"Five Star Friday's 114th Edition Is Brought to You By E. M. Forster":

This Five Star Friday roundup is brought to you by sluttiness, busybodies, a lost cat, an anniversary, murder, Gmail, high art, positive thinking, bullying, a poem, forgiveness, anxiety, unintentional sexual innuendo, a funeral, a son, a third child, a pitch at a baseball game, specialness, homelessness, race and feminism, and Maureen Dowd.

This will be my first conference with an iPhone, and it occurred to me yesterday that there are likely a few apps that would make my visit to BlogHer '10 in New York a little smoother. I started looking into it, and it didn't take me long, with the help of some of my fellow people on Twitter, to find 20 apps that will do just that.



Here is the list of 20 iPhone apps I'll be using during my trip to New York, along with links to their BlackBerry and Android equivalents (when they were available). Enjoy!

1. ShakeItPhoto ($0.99)
   Before the trip even starts, get ShakeItPhoto. It's my go-to app for taking photos that I know will come out in most kinds of light. It will save you time spent fiddling with cameras when you'd rather be immersed in the moment.


2. Kindle (free)
   If you've been to previous BlogHer conferences, you'll know that you want to travel light going in. You end up picking up a lot stuff throughout the conference that will more than fill your suitcase for your trip home, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to pack books or magazines. This Kindle app will help you lighten your load and your carry-on. (see also: BlackBerry, Android)


3. Shake and Spell (free)
   I have been addicted to Shake and Spell for months. When I can't sleep or I'm feeling anxious, this is my go-to game to keep me occupied and/or distracted. I'm not a fan of airports, so I think I'll be playing a lot of this game. (see also: BlackBerry)


4. Waken Shake (free)
   Why pack an alarm clock or worry if your hotel wake up call is going to come through when your iPhone can double as an alarm clock?


5. The Weather Channel (free)
   A couple of years ago, I found myself chronically underdressed in a chilly San Francisco, and I have a feeling that I might find myself chronically overdressed in what I'm told will be a very hot New York, so I'm using this app to remind me to leave the long sleeves in my suitcase. (see also: BlackBerry, Android)


6. NYC Way (free)
   NYC Way is one app that is more like sixteen. When you load the app, sixteen icons show up that direct you to dining, nightlife, events, coffee, street eats, restrooms, beauty and spa, etc. There's even one for traffic cameras. I'm sold! (see also: Android)


7. Time Out New York (free)
   If you plan on doing some sightseeing or eating away from the hotel but don't know your way around the city, you can search by location, events, and food and drink, and there are reviews and Critic's Picks to help you figure out what you want to do. Easy-to-use maps will help to make sure that you actually get to where you want to go.


8. New York 2Go ($0.99)
   This is the perfect app for the tourist who wants to read up on all of New York's famous landmarks, geography, history, and people. There are over 900 articles filled with historical data, facts, and trivia, and there is also a fully zoomable map of the entire city.


9. CityTransit (2.99)
   If you plan on braving New York's subway system, CityTransit will help get you from point A to point B with its official maps licensed from NYC's MTA, line data, a GPS-based station finder, and live service advisories.


10. Wi-Fi Finder (free)
    Wi-Fi Finder will find you both free and paid Wi-Fi hotspots in over 140 countries, so it should help you make do in New York. (see also: Android)


11. foursquare (free)
    This is a social city guide that helps you find nearby places, lets you broadcast where you are, and "rewards you for doing interesting things". It will also help others to find you where you are, which is useful during the rapidfire chaos of large conference. (see also: BlackBerry, Android)


12. Urbanspoon (free)
    This is an app I use all the time even while in my home city. If you can't decide where to go or if you want to know what restaurants are near you that fall within your budget and food craving, Urbanspoon will find you the right place to go complete with ratings, reviews, relative affordability, restaurant descriptions, and addresses and telephone numbers. (see also: BlackBerry, Android)


13. CheckPlease (free)
    After you and your friends have had your fill, let this tip calculator help you figure out who owes how much and what the tip should be. (see also: Android)


14. Coovents (free)
    Find a local happy hour and avoid sky-high drink prices? Yes, please!


15. SitOrSquat: Bathroom Finder (free)
    You might laugh at this one, but if you are pregnant or have a baby with you or are squeamish about using public facilities, this app could save you a lot of anxiety. (see also: BlackBerry, Android)


16. Bump (free)
    With Bump, you can share your chosen contact information with another conference-goer simply by bumping your phones together. It's one of the easiest ways to exchange your information and have it automatically saved in your phone's contacts. (see also: Android)


17. Mover (free)
    I am a fan of this app. It allows you to move stuff between iPhones with a flick of the finger, which makes sharing photos and contacts fast and easy.


18. White Noise ($1.99)
    There is little time to sleep at the conference, so you want to get as much sleep as you can in what time you do have. If outside city noises are liable to keep you awake, White Noise's library of looping sounds such as waves on the beach, crickets, and rainfall might help you to fall asleep. (see also: BlackBerry, Android)


19. NYTimes (free)
    Since you're in New York, why not read the New York Times? (see also: BlackBerry, Android)


20. BlogHer (free)
    You're at BlogHer! It only makes sense to have the app!

The great thing is that if you own an iPhone, all of these apps together cost a mere $6.96!

Are there any apps that you would add to this list? Are there any Blackberry and/or Android equivalents that I missed?

I was standing in the bathtub towelling off after a shower when I noticed a dark shape peeking around the edge of the bathroom door.


Oskar trying to beat the heat

"Hello there, kitten wittens. Come on in," I said, because sometimes Oskar waits for an invite before entering the bathroom.

There was no movement.

"Oh, kiddly bediddly. You can come in," I singsonged, patting the edge of the tub.

There was still no movement.

"So, you're just going to sit out there, hey sweetness? But I miss my widdle fuschnickens." I clapped my hands against my thighs.

There was no movement again, but he sometimes makes a point of half-ignoring me if he feels that he's been slighted somehow, which is often.

"Little kitter badoodles, you know you want some lovin'," I said. "Come to your mama. My yiddow baby cat knows he's got some coming."

And then I reached down to rub his head and entice him to come through the door...

only to find myself petting...

A BATHING SUIT HANGING ON THE DOORKNOB.

It was then that I realized I had just spent several straight minutes trying to sweet talk a bathing suit into coming into the bathroom for a cuddle.

Lessons learned:

1. I am much blinder than I thought I was without my glasses.
2. When a bathing suit turns eight years old and hangs lumpenly enough to resemble a cat, it's ripe for retirement.
3. Nudity compounds the embarrassment of an embarrassing situation by no less than three times.

"Jersey Shore Cast Members Open the New York Stock Exchange":

In another chapter in the story about why we can’t have nice things, cast members of Jersey Shore fist-pumped at the opening of the New York Stock Exchange yesterday.

The Palinode's birthday was on Friday, which we kicked off with a sushi lunch with Saviabella, which was good, because it's been too many ages since we've seen her.

On the way to meet them at Sake, I found this set of keys hanging on a nail on this tree. I had this strong urge to grab them and try them on every car and house on the street, because it kind of looked like an invitation to do that, but then I realized that the nail in the tree was probably not specifically meant to hold that set of keys out in public like that and that maybe someone had found the keys lying on the sidewalk and had just hung them on the first available nail so their owner could find them.

Yay, logic! It keeps me from accidentally committing crimes like home invasion and car theft.



Don't bother going to Sake where we had lunch, by the way. I ate bits of five or six different things, and the only thing I could finish was the miso soup. The fish tasted fishy, the beef teriyaki tasted day-old, and, although we ordered off the all-you-can-eat menu, they told us that we had to order quickly, because the kitchen was closing. It was only 2 p.m. I spent over $20 and left hungry.

Here's the Palinode enjoying the edible miso soup:



Later, the Palinode and I gathered a few of our friends together and went to The Creek in Cathedral Bistro, which completely made up for Sake's lacklustre comestibles.



Although, I have to point out that their beverage menu was BIZARRE.



The menu offered "guinguiness", "johjjjjohnny walker black", "csssschivas regal", and "dsfvtaylor fladgate twenty year tawny". Typos like "fresh grounc coffee" were the least of the menu's problems, though. The first heading at the top of the menu? It read: "non alcholic beverage".

This is a pretty high end restaurant for Regina, so it seems strange that no one had access to spell check when they made up the beverage menu. I'm thinking that they were taste-testing the beverages at the time. And still are. How can you not notice that?

PLEASE TO BE SPELLING "ALCOHOLIC" CORRECTLY ON YOUR BEVERAGE MENU. I nearly got out my red pen. Yes, I carry a red pen in my purse.



If you need more fibre, the sidewalk has it. Good to know.

Oh, holy crap. I totally lost track of the fact that this was all about the Palinode's birthday. This is what happens when you delay writing a post about something for a few days.

Aside from the excellent meal at The Creek, I gave him the PS3 game Red Dead Redemption, which he has been heavily immersed in for the last three days, and five high end teas that were worth the arm I had to hand over to pay for them.

And now the Palinode is very old, and I even wrote him a poem related to that fact. You should go wish him well in his decrepitude over on twitter or at his weblog, and remember to speak VERY LOUDLY so he can hear you.