If you’ve read the terrific blogs, Busy Dad Blog and BusyDad Tales, you’ll understand why I express such excitement about his upcoming guest spot on my new podcast. Here’s the promo video for the show, Soapbox Radio.
If you’d like to ask Jim a question, call 347.326.9613 and I’ll identify you by your area code when we’re ready to get you on the air.
If you’d prefer to chat in the chatroom (where you could also ask him a question) just click on the button that looks like this one (on the Soapbox Radio site):
When you’re on the Soapbox Radio site, that button should bring up the chatroom screen. You could register as a BlogTalkRadio listener, then we’ll be able to know who you are when you ask the question or you could participate as a guest.
I’m thrilled to have Jim as my first guest and hope you’ll join us!
Walking around the streets near Columbia University in Manhattan on a beautiful spring day, I stopped abruptly when I saw the sign. It said "Tom’s Restaurant" on one side of the building and "Restaurant" on the other. I stared for a moment or two, then grabbed the arm of another chaperone and said, "Wait. We have to stop. Do you recognize that place?" As soon as she saw it, she knew.
She, too, was a loyal fan of the Seinfeld series. She knew it was the home of the "Big Salad," the place where George, Elaine and Jerry frequently met and discussed sometimes controversial (but mostly mundane) topics. Where George griped about everything under the sun and Jerry pondered imponderables.
Without hesitation, we went inside for lunch and noticed that the interior looked nothing like it did on the show - completely different floorplan, different art on the walls (this place was covered with signed caricatures and photos of the stars of the show), different condiment containers and different booths.
But the hostess? She could have come straight out of one of the sitcom’s episodes.
Here’s the scene. The restaurant is quite small, with three rows of booths, very narrow aisles between them and a counter. One booth could be described by restaurant people as a "six-top" which means it seats six adults, all the others seat four.
We arrived before the lunch rush, so most of the booths were empty. We were a group of eight, two chaperones and six kids. Or, if you look at it the way I looked at it, two groups of four people each. I had been traveling around Manhattan with the same three girls, so I was expecting to sit in a booth with the four of us (as we had done for every other meal).
The hostess had a different idea.
With a gorgeously strong, rapid fire Manhattan accent, she asserted, " ‘Ow menny ya got? Ya got eight? Right here! Come ohvah heaah. You can sit heaah. Eight. Right? Yeaah. It’s peh-fect. We’ll just pull up a chair, put it on the end. Theaah ya go. The rest of ya sit…ya know…theaah."
She gestured matter of factly toward the six top and looked into my eyes as if it were an order, not a suggestion. I hesitated…knowing, first of all that certain girls didn’t want to sit together and the way they were about to squeeze in would have resulted in elbowing, arguing and an all around unpleasant dining experience. Just try to shove tween girls together who don’t like each other very much, you’ll quickly discover just how nasty they can get. It’s a catty, sarcastic phase.
But the hostess could care less.
She scowled at me with growing impatience and a "WTF are ya doin’ ya frickin’ tourist? Sit ya a@# down already!" kind of look, still motioning for us to fill in the six-top booth.
Meanwhile, some of the girls had climbed out of the six-top, others had climbed in, and my three girls had opened menus, sat down and started getting comfortable in a four top in the next row. They then said, "We’re sitting here ," without even looking up from the menus.
Our lovely hostess, now completely annoyed with us, tried one last attempt, "Wha? Ya got eight, right? Right here. Whaat’s wrong with this? This is fa eight. Right heeaah. I got a chair. I’ll put the chair heeaah. You’ll be fine."
I explained that we were fine as we were. No thanks, we would just sit separately. It was better that way. For us. You know, the customers . We grumbled among ourselves as if we were taking cues from George Costanza himself. "Do you believe that woman? Expecting us to squeeze in there?! Ridiculous! What was she thinking? Well, I’m not doing it."
Lovely hostess rolled her eyes, threw up her arms, sighed and said, "Fine. Whatevah."
But it wasn’t fine.
She came back again and said, "Ya know…if we get busy…now you’re takin’ up two booths. You can all fit in that one booth. It’s fa eight. Y’can sit ova theeaah (motioning again in the direction of the six-top)."
"Uh, well, sorry, we’re already here. It’s early. We’ll probably be gone before you fill up. If we have to move later, we will. But we’d rather stay here. For now. Okay?" I offer in my most sincere, midwestern (please let this end soon) voice.
Just as the drinks arrived, another group of five (that happened to also be part of our main group) walked in the door. Five. All of the girls were tiny, young tweens, so they dove right into a four-top booth. But the hostess would not have it. She walked over to the half of our group sitting in the six-top and commanded them, "Yor gonna haffta move. We gotta bigga group heeaaah. Ya gotta move."
They packed up the drinks, menus and personal belongings and sat in the four-top booth behind us.
I had to laugh. Would there be any better way to enjoy the restaurant from Seinfeld? Thanks, lady. Now can I get that Big Salad?
My daughter and I were in the middle of New York City on Saturday and got caught up in this frenzy. I felt compelled to photograph some of the many people taking pictures. Can you guess what they were trying to capture with their cameras?
No matter which decade of my life I’m in (or nearing), I always want to take time out to play. When I play a great game with the kids, play tennis, work out, shoot hoops, or just walk the dog, I feel better physically and am usually in a better mood. My tolerance level rises and, overall, I’m better able to handle challenges that come my way.
I’m just beginning to get my hands around Twitter. This video helped me get a better understanding of why people would want to use it.
It’s not just full of “I’m going to cook dinner now” or “Off to get some milk.” It’s a great way to quickly share a great link without having to write a full blog post or to share your thoughts about anything from last night’s game (did you watch Kansas win?!) to the latest political news. Heck, just this morning I watched a YouTube video called Google Campfire (caution: it’s a bit dry). I’ve always heard that Google is an amazing place to work and this video gave me just a little taste of the special nature of that company.
Bottom line? The little blips of content (always under 140 characters per message) that make up Twitter give you insight into people and content that you probably wouldn’t discover by just surfing the web, reading your RSS feeds or Alltop , or even just chatting with your real time friends.
Give it a try and let me know what you think. On Twitter, you can find me here .
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UPDATE: For another perspective (and more information), read my blogger friend, Jeremy’s post (from Discovering Dad and Thoughts on Quotes ) comparing and contrasting his Twittering with his daughter’s texting. His use of Twitter (and posting about it) gave me the nudge I needed to try it.
Okay, and then, in the interest of fairness, there’s also this .
Kids bring joy to our lives in the most unexpected ways, don’t they?
I had planned to post the plain picture (above) for Wordless Wednesday, but when my daughter saw it, she insisted on adding a little i can has cheezburger kind of personality to it. If you haven’t yet seen that nutty, humorous, fantastic website, you just have to get over there and check it out! It’s always good for plenty of laughs (but you may want to look at the photos before your kids do…some of them can be a bit racy).
So…
Here’s the photo with a little help from her:
We hope it brings you a little joy today. Happy Wednesday!!
My kids and I found a couple of online games that are unusual and fun, although in very different ways. The first is called BP Gas Mania.
It’s part of the Miniclip.com collection of games (Club Penguin is the most well known and most popular of its games).
The BP in the Gas Mania site, unfortunately, stands for British Petroleum. I am one of the last people who would want to promote any kind of oil company, but if you can get past that connection, the game is really fun. You may have heard the little jingle, “Make Your Day a Little Better” and, indeed, that song plays in a loop while your child plays the game. The song gets incredibly annoying after a while, but in small doses it’s cheery and pleasant.
The gist of the game is that you control a little gas station attendant and give the customers what they want. Little cars drive up and you have to sort the customers according to the type of gas they want, accept their payment for the gas and then give them whatever else they might request (like, coffee or sandwiches). There’s something about it that kids love. It’s different, fun and can get a bit challenging.
The second game might serve as my way of redeeming myself for actually promoting a game about a gas station (ugh! did I really just do that? What can I say, kids love that game!). Called The Millenium Challenge, the second game is brought to you by…Oprah! In our house, we joke that the world is moving to a place where soon people will be walking around like zombies chanting, “All hail Oprah!” (Sponge Bob fans will recognize the quote from the Sponge Bob movie where Plankton’s zombies chanted “All Hail Plankton!” to him) but I have to admit that I love what she’s doing. And this game is another cool thing she’s responsible for putting out there in the world.
Pleasant music in the background invites you in to play. You start by selecting a character which serves as your game piece. To move around the gameboard, you spin a wheel in the upper left part of the screen.
As you move around the game board, you play mini games and answer trivia questions, all the while learning information about Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
It’s not a highly developed game and probably not one your kids will play as obsessively as say, Club Penguinor Super Mario Galaxy, but the educational component and unique nature make it worth at least one visit.
No, not really, I just thought it would be easier for people to remember, become familiar with…I don’t know, Soapbox Mom just sounded better to me (and less cumbersome) than Being a Mom is Great!
I’m keeping my fingers crossed a little because the transition was a little bumpy (and that explains why I haven’t been hopping around all your blogs as much as I usually do…).
So thanks for taking the trouble to find me over here. Come, gather ’round and join me in this idyllic, parklike setting (yeah, whatever) so I can comfortably stand on our modern day equivalent of the soapbox (this blog!).
On Oprah recently, I saw Ralph Lauren’s daughter, Dylan, talking about her love of sweets and her numerous candy shops called Dylan’s Candy Bar. Three levels of candy, candy from around the world, candy from your childhood, just look at it and you’ll be amazed!
If you want to give a unique valentine’s gift to someone who isn’t necessarily nutty about chocolate, I think these little items are great finds!
Here’s the swag bag she gave to the members of Oprah’s studio audience. It includes things like a “Lollipop Tackle Box, gummy bears, gumballs, Smarties, Tootsie Rolls, Laffy Taffy, Mary Janes and a limited edition Pez Princess set and can be yours (or your daughter’s (?)) for only $50:
Or, if you’d like to surprise your wife with a whimsical trinket, you can get a candy charm bracelet for that same price:
I was so amazed at all the adorable items on this website, I just had to include a few more for you.
That’s Dylan’s Candy Bar Makeup Bag Set (above) for all of you travelers that still like a little whimsy (I’m looking at you, Missives) and the little gummy bear bag (below) for less.
