Monday, Monday ...

In the moood for music to ease you into the week?

Brooklyn's own Eleanor Whitmore's free at Pete's Candy Store, 9:30 p.m. Her mama sings opera and her daddy sings folk (there's a song title right there), but she seems to lean more toward her father's folk style, which is just fine by me. You can catch her at Pete's every Monday in April. Take the G or L and walk to 709 Lorimer St. Williamsburg.

If layoffs have got your working double -- or if you're one of the many laid off -- take a note from Abe Lincoln: "I laugh because I must not cry."

TONY recommends Upright Citizen Brigade's Whiplash (free, every Monday, 11:30 p.m.) -- this week featuring Wyatt Cenac (who, of course, is awesome on the Daily Show). Have an earlier bedtime? Spank's at 6:30, 8 and 9:30 for $5. Take the 1 to 28th or C, E to 23rd. Walk to 307 W. 26th (by the Gristedes at 8th).

City's got soul

Saturday

• A coupla tough guys shared ear buds on the subway
  
• A fortune-telling drag queen offered me her cheek for a kiss
  

Sunday

• The mist was so thick glasses fogged. From a ball field in Central Park the skyscrapers seemed to evaporate. A little more and they'd have been gone.
  
• The storm roared like summer nights

Monday

• A construction worker stopped me on the sidewalk (no, no catcalls). I stood still as a crane balanced a steel beam 10 feet over my head
  
• New flowers at the store across from work. Must mean spring.

The best things in life are free ...

Ending soon ...

February in New York: cold, wet, germy. But. No tourists.

Without their business, NYC restaurants, museums, tours and hotels are ready to cut you a deal. It's not always much, 10% here, 25% there, but every little bit helps and there are some two-for-one specials. Use these coupon codes by Feb. 29.

After that, it's not NY-specific -- in fact, I mostly use it to leave the city more cheaply -- but you can keep e-cutting coupons at retailmenot.com.

'Not gonna write you a love song ...'

But maybe a novel?

Gotham Writers' Workshop just announced its spring class schedules for everything from Nonfiction 101 to Screenwriting and Stand-Up Comedy. And yes, even Songwriting, so maybe you could write a love song, it is Valentine's after all. Sadly, these workshops all hover around $400. Shouldn't starving artists spend their bread on ... bread?

Go to their free sample classes. You do have to register and sign in, but it never turns into a high-pressure sales pitch. Each of these free workshops is about an hour long, usually held in a neighborhood Barnes & Noble or what-have-you. They're led by actual Gotham teachers whose enthusiasm for instructing freeloaders seems, based on my limited experience, to vary. The advice of Janice Erlbaum (author of Girlbomb and the newly released Have You Found Her) I remember came across as accessible and helpful for any writer, even though she focuses on memoirs.

A spattering of sci-fi crazies and cat ladies do attend, but mostly it's a mix of people just looking to get their creative juices flowing or trying to figure out if they're serious enough for the next step, which I guess is paying for class.

It's funny how in college I had no problem skipping class and now I scour the city for any sort of education I can afford. I've even started watching the History Channel ... am I old?

Delish dosai

Last night we stuffed ourselves at Chennai Garden, a southern Indian kosher vegetarian restaurant in Curry Hill or Little India or whatever you want to call it. Yummy. 

The masala dosai and mysore masala dosai were tasty (the mysore wasn't terribly spicy), the appetizers were perfect except for some overcooked pakora. The coconut chutney wasn't too coconuty, which I personally appreciate, and the lentil soup was nice and spicy. I'm not big on non-chocolate desserts, but the conical kulfi ice cream with cardamom was a nice cool-down to a hot, savory meal. 

The servers weren't particularly friendly, but they were quick enough. 

Best part: Nothing on the menu was more than $10.

Chennai Garden 

129 E. 27th St. (between Park and Lexington)

212-689-1999

Subway: 6, R, W or 1 to 28th; F, V to 23rd

Happy New Year (again)!

Chinatown is friendly territory for anyone looking to save a buck, and that's especially true on holidays like Chinese Lunar New Year. Not only do you get the usual cheap eats, clothes, bowls, what-have-you, but free entertainment, as well.

It falls on Feb. 7 this year, when they'll have the firecrackers and dance troupes. Then this Sunday's the parade. Both events are great photo opps.

Firecrackers
Chatham Square (where the arch stands for Chinese-Americans who died in WWII)
Feb. 7; 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Intersection: Bowery, Mott and E. Broadway
Subway: J, M, Z to Chambers; 4, 5, 6 to City Hall; N, Q, R, W to Canal

Diagonally from the square (and across Bowery) is Doyers Street, which you might've seen on TV and stuff. People say the merchants way-back-when made it crooked so that ghosts, who can apparently only fly straight, couldn't haunt them. Of course, the firecrackers are meant to ward off evil spirits, too, but a double-dose of luck couldn't hurt.

Lion Dance (martial artists, drums, gongs, fun)
Feb. 10; 11 a.m.-Noon
125 E. 65th St. (outside the China Institute @ Park and Lex.)
Note: this is in the Upper East Side
Subway: 6 to 68th; F to 53rd

Parade
Feb. 10; 1–5 p.m.
Mott St. (between Canal and Bayard)
Subway: J, M, Z, 6, N, Q, R, W to Canal; B, D to Grand

Mott Street probably has the most restaurants of any in Chinatown, so you should have no trouble finding a delish deal, but if you'd like some suggestions, well, here. Also, nearby Eldridge St. hosts two great spots: Super Taste (#26) has pretty authentic pulled noodles and Prosperity Dumpling (#46) has, ya know, tasty dumplings.

Hoping it's Year of the Rat in fortune ... but not so much literally ...

Treats in tow ...

The elusive Treats Truck is now back in the Upper West Side on a regular basis, without giving up stops in the rest of Manhattan and Brooklyn.

$3 Mexican chocolate brownies, 50-cent sugar dots, $2 peanut butter sandwich cookies and $1 classic chocolate chips or $2 rice crispies -- mm mm mm mmm goooood! Plus, there's more, including specials and gift boxes.

And "owner/baker/driver/eater" Kim Ima just might be the nicest lady I've met since moving to New York. She's certainly generous with the free samples!

The truck, "Sugar," runs on cleaner compressed natural gas and 10% goes to charity (this month it's New York Cares' Coat Drive), so you can feel better about satisfying your sweet tooth at the TT rather than coffee chains.

To find Sugar, you can always call 212-691-5226 -- once they're parked they put up a new recording with the location every day.

Today it's at 44th near 6th, noon to 5 p.m.

Tomorrow it's at 38th and 5th, noon to 5 p.m.
Friday the same spot between noon and 2:30pm, then heading down to Bond & Lafayette 4-6 p.m.

Saturday almost home in Brooklyn 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at Union St. and 8th in Park Slope and back in the UWS 2-5 p.m.

It really is a treat :-p