He'll Be Coming 'Round The Mountain: Train By Tom Zoellner

I'm the big dorky cheerleader for all my writer friends when they have books come out. I get especially excited when Tom Zoellner has new books, because I met him in 2004 at what has now become a legendary party on the roof of a Bowery apartment building, long before anyone thought it was hip or even civilized to live on the Bowery. (For the record, I spent part of 2002 living on Bayard Street and The Bowery.) He's been generous with his time to come speak to many of my writing classes and is also a great date for a wedding.

Zoellner, who has previously written about Uranium and diamonds, has a new book coming out about trains. The trailer is below.

You can order a copy here.

I Know What Boys Like -- Boys Like Trains

I've been really slack with the holiday photos thus far. I went to a party on Friday night that was akin to something out of Breakfast at Tiffany's -- and had too much fun to even take one shot.

On Saturday I showed up two hours late to Brunch With Santa at the Junior League. So Andre has yet to get a photo with the Man In Red -- and he's two and a half years old. So much for cherished holiday memories.

On the way home from the missed brunch, I stopped in The Transit Museum in Grand Central. There is a giant toy train set up inside and pretty much every little boy under the age of five stops to look. Bonus points if you can get your kid out without a tantrum.





Trains are hypnotic


He must get back to ogling the trains.


While going through a memory card today, I found these photos of the Chelsea hotel sign. Since it's been in the news lately, I figured I would post them, too. They were taken at around 2:00 a.m. in late November, 2007

Back In NYC!

Christmas with the Millards was a lot of fun, and after it was all done I braved the Metro-North back into the city. I took an early-ish train around 8:00 p.m. that, although still standing room only, was not as nutty as I think some of the later trains are. I really need to make more money so I can get myself a proper 5-series for such trips to the country.

There is nothing glam about the Metro-North, and certainly not being stuck in the bar car with all your Christmas goodies. At least it was express.