Some cool celebrity numbers images:
1290 Avenue of the Americas (formerly Coconuts record store); site of the historic 1994 meeting between Mariah Carey and yours truly 
Image by InSapphoWeTrust I am at the intersection of West 51st Street and Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue), northeast corner. Sure, the red decor of the ATM lobby is interesting, but that's not why I took this photo. Back in the 1990s, when I was based in New York City, this was a location of Coconuts. And on 21 November 1994, Mariah Carey was here to do a meet-and-greet to sign her then-new Christmas release, Merry Christmas. A key single from that album, "All I Want for Christmas Is You," went on to become the most popular Christmas song ever. On that day, I was right here. The bank lobby to the right was the store entrance, and this ATM lobby was where Mariah would have sat at a desk to meet with the fans. Out where I am on the sidewalk was where the line was - circling the entire block. After a 12-hour wait, I managed to say hello, and have a chat. (The meet-and-greet ran only two hours, 5PM to 7PM. I had arrived at dawn to line up.) This event marked my first-ever meeting with my favorite celebrity. I would not have another celebrity meeting until 2006. To me, this is a bit of a special spot, alongside Barnes & Noble Bookstore, The Grove, Los Angeles (where I had the next celeb meeting - with Anna Nalick, in 2006) and Sony Style, Century City, Los Angeles (where I met Natasha Bedingfield in 2011). To mark the occasion and my return to this spot, I lingered for a while, listening to all three artists on my iPod for a while and singing a few Mariah Carey numbers while at it. (And speaking of Anna Nalick, I am also carrying an autographed CD of hers as a good luck travel charm - and in 2014 I would see her right in New York.) As one of the few idols of my earlier years, Mariah Carey holds a special place in my heart. And with the passing of my other early idols - Michael Jackson in 2009, Whitney Houston in 2012 - Mariah Carey is also the last early idol of mine who is still alive.
Occupy Wall Street 
Image by Mat McDermott September 30th, 2011 (day 13) รข€"Thousands of people packed shoulder-to-shoulder into Liberty Plaza this Friday, eclipsing the numbers on the first day of the protest. Some were no doubt lured by an (incorrect) rumor that Radiohead would be playing a surprise show. Whatever the initial motivation, attendence remained strong once it came out that there would be no celebrity guest.
