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September 30, 2005

Photo Finish

New photos are up on Flickr. Bonus: A photo of Rose at Yarnivore!

Posted by csageday at 01:08 PM | Comments (0)

Super 8 Night at Barbes

We just went to Barbes to see a monthly show of Super 8 film reels. Anyone can bring one and the guy in charge of the projector will show it. Two people provided sound for the silent films with a piano and a sci-fi sounding theramin, of all things. Despite the seriousness of it all (it felt a tad pretentious), we saw some great little three minute films of hipsters back when they were three years old and playing in the bathtub. One person brought in a 50s era film with shots of highways full of old cars and family members clowning around in their Sunday best. There was a recent film of a river in the Adirondacks which had nice shots of moving water with reflections of trees and some nice contrast. In the vintage reels, the close-ups of kids' facial expressions were fantastic. The sometimes odd choices of what to film are revealing, too. Derek has tons of old home movies that would fit right in, but I think we'll have to insist that Derek do the accompaniment, so he can play things like the Psycho soundrack in bathroom scenes, etc., and liven things up a little.

Posted by csageday at 01:00 AM | Comments (0)

Swanky Stationers

High-end stationary stores are such a throwback to an earlier, pre-internet age. I spent my lunch break recently walking around Lincoln Stationers, near Lincoln Center. It's the kind of store that is thrilling for anyone with a passing interest in writing, and it completely turned my mood around. Every possible type of writing utensil, paper, or related paraphernalia is available and elegantly displayed.

There are rows of leather-bound journals, fancy notecards, and every possible color of standard paper. Two entire floors are filled with things that I would buy if I could think of any practical reason for owning them. European-style notebooks, which I love, are available with solid, graph, or lined paper. Office supplies of the sort that might appear in an Upper East Side antique writing desk are plentiful -- custom paper clips, specialty envelopes, etc. There was large display of little wooden cubby holes with at least a hundred types of pens, and another wall had larger cubby holes filled with folders and binders. There are scrapbooks, frames, and beautiful calendars.

The effect of browsing in a store like this is that I begin to feel inspired to write something -- anything. The sheer volume of pens and paper is intimidating. On the other hand, I'm not sure that anything I could write (or my handwriting) would be worthy of the paper I would be writing on. It's always so much more perfect on the shelf. I felt that I should have a regular correspondence with some Rich Ladies Who Lunch, so I might have a valid reason to send out little green "Thank You" cards. I mean, why is my social life so lacking that I have no use for thin decorative paper printed with blue and green polka-dots and costing a fortune?

Despite the inferiority complex, I managed to leave with a very swanky (but reasonably-priced) little journal. I highly recommend visiting your local upscale stationary store -- it's mecca for crafty people who know what to do with polka-dotted paper, and it's inspiring for the rest of us. I mean, why go to Staples and Office Depot (unfailingly decorated with large steel shelving and concrete) when you can pretend to be a Rich Lady Who Lunches (And Writes Elegant Thank You Notes)?

Posted by csageday at 12:56 AM | Comments (1)

September 28, 2005

Fall Foliage

If you like heading upstate during fall to see the trees turning all sorts of colors, check out this site, which tracks the "percentage of color change" throughout New York State in a handy little map. They also have a leaf guide, which I might print and take to Prospect Park (D and I were starting at a beautiful tree in the park the other day -- I'll post a photo eventually -- but we had no clue what kind of tree it was. Seems like I should be old enough to know these kinds of things).

Posted by csageday at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)

September 27, 2005

Two Knitting Posts In One Day!

Last month, I was stuck up in the Adirondacks for two whole weeks with a gazillion knitting needles and only two measly little balls of cotton yarn. I needed desperately to knit a baby blanket, and I had planned to buy yarn once I got up there, but there were no yarn shops around for miles. Luckily my friend Beth brought me a care package of 1) a sweater pattern 2) Addi Turbo knitting needles and 3) yarn (she read my mind -- I hadn't even told her about the no-yarn-shop-dilemma), so I didn't go completely insane in the woods.

In desperation, toward the end of my vacation, I went to JoAnn Fabrics and bought some acrylic stuff for a blanket, but next to the cotton yarn it looked so artificial. To this day, I have two inches of a baby blanket knit up with the acrylic yarn (and substandard needles), and various mis-matched swatches of possible baby blanket squares made from the (expensive) cotton yarn I had. The babies due for blankets in my life (and there are several, all of the sudden) are going to be teenagers by the time I get my act together. I just can't seem to get beyond the "but I already started this one" phase and start all over again. I could sew the swatches together for a quilt effect (I have four that are about a foot square), but I'm not sure if I can coordinate the colors properly. I could also just finish the acrylic thing, but that might take years, since the pattern seems to be for a humungous blanket.

Today (a month too late), I found out about Adirodack Yarns through Yarn Harlot, of all places. My Yellow Page lookup skills must be pathetic. Infuriating. Adirondack Yarns wasn't exactly close, but it was only about an hour away -- not a lot considering that the supermarket's 20 minutes away. They even have wireless internet access, which means I could have been a bona fide knitblogger for once. I swear I asked at all the cute shops upstate if there might possibly be a yarn store nearby, but no, nothing. ARgh.

Posted by csageday at 06:20 PM | Comments (0)

Yarny Happenings

There is a new yarny place in town called Suss Design -- it's an L.A. transplant that sells finished items as well as yarn and knitting supplies, and apparently will cater to fashion-conscious Daily Candy readers: here's the Daily Candy write-up. The fact that Daily Candy is promoting it makes it seem a little snooty, but I have a snooty streak (why else would I subscribe?) so I'll probably have to chance a visit. The finished items look very cute. But that would be cheating.

Maybe going there will make me feel better about Yarnivore closing. I'm going to miss the Friday night knitting shindigs and Sunday chatting.

Posted by csageday at 02:51 PM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2005

NYT Says Rent

Remember when I was obsessing over buying vs. renting? Well, the New York Times has vindicated our decision. So there.

BTW, Derek's favorite blog is sadly not Blue Sage, but this: The Housing Bubble 2.

Posted by csageday at 01:53 PM | Comments (0)

September 25, 2005

Hangover Helper: Rosewater

We splurged and went to Rosewater for brunch today with Jersey-City-pioneering friends Melissa and Steve. I desperately needed wholesome, organic, completely non-toxic food. I'm no longer capable of drinking with wild abandon on a Friday night (it was a coworker's last day) and then actually getting out of bed the following morning.

It wasn't exactly a Lost Weekend, thanks to Derek's sage hangover advice ("just drink this 14 billionth glass of water and go back to sleep"), but yesterday was a Lost Saturday. I had high hopes for a day of shopping on Smith Street, since there are so many shops that I'm forced to walk by, but not enter, when D and I go out for dinner there. But no, I spent most of the day in bed.

I managed a shower around 8pm and my only trip outside involved taking out the garbage at 9. Knitting was too difficult a task. Anything that involved focussing on a spot less than 5 feet away made my head hurt. This morning, having recovered 90% of my cognitive ability, I was walking around saying "alcohol sucks" and trying to get some Vitamin C in my system, so I was very happy we had brunch plans.

Rosewater, for the uninitiated, is a restaurant on Union and 6th in Park Slope that serves American-style food made with local, mostly organic, in-season produce. We've had dinner there once, but the brunch is more interesting and much cheaper ($12 prix fixe). We've had a fantastic squash frittata, great peach pancakes, and good challah french toast. The bread basket comes with homemade compote (the flavor varies), and sometimes the cake or focaccia in the basket is the best part of the meal.

The combination of ingredients can seem a little strange on the menu -- an egg-white omelet with trout and blue cheese, or a beet and greens salad with a poached egg and tomatoes -- but the dishes are very good. The drinks are creative, too -- I had hibiscus and rose-hips iced tea, and D had peach juice with ginger. The red velvet peach pancakes Melissa ordered weren't actually red (most likely due to the health-conscious, dye-averse kitchen) but they were very flavorful -- not your average fruit-in-a-pancake recipe. While nothing blew me away today, Rosewater is still one of my favorite brunch places -- it's worth a visit if you haven't been. Plus, if you have a healthier relationship with alcohol you can order their watermelon sangria.

Posted by csageday at 11:50 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2005

Hey, Brooklynites...

The Atlantic Antic is this Saturday Sunday. Go, eat, and frolic in the street.

While you're there, visit Sahadi's for hummus, babaghanoush, feta, and olives (take a number and wait your turn), then pick up baklava (and whatever other pastries they offer you) and pita bread at Damascus.

Posted by csageday at 02:43 PM | Comments (0)

September 19, 2005

My First Roach

I've lived in the city for 10 years -- six years full time -- and miraculously I've avoided crossing paths with a cockroach in any of my apartments. I've had mice, big ants, little ants, thousand-legged insects that crawl across the walls, a dying cricket, and waterbugs, but not a single roach (that I saw, anyway).

So much for my luck with roaches. It's true (ugh, ew, gross) that they climb up the pipes. I went into the bathroom a minute ago to find one trying to crawl out of the sink. Damn they're ugly. They just have no redeeming characteristics. No fur, no color, no shame.

I watched it for a minute to make sure it wasn't going anywhere and tried to decide what to do. Roaches have hard shells, and I really didn't feel like killing it in the sink (too many opportunities for roach pieces flying into my tootbrush/face), or flushing it down the drain (it would just come back). Also, the thought of the crunch it would make just made my stomach turn.

So I got some cardboard and a cup and decided the move it to the floor or some other place, so I could kill it as far away from my own body and any of my stuff as possible. While I was performing the delicate slide-and-capture maneuver, though, the roach grabbed onto the side of the cup so I couldn't make a seal (you were expecting that, yes?). I had to chop off a leg or two, making the whole experience that much more ... revolting.

I finally got it into the kitchen -- that seemed like the place to go, with the good lighting and the garbage can and heavy stainless steel pots and pans ... just in case. I put it on the counter, thought a minute, then moved it to the floor. I'm not sure why I was so disgusted by the prospect of killing it. It's disgusting all on its own, so the added crunch and possible flying roach-guts add another dimension to the ugliness. I felt similarly toward the giant waterbug that lay dying right outside my door in a different apartment. It's kind of like killing a rat or a turtle. It's just too big to deal with. I don't feel this way about mice at all. The roach just seems invasive and unnatural -- like an alien species attacking the house. I want to kill it, but I'm afraid it'll turn into something even angrier and scarier and will infect the planet with a horrible fast-spreading roach disease. (I just watched parts of a show called "Surface" about a gigantic monster that lives in the sea and eats people -- maybe that's why my imagination ran wild.)

Anyway, I got the roach onto the floor and then realized I wasn't wearing shoes, so I couldn't step on it. I considered using a mug, but settled on finding a suitable pair of shoes instead -- ones with smooth bottoms so I could be absolutely certain the thing would be dead and not scuttling through some grove on the bottom of my shoe. Once properly outfitted, I confronted the roach again. It was playing dead, remaining feet pointing up in the air, curled slightly inward. I removed the cup and raised my foot. I grimaced. I couldn't handle it. The prospect of the CRUNCH was too much to bear. And what if it was so resiliant I didn't kill it the first time around? I put the cup back down.

When did I become such a sissy? How pathetic.

While putting the cup back down, the stupid insect came back to life and grabbed onto the rim again, making a last stand of sorts. God I hate roaches. I shook the cup around until it let go, lifted up my foot, cringed, and slammed my foot down on top of it. A couple of times. Just to be sure. It crunched and I lost my appetite, but it's done.

Now, when the exterminator comes at 8 AM on a Saturday morning and knocks until we wake up, I won't be pissed off. Or I'll try not to be. I don't think I can go through all that again. I admit, I was impressed the roach made it all the way up to the third floor -- and I told it so, but we've got enough on our hands with the mice and ants, thank you.

Posted by csageday at 11:21 PM | Comments (4)

Negativlandland

A trip to Disneyworld is scheduled for D and me in November (it's a family affair). I have mixed feelings about it. I'm thinking I have to see this Negativlandland exhibit before I go.

In celebrating their 25th anniversary, the "culture jamming" and collage group Negativland parodies the theme park, catapulting us into deconstructed attractions of the gallery as entertainment destination in the exhibition, Negativlandland.

Posted by csageday at 08:55 PM | Comments (1)

The Grade School Diva and Grow

joe's nyc posted a great photo on Saturday. Clown wig, boa, veil, dancing shoes, glamorous pose. It's great. He also has a link to this online exhibition, which has some interesting photos.

Francis must have been chuckling quietly to himself when he posted the link to Grow -- I'm not the only one who has wasted an evening trying to figure the damn thing out (look at the comments). At one point, Derek came in and threatened to commit suicide if I didn't make the music stop. I've gotten to the stage where the water flows down into three waterfalls, but I gave up after that. I was having flashbacks of playing Zelda in elementary school. I wasted countless hours watching a little blocky person walk around and around doing pointless things. It's even worse than Tetris. At least I can convince myself that somehow, in some hitherto undocumented way, I'm improving my math skills by playing Tetris for a few hours once in a while. Not so with Grow. Which doesn't mean I won't be back at it tonight while Derek's at the Yankee game.

Posted by csageday at 01:26 PM | Comments (0)

Smart Art

It's fall and while we're still dressing, acting, and eating like it's the middle of summer, the rest of the city is getting on with it. Fashion week came and went, there were elections, and the art world is doing it's thing, with exhibits opening and whatnot. I'm never ready for fall when it gets here. It's the season where everyone comes home from vacation and does something really productive. People start school or big projects or have art shows, and I'm always sitting there, going, "can we spend one more weekend at the beach?" I'm a little slow.

Anyway, this week was art gallery week for Derek and me. Clay and his wife, Rie, are both currently showing artwork at Planet Thailand in Williamsburg. We went to the opening (pdf) on Tuesday and had a great time drinking free beer and wine (perhaps a bit too much) and chatting up whoever happened to be nearby. The impressions of two manhole covers in New Orleans that Clay did just before the hurricane were there ("Alarm" and "Water"), along with some larger pieces and some digital animation from Rie (all intriguing and worth a look, here's a description (pdf)). I tend to take pictures when I'm drunk -- here are a couple from that night.

Derek has also been helping out with the Laurie Anderson exhibit, since a Sony projector is involved. We missed that opening but are thinking of stopping by some other time.

Other exhibits we might see are The Obsessive Drawing exhibit at the American Folk Art Museum (seems like doodling gone mad, or, what your absent-minded meeting/phone drawings might have been, had you quit your job and concentrated on them for a month) and the Russia! Exhibit at the Guggenheim.

Posted by csageday at 01:20 AM | Comments (3)

September 14, 2005

Go! Eat Tomatoes and Corn! Now!

'Tis the season for amazing corn and insanely good heirloom tomatoes. We've lucked out the past few weeks with some beautiful and delicious tomatoes, from the Thursday farmer's market across from Lincoln Center, and some perfect organic corn from the Coop. We've been doing the corn thing for a while now -- stopping at produce stands upstate and buying different kinds in search of that perfectly ripe end-of-summer corn. We've had some good ears, too. We grilled corn from two different places at a dinner with friends upstate -- some was from the local supermarket, some from a stand on the side of the road. Oddly, the supermarket corn (which is local) was better, but both were good and we had a discussion about how the one batch was was great, but the other was heavenly, and that's an important distinction, etc. So the organic corn we got from the coop Monday has to be described with yet another superlative. It was -- the next category of corny goodness -- sublime. It had very small kernels, and they weren't fully mature at the end of the ear, but it was so sweet and good that I kept trying to suck more out of it long after it was done. (We also bought the non-organic kind at the Coop, thinking it might be fresher, but it was sort of tough).

Here's a tip from Derek for cooking corn -- forget about the stove and use the microwave. To cook two ears of corn, put them in the microwave, without shucking them, for four minutes. Then let them sit in there for a bit, then do 30 seconds more. (For one ear, just microwave it for three minutes, rotating it once in the middle if it's not spinning). Shuck, butter, salt, and eat with relish (not the condiment). Microwave results may vary depending on the power of the microwave.

Posted by csageday at 11:42 PM | Comments (1)

September 12, 2005

Rx for Brain Rot

I'm afraid I (temporarily) lost the will to blog. Obviously it's not gone completely, because I'm sitting in front of my computer writing a blog post, but I have to admit that I'm doing this partly out of guilt. I feel like I should post something. I'm having a bit of trouble digging up a worthy topic, though. I wonder if two weeks in the woods might possibly have been too much time -- I seem to be suffering from brain rot. Poring over kitsch in garages, drinking Genessee from cans, and playing ping pong can do that to a person. I didn't do much reading up there. And aside from some word games and charades, I didn't really exercise my mind all that much, if at all. The New Yorker suddenly seems a bit difficult, and I'm devoting far too much time to sitcom reruns and baking.

In an effort to reverse this trend I just ordered The Box Man (recommended by Rose) and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell from Powell's. I really want Gilead and Saturday, but I am prejudiced against hardcovers. They are expensive and heavy and the extra weight of the pages annoys me. Also on the reading list are books Derek has read: Blink and Freakonomics and Under the Banner of Heaven. I'm not a big fan of non-fiction, though ... it's doubtful I'll actually finish any of those.

While my blog languishes, entertain yourself with some nature photography. I took a many, many photos of hummingbirds and trees upstate. If that gets boring, take a look at RedKen's photos of the UK and especially this Legoland shot.

Posted by csageday at 01:19 AM | Comments (0)

September 01, 2005

Clay and Katrina

Clay Hensley, of previous Gates swinging fame, ended up weathering out Katrina in the Sheraton hotel in New Orleans on Monday. As of Wednesday, he was still there awaiting evacuation. Word is that he's on his way to Dallas now (phew). He sent a couple of emails to coworkers about how he and other staff were doing (the trip was work-related) and agreed to let me post parts of them here (thanks Clay!). Everyone in his group is safe, although most likely going a little nuts from being cooped up for so long.

Note: The Sheraton is right near the Superdome -- here's a satellite photo.

Here is pair of satellite photos from before and after Katrina from the NYT.

Excerpts from Clay's Emails

Tuesday, August 30, 2005 12:02 PM

Electricity remains out, and the airport is closed, but those are minor inconveniences compared to the devastation that others -- elsewhere -- experienced.

[Our group was] unharmed by the storm. We all are very fortunate.

A few windows shattered within the hotel, and the ceiling of the 8th floor dining hall (where we all had had our lunch on Saturday during the training) collapsed and the bathtubs we all filled before the storm have become our water source. And the hotel has instituted a lockdown due to roving bands attempting to get into the hotel.

Despite this, the Sheraton has provided amazing shelter for us. I can only speak for myself, but I rarely felt endangered or even insecure; this is meant as braggadocio, but, instead, intended as a testament to competence of the staff here at the Sheraton. (I must admit that this is my third hurricane -- Hugo and Floyd were the others. Floyd frightened me.

After the storm subsided yesterday afternoon we were allowed to leave the 5th floor ballroom (deemed the safest shelter during the hurricane, and where we spent night and morning of the storm). We returned to our rooms via the stairwell (38+ floors for some of us. ;-)

But trust, I have no complaints. Everyone, especially our colleagues and the staff here at the Sheraton, have been truly remarkable.

Earlier today I witnessed the sun rise over the Mississippi River: a spectacular sight and, hopefully, the beginning of a better day.

Wednesday, August 31, 2005 7:46 AM

Email access just restored. We all remain in Crescent City, and, although a bit stir-crazy, are all fine. Hope my previous email didn't alarm you.

The flooding of the causeway after Pontchartrain's levee broke made it impossible to get buses in here. Buses already in the area are underwater and are not expected to be operational even after the floods recede.

The manager of the Sheraton, Dan King, has assured us that the hotel has provisions to last another week, so we are not worried about our health or our safety. Mr. King is attempting to get buses here from Texas -- anticipating the receding of the waters that are currently impeding access -- to deliver us all to the Baton Rougue airport, where planes are already flying out.

Civil unrest seems to have calmed, perhaps resulting from the hordes of police officers, equipped with VERY large firearms, lining Canal Street. No more sightings of roving bands of teenagers with VERY large, bulging Footlocker bags.

Although the City of New Orleans has lifted its curfew, the Sheraton has not. We remain under lockdown orders and have not been able to walk out of the hotel for the previous 20 hours. Ugh.
...
So, without any way to leave the hotel, and clear indications of some us experiencing loss of focus/ grip on reality (that would be me), several of us turned to card-playing for relief. Please note that I punished [2 coworkers] in a version Filippino poker with a Tagalog name whose spelling I am having difficulty recalling at 6:30 this morning. We played two dozen rounds (did I mention the stir-crazy aspect of this situation?)...the result: [Clay's department] -- 20; [4 other departments combined] -- 4.

Dawn is just now breaking here, and a crimson haze envelops the riverfront. The view is big, easy, etc...

Side note: Clay's been begging for a mention on the blog for months -- after one slightly tipsy discussion of how I can see the search queries people make I noticed 'clay hensley--lord of the dance' and 'clay "tubby" hensley' in the log (nice try). A first-hand account of the biggest hurricane this country has even seen, though -- kinda hard to ignore that one. Obviously, we're all extremely relieved to hear he's safe and on his way home (hopefully).

Update: Here's an interesting article on lessons learned from Katrina.

Posted by csageday at 09:10 AM | Comments (2)