The very notion of replacing Joe Torre with, of all people, Lou Piniella . . . ugh!

If Piniella becomes available, he will be an appealing free-agent manager. George Steinbrenner, the principal owner of the Yankees, has always adored Piniella, who played and managed for him. In many ways, the emotional Piniella is Steinbrenner's kind of manager because he is the type to shout or throw a chair or fling his cap to the dirt.

What, you mean a fucking infant?

Where: Brooklyn-bound #2 train
Who: Young African-American gentleman who boarded at Park Place
Questionable fashion decision: Bullet-proof vest with graffiti tags on the back

Perchance I'm missing something, but this strikes me as rather ill-advised, what with there being cops in every subway station keeping an eye out for suspicious behavior. There is something about being outfitted for gunfire that doesn't say, "Just going about my business, Officer."

I was not the only one alarmed by it; the woman next to me said, "Is he wearing a VEST? Oh, shit!" We then discussed--quietly--our fervent hope that this was not the beginning of a trend.

My tally begins now.

The wall in our living room was too bare for too long, and my roommate Nina decided to do something about it: when she found a gigantic painting on the street, she took it. There was only one problem.

It was ugly. Really, really ugly. Not the type of ugly that bespeaks experimentation or a willingness to challenge the audience, but the type of ugly that bespeaks never having mastered perspective. Or shading. Or . . . anything. It was a big, faded, ugly, badly painted pasture.

But as luck would have it, I came into a big stash of oil paint (primarily ultramarine blue and white) some time ago. So, we scheduled our first ever Roommate Art Night, armed ourselves with paintbrushes and magazines, and set forth to create our masterpiece.

The collective result, so far (it ain't finished yet):

On the whole, it looks surprisingly cool. I take the blame for that black and white spot in the middle that's mucking things up; it was a picture of a rat, and it just didn't work out. It'll get covered before we're done.

For a brief activity--maybe an hour and change--it was pretty great. You can also tell a lot about the dispositions in the apartment by our respective contributions. For instance:

Nina is funny and open (hence the flow and the O face picture selection):

Caitlin is cheerful and bright:

And I am depressing:

Note: I did NOT paint that face; it's a clipping of an ad for Divers/cité that I ripped from one of Caitlin's magazines. Likewise, Nina found the guy and his fish, I just decided to put it there. The Happy Bunny card was mine, though.

It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if Mariah Carey started wearing a bra again.