http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/015477.html

Creepy guy: I was in Japan and went on this rampage and slept with this woman who was 38 and had a kid and was married. Her husband had a bad back and couldn't have sex with her, but he was fully aware I was sleeping with her. I was kind of doing him a favor.
Creepy guy's date: Did he watch?
Creepy guy: No, but he wanted us to videotape it. So somewhere in Japan there's a video of me doing it with an older woman.

--Park Slope

Yesterday I posted that I was looking at a Concord frame. I couldn't deal with the guy selling it, he was acting like too much of an asshole. ("Better come get the bike before I decide to keep it - be here at 2 pm tomorrow!".. when I hadn't even said I was available at 2 pm tomorrow.)

Anyways, I went and looked and tried some bikes out, but I ended up going with a Raleigh Record. I test rode some of them, but this one just seemed to fit. I'm sure it's heavy compared to a modern bike, but I wanted something I could buy and then pimp out over time. He also gave me the name of a place that will do a tune up for $45.

Hello everyone, I'm nauseated by my hideous kitchen counter top and cabinets and eventually it all has to be ripped out (its in horrid condition, and I need a better layout), so I'm not even going to bother trying other alternatives like new doors, etc, but decided painting would perk things up nicely. If it lasts me a year or so until we can redo, I'll be happy. My local paint store doesn't carry Kilz. I hate Home Depot, so when they suggested the XIM, I thought I'd give it a try. Except now I'm having a little buyers remorse/ paranoia thinking there may be a very good reason why everyone suggests Kilz by name, and perhaps XIM won't work as well? So, does anyone have experience with XIM? How would you rate it? Should I return it and get Kilz instead?

Hey y'all. I wrote out a big long entry and then decided that it's unnecessary. I am moving into a new house with my fiancé and I need a shoe rack, because I will feel like an asshole making him wade through billions of shoes if they don't have a home. I have one of THESE from IKEA, but the compartments are tiny and only hold one of some shoes. I am consequently looking for some kind of shoe organizer that holds at least 15 PAIRS of shoes, and bonus if it's inexpensive!

Thoughts? Recs? Anyone?

Thanks in advance. :)

EDIT: Also, I'll be moving to a warmer climate than I'm used to and consequently flip flops will be worn through later in the fall, and from earlier in the spring than I'm used to. How do y'all store your flip flops?

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/015475.html

Trendy girl #1: So, I'm fairly sure I was roofied this weekend.
Trendy girl #2: (mildly interested) Oh?
Trendy girl #1: Yeah, but he was tall, rich and handsome, so I guess it could be worse, right?
(trendy girl #2 nods and shrugs)

--Midtown Office Elevator

My boyfriend and I are moving from our apartment in town to a nice little place out in the country (OMG YAY, lol) in about 10 days.

When we moved in, the place was clean, but not super clean. I can leave the it the way it was when we moved in, right?

Also, has anyone used the scotch brite cook top cleaner? Does it work pretty good?

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/015474.html

Big Guido, yelling at female bystanders after minor traffic accident: Why don't you shut the fuck up and get something to do... go suck a dick somewhere!
Woman bystander: Well, I'd suck you if you weren't so small...

--55th & Madison

Overheard by: kerstin

Does anyone have experience with the Roomba? Is it worth it? I have a baby on the way and own two cats. I like the idea of an automatic appliance vacuuming once a day and keeping pet dander & hair down, as well as anything the baby might pick up off the floor. But I am hesitant to spend the money without some reviews by lovely domestics like yourself. Does the Roomba do the job well enough to justify the expense?

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/015473.html

Girl to old man in baseball cap: What does the "E" on your hat stand for?
Old man: (unintelligible)
Girl: The "E"? What does it stand for?
Old man: (unintelligible)
Black lady observing scene: E stands for the English he don't speak.

--A Train

Overheard by: Brenda

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/015472.html

Strange Latino man to girl: Excuse me, but I was wondering, do you like poetry?
Girl: (stares for a moment) Um, vomit.

--104th St & Broadway

Anyone ever use a bike trainer like this, I figure I could use one for the winter, is there a way to adjust the tension or is it just by the bike gears? Thanks for the input.

http://kalamazoo.craigslist.org/bik/753039067.html

jonFREY

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/015471.html

Pudgy tourist mom to sulking pudgy son: You're not getting it, you're not getting it!
Pudgy tourist dad to sulking pudgy son: We're going to a nice restaurant, you are not gonna be an animal!

--Rockefeller Center

Overheard by: wants to know what the kid wanted

Hi Hipsters!

There are a couple of communities that I am a member of in which I'd like to keep my membership but I don't really feel like seeing all of the gazillion posts on my friends page every time I get on. Is there a way to do this that you guys know of?

Thanks in advance!


*eh hmm - no, this is not one of those communities ;)


*edit - got it in the first reply!
Join the community, but take it off your friends list.

I am making my brother's favorite cake, a red velvet cake, as his groom's cake in October. I have tested two very different cakes recently for him to try, one from a recipe from a recent Better Homes and Gardens magazine and one recipe from a McCormick clipping (from a coupon circular).
I did not like either. He liked the latter more than the former, but I just didn't like it overall.
The first one lacked cocoa but was super red. The frosting was baked, and it was overall super rich and a bit on the buttery side. It had a lot of the ooohs and aaaahhs but it just didn't taste like it should be at a wedding.
The second was more cocoa-y, and it wasn't as red. It had vanilla cream cheese buttercream frosting (i think that's what it said on the recipe!). This one just didn't taste like it should be at a wedding to me, either.
I would really like to find a tried and true recipe. I would like to make it from scratch, but if I have to use a box, I have to use a box if it means a super awesome cake. I'm really not this picky about desserts in real life! I just want to make it special, you know?
I'm looking for a balance of a very good cake and frosting to match the very good cake.
So, my question to all of you out there:
Does anyone have a recipe or can direct me to a recipe for your favorite red velvet cake?
I appreciate all of your help in advance!

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/015470.html

(random guy trips over three-year-old girl's stroller)
Guy: Oops, I'm sorry, honey.
Three-year-old girl in stroller: Don't call me honey!

--Atlantic Ave Station

Overheard by: Michael

I decided to do a little slideshow for my Post-Materialist slot in the Times this week -- basically, these are all the chairs I photographed this year, crammed into a short YouTube video with a somewhat rushed commentary.



Judging by the comments, while some found 5000 Years of Chairs in 5 Minutes "very interesting", others were mystified. "What’s the point?" demanded Steve, apparently some kind of academic, "If I received this presentation from a student, I would fail him/her." Jared's jab was more sly: "The anticipation of a conclusion or insightful comment kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time!"

I figured people wouldn't want a ton of editorializing in a little slideshow of chairs, but for the record here's the thinking behind the piece.

1. Things are just as valid and interesting when they're in use out in the world as they are when they're new and standing in a showroom, and possibly more so.

2. This is what Rem Koolhaas called (in a recent edition of Domus D'Autore) "post-occupancy design" -- the stuff that happens to design after it's left the designer's workshop (and architecture after it's left the studio) is the real test of its quality and character. Occupancy and use shouldn't see the designer and the architect melting away. They should stick around, take notes, and take photos. The processes of time and decay can be beautiful. The way people use stuff and adapt it can be instructive.

3. You don't have to buy stuff to be smitten with it -- public furniture that we just see on our travels (and maybe photograph) is worth writing about too. That's one of the things The Post-Materialist is all about.

4. There's also the idea that things come full circle: the slideshow takes us from paleolithic stone benches on the island of Orkney to modern concrete benches in the same place. There's a "before industrial design" and an "after industrial design", and they look remarkably similar. That's something I think Jan Lindenberg's Sweatshop 2.0 project was about -- coming up with chair design that deconstructs the distinction between amateur and professional, between the past and the present, between new and secondhand... and between shelves and chairs!

5. One word: recycle!

Finally, though, the slideshow is a little tribute to the dizzying diversity of forms out there, and about the kind of beauty -- or ugliness, or oddness -- that compels you to turn your camera on an inanimate object. Do I get to graduate from your course now, Steve, whatever the hell it is?

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/015469.html

(hip girl yells in excitement)
Old woman on street: Grow up!
Hip girl to friend: God! Homeless people spend all day screaming on the street and no one tells them too grow up.
Hip friend: Yeah, it's not your fault that your dad's a republican.

--School of Visual Arts

Overheard by: dobby

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/015468.html

Salesman: Ah, so soly. Mr. Wong not in today.
Saleswomen: My boyfriend's Asian. Don't make fun of them.
Salesman: I'm not making fun of them. I'm making fun of the way they talk.

--Sales Department, SoHo

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/015467.html

Biotech #1: Oh my god, there is no way she weighs 123 pounds. She is so fat!
Biotech #2: Oh my god I know! It's ridiculous.
Biotech #1 (later): I hate it when people misuse the term "Kafkaesque". It's so annoying.
Biotech #2: I know, right? Postmodernism sucks.

--Good Restaurant, Greenwich Ave

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/015466.html

Little girl: Where's mommy?
Father: I told you, sweetie. Mommy's getting her new tattoo.

--10 St & 6th Ave