Trader Joes and our Conversion

So, yeah, yeah, I changed my mind.

When the Trader Joe's opened on 14th Street a few years back, I couldn't understand why everybody was making so much fuss over what I though to be a Long Island-based supermarket opening in the city. Ting and I even went in once and were not unduly impressed, which made the adulation for the place on the part of some customers all the more unfathomable.

Flash forward a few years. Now Michael is here. Now things have changed.

Today we woke up early, thanks to a full-on sonic assault from Michael that began at 6 AM and went on until 7:45, when we surrendered and crawled out of bed. We had to get breakfast and so we decided to combine that with a trip to the new Trader Joe's market on Woodhaven Boulevard and Metropolitan Avenue, which is only technically a Forest Hills location. We got a Q23 in time, made it to McDonald's, and afterwards walked the three blocks to the TJ's, which shares the space with an (as yet still unopened) Michael's crafts store and a Staples and is one parking lot away from Sports Authority and Home Depot.

We were floored. It was as if scales had fallen from our eyes. The place was moderately crowded but was filling up quickly at 10:30 on a Sunday morning. We began to inspect for food and prices.

The key word was "organic." Trader Joe's has a LOT of organic foods, a lot of vegan and vegetarian-friendly products, and all of the items we looked at today were for sale at unit prices that trounced those for comparable fare at C-Town, Key Food, Trade Fair, the Natural, Amish Market, and Organic Forever.

In short, we had a lot of fun, loaded up with 2 insulated bags and 2 paper shopping bags, and left. And yes, we now know that TJ's is based out of Monrovia, CA.

In sum: we will be back, although the lack of a car will make it tricky. It is that compelling. Now it may just be the "new store" factor, although I earnestly hope not. The other stores I mentioned above, in particular the Natural, need a quick boot in the pants to wake them up to this new competition. I can definitely see people who live on the Forest Hills Gardens switching, to say nothing of the folks who are coming in from Middle Village, Maspeth, and Glendale.

So yeah, we changed our minds. I, for one, welcome our new supermarket overlords. All hail Trader Joe's!

The Mafia's 10 Commandments

Discovered in the Sicilian hideout of a Mafioso, the Mafia's 10 commandments:

1. No-one can present himself directly to another of our friends. There must be a third person to do it.
2. Never look at the wives of friends.
3. Never be seen with cops.
4. Don't go to pubs and clubs.
5. Always being available for Cosa Nostra is a duty - even if your wife's about to give birth.
6. Appointments must absolutely be respected.
7. Wives must be treated with respect.
8. When asked for any information, the answer must be the truth.
9. Money cannot be appropriated if it belongs to others or to other families.
10. People who can't be part of Cosa Nostra: anyone who has a close relative in the police, anyone with a two-timing relative in the family, anyone who behaves badly and doesn't hold to moral values.

Here, bunny bunny! Here, RABBIT!

This is just too cool to ignore (from Gothamist:)


This is absolutely astounding. It comes from a British advertising firm, and it adds more credence to my theory that a lot of the best and brightest minds in the world are going into fields like advertising - this video not only demands creativity, but smarts. Nice, nice job.

This is very sad (Martha Vega)...

My mother's home attendant, Martha Vega, was murdered yesterday:

Martha loved my mother very much. A deeply religious woman who never had children and was cursed (or blessed) with a powerful maternal instinct which she applied to everyone around her, she showered my mother with maternal affection - therapeutic for both of them, I think, especially since my grandmother's death. My mother adored her. Now I don't know what to tell Mom when she notices that Martha will no longer be there. I am so sorry she died so young (48). Her loss will be felt by all of us.

RIP, Martha. We will miss you.

Sad. Sad. Sad.

Graduation Day, 2007

Michael on Father's Day...

IMG_3588.JPG
Originally uploaded by rapnyc.

This was the most extraordinary moment for me. Ever. We went out to lower Manhattan for Father's Day, originally to head to the swimming pool, but we found that the pools would not be open till the end of June. We went to Seward Park instead, which had sprinklers running full blast, and we all got wet. Michael was in my arms when all of a sudden he just turned into me, wrapped his arms around my neck and just stayed there. We must have stayed like that for five minutes, and the whole time, the thought kept running through my mind: this is my son. Nice Father's Day...

So here we are at the end of the year...

...school year, that is. I am still going to Lehman with just 2 or 3 classes left, plus that goddamn thesis thing looming over my shoulder. My job is OK, I think, but I am growing restless there too because of growing issues there.

Home is great, though. Ting is a great mom, I am learning to be a good daddy, and Michael is blooming into a really sweet little boy who likes to play and be held upside down by his ankles, and whose current passion is slapping the hell out of an electronic bongo drum that teaches numbers and letters in both English and Spanish while a salsa beat plays in the background. Oh, and it has lights too! Cool!

This is a current Michael and Mommy:


So I really am thankful for everything about my family. Having a child is the best feeling in the world.

Rorschach!!!

Ok, not really. But it IS a test photograph that Watchmen director Zack Snyder is showing to studio suits in order to get them hot for the project (and then, presumably, up the budget. Hooray.) I like it very much; Rorschach was flat out my favorite character in the story, and he is one of the main three characters, so I am glad he is the first one we so far.

Some Population Statistics to Chew On

In 1912, the US population reached 100,000,000 citizens.

52 years later, in 1967, the nation's 200,000,000th citizen was born in Atlanta to Chinese-American parents.

On October 16th, 2006 -- 39 years later -- the United States expects citizen number 300,000,000 to be born. Based on projections, it is expected that this addition to the population will be an Hispanic child from Los Angeles.

I sometimes teach a unit on overpopulation to my class, depending on the grade I have that year. This will make an interesting real-life teaching moment.

As for where I stand on this...I confess to not having done more research on this issue. I know that the global population in toto is commonly believed to be rising steadily. I also know that many believe that it is not overpopulation that is the problem we face.

It's underpopulation that may be the issue, at least for the rest of the world. The United States may be an exception to that: we are currently the fastest-growing industrial nation in the world, and will soon be reaching population numbers to rival China and India. This even as outsourcing and other job issues significantly reduce our ability to employ these new people. Compound this with the fact that this country has the highest quality health care in the world, so we are living longer and longer, reducing the turnover rate. (I refer to this as the bathtub faucet-and-drain problem - if the water is rushing into the tub faster than the drain can remove it, what will eventually happen? No doubt others have already used this metaphor because it is so obvious, but my kids have generally not encountered it before, so I look terribly erudite and nerdy).

I think about this in the same context I think about everything nowadays...Michael. What kind of a world is he going to grow up into? Certainly this is only one of many issues that cause me anxiety at 3 AM, thinking about his future, but it is still a concern.

Anyway...that's all for now.

Damn, It Feels Good to Be a (lil) Gangsta...

Some Mo' Michaels....