For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea yesterday to hit up more than one of the 5 Starbucks in my office's immediate area for the free iced coffee from 10 to noon. I mean, I'm a red-blooded American, so why turn down something free, if not a lot of something free?

Early into the two hour window, I had the idea that I should have grabbed all Manhattan Starbucks addresses, geo-plotted them, optimized travel routes, and for the 10am start gun, have had myself set at the Southernmost location ready to work my way as far North as I could before time ran out. I could have selected the best attire (easy to move in office wear or standard running shoes and clothes) and maybe sent out a media advisory with a quote from Joey Chestnut.

However, the two gratis coffees that I had (as well as finishing Cheryl's morning tea, drinking my standard large morning coffee, and having another tea for lunch) are likely what was responsible for my being in the office until 10:15pm at will and staying up into the wee hours trying to find old friends online. (You would think that with guys whose last names include "Cudd" and "Grubbs" and women whose first names include "Chamie" and "Bryn" this would be a piece of cake, but somehow it was not.)

Anyway, here are a couple of upcoming Uptown events (and an update on Bugzy to come):

SATURDAY | JUNE 9 | 11:00 AM - 3:00PM | DYCKMAN LANDING (200th St and Hudson River)

Learn to Row!

The Harlem River Boat Club, Row New York, and the Alianza Dominicana invite New Yorker's to learn rowing.

The Harlem River Boat Club uses rowing to promote real waterfront and waterway access for all New Yorkers, especially in the communities that have historically lacked recreational facilities and access to their waterfronts. Programs are affordable to the community and the HRBC is working with other organizations to facilitate enviromental stewardship of waterfront areas along the Harlem and Hudson Rivers.

DIRECTIONS

Take the A (closer) or 1 to Dyckman Street, and walk West along Dyckman to the Hudson river.

SATURDAY | JUNE 16 | 1:00 PM | MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK

UPTOWNflavor sends along: Dog Owners and Their Dogs The New Yorkers: A Novel

Bring your dog to a special program for dogs and dog lovers in the Museum's courtyard. Best-selling novelist Cathleen Schine will read from The New Yorkers: A Novel (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007), a hilarious account of the interactions among residents on a tony Upper West Side block and the important role their dogs play in their lives. Adam Gopnik, award-winning critic-at-large forThe New Yorker will
introduce the program. In case of rain, the program will be held in the Museum's auditorium. FREE with Museum admission!

Dogs are welcome!

Reserve on line at www.mcny.org or by telephone at 212.534.1672, ext. 3395.
$ 5 for Museum members, seniors, and students
$ 9 for the general public

DIRECTIONS

By subway: #6 Lexington Avenue train to 103rd St., then walk three blocks west.
#2 or #3 train to Central Park North/110th St., walk one block east to
Fifth Avenue, then south to 103rd St.
By bus: M1, M3, M4, or M106 to 104th St., M2 to 101st St.