Curious, George.

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our face toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate ... is strength undefeatable." - Helen Keller

It is said that adventure must start with running away from home. So I did - with my husband, almost a year ago. We flew from Sydney to New York, for the trip of a lifetime. A gift from his cancer ... was to stop putting off an amazing trip until the kids were old enough, or we had more money ... just do it. And do it now. People wake up every day around the world, not knowing that today is their last day on earth. Dave's cancer has taught me to live my life with a pressing sense of urgency - the nowness of now will never be here again.

I wrote about landing in America here. At the end of that post, I talk about how it was 6pm and Dave and I were headed out for a burger. Here's a photo of us before we got ready to go:

                      New York, the disheveled Aussies have arrived!

America makes the best burgers in the world. I doubt anybody can dispute that. When Dave and I set out into Time Square that first night in NYC - oh my goodness. I had the bright idea of asking a local where the best burgers in town were. Just as soon as I stopped flirting with the local coppers.

                                        My feet look like flippers

We went to this electronics shop and I asked the guy behind the counter where the best burgers in town were. He was busy, but INSTANTLY he got excited. "You sure asked the right person!"

And wrote down instructions of how to get there. Which I kept. It's stuck on my fridge, as a reminder.

The Burger Joint, Le Parker Meridien

We had no idea in hell where we were going, but just followed the street numbers until we got to 6th Avenue. On the way, Dave kept saying "Look hon - there's a burger place. Let's just eat here." I had a really good feeling about this Burger Joint, so we pressed on. We came to the Parker Meridien - a REALLY fancy hotel. Walked in, looked around - nothing. The cafe looked shut. I told Dave let's just go back, but then he goes to ask at reception.

The guy on reception pointed ... to behind a velvet curtain.

We walked around to this huge queue, snaking all the way around the corner. It seemed to be moving pretty quickly, so we waited. It was all very covert. And fun. And cool. Finally we got to the front, to find the hippest, coolest batcave of a place you've ever seen in your life.

We were STARVING. It was packed, so I grabbed a table while Dave stood in line and ordered. Everybody had American accents - except us, the two country-bumpkin Aussie hicks. Dave came over and sat down while we waited for our order. I think all we did is just look around, and stare at everything in wonder.

Dave noticed a guy who needed a seat, and in his usual way, said "Here ya go mate, there's a seat here if ya want."

So the guy comes and sits down, we say hi. His name was George.

He quickly asks us if we were from Australia, we were all excited and shamelessly gushing. "YES! We just arrived here today and everything is so big and amazing! OMG!"

He sized us up a bit, and then said, "So, how did you guys even know about this burger place?" I showed him our directions. He was pretty cool.

And then he started telling us about his job. Instantly, I could tell he was a bigwig. A BIG bigwig, but I played it cool. Our burgers arrived. Oh, heaven in a bun. America? The Creator of the world called ..... she wants her burger recipe back. George, Dave and I bonded over ketchup and fries. George used to work as a Chief Digital Officer at NBC. Now he was a CEO at Hearst Entertainment. He chewed on his burger for a while, and then tells us that just yesterday he was having lunch with an Australian. Rupert Murdoch, in fact.

I said, are you shitting me?

No, George wasn't shitting me. He then launched into this huge amazing story of the meeting - it was a pitch, actually. George sat there telling the two Aussie yokels about a multi-million dollar pitch and subsequent deal on a new mini-series that Rupert Murdoch gave the green light to. About how it was a world-first, never been done, etc.

At the end of our chat, George asked what we both do. Dave said he has been a builder for his whole life. Dave pointed to me and said, "And she's a blogger."

George went WHITE. "Oh, really?" I said really ... that I was to attend my first-ever BlogHer at the Hilton the following day. I gave him my business card. George made me promise I wouldn't blog about the new series. Of course. He asked me if I was on twitter, I said yes I was edenland.

Was George on twitter? "Yes, I'm under Goldfolder."

Dave starts laughing. "Goldfolder?"

"Yes ... it's where all the million-dollar ideas are kept."

George's twitter is here. When I publish this post, I'm going to tweet him - I don't think he'll remember me. You can tweet him too, reassure him that I did not tell the world his secret.

BUT I COULD HAVE.

The next day I was on a double-decker bus around the city. The tour guide says, "And here we have the world-famous Hearst building." I looked up in awe, and thought about my new mate.

George I kept your secret. I think you at least owe me a burger.

::

This post was for the Ford Kidspot Challenge .... the topic is "Adventure." I've spoken to Ford, my car is coming in the next few days. I'm currently not talking to Dave because, well ... marriage is stupid. I may pile Max and Rocco into that car and drive off into the sunset.

Tell me, what's one of your adventures? Do you think George will remember me? And who the hell invented marriage?