Children's Hospital Foundation Gala

I went to my first Gala with my aunt Joan. It was to raise money for the Children's Hospital in Denver. It was a very fancy affair where most women were in ball gowns and men in tuxes. It was held at the Hyatt Regency hotel downtown. They had a silent auction, dinner, then a live-auction and finally "Earth, Wind and Fire". For those of you that are my age...it was before our time. At least 3 members of the original band were performing. I've posted the one song that I recognized (actually a very good song). It's not too often that I have a chance to dress up, so it was fun for a change.

Celebrity Sighting

Twice now I've got out to dinner with Suzanne in NYC and had a celebrity sighting. This one was at a restaurant we walked to from her place, Ottomanelli's NY Grill. We got there early and it's a really tiny restaurant that only seats around 30 people. It was us, a family and the celebrity in there when we first arrived. I recognized her immediately, but couldn't figure out what movie or TV show I knew her from. Suzanne remembered it was "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days". I should have known since I own the movie and can even quote some of her lines. It was Celia Weston. She plays Matthew McConaughey's mother in the movie. She was eating alone and reading a script through dinner. She must live in the area since Suzanne mentioned she's seen her before.
We then walked to Central Park and watched the sunset over the reservoir.

Brooklyn Heights

Suzanne and I went to visit Ryan and Jess in their new apartment in Brooklyn Heights.

The Pick-Up Artist

There is this ridiculous new show on VH1 called "The Pick-Up Artist". I saw a few clips of the first episode. It's a reality show where this guy who calls himself "Mystery" is looking to find his next sidekick to help with his workshops across the country. The workshops are for men to learn the "pick-up artist" skills. This is also related to that book called "The Game" published a few years ago. Now that there's a TV show and a book, pretty soon the majority of women are going to catch on to when men are following their steps to pick-up women. It's really all based on psychology and that the majority of people respond a certain way in a situation. Once you know the right thing to say, you can lead someone down a certain path of conversation and interaction. I find the psychology part of it fascinating. I was in NYC for Labor Day weekend and Suzanne and I went out to 230 Fifth, a rooftop bar/club. I told Suzanne I was hoping someone would come up to us and try the pickup method. We met a friend of Suzanne's and her brother at the bar. After about half an hour or so a group approached us with the method. It was all I could do to not make any smart remarks back. I actually was curious to see how many phases of the method this guy attempted.
First step: The initial approach was some ridiculous story that this guy "wanted our opinion on". He didn't do the best job...Mystery would have told him his story was way too long. I wanted to hear him attempt the next steps though unfortunately I could not hear it. There were 2 other guys that came up with the story teller who had only met him briefly before the 3 approached us. Suzanne and I were soon part of a different conversation with these other 2. Then after a few minutes we figured out they had graduated from GT. Well, then it was all talk of the school days. Finally we all headed home. I actually think the first part of the "mystery method" worked because it did split our group up which is one of the goals. Since I rarely go to bars/clubs, I found the whole thing very entertaining, like a social experiment in psychology.

Secret Purse Closet

Suzanne and I spent the day shopping in NYC. One of last stops was a purse store that I believe sold what were supposed to resemble designer purses. Suzanne had been there before when other visitors were in town. It's a really small store about 8 ft x 10 ft. The stuff in the store is pretty terrible and cheap looking. You have to ask to see the good stuff. Suzanne discretely asked the clerk, then before you know it, she leads us to the back wall of the store which is covered in hanging purses. She pushes a small door open revealing a closet size room with purses covering all the walls. We stepped in, then she closed the door behind us. It was all very secretive like a speakeasy. This secret underground black market for purses...who knew.