New York was fun!

(But only if when you hear the word fun you think about spending endless hours in a plane, in a taxi and behind the mirrored wall of a focus group research center.)

Actually, I don't have any reason to complain. My friend Jim happened to be flying out the same time I was, so he gave me a ride to the airport. I got roomy exit-row seating for both flights. Traffic was never very bad. The hotel was posh and clean and conveniently located. My colleague Karin and I had fun hanging out together. And there was another big homo at the focus groups, so he and I dished about Broadway shows while we waited for our volunteers to march in and be focused.

But New York is big and loud and it looked kind of dirty -- and while I loved visiting and I can't wait to go back, my trip just reinforced how much more I love Chicago.

During my brief moments of down time, Karin and I had a very filling lunch at Maxie's Deli (where our sandwiches were so crammed with meat they looked like two human heads on small buns), and I joined my NY friend Arno for a few hours of show tune fun at Splash Bar -- which just can't hold a candle to the energy (and the dedicated queens) at the show tune nights here at Sidetrack. But Splash Bar did have waaaaaaaay hotter bartenders -- and they were shirtless! Even better, the place was smoke-free, so I didn't leave smelling like a damn ashtray. Chicago can't adopt similar smoke-free laws soon enough ...

Karin and I got back to the Chicago office today just in time for a lunch workout, where apparently I shared the gym with rap poser and (alleged) child rapist R. Kelly and his equipment-hogging workout posse (who loudly did their part to propagate Ebonics with repeated uses of phrases like "let me axe you" and "you know what I'm sayin'"). Classy.

But I've been up since 4:30 Chicago time and I'm starting to fade. But first I'm off to my first French class. Then right to bed.