Has anyone else tried Sara Lee Chocolate-Dipped Cheesecake Bites? They’re really good. They’re like bon-bons, but filled with cheesecake (including the crust) instead of ice cream. And just one is enough to satisfy you for dessert, yet it’s only eighty calories. Go buy some and try them.

I missed this sketch back in November, but apparently SNL did a great job poking fun at the speed of obsolescence of new iPod models. Watch the clip.

I turned my head toward the express track just in time to miss seeing a guy jump in front of a C train at the 42nd Street/Port Authority station this afternoon.

At about 1:20pm, I was standing on the southern-most section of the platform with a handful of people, waiting for the A train, and the A arrived a few seconds before the C. As I turned toward the arriving A train, I heard a loud “thwack” behind me. I turned back around, and one of the people on the platform was suddenly missing, and a blood-curdling scream, mixed with the screech of brakes, emanated from beneath the C train as it halted halfway into the station. Other people on the platform, still shocked at what they’d seen, uttered, “There was a guy standing there a second ago!”

I can’t say for sure if it was suicide or an accident, but the platform was uncrowded, and the man hadn’t attracted any attention like a drunk person would, so I’m pretty sure it was an intentional jump. I’m glad I turned toward the express track when I did, because I wouldn’t want to deal with seeing that firsthand nor retelling it to the police.

About a year ago, there were 165 Starbucks locations within 5 miles of my work (near Broadway and 55th Street). Now there are 177. I’m actually quite surprised that the number has only increased by a dozen, but I guess I’m already close to the most Starbucks-dense part of the city. Cory points out that the Starbucks “center of gravity” is around 5th Avenue and 40th Street.

Well folks, tomorrow night, The Phantom of the Opera becomes the longest-running Broadway show. The show’s been open on Broadway for nearly 18 years, and it’ll be performance number 7,486. The good news is, it’s finally going to push Cats out of the top slot.

Well everyone, the new USPS 1st Class rate of 39 cents goes into effect on Sunday, which means you need to do one of three things if you currently have any 37-cent stamps:

1. Get an equal amount of 2-cent stamps, one for each 37-cent stamp you still own.
2. Throw away all your remaining 37-cent stamps.
3. Quickly send a whole lot of mail before Saturday.

I want to go with the last option, but I know I’ll most likely end up settling for the second option.

People have been posting entries about their New Year’s resolutions. Mine is the same as always: I won’t make any New Year’s resolutions.

Well, today I had to finish up all of the errands that I couldn’t get to during the transit strike, as well as some errands that Ashleigh couldn’t get to because she’s been working too much. I was concerned that everyone else in New York would be doing the exact same thing, but it wasn’t as bad as I feared. Usually in New York, when you have an idea to go do something, thousands of other people have the exact same idea at the exact same time. It’s one of the side effects of living in a very crowded city. But today was relatively tame, and I was able to cross a bunch of tasks off my list, spanning from Fulton Street to 80th Street. Hooray for the subway!

Thank goodness the Transit Workers’ Union waited until this month to possibly have a transit strike on the subways and buses. Both Ashleigh and I now walk to work every day, so it won’t really affect our ability to do our jobs. It’ll still affect us in many other ways, but as of now it seems like that will be the biggest problem for most New Yorkers.

I think it will affect us most because of the mass commotion on the roads, because of the fact that our street will be an artery for emergency vehicles (according to the Mayor’s contingency plan), and because most businesses and services will be running at lower than normal levels (due to stranded employees).

Still, I doubt the strike will last longer than a day or two (if it starts at all), so if anything, it might be no more than a long weekend for most of New York.

Ash and I wanted to have people over for Thanksgiving, but it turns out everyone we know is going home for Thanksgiving this year, so it’s just the two of us. Still, Ash really wants to cook because she’s really into celebrating holidays.

Since there are only two of us, I finally convinced her not to cook a turkey. She was like, “We can just get a small one,” and I had to be like, “Dude, they don’t make small ones!”

So instead she got one of those little Cornish game hens (they’re about the size of a softball), and we’re going to share that, some mashed potatoes, some macaroni and cheese, and a pumpkin pie. It’ll be our own little Cratchit Family Thanksgiving–because it’s going to look really funny sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner with this minuscule bird.