I wanted to see the Alexander McQueen exhibit at The Met today, but when David and I got there, the line just to buy tickets was oh so long. Since we live a few blocks from the museum, we decided to come back another time. As we left, a guard was putting up a sign that said the wait to see the McQueen exhibit was 1 1/2 hours. I had no idea that so many people were so fashion conscious.

We went to the Neue Galerie near The Met, instead, which is featuring an exhibit called Vienna 1900: Style and Identity. We saw magnificent paintings by Gustav Klimt, furniture by Josef Hoffmann and the reconstructed chaise that Sigmund Freud’s patients reclined on during their psychoanalysis. We were even allowed to sit on it!

Josef Hoffman "Blueberry" wallpaper

Spotted this FOF at Fairway, a popular food purveyor on the Upper West Side. It’s hard to tell from the photo I took, but her vintage dress (at least it looked vintage) had a set of round plastic buttons down the back, each a different color. Her hair was different colors, too–a little blue, a little pink, a little gray–and it was decorated with two big orange bows. She was quite a character, even by New York standards.

My Fair(way) Lady

Debating whether to go to the gym for a boring session on the treadmill.

I was watching the adorable puppies in the pet shop window this morning and an elegant woman standing next to me said: “I live around the block and come here practically every day. No matter how I feel, they [the puppies] make me happy.” Dressed in a lovely floral dress and carrying a smart-looking hand bag, she also was well spoken. “How old are you?” I boldly asked her. “Up there. Really up there,” she answered, while moving her hands upwards.

Model Carmen Dell'Orefice two years ago, at 78

“You look marvelous,” I answered. I guessed she was well into her eighties, maybe even over ninety. “How do you feel?”

“Ok, but I’ve slowed down. It’s being a senior.”

“I don’t use that word ,” I shot back.

“Actually, I don’t like it either,” she said. “When I got an American Express card that said senior, I stopped going to an Italian restaurant where I often had dinner. I didn’t want them to know.”

I asked what she was doing today, and she answered, “I’m going to take a walk, then have a bite of lunch and then go back to my apartment to do some things.”

I haven’t forgotten her all day.

M, one of my oldest friends ( we met in college), told me last night that her younger sister, R, has ovarian cancer. A slight swelling in R’s groin was the only sign that something was possibly wrong. After the diagnosis, she had a total hysterectomy and is now on a chemo regimen that leaves her nauseous and debilitated. Single and living alone, R is staying with her sister. They are both wonderful souls and lucky to have each other.

Sarah comforting Kitty in "Brothers & Sisters"

Thank God for sisters. And we all know that women don’t have to be blood sisters to be there for each other in times of need. My thoughts and prayers are with R.

The number of blogs, press releases, DVDs and books that promise to help us lose weight astounds me. Do this exercise, eat that food; no, this exercise is better and that food beats them all. It’s impossible to keep up with all these purportedly brilliant solutions and diets and to know who is really qualified to offer them. Or which one really works.

We are a society obsessed with our weight, but our behavior is suspect. Companies manufacture awful foods and spend billions promoting them. We eat up their marketing–and their dreadful, fat-filled, carbo-loaded concoctions. Then other groups swoop in to show us how we can shed the unsightly pounds we gained from the awful foods we eat. Gigantic cupcakes, which have more calories than people in other countries eat in days, are selling like Beatles albums. We line up for “fat-free” frozen yogurt that’s loaded with sugar. We still guzzle Cokes by the gallons and serve our children cereals that would put a diabetic into a coma.

Since I’ve embarked on my own diet about five weeks ago (low carb, low fat, small portions, exercise), I wonder if any of these diet gurus know something I don’t.  So I called one who peaked my interest (his name is Don and he created a diet called mobanu) and I’m going to try out his plan as soon as the DVD’s arrive.

I’ve shed five pounds so far, which Don says is good, since it’s best to lose only one or two pounds a week. I’ll keep you posted on how mobanu and I get along.