To Iron or Not To Iron? There's No Question!

Friday night no one was around, so I wasn't going to do much. I was watching Toy Story (can you believe I hadn't seen it yet?) and at about 10:30, my email/webpage system administrator /friend Vince called me from the West Side because they are in town from LA for a wedding. They had just finished dinner (and a few cocktails from the sound of it) and were ready for their NYC night on the town. So I changed out of my PJs and put on some of my duds and jumped in a cab for the West Side. I picked them up and we headed down to the über-sleek, hidden lounge underneath the Coffee Shop in Union Square. The funny thing is that Vince's girlfriend had actually eaten at the restaurant before but had no idea there was an über-sleek lounge underneath. It really hit the spot for them - and so did the silky-smooth mojitos.

Once we were well lubricated, Vince was ready for a club, so we headed downtown further to my preferred neck of the woods - the Lower East Side. As I continue to explore this hipster paradise, I continue to identify cool places to hang out. We came across one place I've wanted to check out for a while - Libation. It has interesting write-up reviews, so we went inside and thought it was a pretty neat place. Loud, racous, stylish, and good music all created a fun environment, so we did a little carpet-tearing up and hung out for a while until Vince's girlfriend Jonlyn decided that he needed some pizza and some sleep. Demonstrating my lack of experience in pizza locations other than those in my immediate vacinity, we headed up to the Upper East Side to my neighborhood pizza joint and partook in some traditional NY-style pizza before they cabbed it back to the West Side to their hotel.

The next day, Vince called and said he had a lot of fun and was paying the price for it. But he was still a trooper and went with his mom and girlfriend to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is nearby me and which I am a member of. So I met up with them and we explored some of the world class exhibits inside. (Luckily) I arrived late and the ladies had just finished viewing the Chanel exhibit, so we were on to the Matisse exhibit instead. Vince's mom knows a lot about this stuff, I am pretty much an ignoramus when it comes to it. But I still enjoy it. After the little tour, we had to get some food, so we went to Madison Avenue and came across Zabar's E.A.T. cafe. We had some brunch food there and the French Toast was to DIE for. Their fresh baked bread (that tasted like Angel Food cake) soaked in butter with some raspberries and syrup was amazing. Wow. I might have to go back there and splurge another time.

They headed home for the wedding and I headed home for a three hour napster. At night, I went with Alan and Andrea to a nearby Turkish restaurant called Beyoglu and ate some great organic chicken with rice pilaf and of course sides of yogurt and hummus. We had to eat in a hurry, though, because we were going to see Walk of the Penguins, a National Geographic movie about the emperor penguins in Antarctica and their life's journey every year to mate and reproduce. It really is amazing and they did a good job of adding personification (showing human-like emotions) with the penguins. A very cute, very informative movie. It's a good movie for outdoor type of people interested in some crazy animals.

Today was a nice, warm day outside, somewhere in the 80's, not too humid, a real nice day. I woke up at 7:30 (I don't know what my problem is - it's Sunday!) and after slouching around my apartment for a while actually went rollerblading at about 8:45am - before anyone else in the city was awake. I swear, the streets are empty at that time, no taxis, no traffic, nothing. It was kind of nice, though. So I headed to Central Park and did the BIG loop this time, a whopping three miles with peaks and valleys throughout. A nice way to wake up my stiff lower back. I broke into a nice sweat, even though it was very cool outside, thus accomplishing the morning's mission.

I was supposed to have a blind date for the Chelsea vs. AC Milan soccer game today, but she called me about an hour before our meeting time and flaked on me. Gee, I'm glad I set the day aside for the game. So I decided not to go at all. And I'm glad I didn't pre-purchase the tickets, I woulda really been up the creek if that happened.

Well everyone else was busy for the afternoon. So I cleaned my kitchen and apartment up - usual Sunday activities. But I was done by 2:00 and it was awesome outside. I tried going to the park and reading but got bored and fell asleep on the astro-turf instead. I cruised home and decided that the best activity I could become entralled in would be....ironing. I bought the sizing spray a while back and after my first attempt, I gave up because my shirt turned out so wrinkly still. This time, armed with my sizing spray, encouraging emails and checklist instructions from the two preceding generations of mothers in my family, my $15 iron, and an abundance of time, I went to town on my closet. And I gotta say - I am one badass ironer now. It took me a while to figure out where the creases should and shouldn't exist and how to arrange my two and a half foot ironing board on my kitchen table, but I got the hang of it and I'm stoked about that. I got so enthralled in the activity that I did about four shirts out of my closet. And note to self - even though dig the Zara styles and fashions much more, I gotta hand it to Banana Republic for making shirts that are much better quality and turn out more crisp after the ironing. Not that that's going to stop me from buying another Zara button up for $10 when it's on sale, though!
Cost savings? Around $7. Awesome, gosh.

And that $7 saving, compounded weekly over the lifespan of my shirts, will come in handy over the next few years. Yesterday I visited an orthodonist that I found by googling around New York and trying to find someone decent. I was impressed with his credentials (he speaks Hungarian, as well as three other languages) and his experience (the poor guy was in Operation Iraqi Anarchy with the Marines). Oh, and he's published books (in Hungarian, no less), graduated with a masters from an Ivy League school, does lots of volunteer dental work in natural disaster-affected areas, teaches at Columbia, writes research papers on the subject, etc. etc. So I figured he was worth taking a chance on.

His opinion on my ortho requirements weren't too different than the doctor I had consulted with in the Bay Area before I moved out here, but there were some key differences:

1.) Explanations: He actually explained to me the health ramifications if I did not have the most serious concerns addressed with surgery. He carefully explained the surgery I would need (including the recovery time, down from 6 weeks to a whopping three days!), the options that I had instead of surgery, and correctly identified my (minor / "well hidden") lisp (told you Paul, Cathy, D, and Brie!). Bay Area doc explained to me how my face isn't proportional right now and how much better I would look by having the surgery - thanks for the confidence booster. One point for NYC doctor. 0 points for Bay Area doctor.

2.) Q&A: He had confident answers on all of my concerns, including issues such as the effects of my tongue thrusts, the chances of getting the surgery covered by my medical insurance, etc. etc. Bay Area doctor volunteered to see me again if I had more questions. Two points for NYC doctor. 0 points for Bay Area doctor.

3.) Receptionst: NYC doctor had a tall, thin receptionist from the Czech Republic. She came from Ostrava, CZ and of course I went ahead and mentioned that I know they have a good soccer team there called Banik Ostrava and she was amazed (It is quite random - maybe even concerning - that I know such things) Apparently her husband is a Liverpool fan as well. Bay Area doctor's receptionists didn't have an accent, so were probably locally farmed. Three points for NYC doctor. 0 points for Bay Area doctor.

4.) NYC doctor looked at my shirt that said "Oakenfold" and asked me if it was a Paul Oakenfold shirt. Yes, it is. He's a progressive trance DJ and how does he know that? Because he's a fan as well. I don't think that Bay Area doc listens to progressive trance in his free time. 20 points for NYC doctor. 0 points for Bay Area doctor

5.) His office is on the 12th floor on Central Park South and when you're sitting in the victim's chair, you have a full view of Central Park. Bay Area doc had a windowless consultation room, if I remember correctly. Well, whatever the view was in the Bay Area, I'm sure it wasn't Central Park. 21 points NYC doctor. 0 points for Bay Area doctor.

As you can see, I liked this doctor a lot. I've seen plenty of orthodontists and this guy seemed very sharp and answered all of my concerns with excellent explanations. The cost for the ortho work alone is quite a lot, but not anymore than any of the other orthos I've talked to. So the next time some of you see me, don't be surprised if I'm in braces....

J. Riley, ready to invest in my face after my vacation to Eastern Europe.