a picture says it all

One word comes to mind when I saw this poor, pathetic bike (what was left of it) locked to a post on the sidewalk.....lazy.

Music, more music, fresh bread, fresh fruit and fish with the heads still on...

[To preface this post I want to mention that I'm doing a full-year exercise on photo-taking. It's simply to take one photo a day. Most will be snapshots. There's more to it but pretty much it means you will all be seeing lots of random pix throughout 2009. Some of you know I've been pretty busy with work, getting work, keeping work and so on so I'm a bit distracted and might miss a day or two here and there. However, I will make up for it. It is an exercise after all.]

Friday I went to see I think it was 6 bands play at the Tribeca location 92St Y. We missed the first band, caught the 2nd, wished me'd missed that one but the rest of the bands were interesting and fun to watch. A friend of my friend was playing, Hazmat Modine. Ive seen them play before and it's quite a show. Many things going on but the music is tight, varied and fun to watch. As I'm a bit of a fan of gypsy-type music and Slavic Soul Party was the closer and they had a singer with them who was not present last I saw them. I have no idea what she was saying as I think it was in Russian (??) but it sure did sound killer. Here are some pix.


Of course, Rockband plays a role in many of my weekends with my best bud. Good thing he lives alone. (You know who you are...big hugs)

Woke up late to enjoy a mellow morning of coffee, fresh bread (literally!) and fresh fruit. I love doing that.

Sat eve I made an apple pie from some of the best apples around in Long Island where we went to his parents house for dinner (fish w/fish heads, yes, it was delicious). I haven't made an apple pie in a LONG time but it turned out pretty well. It was accompanied by homemade vanilla ice cream and trust me when I say that it was even better than it sounds! Huge nummers on that one! I'd love to take the credit but it was all someone elses patience and time. Sorry, no pie pix...didn't think of it! If you want the recipe, let me know.

Once back in the city there was a blanket of snow on everything. It was stunning. We went through Central Park in the evening in the snow, through the Ramble. Very pretty. Very quiet. The best way to do it. The sky was pink through the trees, the snow softly crunched beneath our feet, water tripped on rocks and people walked by silently enjoying the peace and quiet not heard too often in the city. Here are some pix...



Sunday was a blur except for more Rockband, yes, we Rock! Monday...back to work.

Technology Recycling Drive: NYC

Hey everyone-

Finally, something you can do with that old computer, phone, fax, printer or whatever and stop using it as a kitty perch or dust collector. Get rid of it!

Tekserve is having their annual recycle old electronics again. Don't throw it in the garbage! Give it to Tekserve to find it a home and/or recycle it properly!

3rd Annual Technology Recycling Drive
Saturday, January 10th, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tekserve has teamed up again with the Lower East Side Ecology Center to offer free electronics recycling on Saturday, January 10th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Recyclable items include computers, monitors, fax machines, copiers, DVD or VCR players, radios, telephones, cell phones, televisions, cameras, and stereo equipment.

Certain fully working electronics can also be donated to Materials for the Arts, a reuse initiative to get lightly-used electronics into the welcoming hands of NYC Department of Education classroom students and arts and cultural programs in-need throughout the five boroughs. Check these donation details to see if your equipment qualifies as a tax-deductable donation.

Unfortunately, we cannot accept home appliances such as microwaves, stoves, refrigerators and air conditioners. The components in many electronics can be incredibly hazardous to the environment - contributing up to 70% of the toxins found in landfills - so it's important that they are properly recycled.

For more info: http://www.tekserve.com/service/recycling.php

I Saw in Louisiana a Live-Oak Growing

(personal note: With a warm heart I think of my friend when I read this poem)

I saw in Louisiana a live-oak growing,
All alone stood it and the moss hung down from the branches,
Without any companion it stood there uttering joyous leaves of dark green,
And its look, rude, unbending, lusty, made me think of myself,
But I wondered how it could utter joyous leaves standing alone there
without its friend near, for I knew I could not,
And I broke off a twig with a certain number of leaves upon it,
and twined around it a little moss,
And brought it away, and I have placed it in sight in my room,
It is not needed to remind me as of my own dear friends,
(For I believe lately I think of little else than of them,)
Yet it remains to me a curious token, it makes me think of manly love;
For all that, and though the live-oak glistens there in Louisiana
solitary in a wide flat space,
Uttering joyous leaves all its life without a friend or lover near,
I know very well I could not.

	- Walt Whitman

There is a Pleasure in the Pathless woods

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.

-Byron

Katie Julie's Caps

Stuffed Mushroom Caps :: courtesy of Katie Slager (Reagh)

This is a great appetizer! Easy to make and soooooo yummy!

24 mushroom caps (washed & dried)
1 1/2 cups crab (you can use imitation if needed)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (the stuff in the can is easy and works great)
1/2 cup Italian style bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp mayo
1 stick butter
dash of salt-n-pepper

Dip mushroom caps into melted butter and place them on a cookie sheet (save the rest of the butter). Mix crab, onion and Parmesan, bread crumbs, egg, garlic, lemon juice, mayo, salt and pepper.

Stuff caps with the mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and pour the rest of the melted butter on top of the mushrooms.

Bake at 375 for 20 m ins (until tops are golden brown).

Enjoy! :)

Mama's Pizza!

5-5.5 c flour (keep an extra cup of flour for kneading)
1 tbsp salt (not sea salt)
2 tbsp sugar
2 packets yeast (rapid rise)

Step One:
mix 2c hot water (not boiling) w/1 tbsp oil
and blend with dry ingredients

Step Two:
sprinkle flour on counter for a thin layer
knead (you can add seasoning and parmesan cheese to mixture if desired)
spray large bowl w/Pam
dough in bowl, cover w/towel and put in warm place for about a hr. Dough should double in size. (if no warm place is available, turn on oven for a bit. Turn it off and place bowl in oven w/door ajar) KEEP AN EYE ON THE DOUGH

Bake:
Preheat oven 400 degrees
spread dough on cookie sheet
add toppings
bake 20 min

Enjoy!

a walk to remember...

no, not the movie

I love to walk. And since I got my iPod...I really really enjoy it. With my choice of music on hand and nothing but the sidewalk in front of me, I walk and soak in the world around me.

I LOVE living in NY. LOVE IT. It is such a fantastic array of different people and scenarios. You never know what you're going to see and experience next just by being outside.

My walks home from where ever I am have often led me to a mental dialogue of a short-story type nature. So I've decided to start this blog to put my thoughts down on virtual paper. The music I play while walking ranges from classical to blues, jazz, alternative, rock, swing, oldies, country and sometimes everything in between. It often plays a role in the way I see what's around me. My head is flooded with images all the time. I've always been this way. Now I am putting my creative-ness to another use. I see things in pictures so often wishing I had my camera but knowing at the same time that there is now way I could capture the small bit of the world around me as I just saw it.

Yesterday it rained, all day. A bit of a chilly day where we start to take out our warmer raincoats in exchange for just the umbrella often sufficient enough during the summer months. I saw a Grandma sporting a raincoat that would best be described as that which Paddington the Bear wore. She was holding the hand of what I assume to be her Granddaughter. She too was donned in a raincoat but hers was a bright pink, like a gerbera daisy. They rushed through the rain holding hands and the little girl didn't seem to mind the rain as she stomped through the puddles near the cracks in the sidewalk like it was her duty. They just happen to pass a brownstone that had a huge array of pink flowers at the bottom of the steps. That is when I passed them on the sidewalk...click...that would have been a great picture.

I love it when it rains. It's something about the air. I love it.

Before seeing Gram and kiddy I was about to cross a street and turned to make sure there weren't any cards coming and happen to see a young lady walking in the street. Her legs appeared of something that could best be described as jaundice. A terrible description I know. I knew I could not be seeing this right, as she was dressed trendy but conservative in her black trenchcoat and scarf carrying a bottle of wine in a bag that would fit nothing else. As she got closer I realized she had on yellow stockings. As much as it was ringing in my head that someone should have stopped her from wearing those before walking out the door it made me want to applaud her for being so bold and actually be getting away with it. NO one could pull off those stockings...but she has a bit of a spring in her step and she wanted a fun color in her wardrobe that day. Was the spring in her step due to something good that happened to her recently I wondered beyond the yellow hose. Or was the event soon-to-come for which that bottle of wine would play an active role? Hm...made me smile.

Today...on my way home, I took a different road. Just as I crossed the street mid-way down the street I was about to step on the sidewalk when I heard a rumbling. Although I have my music going I can still hear what's going on around me. I turned and saw what was a very determined little boy on a big wheel barreling down the sidewalk. We met at a point in the sidewalk where one part of the walk was higher than the other and it was an effort for him to get his "rig" over the hump. He did so and just then we looked at each other and he said "wow, that was hard" with a huge grin on his face. I laughed. He continued on down the sidewalk with who I guess was his Dad and another sibling not far behind me. When he realized he'd gone far enough without his Dad being close he "parked" his big wheel, got off and sat on a stump that served as a small seat for him until his Dad caught up to him. He was with his elbow on this knee and chin in his hand, staying true to the hard-core biker that he was. He was probably all of 4 years old. ....click...another moment