Tad Graduated

     I'll come right out and say it. BAM! Tad has his M.S. in non-profit management.  We spent all weekend going to graduations and a few parties with more to come this week.  Here he is in his regalia.

  Great job Tad!  The hood is 'gold-yellow' according to the official descriptor and is four feet long.  The ceremony for once did not in fact run over, it was only an hour and forty-five minutes for a graduating class of over 1,000 students (I gave up counting after six hundred).  We went out to a locovore restaurant (as encouraged by the student speaker Chandler Griffith) Angelica's Kitchen over on the east side.  The restaurant was great with tons of interesting vegetarian choices.  Very eco and social justice friendly.  No coffee though they have an equivalent made of chicory, barley and other roasted grains.  Pricey but that's what you get for eating locavore.  Wait, what's locavore?  It's eating local food and buying from the local economy.  They get a lot of their stuff at the Union Square Farmer's Market which is a few streets up. I have been adding books under my belt here and there but I'm cutting this short (how sad) because my internet is horrible right now and I'm almost out of battery from emailing people Tad's graduation photos.   Hmmm...

     I would like to thank and congratulate everyone out there this month who have/will be soon graduated and hope all their annoying ceremony speeches were worth it.  After years of Sisyphean effort to finish papers, read publications and who knows what else there will soon be a piece of paper mailed to your house and maybe even put in a plaque.  Great job getting a piece of paper.  You deserve a rest.  You know, for like a week.
((I'll fix formatting tomorrow to match the others))
Angelica's Kitchen
300 East 12th Street (between 2nd Ave and 1st Ave)
Manhattan, NY 10003
(212) 228-2909

Result: Great but not everyday meals.  A bit pricey. (Eatable and justicy)

...Make that four books

     Work work work.  It's been killing me.  The best part about work (besides the fact that I make money and can pay bills) is that it takes an average of 40-50 minutes to get to or from work.  I get to read a lot and listen to podcasts.  In the the last two weeks I have started four? books ::quick counting:: yea, four.  I finished two, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Seven Years in Tibet, both of which are borrowed from the library.

     The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was great and not entirely what I expected.  A lot of people love to chat about whether Frank Baum was really writing a political essay about the Populist movement but I don't know.  I didn't see anything except about how small children look good in green dresses and such.  Until I look into this I will say that it sounds like a hoax.

     Seven Years in Tibet was wonderful.  I don't read a lot of travelogues or biographies.  This is actually one of the reasons I'm reading all 501 books if I can because I like the books I like and have bad luck choosing new genres at times.  It is the story of an independent Tibet from an outsider's view.  Heinrich Harrer's obvious love for both the Dalai Lama and Tibet itself comes through and really pulls you.  He makes his way over a period of months through the Himalayas to Tibet from an internment camp in India and meets all levels of life out on the Tibetan Plateau.  Starting with the nomads in the north to the nobles in Lhasa we are introduced to life before the Chinese invaded and learn not only their indigenous culture but their religious life.  That he was there until the first exodus of the Dalai Lama means that we get to see the full circle of life, from him fleeing into Tibet to him leaving before the Red Army.  I really want to see the movie now and the beautiful country it once was.

     Last week Tad and I went out to a stand-up routine.  I had the day off and we were both restless.  The weather was turning bad but we still decided to head into the city down to the Lowe East Side.  We stopped off at Pomme Frites, a place that serves Belgian fries with many, many types of flavored mayos.  What is Belgian fries, I hear you cry?  Potato wedges double deep-fried, it seems.  Nothing amazing but still really good.  We picked roasted eggplant mayo and got a large, meant for one hungry person.  It really fed both of us and stuffed us up.

     Remember, this is only meant for one hungry person.  It's huge!!!  The mayo was great but definitely salty after a while.  By the end of the dish we were pacing ourselves to make it through.  Very cute place, though, and even better than all of this it was hailing outside.  just tiny snow pellets frozen solid in chucks no bigger than a pencil's eraser.  This is the devastation outside following this horrific hailstorm.

     One last thing.  We have maybe found a place to live semi-permanently as we put down a deposit and we'll see tomorrow.  I'll get the chance to update everyone afterwards.  We'll see.  Cross your fingers.

     End result: 74.5/100  Huge servings, amazing varieties but a bit heavy on the grease after a while.

Pomme Frites (Fries)
123 2nd Ave (Between 7th Ave and St. Marks Place)
NY, NY 10003

501 books count: 61

A Slow Day

     Since I have nothing else to do today I am watching Julie and Julia.  Ok, who cares if it is about blogging and cooking and maybe even what I originally wanted to do with this blog.  What?  No, not the cooking and Julia Child's BFF on the interwebs and all.  Just something cool like that.  Lobster killer.  Only, if you've seen the movie or read the book (I have yet to) they were in Queens and I in Brooklyn.  Also, they have actually jobs.  Oh, and I'm not obsessed with my blog, I just do it in my free time.

     I finished the book Three Men in a Boat and it was just as good the last page as the first.  I once again suggest you read it.  Hum de dum.  My mind is all over the place today.  Worst part is, of course, that I really have nothing better to do but looking for a nicer job or apartment.  I have done some of these very, very essential tasks this morning already.  Well, looking into it.  Started, really.

     What I should do today is clean the apartment now that my sister-in-law and her friend have left for school.  I also picked up the tiniest apples in existence.  They were called Lady Apples.

The large apple is a normal Gala apple and the small ones are obviously the adorable Lady Apples.  I need some amazing cheese to go with amazing tiny apples.

     I should review this brunch place everyone went to yesterday here in Brooklyn.  The Farm On Adderley is a bus and about five blocks walking from us here and we went out for a last bang before Anna and her friend went back for school.  Brunch was amazing and everyone had different dish.  I had the Farmer's Breakfast which was scrambled eggs on top of steamed swiss chard on top of home fries.  Anna had poached eggs over fried trout with salad greens and hollandaise sauce.  Each meal was delicious and a good mixture of breakfast foods.  It was so packed with people that it must be worthwhile, although we got there just before the real rush behind us.  I will be going there again when I have another occasion, perhaps for dinner.  Want a rating? I would say A.  9? Three thumbs up?  Hmm, I will have to think of a rating system if I keep going out to eat.

501 books count: 56

Three Men in a Boat

     These men are not the butcher, baker and candlestick-maker.  Three Men in a Boat (to Say Nothing of the Dog) is a short novel from 1889 written by Jerome K. Jerome about the adventures of three young Victorians boating down the Thames.  It is filled with hilarious anecdotes, picturesque scenes from the British countryside and bumbling about.  It actually has a scene that no matter the context is one of the most hilarious things I can imagine: trying to open a tin can without a can opener.  I have seen this in real life so I know how truly amazing this gets.  First you try a small knife if available.  It breaks.  Then a stone to smash it about and crack it open.  This dents the can until it is a misshapen horror but does not break it open.  So then you get frustrated and irrational.  A log?  Throwing it against the side of your car?  Driving over it in your car? All these and more can occur and every time it will end poorly.  Log smashes someone in the head.  Scratch and dent your car.  Blow a tire.  And still the can does not open.

     I haven't finished the novel yet despite only being 135 pages it is rather wordy and I am really only reading it on the trip in and out of the city.  When I finish it I will glorify it some more.  If you like silly British incompetence I suggest reading this.  Either way, I suggest reading this book.  It really will make you snicker.

     What have I seen in NYC recently?  It is fashion week you know.  I saw this dress in a window on Grand St. down near Chinatown.  I swear it came directly out of my childhood.

     Hmm.. what else has happened?  I met up with one of our groomsmen (and Tad's dear college friend) Mike yesterday for Japanese.  It was a nice place near his work up in Midtown called Ise that had fairly cheap items for a Japanese restaurant.  They did a hot pot filled with veggies and tofu but a real Japanese place is not somewhere to go for a vegetarian.  I thought there was daikon radish in the dish and it was fishcake.  Ick.  My stomach was pretty upset last night even if I didn't swallow any of it.  Psychosomatic or not I was still feeling pretty queasy.

     OH!  People have been asking to see what our current living space is like.  I took a couple of pictures.  Remember we're only living here until we find some real housing.

     That's right, say hi Tad!  Not much but it's fine for a month or two, very spacious of just two people.

Essay Topic: What I Did This Weekend

     I forgot to talk about Friday in my last post.  Tad had an early meeting at school so I went and wandered around Union Square Park area.  I went to Pan-ya, a small Japanese bakery over on 3rd Ave and 9th St. that makes real Japanese convenience foods, like melon-pan and individually wrapped onigiri.  Melon-pan is just bread with cookie dough cooked on top and thatched to look like the outside of a melon like a honeydew.  I love this bread and you can finish it usually in just over five big bites but it is a costly habit to pick up.  I've had it maybe five? times in my life and have determined that I can't eat it as often as I would like (everyday).

     After buying a melon-pan for snackies I wandered up to the farmer's market at the actual Union Square Park.  After gaping at the expensive local honeys, ostrich meat and mushrooms I ended up with some obscure apple breed that claimed to be both sweet and tangy.  I regret so much that I can't remember what it was, maybe starting with an a?  Or maybe not.  Apples in hand/bag, I found myself around 6th Ave and 20th St. where an old church was recommissioned as a set of boutique shops just recently opened.  I remember when I visited Tad in Sept 2009 I had seen it under construction.

     That's right, this is actually a set of shops, ranging from a deli in the back right to a salon on the second floor and a restaurant in the top.  Awesome.

     Urg, this post is getting long even without mentioning going to MoMA today or finishing with Ethiopian food (very vegetarian friendly) and a kosher bakery on 115 2nd Ave, Moishe's Bake Shop.  For reference, GO TO MOISHE'S!  The gentleman running the shop was wonderful and charming and the chocolate cigar was amazing.  Is amazing.  Whatever, all I can tell you is this place makes great baked treats.  I don't even know what it is and I want another one.  As does Anna, my sister-in-law and her friend.  In fact, they are headed back tomorrow to get another one.  Yes, it was that good.

Local food, local color

     If nothing else I wanted to show this link from the New York Times: Feng Shui Cube. 

     So I had my first night at work yesterday and it was definitely a bit hectic.  The Target I work for is two stories of merchandise and a floor with parking and such.  I probably put away five carts of go backs, reshops, whatever you want to call them.  The people weren't rude to me at least.  Well, so far.  Everyone wails about the people of New York and how they have themselves on a pedestal and all but most people were very courteous and didn't even mind when I admitted once or twice it was my first night working and I haven't a clue where the shoe section is (it's on the second floor, just so you guys know). 

      I am starting to get why people buy from local food vendors around here.  As great as a Target or Walmart would be you don't need it for bread.  I can get fresh loaves from the Italian bakery right down the street.  Or the fruits and veggies stand where I only need to grab two apples to feel happy.  Also, I can shop deals or by whims much easier.  What I can't do is get a good snack for a trip without going to the nearest grocery store seven or eight blocks away.  How sad.  What is an interesting view, though, is that I am currently living near the Hasidic Jewish area so I see them running up and down, on the bus, wherever with me.  I don't live by the kosher bakeries or anything, they are a few streets away, but I could stop by there some times.  I wonder what sort of other foods they eat that I don't know.

     Ok, I should review the restaurant I went to with Tad and sister-in-law Tuesday.  It's a small shop by St. Marks Place on 1st Ave and 14th St. called Curlie's Lunch.  This place is completely vegetarian and it was great.  I had a cheddar and bacon burger while Tad had the burger blueplate special of a disco burger.  A disco burger is a burger topped with fries, cheese and gravy.  The fries were a bit dry for me but still amazing.  The burgers were delightful and I never has so much fun eating a food that would normally go against my whole diet.  Curlie's burgers are a mix of soy proteins, seeds, beans, veggies, garlic and onion, the whole works all on a ciabatta roll.  I squeezed on ketchup and mustard and ate a full and completely satisfying meal.  They even serve vegan cake which we didn't try but my sister-in-law says blows your mind.  Maybe another time.  How is the prices? An average burger runs about 9 bucks but it comes with a side of fries or a salad.  A full entree is more like 13 or so, it seems the prices on their menu online are cheaper than the ones in the store by about 50 cents or so.  Hmm. 

     Really that's it for now.  I am hoping to just out of here in a little bit and head to the Met to go look at all the pretty things.  Maybe the Museum of Natural History.  We'll see where we end up.

Chinese New Years

     I mapped my walking trips for the last two days and just from wandering around Manhattan Tad and I walked over 10 miles.  Good for us although tonight it started getting really cold and my fingers did not agree with that.  I swear I tried to write yesterday but my Windows system decided it was no longer able to read my SD card damn you.  After about six different restarts I can now load my pictures to facebook or whatever.

     Chinese New Years Parade.  I didn't actually get to see the parade.  I, silly little me, thought that I could use a NYC events site to find out the time and vague location of the parade.  According to the Chinese society website I was using the parade started at 11:30 AM and went through the main streets of Chinatown.  So my sister-in-law, Tad and I headed down and hit Canal St. at about 11:45 finding a place near the start of the parade route on Mott St.  An hour passes, filled with jostling people and an old Chinese lady pushing her way past me and about four other people.  Maybe she couldn't understand us, maybe she could but she pushed through everyone to get a spot up with the kids right at the front.  About 1PM suddenly everything gets to me.  It could have been the crowd pressing harder and more fiercely, it could have been dehydration and overheating from the sun on me, it could have been I locked my knees and I was close to fainting.  All I know is just after 1 I start feeling nauseated.  My head started swimming and the headache I'd had all morning was overwhelming.  I stagger out of the crowd and take a moment to breathe.  In a crowd of who knows how many that's a little harder to do than you think.  I'm wedged in a store door corner trembling and doubled over trying not to vomit across the sidewalk.  Not fun.

     To make a long story short I got some juice and we wandered around and ended up at the corner of Mott St. and Worth St. right at Confucius Square.  I couldn't see a thing but we boosted my sister-in-law up on a trashcan rim at the streetlight and she took my great pictures.  Here are some now:

     

      In case you didn't know, it's the year of the Rabbit.  This is the first float and I think they were dual language.

      There you go, there are seven cameras visible in this shot.

      These signs are the different provinces of China.  Kinda cool if you can recognize them.

     Lion dance or something.  I dunno, it doesn't really look like a dragon.  Well, that's a brief summation of the Parade.  All I saw was the top of the dragons here and there.  Also a red head who complained very, very loudly just so the lady in front of her would move.

     Oh, also had amazing dumplings from Happy Dumplings on Mulberry St. across from Columbus Park.  $3 for eight veggie boiled dumplings.  Otherwise, $1.25 for five fried pork and chives.  Both were delightful. The place was overflowing after the parade so you know it has to be good.  Nom nom nom.  That's it for today.  I'll mention a few places I've been tomorrow.