I recently took my son to the Brooklyn Children's Museum. Although I have been to many far better Children's museums (like the Exploratorium in San Francisco and the Children's Museum in Balboa Park in San Diego), I will say my son LOVED it. He loved it so much he had a massive temper tantrum when we had to leave. Which isn't really typical of his behavior anymore, so he REALLY wanted to stay there.

I think he said he wanted to stay there for a HUNDRED hours!  read more »

Been meaning to try this restaurant for about a year or so. In general I have found African cuisines greatly under appreciated. Ethiopian has caught on as well as North African food like Moroccan, but most African cuisines are unknown to most Americans. This is a shame because the handful of African restaurants I have found have generally been quite good.

Dakar is a good example of this. Located in Clinton Hill, at 285 Grand Ave (between Lafayette ave and Clifton pl), it was a short bus ride away for us. The menu had already hooked us in with its mix of Senegalese and other African dishes. I had read some very disparaging customer reviews on some websites, but we found nothing to complain about. The service was good. I got the impression that the times something took awhile to come it was because it was being made fresh rather than just being scooped out of a pot prepared long before as at many restaurants. And the food was quite good.  read more »

If you want cheap eat's, buffet style, in the Murray Hill area of Manhattan, I have a few do's and don'ts.

The real reason I am writing this is to warn people off of a terrible place that will more than likely make you feel ill if you have the misfortune of eating from their buffet table. This place is called Miss K's Italian Eatery on the corner of 30th St. and Madison. It has a deli counter, groceries that look like some have been there for years, a salad bar and a steam table buffet of hot food. I have twice made the mistake of catching a quick bite from this place going from work to Brooklyn if I knew I'd have no chance to grab a real dinner before, for example, a political meeting.

Both times I grabbed dinner from Miss K's I found the food largely repulsive and felt literally ill afterwards. I have a strong stomach even for cheap food. But Miss K's made me nauseous twice. Their food just isn't right. Perhaps their deli counter or salad bar is less nausea inducing, but their hot buffet sucks. One time I threw out a fair amount of what I bought because I just didn't want to eat the crap. I am NOT the sort who throws stuff away if I'm hungry!  read more »

November 15th--L.I.V.E. World Summit 2008

The L.I.V.E. World Summit 2008 will take place at the Millennium Broadway in New York City on Saturday, November 15, 2008, from 8:00am-6:00pm. The L.I.V.E. World Summit offers industry leaders, innovators, social entrepreneurs, and student leaders with an opportunity to focus on solutions to some of the most pressing problems facing America and the world today: climate change and the environment, poverty and sustainable development, economic growth and stability, global health, energy and power, food and water crises, empowering women, and education.

Join SSBx's Executive Director, Miquela Craytor for her panel on Green Development: Best Practices in Sustainability Around the World

Other speakers include:
Alexandra Cousteau, Founder, Blue Legacy; Co-Founder, EarthEcho, National Geographic Emerging Explorer

Bruce Wrobel, Chairman & CEO, Sithe Global; CEO, Seacom and Global Alumina, Founder & Chairman, All for Africa

Connie Duckworth, Founder & President, Arzu, Inc.; Former Partner, Goldman Sachs.

Dina Powell, Managing Director & Global Head of Corporate Engagement Goldman Sachs  read more »

My blogging will be at a minimum for at least two weeks. My family is going off to visit my family in California! My son has been counting the days til we leave since August 1st. We are half packed and ready to leave tomorrow. Tomorrow will be airline hell, but by Tuesday I will be happily settling into my California relaxation mode.

I used to love flying. Now, if it wasn't for my family living across the country, I'd avoid flying like the plague. Between Homeland Security's ineffectual but degradingly insulting measures and the airline's incresasingly petty fees and service cuts, the fun has been totally sucked out of air travel, leaving nothing but a husk of misery, anger and bitterness. I used to travel with a smile and just enjoy the ride. Now I fly with a tight lipped sense of dread. Thank you very much airlines. You suck and your suckiness gets worse year after year.  read more »