I had “Middleterranean” the other night and I didn’t even know it.

On the edge of Hell’s Kitchen, Taboon, Arabic for “oven,” is famous for its stone oven-baked bread, which arrived at our table hot and fragrant with rosemary, sage, and olive oil. Available for dipping were bowls of hummus and tzatziki, a yogurty/goat cheesy/cucumbery concoction, which I’d never had before and decided I could eat all day with that bread.

If you want to hear more about mouth-watering Middle Eastern/Mediterranean treats, just hit the jump.
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I don’t know what it is, but whenever there is mist or an excess of clouds in the New York or in this case Long Island, it just makes me forget about everything else and stare. In Manhattan, you have so many buildings that get covered up in clouds and it seems almost unreal. Here, I’m sitting in the dark watching the green stand out as dark clouds move above it. Extremely beautiful day.

The blackouts that have been going on in Queens since Monday/Tuesday have affected a significant number of people. This article in today’s NYTimes gives a good overview. A friend of mine didn’t have electricity for two days during that massive heat wave. Very uncomfortable.

Nevertheless, thinking about these blackouts as well as ConEd’s terrible new posters in the subway led me to google “coned ny.” And this is what came up, no joke. Read closely.

Hello New York, Alana from Metroblogging Chicago here.

When I was 17 years old, I left my Texas home to come to Manhattan so I could study photography, go to SVA, and see what I could get out of myself. It was the toughest and the most amazing 4 years of my life. Hard luck prevailed and I ended up heading back to Galveston, but I’ve missed the city almost constantly ever since.

I’ve been back a few times, but always alone. This time, I get to bring my 13 year old daughter Autumn but we’ll only be there for 24 hours. There are so many things you just don’t see when you live in New York because I guess you think they’ll always be there. The Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, I never saw any of it.

So I’m asking you, what do you do with a 13 year old girl in NYC and 24 hours? How best to optimize the route? We arrive at 9am tomorrow morning. Our starting point is 20th and 5th.

If you go out with a friend in the city (SoHo), isn’t it courteous that s/he bring some cash of their own? And even if they don’t, isn’t it at least courteous for them to let you know that they have no cash? And even if they don’t let you know they have no cash, isn’t it courteous and proper for them not to order as much as you want, share it with you? And even if they order more than they should at dinner, isn’t it sensible for them to not have dessert at another place you go to and count on you to pay for dessert?
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It’s concert week for me!
I just got back from seeing Madonna at the Garden. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of hers (although her new album is fun), but my friend had free tickets in the skybox, so I agreed to go along. Plus, I knew it was going to be a big party. They served champagne instead of popcorn and beer, the crowd was mostly men… the fun gay kind, and everyone danced like mad and sang the entire time.

I have to admit it was actually a well done show. There were some problems with the sound for a few songs, but she is definitely entertaining. She opened the show by coming out a GIANT disco ball wearing some fun S&M gear – the same gear she wore for the photo shoot with W Magazine. The rest of the show was filled with acrobatics, crazy flexible back-up dancers, her infamous crucifix act, some political “stuff”, and lots of 70’s flashbacks.
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I just got home from my night in Central Park to see the NY Philharmonic and I am SOAKED!! No complaints since it wasn’t from melting in the heat. The rain (and the thunder and lightning) started just after the fireworks ended.

Actually, the timing for the whole night was perfect. It rained a little bit just before the concert started to cool things off and then it held out until everyone started to slowly file out of the park. Thousands of people worked their way out of the park as sheets and sheets of rain came pouring down. What a SCENE! It took soooo long for us to get to Central Park West, but we were all in good spirits. Actually, our good mood brought us and a few friends we made along the way to George Keeley’s for a few last drinks before heading home.

Sad that the post concert events may have been more memorable than the actual concert, but I’ll definitely try it again next year. The little bit that I heard was beautiful and people really go all out for this. I even saw a group with a portable table, a tablecloth, and a vase with flowers. I think they may have brought out the good china too. Crazy! We just brought some blankets, snacks from Whole Foods and my famous White Sangria. Nothing like a little alcohol while taking antibiotics. :)

Was anyone else braving the elements in Central Park tonight??

We’re just growing and growing over here.

Last week we added our 48th City – Rio de Janeiro. Brazil
Hard to believe it, but this is our first blog in South America–very cool!

And today we add our 49th – Sacramento, CA
This is our 4th blog in the state of California–woot!

Stop by and say “hi” to our new neighbors if you are so inclined.

There are two things this city has a lot of, and those two things are 1.) Attitude and 2.) Small Dogs. The Attitude seems pretty self explanatory, so let’s focus on the one that’s totally INexplicable, the dogs. Without fail, every time I go outside I pass a minimum of seventy to seventy-five people walking these miniature, often bug-eyed pooches down the street. I am baffled. What is going on here? Where is this seemingly endless supply of small dogs coming from? Where do they stay during the day? And most importantly, how are they created? My theory is that they are actually rats wearing toupees, but I could be wrong. If anyone has the answers to these questions, please let me know. I am literally staying awake at night pondering these pressing, pressing issues.

This weekend I went to The Metroplitan Museum of Art to see the special exhibition on Susan Sontag’s award winning book “On Photography”. Susan Sontag was an intellectual heroine of the last century, she was not only a novelist and essayist but also a bold critic and a solid defender of human rights.
Almost all the text written below the photographes was quoted from Sontag’s proses and the photographes shown in the exhibition are somewhat related to her works. It was quite impressive and can be seen till September,4.