Just Left Home...

Well, actually I've been here heading on nearly 8 years now, but NYC is so vast, I don't think I can ever uncover all it's secrets. But this guy has culled together an impressive list of digital links to make NYC living a breeze. Muy bueno. Just Left Home

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My Not Quite Definitive Guide to the LES

Decided to check out this new site Nextstop - a combo Yelp, Google Maps mash-up. Pretty cool. Check out my first "guide" to my very own Lower East Side.

The East Coast of Berkeley

Excellent NYT profile about "The Gourmet Ghetto" of NYC. Brooklyn's got pigs, pickles, beer, coffee and chocolate. What more could a foodie ask for?

The East Coast of Berkeley

Here are ways to find the Brooklyn artisans and merchants in the article.

BEDFORD CHEESE SHOP 229 Bedford Avenue (North Fourth Street), Williamsburg; (718) 599-7588 or bedfordcheeseshop.com.

BLUE APRON FOODS 814 Union Street (Seventh Avenue), Park Slope; (718) 230-3180.

BROOKLYN BREWERY 79 North 11th Street (Wythe Avenue), Williamsburg; (718) 486-7422 or brooklynbrewery.com.

BROOKLYN FLEA 76 and 81 Front Street (Main Street), Dumbo, through March; starting in April, Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School, Lafayette Avenue between Clermont and Vanderbilt Avenues, Fort Greene; brooklynflea.com.

BROOKLYN KITCHEN 616 Lorimer Street (Skillman Avenue), Williamsburg; (718) 389-2982 or thebrooklynkitchen.com.

CUT BROOKLYN cutbrooklyn.com.

FINE & RAW fineandraw.com.

GORILLA COFFEE 97 Fifth Avenue (Park Place), Park Slope; (718) 230-3244 or gorillacoffee.com.

GREENE GRAPE PROVISIONS 753 Fulton Street (South Portland Avenue), Fort Greene; (718) 797-9463 or brooklyn.greenegrape.com.

MARLOW & SONS 81 Broadway (Berry Street), Williamsburg; (718) 384-1441 or marlowandsons.com.

MARLOW & DAUGHTERS 95 Broadway (Berry Street), Williamsburg; (718) 388-5700 or marlowanddaughters.com.

MAST BROTHERS CHOCOLATE 105A North Third Street (Berry Street), Williamsburg; (718) 388-2625 or mastbrotherschocolate.com.

MCCLURE’S PICKLES mcclurespickles.com.

PRIME MEATS STORE 187 1/2 Luquer Street (Court Street), Carroll Gardens; (718) 254-0327.

SALVATORE BKLYN salvatorebklyn.com.

SIXPOINT CRAFT ALES 40 Van Dyke Street (Dwight Street), Red Hook; sixpointcraftales.com.

SPUYTEN DUYVIL GROCERY 218 Bedford Avenue (North Fifth Street), Williamsburg; (718) 384-1520.

STINKY BKLYN 261 Smith Street (Degraw Street), Carroll Gardens; (718) 522-7425 or stinkybklyn.com.

URBAN RUSTIC 236 North 12th Street (Driggs Avenue), Williamsburg; (718) 388-9444 or urbanrusticnyc.com.

WHEELHOUSE PICKLES wheelhousepickles.com.

NYC Keepin' It Real, Yo

I didn't shout it from the rooftops, or Gawker Stalker it, but I did see Ms. "Um, Yeah I live in The Hills" Whitney Port the other night. She was sashaying up to a hotel room at the SoHo Grande (does she live there, or was she about to canoodle with her companion?). No, I was going to keep this B-list sighting close to the vest - at least until Heidi-less Season 4 of course. But now I hear that lovely is set to bring more reality to Gotham with her very own show. I'm more excited than when the rest of the Real Housewives got to stick it to Ramona in the season re-cap session.

And now, they've revealed that the skank-cast of Season 432 of Real World - Brooklyn Edition - will be living in "Fort Green". I'm ready for a W'burg hipster v. Real World ass clown shake down.

Fine, I Admit It!

Fech... I've been in denial for 10 years, but it's now so abundantly clear after a Sunday afternoon in a place more estrogen-laden than the David's Bridal 50%-off sale. I'm friggin Miranda. And it's not a distressing thought just because she's everyone's least favorite, her fire engine red hair is nauseating, or that her teeth may be worse than Kirsten Dundst's...

Now comfortably in my fourth decade, I've become woefully honest with myself. (Or maybe I finally listened after years of the sibs telling me how abjectly priggish I am). Miranda is an uptight, know-it-all. She's quick to judge. Yeah, yeah, she's a good friend, and smart and talented and all, but still... gross, that reflection in the mirror is uh-ugh-ly. But admitting you have a problem is the first step.

At least the movie was highly entertaining. No, it won't change your life. But it won't make you hate it, either. Plus, there's a shit joke in there... something, even, for the boys.

File This Under "Ugh"... A Singles Map of the United States

So the Boston Globe decides to publish this article the other day solely to depress me. Of all the major U.S. cities, New York has the greatest percentage of single women (available, desperate, oh so desperate) vs. single men. But lest you think I should have stayed westward afterall, Operation International Dating Phase: 2008 Edition, is about to commence. Swedes, Germans, Italian-sounding last names... bring 'em on.