august break, revisited.

so i got me a pretty (and fancy, by my standards) camera for christmas. i am a lucky girl, in many ways.

it’s a fuji finepix. it has all sorts of neat settings regarding aperture and shutter speed. so, i present to you, a brooklyn christmas.

hey look, i have a camera! here is my bedroom!
(funny note: the ladder is in the hallway because i roasted a chicken in an aluminum pan. i also have a crappy oven and i do a bunch of cooking, so i also have an oven thermometer that hangs from the rack. the oven thermometer poked a hole in the bottom of the chicken roasting pan and i had chicken drippings making frighteningly smoky conditions and the smoke alarm was going off every six minutes. ah, holidays.)

snowflakes were my theme this year.

what was left after making nutella brownies. it did not last long.

this was a sweet potato souffle. it was damned delicious.

this was the end of a steak pinwheel. it was also damned delicious.

this is the door of a tattoo shop around the corner from me. i keep intending to get my nose repierced there one of these weekends.

cheap decorations at the local discount store. why yes, i did look like a fool walking around my neighborhood with a camera on my neck.

abita beer in the grocery store. the actress really likes abita. i don’t drink beer (or anything with bubbles), but i try to know these things about my friends.

my block, slightly overexposed. i am fond of too much light in pictures, i find.

also on my block. also overexposed. also, yes, those are really lots of shoes on a power line and yes, i think that is the most pointless thing ever and no, i don’t know if it means a drug dealer lives here. i haven’t met any so far.

this is a wee wizard candle. they were very popular when i was a teenager and people had collections. now, i can barely find them. i love this little dude.

a bell ornament.

a snowflake ornament. i said that was the theme, remember?

i am digging my camera. one of my goals for 2012 is to foster creativity and i plan on incorporating photography into that and incorporating that into my blog/the internet somehow, so we’ll see how it comes out. i think a project 365 will be a bit much for me – let me know if you have any ideas (and yes, i am already thinking of copying the deep old desk’s photo fridays…)

chill.

the top of the empire state building is hidden in clouds today.

forty six degrees and a spitting, misting kind of rain that’s common for a northeast fall – often i wish for a perfect fall day. i remember one once when i was about fourteen, the air had the perfect bite, wind was flapping everything about. it was the temperature where you never get too hot in your sweatshirt. the sky though, the sky was rolling with clouds of varied grays. that was the very best part.

now, i am more inclined to think of a perfect fall day as cloudless, sun piercing bright, but the same bite in the air. that bite brings me alive, i think. i relish it all winter, stepping outside and forcing my lungs awake. that air tells me to live.

forty six degrees, as i mentioned, and i’m wearing a thin cardigan and a scarf. i run hot, these days. i’m always running one way or the othe. so I run hot, but i’m terrifically uncomfortable when i’m overheating, and as a result, i habitually underdress. i would much rather shiver than feel that pulse from inside your chest when you’ve warmed up too much. it’s unavoidable, when you’ve got to wear wool to protect yourself from the freezing air and then you find yourself in underground tunnels for travel, people smashed all together. but i avoid it where i can.

i don’t have a real end to this story, except to say that this is what new york fall has become, that i’m always a little too hot, and that i still wish for the most exemplary day any season has to offer.

august break, the rest

i’m sad at how i lagged off at the end here. it was a lovely exercise, and has helped me quite a bit. here’s the last of the photos i’ve taken.


the rest – a mish mash.

this is my cactus on my desk at work. i have really kind, lovely coworkers. there was a cactus of this variety left for me by my predecessor. i, not knowing the intricacies of cactus care, overwatered it and it died a blithering death. one of my department colleagues got me a brand new one and is helping me care for it.

 
last week, the bouncer and i had to take a trip to an urgent care center – he’s got some recurring stomach problems that may or may not be gall stones. it was a long, boring as hell day. on our way home, we stopped for sushi and ducked into a pet store, where i saw this precious fellow. if you follow me on twitter you’ve probably seen my constant griping about his dog, and the truth is, i’m not much of an animal person, but i do love kitties. this one grabbed at my heart.

i took the wrong train home from work a few days ago. i was in the midst of a very intense game of collapse on my phone, and when it felt like the right time to be getting off the train, i looked out the window into completely unfamiliar territory (i am only thankful that the train was above ground). i got off at the next stop and found a bus to take home. have i mentioned i had a blazing migraine the whole time? anyway, there’s a street near me named church ave., after this church. i’d noticed it way down the block previously, but i found it on my walk home from this extra-trying commute.

 

 
my friend the actress and i got together tonight for a long overdue catchup. i don’t get to see her often – she is quite busy being an actress. while sitting in the park i kept noticing angles for new photos, and snapped this one. i think i’m so fond of photographing the building tops against the sky because it’s something i so rarely notice. honestly, between juggling the various lists and thoughts and bouncy balls in my brain, it’s rare that i ever intensely notice my surroundings. but yes, there are building tops and skies – who knew?!

this past weekend was hurricane irene. i did not prepare wisely. i went to target fully intending to purchase batteries, flashlights, candles. i walked away with $100 worth of new kitchen gear, including that very pretty measuring cup below (glass! 4 cup capacity!). also, doesn’t everyone need a microplane? i don’t know about you, but i zest lemons on a frequent basis. ALSO i found the neatest garlic chopper rolly mechanism. it is inevitable that it’s blades will one day gouge me deeply, but it is so neat! anyhow, after my target trip i had an intense grocery shopping experience. i decided i’d make beef stew and popovers – my mom always made that as a winter treat for my family, and i figured it’d be nice with the gray and rain and wind. i was right. i was particularly impressed by the shininess of this onion…

mm, the pie. i’ve been talking about this pie on the twitters for a week and a half. a peach blueberry pie with a homemade crust. you really need to go click that link and bookmark that recipe. i had no idea such deliciousness could come from my cabinets and my hands. this pie was a work of culinary genius and art. absolutely delicious. yes, that is a heart that i cut into the crust.

i’d like to thank everyone that followed along on these august break posts – i’ve gained some new blog/twitosphere friends from it. it was an awesome exercise – i might even be inspired to start a project 365. thanks to kim samsin over at the deep old desk for introducing me to this idea. i am so grateful 🙂

august break, days 23, 24, 25

days 23, 24, 25 – brooklyn.

brooklyn is new for me. it’s extraordinarily hip right now and i never felt like i’d fit in here. i still mostly don’t, but i’m enjoying the places i’m visiting. i had to visit the library this past weekend to replace my passport for my upcoming trip to jamaica (after a trip to the greenmarket).

golden.

water

park arch.