Pooh
On a recent weekend evening I was walking down Ninth Avenue, around 58th street. It was raining and Ninth Avenue was quiet, empty really, except for a disheveled man at the end of the block searching through a garbage can. As I drew closer and then passed him, casually glancing the other way, I heard him gasp. My head snapped around and I saw him pull a slightly bedraggled teddy bear wearing a familiar red shirt from the can. He held the stuffed animal out to me. “Look, look” he cried, “Somebody tried to kill Winnie the Pooh!” I nodded in agreement, said something, and kept walking. When I reached the other side of the street and looked back Pooh was propped into the front of a shopping cart, enjoying a new lease on life.
BW

Law and Order Part II
I too am a Law and Order fan. In fact I cancelled my cable because I was totally addicted watching it for six hours at a stretch. One day I got a call my regular office line from a fax machine on and it kept redialing ad infinitum. I have caller ID so I looked up the name of the company who was calling. When I explained the situation, she said that she the number was trying to call was one off from mine. I asked whom she was calling and she said Law and Order!
SA

Vikings Among Us
I was at the Cedar Tavern (drinking home to Jackson Pollack, et al) with two other artist friends. They pulled out their sketchbooks and we started looking at each other’s work. I noticed one picture of a guy in a hat with horns. “What’s that?” I asked. My friend said it was an African-American guy she saw on the subway wearing a “Viking Hat.” She said he was also wearing a t-shirt with a picture of himself in full Viking garb with “Proud to Be a Viking” written under it. The thing is that Vikings didn’t actually wear hats with horns. So he was a proud, but uninformed Viking
SA

Ay Mami
Last summer I bought an air conditioner in a small store in my neighborhood, the Lower East Side.  They said it would be delivered that afternoon. Less than a hour later a diminunative Central American guy showed up with it in tow. I was feeing particularly down about my self image at the time because a friend asked if I was pregnant the day before. As he was about to leave the delivery guy asked where I was from. I responded “Brooklyn, why?” He said “Ay mami because you’re so beautiful.” I could have kissed him!
SA

Law and Order
In New York, almost any aspiring actor who is any good has been on Law and Order. Although I have no aspirations to be an actor, I LOVE Law and Order. I occasionally get messages left on my answering machine for someone other than myself. Normally I erase these messages. One day this winter I happened to come home to hear the strangest message. "The casting director liked my work and the producer of Law and Order would like to meet with me tomorrow to discuss a guest star role. Come by to pick up the script in the morning." Are they running out of guest actors? Are they now choosing fans? Are they becoming part reality series?
JR

Scotland
My boyfriend, an Englishman of Scottish extraction, ordered a custom-made kilt from Scotland. When it arrived, he decided to wear it to work. In the Brooklyn Navy Yard. On the two subways and one bus that he had to take to get there, he got quite a few looks (some appreciative, some mystified) and noticed some whispering. The 10-minute walk through a housing project had him a little nervous (you know, a white guy in a skirt!), but finally, a shout-out came from the housing project, putting him at ease: "Yo, Scotland!"
JSS

Rats: Part 2
The other night I was walking along thinking about how great New York is when a rat scurried by. Just another reminder that there's always another side to the story.
SA

Seen on the No. 2
One night I was on the subway when I noticed a 40-something woman reading "Harry Potter." This in and of itself is not an unusual sight. What was unusual was that she was reading it in Hebrew. Minutes later I got off, going up the stairs I walked behind a man with a blue helium balloon tied to his pants. And then a young (and very cute) guy dressed in a kilt and a denim jacket. Just another day in the Big Apple.
SA

Rats
I learned this week that there are eight rats for ever person in NY. I was wondering what it would be like if we all had to live with "our" rats. An exterminator in Canada said he could rid NY of its rats for $100 million. Is that US or Canadian? Maybe we should take up a collection, it's about $15 per person.
SA

Adios Tribeca
I lived in Tribeca for nine and a half years and never saw a celebrity in the neighborhood . On the day I was moving out (to the not too distant Lower East Side) I took myself out to Bubby's for my favorite breakfast of Huveos Rancheros and Grits. As I was eating in walked Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick for their breakfast. A fine sendoff!
SA