day to night

In New York it is not unusual to go out right after work....to a restaurant, the ymca, a bar. It's just not worth it to trek home, then turn around and go back out again. Expensive and time consuming. Due to this web of public transportation, people bring stuff with them wherever they go. Umbrellas - just in case, jacket - just in case, map - just in case.....oh wait, don't forget the waiting list for a locker at the y that's three years long! Bring your gym bag to work, then to the y, then back home. My classroom doesn't have a computer...better bring the laptop to get stuff done at school! And lunch....and bring back the tupperware later. Travel mug? Stop and get groceries? Library books?

It's fun to carry this stuff around all night. Especially Fridays when you're in it for the long haul. And let's not forget about the whole day-to-night wear. I always thought this was so weird when I read about it in magazines - 'For a nighttime look, throw on a string of pearls and a cropped jacket!' Why not 'Just go home and change?' Well....not here.

I am a teacher. I wear sensible shoes. Sometimes I wear overalls. People in New York City do not wear overalls. People certainly don't wear sensible shoes. We're meeting your friends for drinks in the city at 7:00? I'm still at work and it's 6:00? Wearing a cardigan and khakis and a ponytail and sensible shoes? And carrying a laptop, gym bag, leftover lunch, travel mug, purse, raincoat, gourds for my class, and covered in cat hair? Jesus.

lice are gross

There is a woman in Brooklyn who sits in her kitchen and picks nits out of the hair of children. Children with lice that go to my school. If I get lice, I am totally going to the nit picker.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE2DC1E39F937A35751C1A963958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

garden jewel

you really can't get the full experience without watching this...

misc

kids sliding down a cement stairwell in harlem
brooklyn bridge & waterfall
this is just funny. say it out loud.

free decomposed plant matter

hot dirt

New York City collects fallen leaves and scoops them into piles to form compost and then gives it away free to residents. Dave and I decided to take a drive to the Bronx to fill up containers with hot dirt and lug it back to Brooklyn. We were surrounded by steaming piles of compost and had only ten minutes to fill up our tubs. It was the richest compost I've ever seen.

I always thought getting compost in Chicago was kind-of a pain. You know, get the bags at Home Depot, lift them onto your cart, lift them into your car, dump them into the backyard. Inevitably one tears and you have dirt chunks everywhere. Well, imagine that you have a backyard, but you can't get to it from the first floor....there is no back entrance, no alley. You bring giant tubs of compost up to the second floor, through the apartment and back down the stairs into the backyard. Dave's got eighty five pounds on me and I was having flashbacks to our move from Chicago. Lift here, easy, easy....wait....raise it up higher, oh no! the bag is ripping! shit - piggie got out, dirt is all over the entranceway, can't see the stairs, hold on....ok, got it. I'm not that good at helping

must see!!! virtual apartment tour!! cozy! a handyman's dream!! pets welcome!