Happy 4th of July!

I hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July. I, as usual was stuck at work. It seemed like everyone I knew was either at a BBQ at the beach or in the city watching the Macy's fireworks show. I was extremely jealous!

I remember, pre-Guliani, when anyone and everyone bought fireworks. This made Independence day may favorite holiday. Not just blowing stuff up, or lighting off the actual fireworks, but the whole ritual of that time of year. Every year, my friends, my brother and I would make our annual pilgrimage to Chinatown, where people would lay out blankets heapped with fireworks. You could buy nearly anything you wanted short of a full stick of dynamite (that you had to know somebody). Since we were still pretty young, we didn't know Chinatown too well. We always seem to get lost on the way down, even though it was the same route every year - Metronorth to GrandCentral, 6 train to Canal.

Once we'd secured our purchases, we would wander the streets a bit, just eating dim sum and scallion pancakes off the street vendors. Eventually the anticipation would build and we'd rush home to lit something off. BOOM! Those were the days.