I arrived in NYC about two hours ago – took a cab ride across the Queensborough Bridge with a bit of traffic from JFK, dumped my bags in our room and then went for a walk beween from 64th to 50th along Park and Madison Avenues. I had to purchase a couple of ties for my fiancee, as he is here on business and forgot them, and then made a quick stop at Barney’s where I didn’t even make it past the first floor I was so overwhelmed by all the baubles. As many times as I have been to NYC, I have never gone there, usually making my way to Henri Bendel for department store eye candy with their famed brown and white striped shopping bags. I only have one day in the city tomorrow before I head off to Philly to see my dear friend Melissa, and I think it will be a museum day. Again, as many times as I have been here, I have never been to the Guggenheim, the Museum of Modern Art OR the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Considering I am an artist, that is actually rather shameful.

A few of my other favorite NYC spots:
* ABC Carpet & Home
* Me & Ro Jewelry
* Fishes Eddy
* Ordning & Reda
* Kate’s Paperie

I’m not sure if I will be able to re-visit any of these Swirly haunts, but it is nice to know they are there for whenever I return.

I brought my laptop with me mainly so I could work on my book on the plane. The flight from LAX to JFK is about five hours, so it was time to be taken advantage of. I felt slightly self-conscious – would the guy behind me & across the aisle read what I was writing? – and it was uncomfortable to have the laptop on the tray table. I put the laptop on my lap and after a while it just got hot. I also tried to balance a small cup of water which promptly spilled onto my seat, but I managed to soak up most of the water pretty quickly with my sweater. As they say, flying is an adventure. I’m not sure it is the most conducive place to get any serious writing done, but I did manage to bang out a few more pages. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to seriously focus on the plane, so my writing today was a brain dump more than anything. I have learned to appreciate that kind of writing as well as the times when I’m "in the zone". All writing is worthwhile, and as any artist will tell you, it takes doing a lot of work that you feel so-so about to get to those juicy tidbits that you love. Even on an airplane flying across the country.