On January 20, 2004, writer Paul Auster appeared on the NPR program “Fresh Air.” The interview is awesome. (Disclosure: I am a huge fan of Paul Auster. I sometimes walk around Park Slope hoping I might casually bump into him, whereupon he will eventually ask me to read a draft of his new book. Creepy, [...]

Impulsive decisionmaking and wild lifestyles are sometimes justified by the very real, yet highly unlikely, possibility that a person can “step off a curb and get hit by a bus.” In other words, it could all end tomorrow. When in fact, it really can end today. While we’re all busy looking both ways before stepping [...]

My first ride on the new JFK AirTrain was extremely disappointing. “Why?” You might ask yourself. “Please develop an opinion on the issue — and then post it on the Internet!” With pleasure. Here’s why the new AirTrain is totally whack: It’s not an AirTrain. It’s an AirTrains. Plural. From Jamaica station, you have to [...]

A few weeks ago, I posted an entry about a Brooklyn pet store robbery that went sour when the owner gunned down the would-be-bagmen. A week ago, Newsday reported that a Brooklyn man foiled a home invasion in the Flatbush neighborhood. After a “struggle” with the intruders, the man whipped out a .40-caliber heater and [...]

Linda, Jim, Heather, and I spent the final week of 2003 at the “Little Ditty” cottage in Fitzwilliam, NH, located in the southwest corner of the state. And yes, Little Ditty is owned by a couple named Jack and Diane. There is not, however, a Taystee Freeze for miles. Also, Jackie did not become a [...]