This year, for the first time in my life, I’ll be in a restaurant on Thanksgiving. And though I’m not altogether thrilled, I was definitely surprised to learn how many people within my circle of friends do regularly go out to eat on this holiday. So, ok. I’ll give it a shot. I guess I’ve always assumed that restaurants would be staffed by their second- and third-stringers, and the food would be overpriced and mediocre. But perhaps I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

And though I already know where I’ll be next Thursday (and it’s not in NYC), MUG recently published this helpful list of places that will be open and serving. And there are always discussions of this same subject on Chowhound as well.

Anyone else out there traditionally spend Thanksgiving out and about?

My buddy Neil over at Metblogs Melbourne pointed this really cool site out to me… Basically, you type in a message and it gives you pictures of buildings that spell out that message for you. VERY cool Google Maps mashup.

This would be great for a website header, logo, or simple banner ad.

[Photo courtesy of geoGreeting!]

How did I miss theWorld Usability Day 2006 NYC? Where should I have looked to have advance knowledge of this event?

Well, it was on Broadway so maybe you can understand why I was fooled and thought it must be people camping out in line for tickets to some kind of show.

No – It was people, hundreds of people, waiting for Friday morning, or Thursday night / Friday morning 12:01am, to buy the new Playstation 3. I had no idea!

Is it possible to sue for potholes that damage your car’s suspension or tires in New York City? I asked this question to Google after my car hit a huge pothole on the Williamsburg bridge. But this time it wasn’t really damaged. I was wondering what would have happened if the car did get damaged. So Google took me to another blog which said the following:

the city government has decreed that it can only be sued for damages caused by potholes previously reported to its, I kid you not, special “Pothole Bureau.”

On New Year’s Eve two years ago, my car tire went flat – it literally exploded (I think I saw a few people duck) when it hit a pot hole in Flushing, Queens. I didn’t sue anyone then but I think I could have. Damnit all. But yeah, I think I’m going to call 311 to figure this out soon.

Just in time for holiday shopping, we have Metroblogging merchandise ready! Go check out the designs and get all of your holiday shopping done all in one fell swoop.

About one hour ago I was walking down Washington Place and at the corner of Avenue of the Americas, an SUV pulled up onto the sidewalk right in front of me. Two guys jumped out, maybe three, I was kind of in shock. The doors were open and the engine running. They threw a man onto the sidewalk and jumped on top of him. People all stopped and gathered a bit closer, unsettled and staring at the guys and at the SUV. More cop-like guys gathered in, none of them in uniform but most of them with walkie-talkies. Some of them got back into the SUV; I followed and asked through the window if they were police. They yelled at me and pulled away from the curb. As I was trying to take a cameraphone photo of the license plate, the SUV backed almost into me very fast and I had to run backwards. I did not succeed in getting the license plate number but it was a grey unmarked car.

Meanwhile, some of the guys dragged the dude in handcuffs, a young black man in fancy designer jeans, across the street. They made him kneel against the wall and he looked completely terrified but resigned. I crossed the street and was standing about 20 feet away, feeling that I should witness the scene and document it somehow or at least, make sure they were actually police. I know, like that would be reassuring if they were? I was not close enough to hear anything the guys were saying. Next to the man kneeling with his face to the wall was a black woman in a sort of hat or turban-like headgear, apparently his friend.
(more…)

My seatmate from the airplane shared a cab with me. I think for both of us our gaydar went off and so we were super comfy; also, we were both originally from Texas, which means you have a built-in friendly pal mechanism that kicks in. He explained that where I was going, Greenwich Village, was super close to his destination, Chelsea.
(more…)

Hi, I’m Liz. For a week or two, I’ll be giving you my San Francisco Metroblogger viewpoint of New York City. I’ve visited a few times very briefly, in transit or towed by relatives, but this is really the first time I’ve “been to New York”.

My plans are to walk around, going to libraries, cafes, and bookstores, pausing to write wherever it seems convenient, so it will be a nerd’s eye view. In SF, I blog about random encounters with people, and library trips, literary readings like Writers With Drinks, poetry, and performance events like Lynnee Breedlove’s One Freak Show, life between the sort-of-suburbs and the city, and, well, hanging around writing in internet cafes, time-honored tradition of bloggers everywhere.

I also write for BlogHer, mostly on the topic of what’s going on with Latin American women’s blogs; for other magazine; and for Feminist SF, a group blog about feminism and science fiction.

In typical NY media style, all of the local news outlets are totally overblowing the Jets and their chances this year… As with every year, the Jets get to one game over .500 and all of the sudden, “They’re for real” and the local media thinks of all types of ridiculous puns to use as headlines on the sports page.

But what the paper forgets to mention is that while the Jets beat the rival Patriots this weekend, they did so out of pure luck. A shoddy field killed a bunch of Pats plays, and the conditions made for a horrible day for the defending AFC champions, but the Patriots are still the team to beat. One win does not a champion make. A few other things that are completely ignored in these excited reports:

- Assuming the Patriots win the division, which is likely, the Jets would have some stiff competition for a wildcard spot, with Jacksonville, Denver or San Diego (whichever doesn’t win the AFC West), and Kansas City, all proven winners with more veteran players at their core.
- Forgetting about the Bears game this weekend, they still have some VERY tough matchups down the stretch, three of which are away against teams that don’t lose a lot at home (Green Bay, Minnesota, Miami), and two of which are tough divisional matchups (Miami and Buffalo).
- Miami, Oakland, and Houston are all resurgent and are insistent on “circling the wagons” and ruining other teams playoff hopes. I bet the Jets get caught looking past one or more of these games.

I am not saying that people should not be excited, and I am not even predicting that the Jets definitely won’t make the playoffs, but the NY media has a habit of over-inflating successes. Let’s keep it in perspective. This is not a deep playoff team… Not yet, at least. The next few years may be great, but let’s not fit the players for Super Bowl rings just yet. Keep it in perspective! They are one game over .500!

Photo courtesy of Jetscap.com