What an eventful week it's been... Dave flies to Costa Rica on Tuesday, suspiciously coinciding his trip with the cast of 'I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Outta Here!'. Secret jungle-juice parties with Heidi and Spencer Pratt from 'The Hills'? Britney Spears also happens to be staying in Mel Gibson's Costa Rican ranch this week. Dave assures me he's oblivious to celebrities, but how do we explain his repeat sighting of Ryan Gosling in the East Village yesterday? Heading into a hookah bar - the dirty dog! Mere coincidence? I think not. I've started work as a hostess at 'The Australian'. I sit on my stool, smile, and parade patrons to tables. Easy. Boring. Pays far more than bookselling, but I'm now juggling a work schedule 7 days a week from 7am starts to 11pm day ends. ... read more

Some of you might have heard by now and here is where you'll hear the official word. I, David B. Cannan, International citizen (but soon to be US Temporary Resident) have finally scored myself a job. A proper job that is, that allows me to stay longer that the 3-Month Visa Waiver that currently occupies my passport. It is with The Mount Sinai (pronounced Sigh-Nigh) School of Medicine in the Otolaryngology department. The position involves working in a number of different labs researching a variety of different projects. One of the main focus' is on Cancer Dormancy and trying to understand the genetic implication of why some cancers lie dormant for years, even decades and then suddenly switch back on. I'll be working in Pathology to start off with but then I'll be a kind of ... read more

Mid-afternoon on a sunny Saturday we found ourselves hanging underground in SoHo with a bunch of people too-cool-for-daylight. Destination: ‘Fat Cat’: a shadowy hall of games where three rounds of pool went down to the soundtrack of a funky live jazz band. The ‘thwack’ of airborne ping-pong balls criss-crossing adrenalized foosball tournaments roused lazy beer-swilling scrabble contestants from their scholarly trances. This is the kind of covert inner-city gem you only discover accompanying a local in-the-know. Our escorts today are in the process of documenting ‘Manhattan’s Definitive Guide to the Best Holes-In-The-Wall’. It’s gonna be a sell-out, trust me! Sameer and Kavya are the most effervescent, enthusiastic, New York-loving couple we’ve ever met, and they have unearthed every worthy culinary secret in the city. For lunch we grabbed deliciously succulent lamb f... read more

Unless your name is Sarah Andrews, you'll probably have no idea who this C-grade excuse for a celebrity actually is. He was posing outside a brunch spot in Chelsea, dark sunglasses and hat for that extra conspicuous touch, definitely aware he'd been spotted. He's the token Aussie boyfriend in the faux-reality (secretly scripted) MTV show: "The City". ... read more

A momentous occasion took place yesterday: we spotted two celebrities! Jennifer Connelly strolled past us in Soho, then Dave nearly wet his pants over some ugly old guy. (He tells me it was Dave Bryan, the keyboardist for Bon Jovi). The golden thread of celebrity also wove through a job interview I attended this week, to be assessed by the right-hand man of an architect who is one in the Top 5 in the world. Let's call him 'Momus' (the Greek god of satire, mockery, censure, a spirit of evil-spirited blame and unfair criticism - you'll understand why soon enough). Momus is such a world renowned design genius, it was like a treasure hunt to find his office. I followed a sequence of clues through the streets of Manhattan before ending up at a non-descript doorway ... read more