-midtown rendezvous at the ol' Chrismukkah party. Should be holiday-riffic.

Week of solitude

So I wasn't exactly at work today. Hopefully there will be time for the new place tomorrow. I can tell from his e-mails that the B-Mar grows restless...

New new thing

Last night, I saw that Entemman's (sic?), my favorite cakery in a supermarket, has a new treat. I've been hungry ever since. It's a deep, echoing hunger, a hunger that bounces of the cavernous walls of my belly. So if we're trying a new place today, I am excited. Extremely excited.
You should know, also, I have watched 4.33 episodes of the USA network's popular hit "Monk" in the last 36 hours. NBD. So I may be feeling a tad Monkish.

Blame St. Lucia

It's a Swedish holiday, so I had to go to Fika with K$ to get her (saffron) bun on.

Most Swedish holidays are based around wearing candles on your head (it's usually something about outdoing Jesus and his crown of thorns or punishing girls for sin) or dancing like a frog (frogs apparently dance in Sweden).

Frogs! Can you believe it?!?!

Strike three

Three straight days of eating at my desk, because Shesta can't get his act together. Or sometimes its me. Whatevs
I am busy doing grunt work today so its probably for the best. Oh, and I am making my plans to go see "The Holiday" this weekend. Be jealous.
Ben's busy doing something Swedish with his girlfriend. (that sounds dirty)

Losing Streak

Another no-go due to bank error (not in the B-Mar's favor). And here I was about to drop some new knowledge, Broadway-stylee.

Saddest thing ever

Brian's story is maybe the second saddest thing ever. We had a department holiday lunch at the Harvard Club. The B-Mar's plebian garb was sure to be ill-suited for such an event.

Skipping Christmas

Well, we skipped our lunch today. Sadness overwhelms. I ate lunch at my desk, solo.

I cheated today

Shopping in midtown. Have you seen the tree yet?!?! Oh wait sorry I can't move.

Recap the recap

The path was frigid and we had to duck between the mobs of Iowa farmers flooding midtown. The argument for daily take-out instead of brief forays into the streets grows strongest this time of year, as the unbearable crowds and worse weather coalesce into one decidedly unappetizing experience. If it were not for good company, I would be unlikely ever to leave my desk for lunch.
Ben's right. Ensue did join us for lunch. I think it was fun to have her along. She was nice, as far as interlopers go. I did casually invite her so the fault is 100% mine; she needed to go to Apple, too.
As for Apple: I went seeking a replacement for broken headphones and I was rejected. I hate asking for things and I hate the person who refused to give me new headphones. The 8-week or so old headphones are clearly broken. Bastard.
Food: Digby's sandwich was bland. Ben's right. We need to step out of our comfort zone. The extra dark chocolate sample from the Lindt's store made up for it, however.

Bites

We went to the Apple store. I complained to Brian, Brian complained to the Apple Guy, the Apple store fell silent and Brian whispered, softly but urgently, "I need this." I did a little dance, and the B-Mar magnanimously made a chocolate happen.

In other news, Brian brought a friend along for the trip. She was nice, but I know he was trying to send me a message. Something about identifying a line, and not crossing it.

Do you take a train uptown or downtown to get to Brooklyn from Manhattan? One of us, who professed to be unable to identify Brooklyn on a map (hint, it's the one labeled "Brooklyn"), did not know the answer to this question.

@ the Digger, Ed Koch stopped by.

Apple

We've been by the glam Apple store in Midtown a couple of times this fall (it is still fall, right?). But today I need to go by again, because I am going to try and get replacement headphones because my new ipod phones broke. Will Ben be up for it?

What would that even look like?

According to Google Maps, B-Mar's new building is approximately directly on top of mine. It's basically eating my building.

Because this is how B-Mar deals with all of his relationships, he decided to keep the news to himself until the last possible minute. Thanks.

Could this be the end of lunch as we know it?

Go the distance

I think a major development on the horizon is the imminent move from 666 Fifth Avenue to the new office. Its a big deal. We really never discussed what its going to mean and I think that there has been a lot left unsaid.
Ben passed up a perfectly good mailbox at the corner of 52nd and fifth so we had to travel through all the dopey yokels standing around staring at the rink and tree at Rockefeller Center. That was annoying. Not the walk (the sun was out, which was super) but the darn yokels. I rammed into some idiot who stopped short at the cross-walk.
Ben's right about the shoe-shine: the fumes are very pungent. For the rest of the day, I'm going to think about getting my shoes shined and get a little hop in my step because of it. My boots look primed for some "late afternoon goose-stepping" if you know what I mean (wink wink nudge nudge).
Food: The first yougart was good but the second was awful and chunky and I tossed it about halfway through. I should've bought a Santa Claus cookie like I thought about. It looked delicious and was well-made, with frosting perfectly applied.

the reason is you

Things are really heating up in midtown. Aside from the temperature hovering above 50 degrees, it was another busy hour. Brian needed to get some gloves at H&M, so I skulked into a corner and cried a little bit while "The Reason" played on the sound system (I just found out this is Hoobastank, which might explain why it made me so sad). Then a nice sunny walk to the Rock Center post office and back to the Digger. The B-Mar graciously offered to pay for my $6.25 sandwich, thereby "evening" our debts. B-Mar, if you're reading this, do the math buddy. When there's no open seating at Digby's, you know what that means - Black Rock office park to the max!!! The sun was conveniently gone, so we got our shiver on. Finally Brian convinced me to get my shoes shined underneath his building. I don't remember much of it (fumes) but my shoes still smell, so that's a good sign.

true facts, all

I do owe Ben at least 7 bucks. I think. I'm going to trust him on this and buy him a 7 dollar candy bar tomorrow. He makes the big bucks at CBS. Letterman pays well for jokes, Ben writes the best jokes.
Ben should have dropped 6 or 7 extra bucks and bought some note card stationary. He knows he will need to write more thank-you notes in the future.
Tomorrow at lunch, I am going to eat yougart.

It's the Roc in tha building

Brian pulled the ol' 1:10 switcheroo today. Which was OK, because we were prepping to hit Rock Center hard. Card quest to Papyrus, Brian hits the USPS, then goes back because they stole his money (true story). I get pizza, 2 more stops but no good cards.
I didn't want this to be about money, but but Brian owes me 7 bucks