Hello!

Welcome to The Epic! I am launching this blog as a manifesto for and a guide to living well. The title and motto of the blog are taken from the Epicureans, at least some of whom believed in the notion that not one minute of the future was guaranteed to them and that as a result they had the duty to live life to its fullest every moment.

I believe in discovering fun and pleasurable things wherever I find myself each day and I am told I have a knack for unearthing them. My hope is that by sharing in my pleasures and some of my ways of finding them you will begin to collect all the riches that lie in the moments of your life. They are there. Take them! All our lives should be.....Epic.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

New York State of Mind


I will probably not post until the weekend. I plan on being highly diverted while on a trip to my favorite city. The forecast is for rain and more rain, but even a rainy New York is fabulous.

I have had quite a few experiences in NYC that most people would not consider typical. A young lady rushing to the subway stops and tells me my shoe is untied and I could fall. A young waiter at a hotel tea brings my son a third canape for free even though they are $20 extra. Two ladies sitting next to me at a very good dinner at Indochine strike up conversation about the food and offer me some of their dessert sampler. It turned out that one of them grew up about a mile from my house, a LONG way from Indochine.

My favorite experience in New York was on my last trip. It was evening, I was attempting to be on time for a dinner reservation. It was pouring. Hurricane rain. Horizontal H2O. No cabs in sight and I was way too far to walk. I stood under a small umbrella, dressed for dinner, on the sidewalk on Lexington Avenue for a good while, my "cab arm" and feet soaked. Finally a large limousine pulls to the curb. The driver asked me where I was going and offered to take me. He said "man I've been dropping off some people at the Waldorf and I've seen you standing there in the rain forever". He then took me to my restaurant which was way down town. Gratis. He said that I was too wet to have to pay. I was over an hour late for dinner. The restaurant was packed. When I left the hotel I looked good. When I entered the restaurant, I looked like a drowned rat. I would have abandoned dinner plans altogether had I been longer in town. The gorgeous, black-clad young woman at the maitre' stand smiled at me out of either pity or a shared humanity and then seated me without a moment of hesitation. The meal was great too.

I love New York. And I have not yet told you of any of my late lunches at the Palm or of my friends at Clarke's Bar...

5 comments:

Petunia said...

Have fun in The Big Apple! And for goodness' sake, please take some more videos in the airport lounge with your camera. We love that stuff here in bloggyland! LOL!

tintin said...

Been on the road myself and happy to be back in NY after Philadelphia, Las Vegas, San Diego, Austin, TX and Orlando.

If you go to the Veau D'or (Voe Door)for dinner you may be the only one there. Luch can be more fun. Especially with Cathy, the owner's daughter, who only works lunch. A real hoot. If she's there tell her Tintin sent you.

Belle (from Life of a...) said...

ALL our daughter wanted for her 16th birthday was a trip to New York City, a day at Elizabeth Arden on 5th Avenue, and a trip to Tiffany. We had a fabulous time and she was treated like a princess everywhere we went when people found out it was her sweet 16.

M.Lane said...

Petunia, now I can't get the movie part of it to work at all! I'm not sure if that was the cocktails though...

Belle what a nice treat for your daughter! What a trip!

Tintin, what can I say? I cannot thank you enough for the tip to V'Or. I am going to do a piece on it but there were two couples there and then a table of five came in later. I LOVE that place and I will return there every time I go to NYC. My meal was fantastic. I just love everything about it. I half expected to see you there. Maybe you WERE there.

tintin said...

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. So glad you enjoyed Veau D'Or. It is a unique little place and not for everyone. I wasn't there Friday night but was there for lunch the Thursday prior. Flirting with the owners daughter. She has the greatest laugh.