7th between Madison and Jefferson

So I had to share this because it was so funny that it happened in the middle of the mall in Washington, D.C. You know the place that is swarming with tourists year round, the place in between our nation's capital building and the monument for our first president of the U.S.?

So I get on this great commuter bus that takes me home everyday, back to the confines of suburbia. It picks me up near work, makes a few more stops near the mall and then heads on out of DC. So, our bus is turning onto 7th street from Constitution Ave. This is a major street. Lots of pedestrian traffic and cars as well.

Anyway, so I like to look out the window before I promptly pass out and try to let the long day drift behind me when I notice a few tourists standing waiting for the light to change to cross 7th street, right on the mall (between Madison and Jefferson Streets, to be specific). I look closer and I see this 20-something guy standing behind his girlfriend/wife (?) with his hands placed right on her boobs. Right there in the open, right on 7th street and the mall. I cracked up. Not only were his hands strategically placed, he was fondling and squeezing. Hilarious! No one on the bus cared or saw, except me. I wonder if anyone on the mall saw? I'm sure they did.

No way could this happen in the confines of suburbia. This is pure city occurence.

Loved it. Still laughing!

Sidewalks Part I

So, let this be the first of probably many a rant about sidewalks. Cities have 'em, suburbs don't really, depending where you are and what the county wants to spend on infrastructure. When I first came to this state, from NYC, I had very little suburban exposure. "Where are the sidewalks?", I exclaimed to no one in particular every chance I could get. Why do I have to take my life in my hands everytime I want to cross the street?

Here's an example:

My freshman year at college I offered to look in on someone's dog while they were away. I decided instead of taking the bus to be dropped off after a class outing (extracurriculalr activity) and drop in on the dog that way. Well, as part of maybe another future post, the dog was not too keen on me coming into his house since stupidly the owner never introduced me to him and said (and I ") Oh, he'll be fine. Alex. The Samoyed. Samoyeds are not come-right-in-and-sit-down-you-look-tired-have-a-seat-in-my-house kind of dogs. He barked, and growled. He stood in the doorway looking mean. I put my hand out for him to smell, and he bit me. Great!

Here I am several miles from campus, bleeding. Hole in the sleeve of my cool NYC flight jacket. Damn! I have to WALK back to campus. So I head back up the main road. Guess what? No sidewalks!!!

Not only was I bleeding from my hand but I had to risk my life on the road side of route 1 near dusk, not very visible to cars on the road, in my green NYC cool flight jacket (thinking back I should have turned it inside out, it was safety orange on the inside :-). Lots of cars flashed their lights at me, yeah yeah I know, but well I don't have a car, I ain't waiting for a bus and I can't call anyone since in 1992 the only people with cell phones were doctors and drug dealers. So I plodded on...for about 2.5 miles...in the dark.

Anyway, I trekked back to campus, stopping first at the local bar, the first and only time I ever went into this happening college hang out, to wash my hand and clean my wound. Then I headed back up route 1 toward the health center. Luckily it was open, the dog had been vaccinated recently, and all was good.

So, the moral of the story is, put sidewalks in and I would have felt a bit more at ease with my bleeding hand while trying to get back to campus. Also, the professor who said it was okay, Alex would be fine, he's friendly? You're an idiot and no wonder you didn't get tenure.

Sushi in my backyard

We found this pretty good sushi place right near home. Just 10 min. away. Stays open late (10 pm) what could be bad? We were talking about the parents' visit this coming weekend and was reminded of foods we like to have around when they arrive. Big A suggested we get knishes. And then he wondered why we never get any around here.


That's because there was only and will ever be Mrs. Stahl's knishes in Brighton Beach which has been gone for a number of years. I found another blogger who wrote about that. A commenter mentioned it should have been illegal to tear that place down. What a shame.



That was a family outing, to Brighton Beach to pick up quality knishes. There was no other place that came close.


I miss those knishes.



But now I have sushi close by, you gotta make do.

First Post 2009

I've started blogging. I've jumped on the band wagon. Something I thought I would never do. But I did it and here I am. Stomach still gurgling from something I ate this morning, who knows what.

Apparently someone else out there has the same blog title as me. What does that blogger know about fish anyway?

This blog is about this fish (me) outta water (somewhere other than her hometown) that she misses so much she has to read other blogs about it almost daily.

I know how foreigners feel getting used to being in a place they are not used to, a language unknown to them in a different country. But I feel like a fish outta water just between two states. Two very different states. With different priorities and different ways of doing things everyday.

More on this on blog day 2!

outta here