21 Questions for BillyBlog

I had so much fun with the Jamie Lynn Spears post (if you missed it, and are intrigued, it's here), that I couldn't resist this one as well. It's based on New York magazine's 21 Questions feature, when I originally stumbled on the one by book-jacket graphic designer extraordinaire, Chip
Kidd, here.

So here I go...

Name: Bill Cohen

Age: 40, but not for much longer.

Occupation: Lover of All Humankind

Neighborhood: Bay Ridge, Near Fort Hamilton

Who's your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?

This was tougher than I expected, since the definition of "New Yorker" is so open to various interpretations. I will say John Lennon.


What's the best meal you've eaten in New York?
Maybe after being here a year, the parents of a friend of ours, visiting from Houston, took us to Felidia. I don't remember what we ate, but I remember it was awesome. A close second is the River Cafe, in Brooklyn.

In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?
Put out fires and sulk.

Would you still live here on a $35,000 salary?
Me, yes. My family, no.

What's the last thing you saw on Broadway?
Spamalot. For my birthday the year it opened. Tim Curry is awesome.

Do you give money to panhandlers?
Generally, no.

What's your drink?
Black Russian.

How often do you prepare your own meals?
Generally it's a team effort. Maybe once or twice a week I make a killer salad.

What's your favorite medication?
Pearl Jam's eponymous album, also known as the Avocado Album. It has taken on new meaning for me as it has braced me for difficult days at the office.

What's hanging above your sofa?


A print of Francisco de Zurburan's Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose(1633).

How much is too much to spend on a haircut?
I spend $20, including tip, every six weeks or so. My hair is generally one of the things I care little about.

When's bedtime?
Usually much earlier than when I actually go to sleep. I have been hard-wired as a night owl, ever since my freshman year in college when I religiously watched Late Night with David Letterman on NBC from12:30 to 1:30AM each night.

Which do you prefer, the old Times Square or the new Times Square?
Having never really experienced the old Time Square, I'll go with the old, as it is shrouded in mystery and the displaced nostalgia of others.

What do you think of Donald Trump?
The fact that he can parlay a career in business and succeed in reality television is either admirable or despicable, I'm not sure which. Adspicirble?

What do you hate most about living in New York?
After 11 years here, I have yet to build the network of friends like the wonderful ones I have in L.A. Although that is more likely due to me being me, as opposed to New York's fault. One of my best friends, Jill, I met in L.A., and she is a New Yorker now, too.

Who is your mortal enemy?
People who clip their fingernails on the subway. Nothing brings me closer
to rage.

When's the last time you drove a car?
Someone asked me this the other day and I was stumped. I think last summer (2007) when my father-in-law was in town and he sprained his ankle. I had to retrieve his car for him to spare him a long walk to a remote parking spot.

Who should be the next president?
Dennis Haysbert. And not his character from 24. Pedro Cerrano from Major League.

Times, Post, or Daily News?
Times. I love the Post's silly headlines, but I am annoyed when their clearly conservative agenda is so thinly-veiled in the guise of news. A perfect example is when, several weeks back, Barack Obama left the church where Reverend Jeremiah Wright is pastor. The Post headline reported
"Obama Quits Church". Seemingly innocent headline, one might say, but others could falsely interpret it as Senator Obama forsaking religion. Clever, but despicable, and not in the Trumpian way.

Where do you go to be alone? The Laundromat. Sure, I'm not really alone, but I am in a bubble, oblivious to the world around me.

What makes someone a New Yorker?
Being able to get from point A to point B on foot, or by mass transit, with minimal confusion or panic.