Beaux Arts | Second Avenue Subway

OK, so it took New York nearly one hundred years to complete any of the stations on Second Avenue.  And the construction cost for the City was $4.5 Billion for only four station stops.  Yes, that is a 'B.'

The art, however, is pretty amazing.

Close-ups of Chuck Close' tile mosaic self-portrait at the 86th Street Station @ Second Avenue

Quotable: Maverick Carter

GQ Magazine:  A lot of successful businessmen are perceived as assholes. Is Maverick Carter an asshole?

Maverick Carter:  That's a very good question. You know, you hate to call yourself an asshole, but yes. You have to be. It's very hard to get shit done while always being super-extra nice. And ultimately, what is an asshole? It's a person who has supreme confidence and believes in what he's doing. It's hard to get anything done without being an asshole.
 

NYC Marathon 2016 | Haarlem Vue

Every year, we walk out to Mount Morris Park, with friends and neighbors, to watch the Leaders of the NYC Marathon pass (fly) by Mile 22.  Here are some of the images.  

It was a particularly exciting race this year with Mary Keitany winning the Women's group by nearly four minutes.  And Ghirmay Ghebreslassie finishing in 2:07:51, the third fastest runner in the marathon's history, and at age 20, the youngest winner ever.

We were also witness to an unreported act of kindness.  One of the Leaders, Marathon runner Musa Babo Ido (Bib 210), severely cramped-up at Mile 22 with uncertainty whether he would be able to continue.  An experienced (fifteen marathons) but unparticipating septuagenarian man, a stranger, emerged from the crowd, took off his sweater and gave it to Mr Ido to keep him warm in the event that Mr Ido may have to walk to the finish.  Mr Ido finished twelfth with a time of 2:17:57.

The Google grunt

I appreciate the Google Search free dictionary, but I have found the service to be, well, terrible. If you have not tried it yet, type any single word in Google Search, and usually, Google will show the word's definition as the first item.  I suspect, however, that  Google definitions derive from the colloquial use of the word, culled from the Internet ecosphere, and do not represent the curated meaning of the word. Such is the problem when 'facts' have been democratized through social networking.

The Google definitions also provide a short etymology, which is admirable, but Google does not indicate the source.  There can be a chasm of difference between The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) definitions versus Merriam-Webster or Random House.  The Google definitions are primitive, and marginally inaccurate, the equivalence of a Neanderthal grunt.

Recently, for example, I sought to describe a counter-party in a negotiation as 'circumspect.'  Google defines 'circumspect' as "to be wary and unwilling to take risks."  That would be hardly complimentary.  Nor would it reflect the true meaning of the word. The Random House definition is: 
1. watchful and discreet; cautious; and
2. well-considered. 
BIG difference. The Google definition is unflattering, and connotes my counter-party to be an indecisive putz, whereas the true definition describes someone who is admirably prudent.

It would helpful if Google would publish the source institution that provided the definition, but even more helpful if the definitions were accurate. Words matter.
 

Wayne Weddington