Don't Tell Your Mother.

The man who sells me my iced coffees from his little booth on weekday mornings smiles more in a two minute period then anyone I've ever met. I mean, seriously. He crams those smiles in. I don't know where he stores them because his job does not look cozy. He stands in what must be a 5' x 5' metal box just outside the subway in 90 degree heat, serving coffees and sticky buns to dark suited, hectically rushed business men and women as they scrabble to make it to work in their skyscrapers by 9. But there he is, every morning. No fail. Smiling. Real smiles, too. They make it too his eyes. Maybe they're the key to his success, because I can get an iced coffee for less than $2.50 a pop, but man, he just brightens my morning. Keep it up, coffee-booth man! Maybe tomorrow I'll ask him his name and commend him on his awesome service. Maybe he'll appreciate it. Hmm.

Today, at my internship, it was extremely tough to focus. Last night was one of those nights where I was awake every 20 minutes, checking the time. Have you ever had nights like that? When, as it gets later and later (or earlier and earlier, depending on how you look at it), you become gradually more and more anxious because you know the alarm is going to go off soon and you've gotten barely any sleep. It's a vicious cycle, really. Those nights are the worst. Anyway, working today was really tough. I got done what I had to get done, but I could barely stay awake and it was super challenging to stay on task.

Oh, and word for the wise: Just because a take-out lunch deal is $5 doesn't mean you should eat it. Chinese/Vietnamese lunch buffet where they don't let you sample the food? Not a safe bet. But sometimes life is a gamble. And today I lost. I'm pretty sure my egg drop soup (complimentary with the meal!) was just mucous. I didn't eat it.

After I left my internship at 5, I headed over to Long Island City. Jen's neighbors were getting rid of a whole bunch of really cool, antique furniture, art, and glassware and I wanted to see if I could dig up anything really cool. I was pretty lucky the night before, but this time, no such luck. Jen found a really great pair of shot glasses made of peach carnival glass. They're gorgeous and I'm envious. I don't even think I'd drink out of them. They're just... pretty. Really pretty.

While I was in Jen's neighborhood, I encountered world-class parenting. As I was walking down the street, a man - maybe in his late 30's - was walking toward me, heading in the opposite direction. With him were two little boys, twins, about four or five years old. I glanced at him as I was passing to see that he was already looking at me. Really loudly, he declared,

"Boys, now THAT is a Bee-OOO-ti-ful girl!"

I kept walking, mumbling, "Ha ha, yeah. Thanks?" as I passed. But as I continued on, I overheard him say, a little warningly, "Don't tell your mother."

Super. Teach 'em while they're young, dad.