There was a celebration in a bar in Hells Kitchen today. Fancy happy young professional people, large format boxes on the walls. Photography. A turtle the size of an SUV. Beautiful. They were out of “Czechoslovakian” (wow, sounds a bit like Soviet...) beer. I had a Hefeweizen (Some Brooklyn brand). Good that the people I had the drink with were nice and down to earth. I am not crazy about the place itself. Saw my first homeless person on a cell-phone on my way to the Subway station. I know this sounds strange. It was this lady with a cart, on a motorola phone. Then there was this lady who slept just in a T-Shirt, like a baby, in the middle of the sidewalk, about 200 yards from the Nasdaq sign on 43rd street. She had her dry spot in the middle of the concrete sidewalk, but only because she must have been there before the rain. She looked so peaceful. I almost stumbled into her. On the train there was a girl who built her bag entirely out of duct tape. She was chewing gum with such energy, as if it were a workout. I had Taco-Bell for diner tonight. In front of me in line was the young blind woman whom I have seen so many times here. Her boyfriend was with her. He had some fancy shorts on, silk. Her white walking stick was worn out and dirty. The first time I met her was on 96th street. She wanted to cross, but nobody wanted to touch her. She screamed. She cursed. Her face is so severely slashed. Her cheek was clearly taken from some other area of her body. It looks almost greenish, compared to her complexion. Her left eyelid is collapsed. We walked across the street quite quickly. She lives around here, she just wanted to cross. They ordered three tacos. I had some other special. The signs are up on what used to be the Latin Quarter across the street. It now says CHASE on a red blue banner that marks the corner. We are gentrifying here. I am in no way bitter, just winding down, having my “quesadilla” with a glass of Coppola merlot. The rain is heavy outside. Let me take a look at the links I came across today. There will surely be plenty to blog about.