what did you do memorial weekend? yeah? that's nice. i became an uncle on sunday! thanks, it took a lot of work and... oh, i guess i had nothing to do with it. anyway, here's a pic i got from the happy parents of Lincoln Davis Emerson. someone told me his name sounds very presidential. although there hasn't been an Emerson president, maybe this could be the first.

So congrats to me, and to Chris and Holly, and my folks for becoming grandparents. I can't wait to see the little guy!

so do you think these scary looking flowers are a natural phenomenon? or maybe you don't think scary, but rather something softer, like furry. whatever, they're pretty neat-o.

in the background is a new stainless steel kitchen. would you believe that most of it came from IKEA? not too shabby.

this is what's in my peripheral vision while i stare at my computer monitor all day long at work. nice, huh? On the left by the cranes is Renzo Piano's NYTimes building going up. Between the Empire State Building and the One Madison Avenue tower you can just make out the top of the Chrysler Building. it all seems a lot closer in real life, and moving around you can get a better view of certain buildings. But we don't get tto see the sunsets anymore. i can't wait to move back into the office once renovation is complete. but they just started.

Allergy season has KILLED ME for the last month! It's been miserable. a few days ago a friend hooked me up with some great under-the-counter medicine, and now i'm feeling normal again. Thank God and Hail Cesar!

I felt so great today that i went out for a bike ride over the bridge, across lower Manhattan, and up and down the lower west side. the parks over there are great. i took a rest out on one of the piers turned into a park. great views of the city, new jersey, and up and down the Hudson... even the statue of liberty. i laid on a wide, curvy bench and people watched and watched the water taxi come and go.

I also rode up to see New York's first Gehry building going up, as pictured to the right. I think it's his first all-glass building as well. at first, from far away, i thought the bottom part-the glass- was a billboard rendering of the building. but no, that's it. Frank's buildings always look great half built, when you can still see all the different layers. but i look forward to see how the curves continue to the top and terminate. From the south side-not this view-the bottom completed portion looks pretty regularized and uninteresting. Perhaps the top gets a bit more funky.