A QUIET START I allow myself to sleep no later than 7:30, because on a weekday I get up around 5. I’ll get up and just sit in silence in my apartment. I’ll take care of the preliminaries, brush my teeth, get dressed, and I shoot straight to the Starbucks two blocks away.

SAVOR I usually order a venti Pike, not too strong. Prison has the worst coffee, oh, my goodness — that’s one of the things I think anybody would tell you. And because the coffee’s so bad, we overcompensate with sugar or creamer. So, to savor this rich, hot drink in my hand is so fabulous — with cinnamon, not too much sugar.

CAST OF CHARACTERS I’m ashamed to say this, but I people-watch. Starbucks is a place where people don’t notice each other; they’re more focused on their computer or their phone. People walk around with these frowns and I’m like, “Why are you frowning?” People bring their children in there, and I find myself so caught up in the little kid who gets the piece of paper on the back of his shoe and trying to make his parents aware. Of course, I recognize where this comes from: I wasn’t around children for 22 years.

FUEL After Starbucks, I’ll go home — I’m usually hungry by then. I’ll fix me a scrambled egg with a cinnamon raisin bagel in my toaster. While I have little tastes for things, I don’t make an elaborate breakfast.

A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE Once I put something in my stomach, I bike ride. They have the bike path right on the corner that leads all the way to the East River. It’s about two miles away. So I pedal pretty forcefully to get a workout. Mostly I stop at Queensbridge Park, but there are times when I ride the bike lane all the way to the end of Astoria. But I also look at the Manhattan skyline. Now that I’m thinking about it: more often than not, I’m recognizing that the Twin Towers is not part of that skyline anymore.