Saturday, May 30, 2026
I don’t think that I am any more courageous than average, but there are situations that call for boldness. I must challenge the basic principle of Chowhound’s list of “The Hands Down Best Bagel Shop In Every US State, According To Reviews.”
Utopia Bagels is not a bad choice for New York State, although it would not be mine. That’s not the point. New York covers a land area of 54,556 square miles; it is the 27th largest state in size. As large as the Holy Land is, it contains only 40% of the state's population. Forgetting the distance within the Holy Land itself that a person would have to traverse to get to one of Utopia's four locations, a lot of New York State residents would have to pack a lunch to get to Utopia Bagels. Designating it as the go-to place for bagels is not helpful. We won't even consider what a Californian or a Texan who might have the good sense to desire a bagel might have to endure to get their state's best. Chowhound's list is an unnecessary provocation for too many people.
. . .
Over 10,000 lawyers have left U.S. government service since the Second Coming, leaving about 40,000 still employed. Both numbers seem quite large and nowhere near what I might have guessed.
For many of those displaced attorneys, this might be a blessing, offering them an opportunity to move into the private sector or other government venues not so notoriously politicized. Others might have to resort to advertising their availability on benches at bus stops, spiking the demand for bus stop bench painters.
Sunday, May 31, 2026
Paris Saint-Germain defeated Arsenal, North London's football (soccer) club, to win the Premier League championship, the most prestigious prize in professional football, the World Cup viewed as more of a criminal enterprise. The victory was sufficiently exciting to cause rioting in France and the arrest of 780 people. Let's see what happens when the Knicks win the National Basketball Association championship.
Monday, June 1, 2026
Tuesday, June 2, 2026Marilyn & Michael Ratner’s wedding anniversary is one day later than ours, although they got a 35-year head start. Also, Marilyn just had a birthday while America’s Favorite Epidemiologist has hers in a few days. So, we decided to have a bang-up joint celebration with lunch at Le Bernardin, 135 West 51st Street, awarded the highest ratings by Michelin and the New York Times.
It ain’t cheap. My membership in the Democratic Socialists of America was voided by walking in the front door. The only choice for lunch in the dining room is a three-course menu at $139 a person with a supplement for some dishes, typically those with caviar. The lounge offers a $94 three-course lunch and an a la carte menu. Something to drink, tax and tip gets you easily to $200+ per person in the dining room and it’s wonderful. Tables in the high-ceilinged room are a discreet distance apart. Service is impeccable; bread is offered four times during your meal with little butter pots each time. Not just bread, but a choice of five — brioche, baguette, raisin walnut, olive focaccia and sourdough.
The first course has a choice of 21 items. I had a 2” disc, described as “Crab Avocado; Celeriac Remoulade, Dijon Mustard-Citrus Sauce.” A popular choice for the others was “Hamachi Sashimi; Pickled Mushroom and Watermelon Radish, Citrus Dashi.”
The main course offers 12 items. While Le Bernardin is known for its fish and seafood, I could not resist “Sautéed Duck Breast; Caramelized Endive and Glazed Broccolini, Port-Tamarind Sauce.” Others chose “Steamed Halibut; Truffled Morels, Wild Mushroom Bouillon” and “Pan Roasted Merluza [Spanish hake]; Stuffed Baby Sweet Peppers, Lobster Gumbo Sauce.”
Desserts completed the chorus of oohs and aahs. Here, there was a choice of seven plus ice cream and sorbet. My three companions all had “Pistachio Praliné, Grand Marnier Bavarois”, a pistachio praline atop velvety Bavarian cream infused with Grand Marnier, an orange liqueur, beautiful to the eye and the tongue. Predictably, I went chocolate, “Warm Peruvian Chocolate Tart, Tahitian Vanilla Ice Cream.”
There were, of course, amuse bouche before and petit fours after. My nap lasted three hours.
Happy Birthday, Allison.
. . .
I discovered today that I blow my nose right-handed. This is one of the things that I do exclusively with one hand or the hand, making me cross-dominant, not ambidextrous. Since boyhood, I have written with my left hand and eaten with my left hand, yet I throw a ball and bat righty. I cannot do otherwise. When I went to tennis camp in January 1983, I spent the entire first day trying to figure out which hand to hold the racket in. As new tasks arose over the decades, I instinctively went one way or the other.
This all became relevant today when Dr. Michael Rettig sliced open the middle finger of my right hand to cure its spontaneous locking, known as trigger finger, an annoying but non-threatening condition. For the next week, my right hand is heavily bandaged and in a sling and I will learn exactly which hand washes the other.
Thursday, June 4, 2026
It's not a perfect correlation, but Trump states seem to be more dangerous for workers as well as for the rest of us.
Friday, June 5, 2026
Stony Brook Steve, Terrific Tom and I had lunch at Schnipper's Quality Kitchen, 820 Eighth Avenue. The decorless space is very well located, sitting at the base of the New York
Times building and across the avenue from the Port Authority Bus Terminal. The last stop of the M104 bus is right across the street. It also makes good hamburgers.
I had the Burger Special #2, a double cheeseburger, lettuce, tomato and special sauce, with French fries and a fountain drink, Coke Zero, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper et alia, unlimited ($18.50).
While we enjoyed the food and each other’s company, we had the added pleasure of meeting Mircea Petrescu, a young Romanian man living and working in Belgium, in New York and the United States for the first time on a quick business trip. After spending time with the contemporary version of the Three Stooges, Mircea started asking about New York apartments.
