I'm off to New York City October 1st :)

I concur! Rockhead should visit our fair city.

... what, no piccies?

Pictures were taken. Mame has the camera.

Hey... we're sitting here in a bar, of course, waiting for the traffic jam to disperse - last night going to the restaurant was a crush! - and Alex has his computer up - first time in three days for me - whee!

First of all, LOVED, LOVED, LOVED all of them. Joe(funny, funny man)Nation is entertaining, erudite, and engaging. I felt right at home with him and unfortunately he wasn't available for lunch the following day. I would visit him again in a heartbeat and hope I get a chance to before I leave. Two hours was too short!

Roberta is a delight. Such a nice lady, also very interesting and has a sense of je ne sais quoi about her. I would love to see her again... and Roberta, even though I can't phone you, I hope you get your phone working. Please PM me if you are able to meet up again... we'll have WIFI and this computer in Brooklyn. I want to see you again. Last night was not long enough!

Ditto to Tsar - talk to the others and see if we can't do another meal before we leave. Saturday is also good for brunch, lunch, or dinner. I was very impressed with Tsar - a rather quiet-spoken and intelligent person with a distinct sense of humour, but what really endeared me to him was that he didn't make too much fun of my accent. I want to see you again, too, Tsar.

Thomas, on the other hand, agrees with georgeob1 about my "out" sounding line "oot", so of course, he's relegated to the bad books, although I might admit I noticed it once or twice myself once he (so graciously) pointed it out. Ack, those Germans! We had a lovely afternoon today at the Shake Shack (delicious food) and at the Frick Collection. Really, it was as good as the Met. BTW, Thomas, I went to the Whitney but they said they were doing renovations and one or two floors were closed so I just missed meeting you at the subway. Thank you for a great time...

I'll be back on here later to see if anyone is available for another meal or whathaveyou. We're doing the HOHO bus for the next two days and will be in Manhattan.

That restaurant was a great pick, Roberta - really, really wish I hadn't had a late lunch. I'd love to try another of your picks.

The Gugg was less than impressive for me, the Met was fantastic, as was the Frick. Looking forward to the MoMA.

Impressions: Lovely, lovely people her here in NY. Traffic, traffic, traffic, honk, honk, honk! Looking forward to seeing all the boroughs tomorrow!

Ciao for now

Oh, is that the reason, eh? I thought it was in your bad book because I attempted to steal your jacket this afternoon. (Note to readers: Mame caught me just as I was making my getaway with her jacket, which she had so trustingly placed in my backpack earlier.)

What a great group of people! (Of course, Thomas shows up everywhere. I even saw him at a Chicago gathering. Every A2K gathering has had to endure Thomas being there. )

Anyway, I hope that everyone lets you post photos, Mame.

nice reporting!

enjoy the HOHO - tell all about that as well. I'm quite curious about it.

Glad you are having such a good time and soaking up all the art and sights and sounds of NYC.

The A2Kers sound like a great group--even better to know in person.

Looking forward to any pictures you want to share.

Great report.
God I love Mame. Sure we disagree on occasion. (She doesn't like anchovies)

She has punch.

On the other hand, my computer is cursor flicking, which is ominous.

Watch that, as some of us lost jjorge in San Francisco. (Many brings confusion).

Bad boy. Thomas is my guru but doesn't know it.

Are you calling me a gathering slut? Guilty!

Geez, you try that after the enchilada episode?

Hey, I'm very pleased you all understood each other.

Will add, I hope Rockhead gets to NYC.

Osso, he didn't even know whose lunch he'd eaten and was offering to buy mine - I should have taken him up on it for you

We made a seamless trip to Brooklyn on the E, 12, 6, 9 and A trains. Just kidding. It took no time at all (2 trains), and we got to chat with some lovely folk on the subway. Alex was a bit nervous about the neighbourhood but soon realized that it was all good. We met our landlady, got our keys, unpacked and hit the road. Had a gorgeous hot spicy fried chicken dinner ($12) with a side and cheap drinks... of course, I ate only one out of three pieces, so hey, leftovers! I've never had American fried chicken so it was a must-have for me. The restaurant is quite funky and normally they play Blues at night but tonight they and we were watching the debate.

Bed-Stuy, where we are, is quiet, recently gentrified, and not scary at all. It's going to cost us a small fortune to get to the airport but we're really happy here. We have a huge apartment with two large beds and a separate living room/kitchen with everything we need.

Wish Osso was here - going to the MoMA tomorrow after our initial HOHO trip, although Thomas was a very good companion. Commentating on all kinds of things but I don't know if he was making it up. He's very funny, actually, and I quite enjoying slanging with him.

JoeBlow, if you're out there - saw some fantastic candles but alas, didn't take any photos. If I see them again, I'll investigate for you. Or buy you some! They were truly funky, with all kinds of incendiary materials buried in them. I know you're still perfecting your basic style, but these would be great fodder for the future.

Ciao for now!

Well, that is always teasing by me. I'm a big fan of the brat.

Well, I've never met Thomas, and I've met at least 8 assorted A2Kers, mostly singly, but, on one occasion, 3 at a time! He is obviously ignoring me and I'm shattered!

Just to make you even more : I've met Thomas in London, Chicago, Albuquerque, Marblehead, Boston ...

How unkind, Walter!

Yes.

Well, Alex needed to sleep, after 9 days on duty, so sleep he did and I explored our neighbourhood. We then decided to spend the day in Brooklyn, so we went downtown, ate at the Smoke House (turns out to be a sister restaurant of Peaches!!) and enjoyed fabulous catfish with a spicy aioli - yay. Wandered around, looked at people and stores and whatnot and made our way back here and now deciding where to go for dinner. Why are vacations all about food?

Oh! Forgot the most important part. We found a guitar store (for guess who) called RetroFret which specializes in Vintage guitars. Guess Who spent 2 hours playing a variety of guitars, happily in his element... walked away without buying one (I almost fainted in shock) and then we wandered the downtown. Now we're browsing to see if we can find live blues and/or jazz in our area... then off to some other delectable restaurant.

Loving this city and tomorrow and Saturday will be all about Manhattan's boroughs. Can't wait!!