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what not to do while eating a bagel with lox spread
Wednesday, January 23 2008
setting: Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York
This morning when I first saw her, Penny didn't want to be distracted because she was playing a game on her laptop. The game featured an unlabled map of the world, and the goal was to accurately click at the precise locations of places as their names were displayed above the map. Penny was clicking and freaking, clicking and freaking, at a loss (as most of us are) finding the precise location of countries, let alone cities, in Africa. She scored over 200,000, which (among the million or so who had already played the game) was about average. It turned out that the game was part of the Facebook universe, and the idea was to challenge a friend to play so it would spread in that viral manner that internet marketers love. When Penny heard that I have a facebook account (I'm Judas Gutenberg and this is my blaag), she immediately challenged me to play. First, of course, she had to become my friend and all of that, not a convenient process when it's two people using one computer. I happen to be unusually knowledgeable when it comes to world geography, so my first time through the game I scored over 400,000. Penny's reaction was, "I hate you!" and she was only partially kidding.
Meanwhile David had his own reasons for not wanting to be disturbed. Later this evening he would be part of a panel discussing censorship in the media (or something like that). Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to attend, but Gretchen and Susan would be there.
Penny came with me a short distance on my way to Port Authority (it was late morning and she was leisurely headed towards her graphic design job). We had bagels and coffee at Murray's Bagels, talking (for some reason) about various unpleasant illnesses being suffered by friends and family. A heads up on something: never discuss the particulars of Crohn's disease while eating a bagel with lox spread.
The bus ride home was pleasant. The moment I got home I walked Sally in the forest so as to burn off some of her accumulated energy. She's twelve years old, but she was running around and rolling in the snow like a puppy. I felt bad that I couldn't take her on my next errand: picking up four computers (with their LCD monitors) and a laser printer from Bard College. This was hardware for me to install in a computer lab at Eastern Correctional Facility as part of the Bard Prison Initiative. I'm glad I didn't take Sally with me; those four computers and the printer were all still in their original packaging and the boxes took up all the spare cargo space of the Honda Civic hatchback (including the passenger seat).
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