A few of my favorite things

Thinking of moving here? Wondering what will make your NYC life much more pleasant? Here are three things I'm glad I have:

1. Noise-canceling headphones. I have the Audio Technica ANC7, which I absolutely love, but go ahead and get a pair of overpriced, overrated Bose headphones if you want. Either way, noise-canceling 'phones make a long subway ride or a noisy office much more bearable.

2. An always-loaded Metrocard. Because you never know when you'll need to rush to catch a subway train.

3. A digital video recorder, like TiVo. I have no idea how I lived without a DVR. It completely changes the way you watch TV by giving you virtually complete control over what and when you watch; I've never had to worry about getting home early enough to watch the new episode of House.

Beginning at the beginning

Happy new year. I wish I could say that we did something uniquely New York-ish for the New Year's Eve countdown -- like watching a ball drop while trying to keep warm by rubbing up against a million other people -- but I can't. We stayed home and briefly watched Dick Clark on TV; the guy always seems to have a more rockin' eve than we do anyway. I made mango juice sodas and we toasted the new year. Then I went back to watching the Futurama marathon on Cartoon Network. Because lines like "I am the man with no name: Zapp Brannigan!" are way better than watching Miley Cyrus sing.