The Triboro RFK Bridge has many names, depending on when you’ve lived in NYC. 

Triboro or Triborough Bridge—anyone using the bridge before 2010 will call it the Triboro Bridge.  RFK Bridge or Robert F. Kennedy Bridge—the new name since November, 2008.  It cost $4 million for the MTA and NYSDOT to replace all the signs leading to the bridge.  The original Triborough name derives from the bridge connecting the three NYC boroughs of Manhattan, Bronx, and Queens.  The bridge is actually three separate long-span bridges connecting the three boroughs, a number of smaller bridges and viaducts, fourteen miles of approach highways and parkways, parks and recreational facilities, and administrative offices for the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority.  The three main spans connect with one another over Randalls Island and Wards Island, with greenways linking the various segments.  The toll plaza and approaches manage 22 lanes of traffic coming from the north, south and west, and is approximately nine acres.  http://parkitnyc.com/driving-nyc/nyc-bridge-tunnel/east-river-bridges-tunnels/triboro-rfk-bridge/

The Queensboro Bridge, also known as the 59^th Street Bridge was built in 1909 and carries approximately 200,000 vehicles every day.  One of the most traveled bridges in the world, it connects Manhattan at 59th Street to Long Island City, Queens.  The upper level of the Queensboro Bridge has four lanes of automobile traffic and provides an excellent view of the bridge’s cantilever truss structure and the New York City skyline.  The lower level has six lanes, the inner four for automobile traffic and the outer two for either automobile traffic or pedestrians and bicycles.  The North Outer Roadway was converted into a permanent pedestrian walk and bicycle path in September 2000.  http://parkitnyc.com/driving-nyc/nyc-bridge-tunnel/east-river-bridges-tunnels/queensboro-bridge/  The City Council voted 38-12 in favor of renaming the bridge for the former mayor.  The council's Parks Committee voted 6-1 in favor of the proposal.   "When the mayor asked me if he could submit the legislation to rename the Queensboro Bridge the 'Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge'--in Manhattan, it's known as the 59th Street Bridge--I said that was a great honor, but I wasn't going to lobby for it," said Koch.  http://gothamist.com/2011/03/23/queensboro_bridge_could_be_koch_bri.php

Did you know that solanum melongena is called “eggplant” in America because some 18th century cultivars looked like goose eggs?  Elsewhere the prolific purple fruit is an aubergine or maybe a brinjal.  “Mad apple” came about when someone confused the Italian melanzane with mela insana.  Of course “insana” is how you may feel when you stumble over yet another sack of eggplant left on your doorstep by a stealthy and definitely anonymous benefactor.  Like the tomato and potato, it is part of the deadly nightshade family and for centuries people assumed all three were poisonous.  See recipe for Eggplant with Fresh Mint, Kalamata Olives, Jalapeno and Ricotta Salata  at:  http://www.spicelines.com/2007/08/recipe_eggplant_invasion_spice.htm

Solanaceae is a family of flowering plants that includes a number of important agricultural crops.  Many species are toxic plants.  The name of the family comes from the Latin Solanum "the nightshade plant", but the further etymology of that word is unclear.  Most likely, the name comes from the perceived resemblance that some of the flowers bear to the sun and its rays, and in fact a species of Solanum (Solanum nigrum) is known as the "sunberry".  Alternatively, the name has been suggested to originate from the Latin verb solari, meaning "to soothe".  This presumably refers to soothing pharmacological properties of some of the psychoactive species of the family.  The family is also informally known as the nightshade or potato family.  The family includes Datura, Mandragora (mandrake), Atropa belladonna (deadly nightshade), Lycium barbarum (wolfberry), Physalis philadelphica (tomatillo) , Physalis peruviana (Cape gooseberry flower), Capsicum (chili pepper, bell pepper), Solanum (potato, tomato, eggplant), Nicotiana (tobacco), and Petunia.  With the exception of tobacco (Nicotianoideae) and petunia (Petunioideae), most of the economically important genera are contained in the subfamily Solanoideae.  Many members of the Solanaceae family are used by humans, and are important sources of food, spice and medicine.  However, Solanaceae species are often rich in alkaloids whose toxicity to humans and animals ranges from mildly irritating to fatal in small quantities.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanaceae

Making Progress Against Clutter by Jane E. Brody

With the help of a friend who has furnished several apartments with items from Ikea and another who knows how to put the stuff together, I saved thousands of dollars on decorator fees and costly furnishings and ended up with clean, simple, practical work surfaces and storage units.  The task of decluttering has been helped greatly by “The Hoarder in You,” a very practical book by Dr. Robin Zasio, but it is far from over. I still have too many clothes and shoes and face what another author, Barry Dennis, calls “The Chotchky Challenge.”  Mr. Dennis, a motivational speaker, relies on an expanded definition (and Anglicized spelling) of the Yiddish word “tchotchke,” which refers to a trinket or knickknack; he uses it to mean “stuff that gets out of control.”  In his view, a tchotchke can be almost anything that takes up space, both mental and physical, that might better be occupied by something else or nothing at all.  As Mr. Dennis points out, far too many plugged-in people now wander through life oblivious to their surroundings.  They don’t see the trees, hear the birds, notice the people or even the traffic.  I’ve rescued two women recently who walked into the paths of oncoming vehicles while entranced by their phones.  Find details and helpful hints at:  http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/making-progress-against-clutter/

Cornstarch, arrowroot, and tapioca are the most popular starch thickeners. They have different strengths and weaknesses, so it's a good idea to stock all three in your pantry.  Starch thickeners give food a transparent, glistening sheen, which looks nice in a pie filling, but a bit artificial in a gravy or sauce.  If you want high gloss, choose tapioca or arrowroot. If you want low gloss, choose cornstarch.  Cornstarch is the best choice for thickening dairy-based sauces. Arrowroot becomes slimy when mixed with milk products.   Find much more plus pictures at:  http://www.foodsubs.com/ThickenStarch.html

For more than a decade, Gretchen Reynolds has been writing about the science of health and fitness.  Her weekly column, Phys Ed, is one of the paper’s most popular features, regularly appearing on top of the “Most E-mailed” list.  Now Ms. Reynolds has distilled the knowledge gained from years of fitness reporting into a new book, “The First 20 Minutes: Surprising Science Reveals How We Can Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer,’’ published last month.  While the subtitle alone makes bold promises about the potential of exercise to protect the human body, the most surprising message from Ms. Reynolds is not that we all need to exercise more — or at least not the way exercise is typically defined by the American public.  Ms. Reynolds makes a clear distinction between the amount of exercise we do to improve sports performance and the amount of exercise that leads to better health.  To achieve the latter, she explains, we don’t need to run marathons, sweat it out on exercise bikes or measure our peak oxygen uptake.  We just need to do something.  “Humans,” she writes, “are born to stroll.”  Tara Parker-Pope  Read interview at:  http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/the-surprising-shortcut-to-better-health/