What to Do on a Bitterly Cold January Saturday in NYC

1) Get up just before 8, snuggle Sam into his sweater and take him out for his morning walk as the temp reads 6 degrees.

2) Walk next door to the bakery and buy a croissant, warm it up at home.

3) Head to the New York Historical Society to catch "Drawn by New York: Six Centuries of Watercolors and Drawings" from the Society's collection. Two depict the Great Fire of 1835, when temperatures of -17 rendered water hoses useless, contributing to the devastation. New York got paid firefighters the next year. Nearby, in the large Hudson River School Hall, one wall space was nearly bare, occupied only by a small announcement that this painting, View of Yosemite Valley from the School by Thomas Hill, will be behind newly inaugurated President Obama when he sits down for the traditional lunch with Congress tomorrow.



The NYHS and, across Central Park and further uptown, the Museum of the City of New York are our hometown museums, filled with exhibits and stories of the city's past, complementing the world collections of the AMNH, the Met, MoMA among others.

4) Head back out into the weather, now up to 15 degrees or so, and to La Vela, an unassuming neighborhood Italian place on Amsterdam for a late lunch, including a delicious appetizer I don't remember seeing before, polenta and sausage in a light gorgonzola sauce.

5) Get a history lesson of a sorts from Tom Cruise, looking ludicrous in an eye patch and carrying around a glass eye to be popped in whenever he's in proximity to Hitler, in Valkyrie. Mostly accurate in its depiction of the failed assassination attempt by a clutch of German officers, not convinced that the accompanying storyline of a nearly successful follow-on action to seize control of Berlin and therefore overthrow the Reich is so accurate. A bit like when the 4th period history teacher announces a film instead of a class, a diversion and a pretty good teaching tool.

6) Take the 1 line and then, at 14th Street, wait forever for the notorious F line to go to Bowery Ballroom for the Glasgow band Frightened Rabbit. The best rock concert I've seen in months, and -- like the National -- a band still peaking, but already confident enough of its power that it can bury perhaps its best-known song, Heads Roll Off, deep in the middle of a hard-working and raucous set. The song begins with the arresting couplet, "Jesus is just a Spanish boy's name/How come one man got so much fame." (Jesus was also on the mind of the opening act, but much more banally -- Jesus and the Devil are one and the same, duh, there's an original thought.) In their songs, romance doesn't go very well for -- as Bianca calls them -- Scared Bunny, but judging by the clutching and kissing couples to the music, I'm guessing a couple new residents for the planet got their start under warm blankets later that night.

7) Come home, complete February bookings for Hawaii vacation.