My NY Life

Sami looks like he’s been injured but he’s just...

Sat, 25 May 2013 15:14:07 -0400

Sami looks like he’s been injured but he’s just blowing coat. Underneath is his sleek new summer wear.

Before Ollie, I never had a dog who snuggles.

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:20:08 -0400

Before Ollie, I never had a dog who snuggles.

Lilly of the Valley: once a year, a delicate, short-lived treat...

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:04:12 -0400

Lilly of the Valley: once a year, a delicate, short-lived treat from the garden. The scent alone is enough to make me feel happy.

Brunch

Sun, 05 May 2013 12:11:00 -0400

Brunch

O.C.!

Sun, 05 May 2013 09:09:02 -0400

O.C.!

Good morning!

Sun, 05 May 2013 08:50:06 -0400

Good morning!

Laundry day

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:21:03 -0400

Laundry day

Good Morning!

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 07:18:43 -0400

Good Morning!

Photo

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 00:12:09 -0400

Photo

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:51:35 -0400

Good Morning. SURPRISE!

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 09:23:00 -0400

Good Morning.

SURPRISE!

Rotten Apple

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 05:50:00 -0400

I got my first iPhone in 2007, and I don’t think I exaggerate when I say it changed my life - not the course of my life, but my day-to-day life. As advanced and magical as that first smart phone was for me at the time, I’m sure it would seem hilariously primitive now. Over the years, the constant feed of small, but frequent, improvements has led to a device that I honestly can’t imagine doing without.

So I was pretty excited about finally upgrading from my old iPhone 4, that was slowly dying, to a sleek new 5. Unfortunately, I have been hating it, and even worse, my love affair with all that is Apple has come to a crashing halt. The battery life on my 5 renders it barely usable (I can actually watch the percentage ticking down, down, down), it keeps refusing to join known networks, takes forever to load emails, etc, etc. I got a defective model.

But what’s just as bad as my dissatisfaction and disappointment with this lemon is the experience I’ve had at two different Apple stores (one in Baltimore and one in NYC). In both places, I became witness to the scary side of the Cult of Apple. I have long admired the values and way of functioning of the Apple world. Such integrity! Such high principles of clean, clean design!

But the people in the stores are ROBOTS. It was absolutely weird to try to talk to them about my problems with the phone, like talking to a machine that just spews out the same four responses over and over again. “Your phone is functioning perfectly” “there is no problem with your phone.” “The diagnostic shows your battery is healthy.” “It’s working exactly as it should.”

The level of not-listening, not-getting, not-interested-in-satisfying-the-customer was stunning. At one point I finally got one of them to look at the advertised specs for the iPhone 5 battery that were posted on Apple’s site. “See here?” I pointed to the screen. “It says, ‘Standby time: up to 225 hours.’Even with all the battery-eating functions turned off, I’m getting nine!” Response: “it says ‘up to.’” Me: “But nine hours is like 1/20th of 225!” Response: “It says ‘up to.” The robot only had the one response, and he just forged ahead with it, over and over, no matter how many different ways I tried to express how far nine hours is from 225 hours.

Recognizing that the robot had come to the end of his tether, and that no new response would be forthcoming, I asked to speak to a supervisor. Unsurprisingly, she was just an uber version of the first guy, with the addition of a measured belligerence. Where the first guy had gotten pretty far in wearing me down, the supervisor robot finished the job in no uncertain terms, all but saying, “read my lips: NO!”, while assuming the stance of a bouncer who is definitely not going to let you in. Clearly, I was caught up in a rigid choreography that was way bigger than me. I left, feeling thoroughly creeped-out.

Before I went the first time, I figured I might not get what I wanted, which was to exchange my two-week-old, defective iPhone for a new, properly functioning one. My second visit was made in the hope that the first visit was an anomaly. It wasn’t.

rroobbiinn: amandalynferri: andreaallen: I missed it by a few...

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 03:25:00 -0400

rroobbiinn:

amandalynferri:

andreaallen:

I missed it by a few days, but I watch this video every year about this time.

I love this video. I also really miss the haircut Jake has in this video.

Missing you…

Jake was a beautiful boy.

Photo

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:58:57 -0400

I swore I wouldn’t let him sleep on my bed. Let’s...

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 23:44:00 -0400

I swore I wouldn’t let him sleep on my bed. Let’s just say I’m rethinking that one.

Photo

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 17:02:00 -0400

vogueadventure: Lyle Lodwick for Vogue Homme International...

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:58:38 -0400

vogueadventure:

Lyle Lodwick for Vogue Homme International Spring Summer 2013

Photographer: Glen Luchford

Stylist: Anastasia Barbieri

Beautiful spread!

My precious little niece visiting from Austria. One of her...

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 12:39:16 -0400

My precious little niece visiting from Austria. One of her favorite things about New York? Ollie!

The boys are having a nap

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 15:07:37 -0500

The boys are having a nap

Good morning! Back in Brooklyn.

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 12:15:19 -0500

Good morning! Back in Brooklyn.