You’d be surprised at how many people in New York will enter an almost empty subway car and make a beeline for a fellow passenger. It happens to me a lot, but I’m a big guy so maybe people think I can somehow protect them?

I brought a friend from college home to the Boston area for some holiday and in a supermarket when we got to the “tonic” aisle (just one sign hanging down, “TONIC”) he turned to me and said, “You all must drink an awful lot of gin.”

I think my male, neutered, shelter dog wants to be a father. A cat, a mouse he encounters on the street, any kind of creature that moves he wants to father. And he’s young, he just turned two, so I don’t know where these paternal instincts are coming from.

My current dog, a huge black Lab mix, is also a friend to all. We run into cats every so often in the building and he whips his tail around and then throws himself on his back and lets the cat(s) climb all over him. I’ve been very lucky with my friendly dogs, no muzzles or special attention needed.

The pig was adorable, the boyfriend named him something like Harry S Truman, I can’t remember, and I thought about getting a little pot belly pig for my dog. for companionship. Sadly they are (or used to be?) illegal in New York. This was the Giuliani era, everything was illegal in New York, except smoking.

In the dark days of the 1990s, lo those many years ago, there was a pot belly pig craze. One of my neighbors’ crazy girl friend got him a pot belly pig for his birthday. He dutifully walked the thing and kept it in his small Manhattan studio. My dog at the time loved the pig and would try to climb on his back and he…

So late, no one will ever see this, but I must share.

I am really clumsy with chopsticks and tend to hold them in the middle. Did you know that in Asia that’s kind of a childish thing to do, and that adults hold them on the end? I guess it’s sort of like gripping a fork or a spoon in your fist.

We have those “members’ clubs” in America too, in notionally dry counties. I walked into a place somewhere in Virginia, paid my $5, and became a member. Since I didn’t store any liquor there (!) I could only order one thing, I think it was bourbon. I’m not sure how any of this works but the residents get it.

There is (or maybe was) one on the NYU campus, of all places. I went to one in the 1990s near Grand Central. This is not their first NYC location.

Yu should apply for a job with the Dowager Countess of Downton Abbey! At least you know how to make a broth, unlike some servants (cough cough, Denker) I know.

I think it also depends on the cheese though. Did you use parmagiano reggiano or Gruyère? Or, as I have seen in some places, cheddar (never tried that, don’t think I want to.) Also the thickness of the potatoes: thicker than a potato chip, about as thick as an Oreo chocolate wafer is my very scientific guideline. But…

No, Granddad is right. People don’t pay attention to the issues, they don’t vote in local elections, they don’t vote in primaries, they don’t vote in non-Presidential elections. In NYC in 2013 about 1 million people voted in the Mayoral election, out of 4.3 million registered voters (many eligible citizens aren’t even…

Remember, people like us are (retroactively) responsible for Kim Davis’s three divorces and out-of-wedlock children.

It also has workplace repecussions (the ban on gay/bi men giving blood.) Often there are corporate-sponsored blood drives, entire departments will go together, there are contests to see which department have the highest percentage of employees giving blood…I got wrapped up in one of these once at a place where I was…

Your dog vomit story is better. I have never thrown dog vomit at myself and now that I think about it I don’t know how I have avoided this.

I have now owned four dogs as an adult and there is nothing I wouldn’t have done for any of them. One of our dogs hated the car so much that whenever we had to bring her to the vet or to boarding (and she loved being boarded with all her buddies) she would throw up. Every single time. So I would sit in the back seat…

You essentially have my dog, although mine is a slight mix so he’s very sleek, but he must be taller than yours because mine weighs 75 pounds and may still be growing. (Did I just type that? God, what was I thinking. Seventy-five pounds with more to come…)

Oh no, so adorable!

I know we’re not supposed to dress our little furry friends like dolls but my dog loves wearing clothes. I’m so glad fall is finally here. He likes dressing up for Halloween, and when it gets colder he has a couple of very dashing coats that, when I open the cabinet where they are stored, he jumps up and then gets in…