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The Moo Shoes Vegetarian Shoes Review

I have been a Vegan for a good long while now, and one of the hardest things to get sustainably right as you start down the path of cruelty-free living is landing in proper non-leather shoes.  Enter Moo Shoes, your one-stop-shop for Vegan belts and boots and shoes and bags and such and it is located right in the heart of New York City.

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The Hand of a Guardian Angel: Ten Sentence Story #139

Mary was excited to visit New York City.

She was Midwestern-born and had rarely ventured over 30 miles from her birth place in her 75 years of living.

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How to Shop in New York City: Buy it Now!

I love learning the lessons of New York City the hard way through direct experience:

Nothing looked familiar. Whenever we slowed down, those behind us pushed us forward with yelling and insults about being tourists. We were met with ugly stares on the street and we were mocked from storefronts pocking gutted brownstones. People would stop, open-mouthed, to look at us — we both with bright, garish, white skin and matching white short-shorts and tank tops and goofy, glowing red “Nebraska Cornhusker” trucker hats — as we strolled by trying to figure out how to get back to our new home.

Night was falling fast as we continued to walk and Janna began to shiver a little. The lights became more garish and throbbing in the night. The sounds of traffic and street hustlers grew so intense it hurt your ears to try to make sense of the multiple conversations happening in concert. We kept walking. We kept our head down. We tried not to make eye contact. Each tiresome New York block became longer and longer as we yearned for a familiar landmark. We stopped talking to each other as we concentrated on trying to find our way back home. We finally came to the end of the road.

One of the toughest lessons we try to teach to those who visit us in New York City is that if you plan to buy something, YOU MUST BUY IT NOW WHILE THE ITEM IS IN YOUR HAND!

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Theft By Starbucks

Five years ago, Janna was tutoring one of our ASL students at a Starbucks in New York City’s Greenwich Village.  Starbucks is a great place to meet and learn because they’re everywhere and nicely appointed.  Starbucks, we quickly discovered, is also dangerous.

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Judgement Day: The World Ends on May 21, 2011

Last summer, I was walking with Elizabeth from one subway line to another — I believe that we were going from the F line to the R line, which connects at a few stations including Times Square 42nd Street. At one juncture there was a group of individuals all with signs that proclaimed the same thing — that Judgement Day was coming on May 21, 2011, and that we should all beware. We were not too bothered as we live in New York and see kooky signs like this on a regular basis.

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As Elaine's Dies a Second Death

Elaine’s, a venerable restaurant on New York City’s upper East Side, is closing in nine days after being open for 48 years.  Elaine’s, in its heyday, was a hotspot place to be seen.  Woody Allen played his clarinet there.  Authors celebrated their books there.  Celebrities went there to be seen.  Elaine Kaufman — the “Elaine” in Elaine’s — died six months ago and now her namesake restaurant is following her to the grave.

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When the Idle Rich Come Out to Prance

As the holiday season enraptures New York City, the Idle Rich come out to buy and play — and I wonder what it is about Winter that especially brings out their public braggadocio and bling more than usual.  Is it the cold weather that gives them the opportunity for the wraparound advertisement of exclusive leather and endangered fur — along with an outrageous hat?  Do cooler temperatures lead to a greater layering of clothing that provides even more ample opportunity to adorn and separate while prancing?

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In Support of Sidewalk Walking Lanes

When you live in a city as exciting as New York, there is always somewhere to go. Normally when you’re trying to go from point a to point b, the only thing stopping you from getting there in a timely manner is the distance — and if you’re driving, the possibility of traffic.

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How to Fix the Real Housewives Franchise for Bravo

The Real Housewives franchise is in trouble. Bravo used to have a charming show that dealt with the families of these insulated women. We found joy as they slowly began to tempt the threads of a genuine life in real time and sometimes feel the shallow tenderness of, perhaps, eventually becoming human. The ironic twist of the show has always been that these monstrous women were neither “real” nor “housewives” and we, as viewers, knew that — while they still do not.

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Stella Adler: Imagination in the Choice

I had another great discussion with Howard Stein this week, and our conversation turned from necessary writing, to the Mozart Syndrome, and then into the realm of imagination as described by the great acting teacher, Stella Adler.

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