Japan was trashed by a both a severe earthquake and a tsunami on its Northern coast.  I haven't been writing about it since it seemed like bad luck since until yesterday or so one of Tad's friends was missing.  To write about the tragedy without knowledge of her status seemed to just beg for the worst ending.  She has been found and if you watch the Today Show she actually was on it, Canon Purdy.  I had been worried about how she was even though I don't know her well.  The catastrophe was bad enough without adding personal tragedy to it.  I am thankful that she was ok as she was in Minamisanriku which was one of the small coastal towns that was flattened.

     As for the housing search, we may only need a place now for the next month while family is in town for a wedding.  We could move and stay here for however long we wish.  It's not an ideal house because it has a twin bed and some of the appliances aren't great but it's a safe neighborhood, I know I can get to work and Tad to school.  We're still looking and considering but until Tad has some sort of job it is very hard to be anything but cautious. 

     I have finally gotten a library card and have already consumed a few books.  I added to my collection Mary Poppins and am working through a 1930s scifi called The Green Child by Herbert Read.  It has been a dull book so far and I'm two out of three sections complete.  Read loves utopias and there is a definitely a slant against American Indians as lazy and stupid.  The books is also written in a drawn out, dull style from the 1800s. I'll talk more tomorrow or the next day when I have finished this book.

     For now this is everything, there's a lot going on and spring is just around the corner.  Soon I'll have pics and we'll do crazy things.  Also, tomorrow is St Patrick's Day, so enjoy your beer.

501 books count: 57

I'm cheating today, here's a formula one

     I follow the footsteps of  Stephanie again over at House for Two and do my own Alphabet Blog post.  Mostly it means I don't have to do a real one today.  I can do that sometimes ::defensive::

A is for Age: 26 and getting older all the time
B is for Beer of choice: Newcastle or Guiness
C is for Career: Target, for now...
D is for favourite Drink: Tea
E is for Essential item you use everyday: Hair tie
F is for Favourite song at the moment: The Picard Song by Dark Materia ((shut up))
G is for favourite Game: Hangman
H is for Home town: Palm Harbor, FL
I is for Instruments you play: A bit of piano
J is for favourite Juice: 100% pomegranate anything mix
K is for Kids: None
L is for Last kiss: ...Your mom, last night...
M is for marriage: Three and a half years
N is for full Name: Kaitlyn
O is for Overnight hospital stays: Zero.
P is for phobias: Nothing pathological but I hate roaches
Q is for quote: "I have eaten/the plums/that were in/the icebox/and which/you were probably/saving for breakfast/Forgive me/they were delicious/so sweet/and so cold"-William Carlos Williams
R is for biggest Regret: I still regret in 6th grade I went to LutherRock and dropped the pick for some guys guitar into the sound hole ::cringe:: Sorry!
S is for sports: I agree with Stephanie, Devil Rays for ever!
T is for Time you wake up: 7-8 AM, unless I am very tired
U is for colour of underwear: Underwear colored
V is for Vegetable you love: Umm... all of them?
W is for Worst Habit: Talking too much.  Being too happy?  Being able to do other people's jobs better than they do?
X is for X-rays you've had: Teeth multiple times, left ankle, abdomen, lower back, umm... that should be all
Y is for Yummy food you make: I make an amazing traditional Irish dinner for St. Patrick's Day, which I am not making this year.  I am actually very very sad about this fact.
Z is for zodiac sign: Libra ((I always assume it's because I like books and libri isn't a sign))

Stranger in a Big City

     I need something to fill my time up when not at work or exploring with Tad.  I don't really know anybody here in the city and I feel pretty lost sometimes when it's a long evening.  I want to talk to people, chat.  I don't drink a lot so there goes the whole club/bar scene that is the mainstay of most 20somethings here in the city.  I might join a bookclub, book circle, reading circle, whatever you call it.  I'm looking around right now sniffing out the scenes.  Most of these still involve liquor but I suppose I don't have to drink if I don't want to.  I'm looking for a novel book one or something that has a lot of interesting reads.  Dunno.  I'll tell you what I come up with.

     Tad and I walked just under seven miles yesterday in the rain.  I tracked it just to know how freaking long we walked.  We went from Bed-Stuy down to Downtown Brooklyn through to Carrol Gardens and over to the edge of Park Slope.  Leave me a comment if the link doesn't work, that's from my map my ride account and I can't tell if it works for everyone.  Ok, I could but I'm lazy.  What did we see on this soaked adventure?  A bizarre looking hospital.

     Tad and I agree it looks like it should be in space.  Floating in space with those weird column things on the corners and the black blocky things on the top.  Straight out of a sci-fi.  We also walked passed a place (then stepped inside and had a snack) I saw listed on the NY Times Doughnut Tour of NYC.  The first place there, Dough, is the one we went to.  We had a blood orange glazed donut with candied orange peel.  Cheap, running about two dollars for every donut and $1.75 for a large French-press coffee.  There isn't a lot of seating as you can tell from the first picture but Tad and I were just glad to be out of the rain at the time.  I really wanted the chocolate with Earl Grey but they weren't making anymore by the time we stopped in.  Some of their other flavors were chocolate and chipotle, cheesecake with graham cracker crumble and cafe au lait.  I would definitely say stop by if you are in the area, it's on Lafayette Ave umm, somewhere South of Myrtle.  I'll put the address at the bottom in anyone else is interested.

     So after sevenish sopping miles and puddling our way through the subway system back home we had to do laundry.  If I ever do a thesis in meteorology it will be on the frequency of rain based off of the timing of a random population needing to leave their house for just a minute.  I can probably gather enough data within hours.  Everytime I had to stop out, to put the clothes in the dryer, to go and pick them up, even to just walk back it was raining.  Just to make me wet, I swear.  I had at least 10 items hanging last night that would not dry due to the humid (hah! no compared to FL for sure) atmosphere.  My shoes were still wet as of this morning although finding Tad's fan and putting it on everything the whole day finally completed the job.

     End Result: ***1/2 Dough is great for a try and a good deal for a snack or fun breakfast. Small variety and little space.

Dough: Specialty Store (Donuts)
305 Franklin Ave (Lafayette Ave)
Bed-Stuy Brooklyn, NY 11238

I saw death rising from the earth

     This quote is from a Phillip K. Dick novelette, A Scanner Darkly.  You might remember the Keanu Reeves' movie that was done in rotoscope.  I watched the movie with Tad this week and this line from the ending of the film has been echoing through my head for days.  This chilling story is about a drug pandemic sweeping the world and no way to combat it.  It follows an undercover narc through his time undercover and ends on a progressive down note.  It has a few unexpected twists and I recommend you watch/read it.  I want to read more Phillip K. Dick stories ::sad::

     I went to a crazy concert thing on Thursday night called Cathedral Scan.  They take the blueprint from a cathedral and scan it through some digital program thing and well.. check the link out and watch the video.  It made for a cool concert.  The first two acts were not as good though, in fact they went on so long and were so painful at points that I almost left a few times.  One of them was just someone holding a camera up to random objects and making random electronic noises based on how they thing it should go.  There was no musical theory, no artistic endeavoring, nothing really worth my interest.  I took a picture myself at the concert to show you a bit.

     After the show Tad and I went right around the corner to a rice pudding food shop called Rice to Riches.  We tried the epic size for $8.50 (a bit pricier that we had been looking for) and got two flavors, hit and run custard (lemony) and Panna cotta (creamy).  Between us we finished it pretty quickly but didn't really go looking for more.  Like all rice pudding it is thick and filling and the lemon custard was vivacious and tangy in your mouth.  The best part is that you can take home the bowl and spoon and reuse it yourself.  Right now mine is currently holding my tofu.

     You can see the lemon custard divide on the left there.  Yea, not a great deal for the price but it was filling and delicious.  I need to work on my pictures a bit more... Hmm..

     Anything else interesting?  Well, we're still looking for housing, nothing good so far but we've got the rest of the month before we get thrown out.  Went to the fancy cheese shop and got three and a half pounds of different cheeses for $6.99.  Sweet deal for sure.  Oh, the snow has melted away and the trees are looking weird.  Let me show you.  Tad claims it's the buds are first sign of spring.  I think they have tumors.

 

     End result: Rice to Riches gets a 3.5/5 for value.  It is unique but it also is way too pricey.

Rice to Riches: Dessert store
37 Spring St  (between Mott St & Mulberry St)
New York, NY 10012

Ow, I have a headache

     What do you do when you feel burned out/exhausted/ready to drop?  What things make you revive when you have that headache that won't go away?  I do not lie when I say that my comfort in these cases is tea.  Actually, that's pretty expected of me if you know me fairly well.  I blame Hannah-chan.  Many people I'm good friends with have never even met Hannah but she's still, in my head at least, one of my closest friends and will remain that way until we deliberately stop talking to each other.  I remember first year of college and we didn't have anything in the dorm but a crappy coffee maker that we made super super strong jasmine tea in.  We had jasmine because when I went to Canada with Tad the summer (or maybe two) before I picked up my first of many tins of loose leaf tea.  I drank that swill even though in recollection I remember sometimes burning it or making it so strong I actually grimaced even pouring it into my second hand tea cup and saucer. 

     Ok, where was I going with this?  Oh right, headaches and personal remedies.  I never feel like I'm going to get better if I don't have a cup of tea.  I take meds and they never immediately work.  I try sleeping but even after waking up I still feel out of sorts.  I love my tea and almost any kind, any time of the day makes me happy.  Happier?  Either way, the day definitely lifts itself out of the dregs as I scald my tongue on some silly flavor from some plant leaves grown in an exotic country.

     Tad and I walked the length of Central Park Sunday after once again trying to decide which museum or random thing we wanted to do.  I really enjoy the Park.  I really don't feel like I'm in a city or that everything around me is just concrete and debris and the progress of a society that needs to get something done today.  Most of the snow has melted away by this point and the grass is coming back green.  I still can't believe that grass up here is green even under actual snow.  It seems so out of place like finding a candy while paying off your credit card.

     Hum de dum, anything else I should mention?  I guess just that it's pretty quiet right now.