Of course, that $5 could also be used to purchase some tasty egg tarts or some choice goodies from Tong-in mart for the ride…

Also, unless you are into waiting, it is vital to show up before noon on weekends, or even better, stop in on a weekday and have a truly leisurely repast, filling the time between coffee refills by riffling through the numerous magazines on a rack by the door, for your reading pleasure.

Anyway, in the interest of sharing the love, here are some directions:

• Address: 214 Smith Street (between Baltic and Butler). Take the F or G to either the Smith or Baltic street stops.
• Phone: (718) 625-3815
• Hours: Mon-Thur: 7:30a.m.- Midnight

Best to find a safe haven in procrastination and the diversions of Davis square.

In that spirit, I encourage those of you that have made (or plan to make) the trek to Tacos Lupita to venture further down Elm to Davis Square, where you will Find Diesel cafe. The coffee is fab, and they have diner booths as well as pool tables. The one drawback is their draconian fee for wireless access. Other than that, a great spot with excellent coffee. If you need a book to accompany that steamy mug of divine java, McIntyre and Moore, a great used bookstore is conevniently located next door ( a fine example of urban planning done right!).

Jonah Feld has done a great service to the greater boston community by researching, mapping and compiling information on the culinary offerings at Tacos Lupita and beyond. His blog has comprehensive reviews of most items on the menu.

I opted for the familiar Fung Wha from Boston on a Friday afternoon. The bus driver was inexperienced and could have navigated traffic with greater skill. He also could have displayed more dexterity in handling the bus. Inevitably we became ensnared in rush hour gridlock. This could have been avoided with some forethought and deft driving. Still, we made it into the city in five hours. Nobody died, or endured extreme psychological trauma. The ride was cool and the bus was relatively clean. Let’s face it, for $15, this is a deal. It costs me around $25-$30 when I drive and $60 to take the train. Flying often works out to be both more time consuming as well as more expensive. Nevertheless, it often seems preferable in the abstract.

On the return journey, I decided to spread the dollars around and share the love. I hopped on the Lucky Star. Although I appreciated the lack of screaming and physical coercion that often accompanies the Fung Wha experience, I was not pleased by the condition of the bus. Despite the fact that I had nobody in the seat next to me, the ride was exceedingly uncomfortable. The seats on the bus were in poor condition, and the bus lost bolts with every bump in the road. The most onerously uncomfortable aspect of the journey by far, however, was the lack of air conditioning on a day when the mercury easily reached into the upper nineties. Whether this was a misguided attempt to cut costs, or the result of an ill-maintained fleet is difficult to say, but the ride was exceedingly unpleasant. After repeated requests from passengers that he turn on the air conditioner the bus driver pulled over on the BQE, blocking an on ramp, and popped open a vent in the roof of the bus…. Fortunately, we were not hit, and nobody died. Personally, I found this entire experience unsafe, idiotic and unacceptable, even for $15.

I have a new found appreciation for The Fung Wha bus, and discovered a renewed willingness to embrace the harsh efficiency so often delivered with a disavowal of the fact that I am actually a paying passenger. Of course, if you are better organized and are willing to pay an additional $5 you can buy Greyhound tickets online for $20. This bus has the additional advantage of leaving from Penn station; a location with more amenities and better shelter from the elements. I like to think that extra $5 might go towards a modicum of courtesy, but I am most likely mistaken. Of course if you are feeling extra flush, you could spring for a ticket on the limoliner, and enjoy free wireless, snacks and work space, although at $79 a ride it’s a little steep for a bus.

We entered the Met with few items so that we could bypass the coat check and get in quickly. At the admissions counter I noticed I had forgotten my faculty ID. Ms. X was also treated to the grand shakedown because her student ID lacked a “current” registration sticker. Additional difficulties were created when it was discovered that my student ID had no registration sticker at all, (instead, it is valid for five years and that date is printed on the card. Apparently this type of academic foresight on the part of an academic institution is unacceptable). At this point the indomitable Ms. X reached in her purse, stretched out her hand and said to the clerk behind the counter, “Honey, please accept this donation on behalf of both of us as our admission to the museum today.” I glanced down and noted that the clerk had given Ms. X a receipt for her records to document her donation of .25¢ to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The quick thinking of Ms. X saved the day and impressed this postmodern superheroine with its deft deployment of politeness and creative re-conception of a social situation. I admired greatly Ms. X’s lightning quick assessment of the problem and ability to seamlessly appropriate a different class scenario to resolve an issue that should never have been raised in the first place. The fact that the Met still has a pay as you wish policy makes this type of egregious shaking down and economic shaming of students patently ridiculous. In spite of mayor Bloomberg’s shortsighted desire to market New York as a “luxury product” New York owes much of its vibrancy and excitement to the eclectic mix of people and ideas in the city and in public spaces of all sorts, including museums.

Grimaldi’s is on the waterfront in Brooklyn in an area that used to be called Fulton Landing but now has the more dubious moniker of DUMBO… Down Under The Manhattan Bridge Overpass. The acronym coined by a real estate developer who has now made a mint. I suppose marketing is everything, and he did manage to capitalize on the SOHO effect, but personally, I am tired of the acronyms, the uptight yuppies and overpriced lofts that follow in their wake. Anyway, Grimaldi’s, hands down, makes the best pizza in the city, and is worth a visit. On a sunny day, a pizza to go consumed on the ferry landing is heaven, and the view of Manhattan is breathtaking.
Off to enjoy Boston by bike. I might stop at El Pelon, one great Boston institution with no analogue in New York. Invariably, I opt for the fish burrito, which is as close to California as I am going to get this summer.

The fact of the matter is that there are things in the world about which we should and do feel upset, anger and sadness. I am not convinced these are happy times, or that obsessively seeking out small moments of happiness is worthwhile, especially if it comes at the cost of minimizing the impact of unsavory realities. Nevertheless, I suspect this cheery populace would be more efficient, productive, better adjusted and more easily malleable than a less happy society. Perhaps that is the root of so much of the tension between New Yorkers and the rest of the country. New Yorkers are, for the most part, incredibly unhappy, always dissatisfied and relentlessly determined to succeed. As the article notes, people in other locations are more content, although they have more limited options and are generally less successful.

One more thing, the article mentions the positive psychology class at Harvard, and implies this course has been markedly successful because of burgeoning interest in the field. Personally, I blame the cue guide. The common perception among undergraduates is that this course is an easy A.