Rocket Fuel

Although it looks like the control room at NASA, 

it's actually a Starbucks.

Remember when having a cup of coffee was so simple? 

Me neither.

Better Business?

Alter This

Would you trust these people with your pants?

SUPERBAD

A brief conversation with my building's Superintendent

Me: Did you get the note I slipped under your door Monday?

Super: No.

Me: I paged you Tuesday. Did you get it?

Super: No.

Me: I paged you yesterday. Did you get that?

Super: No.

Me: I left you a voice mail. Did you get that?

Super: No.

Me: Did you get the generous Christmas bonus I left for you in December?

Super: No.

Me: Precisely.

Slippery Nipple

This photo plastered to the double doors of the 

Broadway show "Baby It's You!" caught my eye ...

And I have to wonder if actress Beth Leavel 

is happy with the world knowing she has an "outie."

Dancing on the Ceiling Fan

I installed a ceiling fan in my bedroom to help ease the oppressive heat during the summer months. While it may circulate the air and cool the room, it was also making a clicking sound that made me feel I was sleeping under a clock factory. I had to take action. I tried WD-40. I tried sleeping on the couch. I tried earplugs. 
Finally, I tried wedging my little doggie doorstop between the top of the fan and the ceiling. Voila! No more noise!

As for aesthetics, I'm not so sure. 

Red really isn't a good color for my bedroom.

Bread Line

In the Old Days, poor folks lined up for hours to get free bread. 

Nowadays, poor folks line up for hours to get $5 donuts.

Farmed Out

A mindless and annoying social media game becomes a dessert.

I blame my single friends.

Brief Encounter of the Small World Kind

In December, I treated my parents to the Broadway show "Brief Encounter." We hailed a cab near Penn Station and as we sat in traffic I started a conversation with our spirited and seasoned cab driver.
Somehow, the word Buffalo came up. Turns out, our driver was from Buffalo and did some acting there at Studio Arena and other local venues. I told him that I went to school in Buffalo and visited yearly. He told us about his old performing days and his role in Spike Lee's "Malcom X." Funny, I knew ole' Spike from my stint as John Dean in "She Hate Me."
He was impressed that I was in show biz and he mentioned that his daughter was also in show biz, and that when he wasn't driving a cab, he did some writing. I told him that I coached writers and enjoyed doing script coverage and that he should send me his stuff to look at. We chatted some more as we sat in traffic and when he dropped us off at the theater we exchanged business cards. I was delighted that my parents got to experience a real NY city cab driver with a great story.
A few days later, I got an email from him thanking me for my interest and that he would send me some writing to look at if I was still interested. I wrote back immediately, taking him up on his offer. And that was the end of that. Three months went by.
Earlier this week, my mom randomly asked me if I'd ever heard from that "nice cab driver from Buffalo" and I told her that I had written back to him in December but that was as far as it went. I was impressed that my mom cared so much, but that was no surprise. She's a people person. God bless her.
Last night, I got a voice mail from someone who said, "Hello Peter Michael Marino. I am gonna blow your mind. Call me back at this number and ask for Larry."
Okay. Either this was a crazy person who was going to tell me he was hiding in my bedroom closet and would soon be chopping off my limbs with a machete, or it could be an old college pal. Or both. Naturally, I called "Larry" back.
He answered the phone and I told him my name. He said, "Oh! Peter! Do you remember me? This is Larry!"
I said, "I'm not sure. How would I know you?"
He said, "Hold on. Are you ready? This is gonna blow your mind."
Here's the part where I kept an eye on the bedroom closet door.
A young woman gets on the phone. "Peter? This is Jill. We did the show Runaways together in '86 at Buffalo University."

Here's JILL!

WHAAAA?
She continued, "I was visiting my father and I saw your card on his desk and I asked him why he had your card and how he knew you. He wasn't really sure, he's in his 70's, but he figured he got your card at some event. So how do you know him?"
Now, I haven't seen Jill since running into her at the bank about 5 years ago, but I remembered everything about her and the fun show we did together.
"Jill, your dad is a taxi driver, right?"
"Yes, he is. How did you know that?"
"Well, he drove my family to a show in December and we started talking and I gave him my card in case he wanted me to look at his writing."
"Wow! Small world." 
So now, Jill and I are talking about college and the old days and within minutes we became Facebook friends and she made requests to many of the other folks in the show that I am still friends with. Connecting!


Who would have thought that our brief encounter with a cabbie would lead to a reunion of old college pals? I suppose it's just another great "New York story" - proving that we are all connected on this tiny planet. Every random event is tied to another event. The world is smaller than we think. And everything does indeed go back to college ... or Buffalo.

Boots are Made for Walkin'

And that's just what they'll do.