Welcome to Heathrow

Holy men

2008-12-05T08:41:00.002-05:00

Here’s an interesting picture from Nepal. This is from Durbar Square—the old city—in Kathmandu. These two guys leapt into a pose so that I could take a picture. And then asked for payment (which I gave).

National shout-out to my hometown

2008-11-21T08:37:00.003-05:00

I went to Washington, DC, not too long ago. At the new Newseum (cleverly, a museum about the news), one of the bathrooms has tiles in it with various error corrections that have appears in newspapers around the country. I’m so proud!

Pathos

2008-10-26T23:05:00.004-04:00

Although I’d planned to look at flowers this weekend, that didn’t pan out. I took a walk around the city instead. Sometimes the city has some sad sights.

A little more Nepal

2008-10-22T18:46:00.001-04:00

Until the posting mojo comes back, I may as well just post photos at random. Here are some colorful lanterns (I think) that were hanging in a shop near our hotel in Nepal.

Moon

2008-10-16T09:55:00.004-04:00

I’ve obviously lost all sense of routine about this. For now, at least.

What can I say? But the moon was full the other night. And it was a little cloudy. Here’s a picture of this over my neighborhood. From my apartment, even.

Do you think the people across the street became suspicious as I set up my camera on the tripod in front of the window?

Over a month

2008-09-17T09:42:00.002-04:00

I know it’s been over a month. There’s no excuse. I plan to start it back up on a more regular basis.

But for now...
I just want to report that today’s commute sucked. I sat on the V while two Fs went by (in the past, I’ve switched to the F, only to sit and wait while the V took off—thank goodness I avoided that today). And it was crowded. There was subway singing I didn’t want to hear. Pregnant women to be dodged. People spilling magazine parts onto the floor.

And my reward?
I’m at work.

Why the hippies loved Nepal

2008-08-13T09:32:00.004-04:00

There’s a moment when, looking at the overgrowth on the side of the road, it dawns on you what it is. And then you look around. And then you realize just how much—I mean, really how much—there actually is. Everywhere.

Done. Sort of.

2008-08-07T22:14:00.002-04:00

And the boxes have been moved. And life returns to chaos.

Time Warner hates me

2008-08-06T15:37:00.001-04:00

No internet access; no way to post pictures. What can I do?

Two guitars

2008-07-30T21:53:00.002-04:00

I bought the guitar on the left recently. It’s fairly low-end, but I love it. It sounds nice. It’s fun to play.

The guitar on the right is crappy. I’ll sell it to you for $20.

Here we go again

2008-07-29T10:03:00.002-04:00

Just to sneak a July post in here:

Back to Nepal

2008-06-30T08:09:00.003-04:00

This picture just appeals to me. This is a dirt street in the very busy Jyatha section of Kathmandu.

New job

2008-06-27T11:49:00.001-04:00

I hate my new commute.

I hate guessing which V is going to leave next. (I guessed wrong today). I hate guessing which of the V or the F is going to leave first, and which one is going to sit. Just sit. I hate getting on the uptown V when it’s sitting on the downtown track, looking tensely over at the uptown side, listening for the arrival of an uptown F train. And I hate abandoning my sense of dignity to run upstairs and then down to that platform when, in fact, the uptown F does arrive. (Sometimes, to add to my agony, the V leaves first anyhow).

I hate switching to the A/C/E. I hate trying to battle my way upstairs from the F to the A/C/E—especially when the train is actually arriving. The people in my way slowly trudge upstairs. These people don’t need to transfer at all, but are simply heading upstairs to go about their day at West 4th Street. But I have to transfer.

And the train is arriving.

I hate people who are too slow when getting on the train. They’re not in a hurry—they’ve already made it onto the train. But I’m stuck behind them, stuck in between the doors that will close any second. I know the doors will close, and if the doors do close on me, they will hurt, and they will leave giant black marks on my clothing. And the marks will be there the rest of the day. Today I put an open hand on the back of the man in front of me so he would continue onto the train so that I could get into the train and away from the doors. I don’t want to touch anyone on the train. I hate that man.

And I hate the two-block underground walk to 40th Street and 8th Avenue once I’m off the train. That underground walk is filled with people who aren’t in a hurry. It’s filled with people who don’t care that I’m late. It’m filled with people who are waiting patiently in line to get a Metrocard. It’s filled with people who are looking for a cup of coffee. No one else is late for work.

The J/M/Z is the best line in the system. I miss it.

Disaster

2008-06-23T08:26:00.003-04:00

It’s been ages. I know it has. The problem is, the Nepal pictures have piled up. And I was between jobs for a month. And now I’ve started a new one. And I’m just not sitting down in front of the computer like I was before.

But here’s a picture—not from Nepal, but from a quick trip I took to Chicago. I’ll come back to Nepal shortly, but there are so many pictures from there that it’ll take a little while to sort through them. Hence, a visual non sequitur:

Be forewarned: I’m not sure how many more monkey pictures I can promise.

Monkeys

2008-06-05T11:30:00.003-04:00

And here’s a picture of the stars of the Monkey Temple. Or, at least, the strong supporting cast.

Namaste!

2008-06-02T15:59:00.003-04:00

I’m back from Nepal! I have, as you can imagine, hundreds and hundreds of pictures. But I’ll start with this one—prayer wheels for sale at Swayambhunath Temple (also known as the Monkey Temple—believe me, I have pictures of that, too).

Trekking

2008-05-26T01:23:00.002-04:00

And now I’m off for a four-day trek, with uncertain access to the internet. Everyone enjoy your week! (And I believe most of my readership is actually still on an airplane right now—oh, well).

Weddings

2008-05-25T11:40:00.002-04:00

I know it’s been forever. But now I have a good reason. I’m currently sitting in an internet place in Kathmandu. (!) And a good half of my readership was here, too, so the urge to post was somewhat lessened. But now Mom and Dad are on their way back, so I should probably try to make it to the computer more regularly.

I came here for a wedding, which happened Tuesday. Then I went to Chitwan national park, where I managed to ride an elephant, see rhinos, and not get eaten by a tiger! And tomorrow or the next day I leave for a bit of trekking. In the meantime, I probably won’t do a lot of posting. But maybe from time to time. And I’ve already taken lots and lots of photos. Brace yourself.

Slow again

2008-05-08T11:30:00.002-04:00

Ok, it’s been—yet again—a long time. But I’m heading off on a trip this afternoon, so hopefully I’ll have pictures and tales aplenty next week. Have a good weekend!

Oh, no

2008-05-02T08:15:00.000-04:00

Damn.

How I use my spare time

2008-04-29T08:00:00.002-04:00

So the other night, while bored, I spent some time trying to take artsy pictures of a martini. As you can see... I failed miserably. But this is my best attempt:

Nice weather for the weekend

2008-04-25T08:32:00.003-04:00

Actually, I don’t think there’s supposed to be nice weather for the weekend at all. But the weather during the week has been lovely. So here’s a cheery picture from nearby my work, as a tribute to the progressing spring:

Domesticity

2008-04-23T08:23:00.002-04:00

I was told not too long ago that I have a bachelor’s refrigerator. But I did go to the grocery store this weekend—buy four yogurts, get four free!

Vacancy

2008-04-21T08:18:00.004-04:00

There’s a vacant lot in the block next to mine where a synagogue used to be. This was one of the passers-through yesterday:

Outside

2008-04-18T08:52:00.002-04:00

There’s been beautiful weather lately. And one of the nice things about working downtown is that you can take a walk around the Battery and look at boats. I don’t know where the Provincetown II came from. All I know is that it had lots and lots of screaming children on it.

A very special weekend

2008-04-14T07:50:00.002-04:00

It’s a special time of year. And this is what I spent a great deal of my weekend doing:

They came, they came!

2008-04-11T08:11:00.001-04:00

Yaaaaaay!

Please, Netflix, please ship my movies

2008-04-09T08:09:00.004-04:00

This weekend, after having a conversation over brunch that sounded like an unimaginative commercial, I went home and signed up for Netflix.

I’ve avoided Netflix for years. But once I made the decision to sign up, I proceeded to spend hours—hours—picking movies, rating movies, reordering my queue. And during the process, I got more and more excited about getting the first movies.

And they won’t come. On Saturday, when I signed up, Netflix cheerily announced, “We’ll send your first 2 available movies on Monday.” Then, around 3:00 on Monday, the announcement changed: “We’ll send your first 2 available movies on Tuesday.” Late yesterday afternoon: “We’ll send your first 2 available movies on Wednesday.” My Netflix homepage admonishes me to keep my queue full, saying in big, bold letters, “We’ll ship your first movie soon!”

I’ve now called, and customer support is supposedly taking care of it.

Please, Netflix. Please just ship them.

Damages and death

2008-04-07T08:21:00.002-04:00

A colleague pointed out that I had checked out the most gothic of the New York Jurisprudence volumes.

Enjoying the game

2008-03-12T08:28:00.001-04:00

These three were sitting in front of us at the Knicks game. It’s sweet, isn’t it, to see a father and his two sons, enjoying the game and each others’ company:

Go Knicks!

2008-03-10T07:37:00.002-04:00

I guess. Anyhow, I went to my first-ever Knicks game this weekend.

And they lost.

The research is in

2008-03-06T13:29:00.002-05:00

After two weeks’ worth of careful research, I can now announce that I have reached a verdict:
Physical therapy is better when not hung over.

It’s still unpleasant.

The dry spell of inspiration continues

2008-03-04T06:46:00.004-05:00

I can’t tell you what I’ve been doing. I don’t know what I’ve been doing. Whatever it is, it’s evidently not conducive to taking photos.

I have no choice but to post a picture of adorable kittens.

Don’t give up!

2008-02-28T08:06:00.004-05:00

I swear, I haven’t quit posting here. I just need to find inspiration! I’m trying, I’m trying.

In the meantime, here’s a funny-looking tree I saw in Ireland.

In other news, the highest-scoring word I’ve played so far is “snooked,” for 106 points.

Added benefits

2008-02-22T07:36:00.003-05:00

A nice thing about having my parents my town: random acts of home maintenance. I’ve been meaning to put curtains up in my bedroom for, oh, say, almost a year and a half. And now... ta-da! Thanks, Dad!

I haven’t quit yet

2008-02-20T06:46:00.002-05:00

I know I haven’t updated in a while. But nothing’s going on in general. And this weekend was a busy one with my parents. But here’s a picture of them, just to keep things going:

My misery has company

2008-02-12T07:21:00.000-05:00

New York is evidently the fourth most miserable city in the United States. Go team!

The office

2008-02-08T06:55:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my personal hell:

The celebration continues

2008-02-06T06:59:00.001-05:00

So... the Giants won the Superbowl on Sunday:

Dancing in the streets

2008-02-04T07:19:00.000-05:00

So... the Giants won the Superbowl last night:

So you know...

2008-02-01T08:54:00.000-05:00

I haven’t seen very much news about this, although I am consistently out of the loop. In any event, there is a fairly new baby panda in California now: awww.

’Tis a wee hill, but grand

2008-01-30T07:41:00.000-05:00

Last picture from Ireland. Our tour of the historical sites around Dublin culminated in a trip to the Hill of Tara, where the Celtic kings were crowned. Paul, our tour guide, described it: “’tis a wee hill, but grand. If you’re of Irish descent—if you have any Celtic blood at all... welcome home.”

The Hill of Tara has, among other things, two interlinking circular mounds. They’re amazing as you walk around them, but they’re easier to discern from above.

Also on the site is the Stone of Destiny, or Lia Fáil. According to legend, this stone was used to crown the Celtic rulers. The stone lets out a scream when touched by a future king.

I’ll avoid putting more pictures of myself here. But I’ll report, sadly, that I’m evidently not destined to be a Celtic queen.

The Iceman Cometh

2008-01-28T07:05:00.000-05:00

I had every intention of going into work on Saturday. As I was reluctantly getting ready to go, Daryn returned my call from earlier. I asked what he was up to that day. “Yeah, so... some of us are going to go see this guy who’s sitting in a big tub of ice.” Pause. “You want to come?”

I decided to go in to work on Sunday.

This is Wim Hof. He’s mastered a type of meditation that allows him to regulate his own body temperature and heart rate.

He stood in the ice for one hour and twelve minutes (breaking the previous world record—his own—of one hour and eleven minutes). We stood in the street and watched him stand in the ice for about forty-five minutes.

Here he is coming out of the ice. Check out his companions’ snappy t-shirts.

Peace

2008-01-18T08:30:00.001-05:00

In a fit of crunchy social consciousness — and also because I was attracted by the bright colors — I bought this cereal the other day. Check out the bottom: 10% of the profits are donated to Peace.

Everyone loves Peace!

Fourknocks

2008-01-16T08:14:00.000-05:00

Here’s a rare picture of me, taken by Sydney:

Fourknocks is a Celtic group tomb, oriented so the sun shines directly on the main burial chamber inside on the winter solstice. I’m standing on top here, but we went inside, too, where there is one of the only representations of a human face from neolithic Ireland. The tomb is older than the Pyramids. Cooool...

The unforgettable fire

2008-01-14T08:03:00.000-05:00

And this is the Hill of Slane:

In the 5th Century, according to legend, St. Patrick lit a fire here in defiance of the pagan king, High King Laoire. The king was impressed and allowed St. Patrick to continue his missionary work, although the king himself was never converted to Christianity (and was, according to our guide, buried in Celtic fashion—standing up, with a sword in his hand). The structures in this picture are the ruins of a friary church, which was restored in 1512, and a college.

Our guide also said that the name of U2’s album The Unforgettable Fire referred to St. Patrick’s fire on the Hill of Slane. In fact, U2 did hold the initial recording sessions at Slane Castle. So who knows. What is certain is that our tour guide was a great fan of U2, and the soundtrack for our tour consisted of many many selections from U2. Alternating with those from Riverdance.

Monasterboice

2008-01-10T08:22:00.000-05:00

During the trip, we took a day trip around to some ancient Celtic sites. This is a picture of Monasterboice, a Christian site founded in the late 5th Century. This is one of the Celtic crosses, from the 10th Century, used to teach bible stories to the illiterate. On the New Testament side of the cross, due to contemporary issues and prejudices, Jesus is depicted wearing a monk’s robes and with a monk’s tonsure. And the Romans are depicted as Vikings.

The tower in the back is believed to have been used to provide refuge from these aforementioned Vikings.

Guinness is good for you

2008-01-07T08:21:00.000-05:00

If you’re in Dublin and you feel like coughing up €12.60, you can take a self-guided tour of the Guinness Storehouse.

As you walk in, you’re presented with a souvenir paperweight—a plastic blob with a drop of Guinness trapped inside (along with a warning not to drink it).

And then it begins. You walk into the main area where you’re confronted with enormous video screens showing idyllic scenes of hops blowing gently in the breeze. You reach into giant vats of roasted barley, where you’re told to get a sense for yourself of the grains that bring forth the magical and distinctive taste. And, of course, you can stand under the tremendous waterfall highlighting the purity of the water used to make Guinness.

By the time you get the complimentary pint at the bar at the top, you’ve heard a loving description of Mr. Guinness, whose passion for his art was unmatched, you’ve seen a sample of the numerous advertising campaigns, which insist upon the healthfulness of the drink, and you’ve had an opportunity to contemplate various passages by James Joyce. And you can’t help but wonder how you ever drank anything else.

It’s a very well-done tour.

It’s been a while

2008-01-03T08:09:00.000-05:00

Phew! Back from vacation. I went home for Christmas and to Dublin for New Year’s Eve. I saw really amazing things in Ireland, got inspired, and then took mostly mediocre pictures. But before I start on those, here’s a building I passed every day when walking from where I was staying to the center of town. It made me chuckle:

Christmas cheer

2007-12-19T08:29:00.001-05:00

Happy holidays.

Famous!

2007-12-14T08:20:00.000-05:00

So say you’re going to New York and you happen to go to this site (which I’d never heard of) for ideas. And then you go through some significant navigation, and happen upon this page. Then you happen to look down the list of sites and click on the first (but not the second) entry for the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. And then say you’re interested enough in that to wait patiently for the pictures on the right-hand side of the page to cycle through, or, alternatively, your interest has been piqued enough actually to click on the arrows to look through them.

If you do all that, then you’ll see one of my pictures!

Woo!

Disaster, disaster

2007-12-10T06:52:00.000-05:00

Well, not really a disaster, just lots and lots of work. All weekend long. And my water, while no longer running brown, still isn’t working correctly temperature-wise.

And this morning, I have no heat in the apartment.

I wonder how the week will go.

Nothing but work

2007-12-07T06:12:00.001-05:00

There’s been nothing but work these days. Relentless, soul-crushing work.

Sorry.

Tips for city living

2007-12-03T07:15:00.000-05:00

Dad noticed this last weekend when we were walking around. I guess this is what happens when you just lock your bike by the wheel?

Work

2007-11-30T08:05:00.000-05:00

Oh, my lord—work has really left me with no time for anything else right now. I’ll try to post pictures next time, but I haven’t even been taking that many. Very sad.

Why?

2007-11-28T07:55:00.000-05:00

Why... oh, why was water of this color coming out of my tub faucet yesterday morning?

Why?

Thanksgiving

2007-11-26T08:03:00.000-05:00

I know it’s no excuse, but I’ve been really busy lately at work. And then there was a holiday. So the posts have been slowing to a trickle.

But about the holiday... my parents came to New York for Thanksgiving. We had an active, touristy weekend—I’m exhausted, in fact. Here’s a picture of the two of them on the Staten Island Ferry.

Did you know that it’s free?

It’s good to be back

2007-11-16T07:56:00.000-05:00

This was the view from the pool area of my hotel in Cancun:

Compare with the view from my apartment window back in New York:

Nice.

If you go to Cancun for a wedding, there is really no reason for sobriety

2007-11-14T08:01:00.000-05:00

This weekend I went to Cancun, Mexico. Annie and Eric got married there, and a bunch of people went down for the festivities. The night after the wedding, several of us went here—and believe me, the website gives a pretty good impression of the place (be forewarned, it has sound). And if the website doesn’t paint a picture in your mind, here’s a picture of the newlyweds:

And I’m off

2007-11-09T06:22:00.000-05:00

Off for a few days. Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

But it’s so cute

2007-11-07T07:59:00.001-05:00

I bought this dress this weekend. I think it’s adorable:

Unfortunately, it’s also short. And when I got home, I realized that when I try to sit, it also becomes... let’s say, “immodest.”

So back it goes. *sigh*

Birthday

2007-11-05T07:59:00.000-05:00

Another one has come and gone. And many people helped me celebrate it. So it wasn’t nearly as bad as I was afraid it was going to be! Woo!

In other semi-birthday-related news, I pulled my shoulder yesterday playing Super Swing Golf. (You should take a look at the trailer for the game, incidentally. If you’ve ever wanted to play golf surrounded by giant mushrooms and with a flying shopping bag with cat ears as your caddie, this could be the perfect game for you!)

Radio news

2007-10-31T08:11:00.001-04:00

I listen to the news on the radio as I wake up in the morning. Sometimes it takes me a long time to get out of bed—either because I’m sleepy, or because there’s a story that makes me laugh and laugh.

Baby pigs

2007-10-29T07:53:00.000-04:00

I went to a dinner party this weekend—a Bulgarian name-day celebration. The hosts made was all sorts of traditional food, and even had a suckling pig!

It’s sort of sad, isn’t it?

But very tasty.

I’ve got nothing

2007-10-26T08:25:00.000-04:00

Nothing—nothing—interesting to report these days.

But here’s an article worth glancing at. Who would’ve thought this situation would require specific training for those in the hotel industry?

And again this weekend!

2007-10-23T07:07:00.000-04:00

At least this weekend it was only on Saturday. Note the subtle difference in pictures: this picture includes the nastiest ham-and-egg sandwich ever, wrapped in foil on the right corner of the desk.

Be careful about spending

2007-10-19T08:06:00.000-04:00

Look closely at this ATM. Do you think this is a subtle way of saying, “You don’t actually need that forty bucks right now, do you?”

Weekend

2007-10-15T08:15:00.000-04:00

One commenter (hi, Mom!) was complaining about my lack of photos. So here is a photo from the weekend. And believe me, this took up a lot of my weekend:

Accomplishments

2007-10-12T07:00:00.002-04:00

It’s good to think over your accomplishments from time to time, to assess your progress, to reflect on where you’ve been and where you’re going.

Hmmm.

Last night, I finally finished the wine I brought back from Napa Valley. Hooray!

Anniversary

2007-10-08T11:23:00.001-04:00

I got back to the U.S. from England exactly one year ago today. Woo!

2007-10-05T07:55:00.000-04:00

People keep putting ATMs up in lonely spots.

Chess in Rhode Island

2007-10-03T07:45:00.000-04:00

I’ve been learning to play chess. When I went to Rhode Island, Preston promised me that he liked to play, and that he wasn’t good.

Lies.

In any event, the game took three hours and ended in a stalemate. I wanted to win.

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

2007-10-01T07:48:00.000-04:00

Providence is the capital of Rhode Island. In Sunday-evening traffic, it’s a looooong bus ride from New York.

New day, new link

2007-09-28T06:54:00.000-04:00

I haven’t had much to say lately, and certainly none of it has been cheery. But while I wait for inspiration to strike, I’ll point out a new blog in the sidebar: Marie Fromage—something to satisfy your music, food, and travel curiosity. Enjoy!

Sad in the streets

2007-09-24T07:51:00.000-04:00

Here’s a pile of dead bikes I saw this weekend:

Time Warner Center

2007-09-19T07:38:00.001-04:00

The Time Warner Center, near Columbus Circle, has a mall with lots of shops, as well as some restaurants and bars. And I met a friend there last night.

There are two enormous statues in the lobby of the mall—a gigantic naked man and a gigantic naked woman. I would’ve gawked and taken a picture of the gigantic naked man, but there was a group of six or seven people in front of him, gawking and taking pictures.

In any event, this page has a picture of the guy (fourth picture down). Hit the link to the larger picture: hee, hee.

Pickles, pickles everywhere (on one block)

2007-09-17T08:24:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the seventh annual International Pickle Day on the Lower East Side. One block of Orchard Street was packed with people sampling every type of pickled food, including cucumbers (classic, in multiple varieties), beans (mild and tasty), and lemons (gross).

And who wouldn’t feel a little happier when they see this guy wandering around:

New games

2007-09-12T08:09:00.000-04:00

For the first time in a long time, I bought a new game for the Wii. I even did research. I found a recently-released Wii game that got amazing reviews—the controls were supposed to be intuitive, the storyline was supposed to be long and engaging, and it was evidently the continuation of a much-beloved series of games.

So I bought it.

But it so happens that the game is in the “horror/survival” genre of video games. And the creators have successfully designed and produced a genuinely creepy world, complete with spooky music and scary enemies.

Playing like this, it turns out, significantly impairs my zombie-fighting abilities:

Cyclones

2007-09-10T06:42:00.000-04:00

I went back to Coney Island to go to a Brooklyn Cyclones game this weekend (they beat the Lowell Spinners—woo!). Here’s a picture of BirdZerk making off with a small child. Run, BirdZerk, run!!

And this time, I got some blurry pictures of the fireworks afterwards. Hooray!

Dentist

2007-09-07T06:51:00.000-04:00

I went to the dentist for a cleaning the other day. I appreciate that he gave me some toothpaste and a toothbrush at the end, and I respect his opinion (“Hard bristles don’t get your teeth any cleaner!”), but don’t you find this a little bit creepy?

More free stuff in New York

2007-09-05T07:44:00.000-04:00

Like kayaking, this is another thing you can get for free in New York. Cheerful-looking, isn’t it?

Friday night lights

2007-08-27T07:52:00.000-04:00

Wow, I really love Coney Island. I would even without the summertime Friday-night fireworks. It’s hard to believe anyone would even dare to attempt to improve upon a place with a “Shoot the Freak” booth... but they have.

This is a picture without fireworks.

Failed!

2007-08-20T07:55:00.000-04:00

And I completely failed! I didn’t take a single picture all weekend long. Ah, well.

So here’s another picture of the Renaissance Faire. A lute player. Along with the renaissance-era tests of strength behind him:

Ok, I am really going to try to put up better pictures

2007-08-17T08:14:00.000-04:00

I am going to try to take better pictures, have more exciting tales, and all that good stuff. Until then, more haphazardly-posted pictures without much context. So... in the past few weeks, I’ve found myself in the Bronx a number of times. Here are some pictures of the Bronx.
I took this one while standing on Southern street:

And I took this one while riding on the 5 train:

Whee!!

Shoes

2007-08-15T07:52:00.001-04:00

Do you think it’s time to get new shoes?

Nice weekend

2007-08-13T07:39:00.000-04:00

The posts here lately have been uninspired, I know, I know. And here are another couple of uninspired pictures, which give me an excuse simply to say the weather was nice this weekend.

The library on 6th Avenue, along with a clear-blue sky:

And people enjoying a shady spot by a lake in Central Park:

The Renaissance

2007-08-09T06:03:00.000-04:00

Oof, I’ve been busy this week. But here’s a picture from the Renaissance Fair (Faire) that I went to last weekend. Rest assured, it was well worth the price of admission once I was asked, in front of the beer/mead booth, “Hast thou identification?” Hee.

Movie equipment everywhere

2007-08-06T08:09:00.000-04:00

After spending last week’s evenings dodging cranes and being guided by eager, single-minded production assistants away from the shooting, I have to admit I’m a little curious about the movie that’ll be using my neighborhood as a backdrop.

I’m not the only one

2007-08-03T08:44:00.001-04:00

If you look closely, you’ll see that I’m not the only one who takes pictures in the subway:

Hee, hee:

What a mess

2007-08-01T08:29:00.000-04:00

I happened to be downtown when I snapped my three-thousandth picture on this camera:

Everyone’s a winner

2007-07-30T07:53:00.000-04:00

Check out what I won playing skeeball at Coney Island last weekend:

Next to it is the number of quarters I had to spend to get it. A fine trade-off, I think.

Sometimes you just want a taste

2007-07-27T08:35:00.000-04:00

The Copia Center in Napa (the American Center for Wine, Food, & the Arts) is the Wine Country gathering place for people, learning, and ideas. Perhaps. In any event, while you’re gathering, one thing you can do is visit the set of wine dispensers. You put money on a card, stick the card in these machines, and then select which bottle you want to try and how much you want: a taste, a half-glass, or a full glass.

I kind of wish there were more vending machines around like this:

Last one for now

2007-07-25T08:08:00.001-04:00

One more China photo. The trip did end, after all, over two months ago, but this is one of my favorite ones. This is a Dong man in Zhaoxing:

Coney Island

2007-07-23T09:09:00.000-04:00

I went to Coney Island this weekend:

Napa Motel

2007-07-20T09:04:00.000-04:00

We stayed at the Wine Valley Lodge in Napa:

A number of luminaries have stayed at the Wine Valley Lodge, including Rock Hudson, Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis Presley.

And in fact, we were in Elvis’s room. Wow:

There’s a variety of pests out there

2007-07-18T08:35:00.001-04:00

Back to Napa—
This is the truck that was parked in our motel parking lot for a few days:

There was a big wooden box with a padlock in the back of the truck. Nice.

Brooklyn water

2007-07-16T08:22:00.001-04:00

Lovely Gowanus Canal:

Wine, lots and lots and lots of wine

2007-07-11T08:21:00.000-04:00

After Monterey, we went to Napa Valley, where we were surrounded by everything to do with wine. We saw how wine was made:

We had wines poured and explained:

We saw grapes everywhere (these are sunburned):

And we battled mild feelings of sluggishness throughout the trip.

Monterey sea life

2007-07-06T08:11:00.001-04:00

I was in sunny California this past weekend and holiday, surrounded by family. Part of the family took a trip to the Monterey Aquarium, which had been recommended to a number of us by a variety of people. With good reason—we saw lots of interesting displays. Here’s a jellyfish:

We saw this interesting creature:

And Mom got to feel what it’s like to be a barnacle: