NaBloPoMo

Just because I want the challenge I am going to try to post at least one blog a day in the month of November. I'll try my hardest to not have too many meaningless filler blogs.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Frustration

Being sleep deprived causes me to be very irritable, cranky, depressed, achy, and just feel all -around awful. PMS might have something to do with this as well. It's a bad combo lemme tell you.

Things getting me down:
-There is absolutely NOTHING around my apartment building. Yes, I have the park which is better then anything else but MAN, I wish there was at least ONE decent restaurant around. Also, there are absolutely no grocery stores around. Everything is in Park Slope which is not at all that easy to get to. I'm hungry and the only way I can get food is if I make it a 2 and a half hour adventure complete with several subway transfers. ugh.

-My room mates not telling me about serious apartment remodeling. I get woken up too early to the sounds of drilling, scraping, pounding outside my room. Get outta bed to see what's going on and no one is home but there is a strange man in my living room looking at me in my PJs. Get home from work, no one is home but there is a different strange man painting my bathroom. Not to mention I had to GO.

-Wishing I had someone to cook for. I spend lots of free time reading foodie blogs and recipes online and wishing so badly I had someone to make all the delicious food for. Once you realize you don't, all motivation to cook goes out the window.

-Then, when I do somehow manage to hold onto a little bit of that motivation and decide to just cook for myself anyways, I walk to the kitchen and look at what a disaster my room mates left behind and then that motivation is definitely gone.

-Not being able to have a fucking drink on nights like these. I want a glass of wine or 6 and cannot yet legally go across the street and get one. I work a lot and can get really stressed out at times yet I can not unwind with a beer afterwards.

Grrrrr! I need a hug...

Woddles anyone?

OMG WTF TIFI
(oh my god, what the fuck, this is fucking incredible)

I want this. Badly.
I don't even want this, I NEED this.

It's a penguin waffle maker.

Meet Woddles.

Short Story Style

I woke up this morning to a phone call from Jordan. I have to meet him at 10:30 outside my apartment which means 30 minutes to shower and get dressed. I scrambled to get ready and I was only 5 minutes late to meet him. We went to the cafe and got coffee which we loaded up with milk and sugar. The two of us walked through Prospect Park quiet and blissful. I had to try to hide my smiles as to not show how giddy being in prospect park on an autumn morning makes me. It was really nice to share that with my new friend.

We sat in a sunny patch of grass by a tree and I showed him music on my ipod. We walked to the west side of the park and jumped on the F train into Manhattan to seek out lunch. He had to work at 1 and by the time we arrived in the city we only had 40 minutes. So, we just went to Abraco (his cafe) and got lunch there. Lunch at Abraco blows me away every time. The menu changes daily with whatever is at the market that day. We shared the Prix fixe which consisted of pureed rice and corn soup, fingerling potatoes with roasted poblano peppers, and frittata. Abraco was packed with people, like usual, so we took our lunch across the street and ate it on a stoop of an apartment building. It was a picnic in the city.

Then after enjoying a cortado and leaving Jordan to work I took a walk from the east village to Williamsburg, crossing the water via the Williamsburg Bridge. After haggling with an old woman on the side walk that was selling clothes, I got 2 t-shirts for 5$. Then I stepped over to another table of a man selling books and bought a book of short stories called Dancing After Hours by Andre Dubus and took it to a coffee shop with me where I sat on the back patio and had yet another coffee as I read the first 3 short stories which were very entertaining and perfectly suiting for my mood. After reading a while I got antsy to move again so I took a walk down streets I wasn't familiar with and ended up by the water. I sat down at the edge of the path and dangled my feet by the water and I read some more stories. It was very chilly and windy today but the sun was warm.

Once I started to get hungry again I decided to seek out dinner. This brought me to a cafe on Bedford that I don't remember the name of. I had half of a roasted eggplant sandwich with a bowl of tomato cilantro soup. The sandwich came on delicious, crusty bread that was perfect for dipping in the soup. For dessert I had pumpkin cheesecake and a chai tea. All of this is sitting in my tummy now as I write this and it's making me very sleepy. It was a good day off, just wanted to share it.

Also, I apologize for not taking any pictures since I've been here. My digital camera broke right before I left for New York but I'm getting a new one in a few days.

Crush in the Ghetto

I'm floating with the birds
I'm talking to the weeds
Look what you've done to me

I'm still dressed up from the night before
Silken hose and an old Parisian coat
And I feel like a queen at the bus stop on the street
Look what you've done to me

It's a beautiful morning in the ghetto
Finer than the day before
The ants are crawling over my pants as if to say
They know where the honey is

There's really old roses blooming in the ghetto
Birds of paradise are taller than me
The weeds grow high, the birds flicker by
Children are walking to school

In the midst of all of this profusion
The bus pulls up to take me back home
The bus driver looks like an African prince
The babies have tears in their eyes

And I feel like a queen
On this sunny city bus
Look what you've done to me

Kid, you'll move mountains!

For Zollie. You understand... I love you.

OH! The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.

And you may not find any you’ll want to go down. In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.

I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.

You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch.

You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump.

And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.

No! That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don’t. Because, sometimes, they won’t.

I’m afraid that some times you’ll play lonely games too. Games you can’t win ‘cause you’ll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you’ll be quite a lot.

And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.

But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.

You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)

Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

You can't have autumn without MN

I have been having an amaaaaazing autumn so far in New York. I have soooo many stories for you folks. But really it's all just adventure and chaos. Part of me still misses comfortable autumns at home. I miss the memories I have of the past few falls that can't seem to escape my thoughts every day. One of my very favorite autumn memories is going to the apple orchard in Stillwater with the few most special people in my life. I MISS THAT!

Tamper Dance

So, I know most of you don't really "get" what I do in regards to coffee. This should help you understand the process a little more. Actually, I don't think you'll get anything out of this except for a laugh but still...It's hilarious! I guess this was filmed at the Gimme! Coffee in Ithaca, NY