I'm a bit subdued after Sunday's 100 mile bike ride around Long Island's North Fork, and feeling a bit more like reading than writing. As such, I offer a sample of what has caught my attention:

The Friends of St. Nicholas Park appreciate even those green spaces that are not in St. Nicholas Park, and so profile Arthur, a neighborhood hero who helps keep the foliage in the street looking it's best:

I often see [Arthur] trimming, planting and pulling trash out of the plot. He even created wooden teepees over areas that are trying to grow; to prevent foot traffic from cutting across.

He does this because he loves it. Plain and simple. [Friends of St. Nicholas Park]

A little further uptown, Christina plays the role of 'Girl behind door 2' in a real life episode of Law & Order:

I can hear another detective knocking at another apartment door down the hall. The man at my door is wearing a suit, has a badge clipped to his lapel, and is very well-groomed and handsome. Like, so good-looking that I had to wonder if he as married (but, no, I did not go looking for a ring). It turns out that two people had been shot and killed in the building next door and the detective wanted to know if I'd heard anything, if I'd been home all night, etc. That is sooo L&O. [Swirling Black Lilies]

Not the kind of dirty sex that you dream about, Lance tackles a tough subject in a daring way:

White folks may not know the numbers but it's down right scary out there in Black America where we make up approximately 13% of the population yet account for 50% of the new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in the US. 1 out of every 4 Black men in Manhattan aged 40 - 49 is HIV Positive and HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death of Black women between the ages of 25 and 44. That right there sums it up and is why being single in NYC can suck - you can literally get killed out here dating and there is nothing cool or sexy about that reality. [Harlem 26.2]