GOBBLE, GOBBLE!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

My 15 Minutes

I had my 15 minutes of fame this past week. My artwork adorned the back walls of a 3 part interview between Bill O'Reilly and Sarah Palin. Don't be hatin', I don't subscribe to the politics, but I don't mind seeing my work on TV either.

First for the video still:

I know, you can hardly see it, but I'll take what I can get.

And now for the video, if you can manage to sit through it.



I would have told you all about it earlier as I know you would have sat by your TV's anxiously awaiting my moment in the sun, but I forgot. Yes, I forgot that my artwork was going to be broadcast nationwide on prime time TV (I didn't even phone friends or family!). I am happy to report that the ratings for all three nights of the interview blew the competition away. Clearly it was due to the fabulous paintings displayed in the rear shadows. Excuse me, I think I need to go write a book about my experience now.

I Love It When A Plan Doesn't Come Together

You know how there is something special you want to do so you make a particular plan to do it? I could go into the whole Burns expression of mice and men and plans, etc., but I've milked that one dry. It also follows that in this particular case those plans did not go awry. Well, actually they did, but the end result was way better than I could have planned. This little ditty has a happy ending.

In my desperation to find new places to run in NYC besides Riverside Park and Central Park (I hate running the streets), I Googled "NYC trail running" and hit the motherload. It turns out there are several places to do trail runs either in NYC or a short train ride into the bedroom communities of Westchester County. Escaping NYC is an added boon to getting a run in. I had my eye on a particular trail, the Croton Aqueduct Trail. This trail runs atop the old Aqueduct that used to deliver clean water to NYC until the early 20th Century. If you've read Caleb Carr's The Alienist you are familiar with the reservoir the aqueduct supplied, it was the setting for major events in the novel. It used to sit where the NY Public Library is now on 42nd Street between 5th and 6th Avenue. If you don't live in NYC you probably give a rat's ass, but a nice little bit of trivia for those who do.

As per usual, I knew I could depend on my good bud Laurie to be my partner in crime on this day. The day was gorgeous, 58˚F and sunny. We met in Grand Central early Saturday morning. This is when our seemingly ironclad plan first began to unhinge. I was supposed to buy the map of the trail from the bookstore in Grand Central. Idiot that I am, I forgot they wouldn't be open at that hour. Oh well, let's just wing it then. Laurie was all for it, this is why I love her, she likes an adventure as much as I do and that's a good thing because it was about to get more interesting.

We took the train about an hour north of the city to Scarborough and decided we would take the trail south from there as that is the more attractive part of the trail (it also doesn't hurt that it runs on a downgrade headed south, 13" per mile). The ride up was peaceful as the train skirted the Hudson River the length of our journey.

Ride along the Hudson

Once we arrived at our station we disembarked and started heading east, or what I believed to be east (which was indeed east when I checked the map later, you know, the one I was supposed to buy before the trip that I wasn't able to get my hands on until after the trip). No trail. Hmmmm....we'll just walk some more, we're bound to run into it. We passed through some lovely neighborhoods with gorgeous homes and we had plenty to chit chat about, so no biggy. Still no trail. We finally saw people. Yes, aside from the occasional passing car we really didn't see anyone. There were two gentleman standing in a driveway so we decided to ask them if they could point us in the right direction. These two men were very nice and accommodating, but it was like that skit you see on TV. You know the one that goes something like this:

Man 1: First you have to find the intersection of Sleepy Hollow Road
Man 2: No it's the intersection of Old Sleepy Hollow Road
M1: Old Sleepy Hollow? Well, they have to go to the intersection with all the stop signs
M2: Yes, then they have to take a right, but not that first right because that isn't really a road
M1: What road isn't really a road?
M2: you know, the one that goes off just this way (makes directional gesture with hand)
M1: Are you sure you two want to walk, it's really far.

You get the idea. Well, it was Sleepy Hollow Road and not Old Sleepy Hollow Road and so we passed it and it wasn't that far, but we passed it because there was no "Old". This is the thing about suburbia, everyone drives everywhere, so everything seems far. For New Yorkers who walk just about everywhere nowhere is far. What? You want me to meet you downtown (2 miles away), no problem, I'll just walk. So we walked and walked and still no trail and of course we realized too late that he really meant Sleeepy Hollow Road. Literally, it was like we were the Headless Horseman meandering aimlessly (Laurie, thanks for that analogy). However, we did finally locate a trail!! Well, a paved pathway anyway.


You'd have thought we'd just arrived at an oasis having spent days wandering in the desert. Could this be it? No idea, but we took it. We came across some cyclists ready to take on this pathway and asked them if this was the Croton Aqueduct Trail. Nope. It was the North County Trailway (which does indeed connect with a South County Trailway), Damn!! They were nice and had a Blackberry (yes, we still have just a regular cell phone, we're not total luddites) so they pointed us in the right direction south.

Onward we went for several more miles. Our plan had been to maybe run a mile, walk a mile (Laurie isn't running like I have been so we figured we would do it that way), but that didn't happen, we just walked....briskly. What the hell. This really wasn't about training anyway, this was about finding a cool new place and hanging with a good friend. My training starts soon enough....really, really soon, but I digress. The path we were on was quite nice, there were some cyclists on it, but not a lot of people and everyone we came across was very pleasant.


We continued on our way marveling at how we ended up on a completely different trail, albeit a paved on. We eventually came to a fork in the road and headed back west around the Tarrytown Reservoir, very pretty, and came out in another neighborhood and a main road I know, 9W. We took that into town, Tarrytown to be exact. I knew of it, but had never been. We hit the motherload, food, and the ever elusive Croton Aqueduct Trail. I happened to know that it ran right down the center of town passing through...sigh....

Tarrytown Reservoir and I don't know what that small structure is in the center.

We were beat. As it turns out we walked, hiked 10 miles. Now, I have run 10 miles, but my legs, hips, knees and right heel have never been as sore and achy as they were walking an equal number of miles. What the f*ck? If I were to guess why this is I would chalk it up to a longer stride and more heel strike than running (I guess the mechanics are different enough to make a body hurt!). We decided to grab a bite and take the next train back to the city. There was this Greek restaurant that was hopping so we figured if the locals are eating there it must be good. We were not disappointed. Falafel, hummus, rice, Greek salad, tsatsiki and two beers each later and we were happy as two pigs in shit.

Laurie & me

Oh yeah!

Falafel & rice
Can you say mmmmmmmm?
Isn't that hummus gorgeous?

So, no, the day did not go at all as planned. But that is what made this, in the end, such a grand adventure. We were flying blind, but managed in the end to find an amazing bike path (The North and South County Trailway) that runs from the north Bronx to Carmel for a total of 36.2 miles one way. I am stoked (as is Laurie) to ride this pathway in the very near future. We had a great walk, got to see some cool parts of NY, had a kick ass meal afterward and a nice scenic ride home (we only had to wait 5 minutes for a train.....on the weekend!). I love it when plan doesn't come together. And we still have the Croton Aqueduct Trail to explore yet.

Now for the funny or not so funny part. I purchased the map for the Croton Trail when we arrived back in Grand Central. As it turns out, when we got off the train in Scarborough and started walking, we were on the trail, which I would have known had I had the map. Not only that, but when we veered off the trail, we crossed it again further along. We didn't recognize it as it was unmarked and was passing through neighborhoods at this point. C'est la vie.

I now have a date with my foam roller, my ass is killing me as are my ITB's. Who says walking is for suckers?