Sometimes when this tour boat goes by my apartment, I open the window and wave.

Where to Look While Riding the Subway

It's close quarters on the subway, especially when people are headed to and from work. If you are lucky and get a seat, it's difficult not to stare directly at the person across from you. Many people are checking their cell phones, but they don't work on the trains, so I'm guessing they are playing games. Then I discovered I could download a book on my iPhone and now I don't have to look at people's feet all the time.

How to Ride the Escalator

The unwritten rule of riding an escalator is Walk Left, Stand Right. Midwesterners, I have noticed, aren't in such a hurry that they do anything but ride them. But in NY, it's GET OF MY WAY. (-:

Here's a cute article on How to Ride an Escalator 101 from a blogger in Phily

How should I know where I live?

On the way home from the airport the other day, I got into the taxi and gave him my address. "Where is that?" he wanted to know.

This is not a question you ever want to hear from your New York taxi driver.

"Do you live next to the Citi building?" he continued. I don't live next to the Citi building. But I also don't live next to any remarkable landmarks other than the big Pepsi Sign along the East River in Queens. Read a good article about this icon here.

He did not know about the big Pepsi Sign along the East River.

While he's driving in heavy traffic I am trying to pull up directions on my iPhone. "This exit?" he asks as he swerves to the right almost colliding with the car behind us.

My directions finally pull up. "No, the next one!" I say.

"Okay" . . . and we're back on the highway.

Once we take the correct exit, I am able to guide him with my iPhone directions. "The next time," he says, "give driver cross street numbers, not name of tiny street. We don't know these little streets."

Southstreet Seaport

If you want some shopping mixed with historical structures, waterfront views and really big boats, go to the Southstreet Seaport, a 12-block area on New York's original port of entry.

I'm attracted to waterfronts. I love the smell of the water and long-legged birds that dip down to the water's surface looking to pluck away a little something to eat. But my goodness, the ships are awesome! Getting up close to these beautiful floating museums almost takes your breath away. They are a privately owned fleet of historic ships, the largest such fleet in the United States.

It was a cold day, and I didn't stay long, but I'll go back and explore more. I have heard there are ways to get rides on those ships.

Non-Sign II

I have seen this sculpture on the internet, but I didn't know that some day I would drive right by it! It's located at the border between Seattle, WA and Vancouver, BC. (I vacationed in Vancouver recently.) The art is by the U.S. firm Lead Pencil Studio. I found this explanation of the piece:

"Borrowing the effectiveness of billboards to redirect attention away from the landscape... this permanently open aperture between nations works to frame nothing more than a clear view of the changing atmospheric conditions beyond."

If you want to see better photos of this amazing structure, google non-sign II or check out this person's blog.

Here is the napkin of the place I dropped into yesterday for a bowl of soup. As you can see, it boasts of being the original "SoupMan, Yeah, it's that SoupMan."

I thought this was surely a ploy to get attention by referencing the Seinfeld episode about the Soup Nazi where you are sent to the back of the line if you take too much time ordering. But I looked it up when I got home, and sure enough, this is the guy.

According to this Wikipedia article the soup chef was terrifically insulted by the episode, and when he actually met Seinfeld, he told him it had ruined his life. But the guy has since opened a chain of his soup restaurants called The Original SoupMan. Just don't reference the "N" (Nazi) word if you meet him. Can't say that I blame him.

I had no trouble ordering the jambalya which was sooo good. In fact, the soup bar looked like it was closed and I had to ask if they had hot soup at that time of day -- it was 3 p.m.

New York City seems to pride itself on its soup. I have never had a bad soup here. I think that living here makes you crave it. The environment is so industrial and hard-edged with all the concrete, steel and glass. A bowl of soup is soothing and kind of smooths away the rough spots of your day.