busker in harlem

busker in harlem, a photo by Monster Pete on Flickr.

at the 125th street station. dig the foot contraption!!

Brandy Hot Chocolate recipe

Two cups Almond Breeze unsweetened vanilla almond milk
cinnamon
hot chocolate powder or chocolate
cayenne pepper
Raynal brandy
mini marshmallows
fresh ground nutmeg
agave nectar sugar (optional)

Warm the milk in a small pot. Add thickener like cream or soy creamer if wanted. Grate in the nutmeg, add the spices, and stir. Meanwhile, in the cup, stir together 1 or 2 shots brandy with chocolate powder.

Before it boils, pour the liquid into cup. stir. Add marshmallows. Enjoy!

Old woman in line at post office in a large town

So I got a notice from USPS that a package was being held at the local post office. I went at the prescribed date and time and got in line. In front of my was an elderly woman in a wheelchair pushed by a younger woman. The older one asked me how much stamps were and I hazarded a "44 cents?" She replied she hadn't been in a post office for a long while. Then she said, Can you believe what they're wearing?" Incredulous, I just looked at her. She then referred me to the two somewhat overweight women at the counter, not five feet in front of us. "If I looked like that I would hide myself," she said, and proceeded to remark that she looks better than they do, even now. She dances, too, she said, except for her bad leg. She used to do them all, the mamba, tango, everything. She turned 97 yesterday. Good for her. She was pretty hot, too.

Bum's Rush

My first blog entry from New York will be about how I got here. Specifically, how I got into the 125th Street branch of the NYPL. It's pouring rain outside. I arrived at the library door at 11:53AM, but it was locked until noon. Around 11:57, the various characters, ranging from muscled juice heads speaking Spanish to tattooed skinny young guys nodding off, hustled from under the nearby vacant marquee to stand right behind me at the door. Soon, the rain hastened and the characters got closer to me, and more vehement in their demands the doors open soon. When Brit and my old landlord told me to be situationally aware in NYC, I think this is what they were speaking of. I gently touched my laptop through my backpack, making sure it was secure, and turned toward the doors, peeking through the glass with the hope of seeing an employee headed our way. "I'm going to be soaked," said one particularly incensed man in the queue. I envisioned myself as a headline in the NY Times, "Man Crushed in Stampede to Read." I got the feeling they had done this wait before. Like every day. Because when the librarian finally headed towards us, someone behind barked, "Move back, he's got to open the door outwards." And so he did.

Once inside, I saw what the rush was about -- not just getting out of the rain, but getting in line to use the computers. Librarians pleaded for calm as the men, about eight of them, and no women, hustled toward a terminal.

So here I sit, in probably the only public library I've ever entered without a public restroom, having to pee and writing while several men gingerly one-finger type on public laptops, given to them after the desktop terminals were all occupied.

moo-ving

so i know it's been a while since i posted. it looks like i'm moving to NYC with B after the Bar. Unsure what the goal is of taking the CA bar, i guess it's an eventual return to Cali. Anyways, who knows what I'll do in NYC. Maybe pursue my dream of being a writer, as so many have before me, including my second cousin who failed at writing, evidently, but did bring back a chihuahua.

So, I'm looking for success, but maybe I'll find some sort of chihuahua. Wouldn't be s bad.

Can you Compost a Brick?

I learned San Francisco composts 600 tons each day. I wonder how many bricks that includes?

dinner

i made stir fry and orange chicken... stir fry with olive oil (from Rainbow), onions, garlic, carrots, orange bell pepper, ginger powder, 2 eggs, spinach (at least i think it was - a leafy green from our CSA), soy sauce.... in more or less that order. it turned out well, especially with the Trader Joe's orange chicken, crispy as all heck, after i just about smoked out the whole apt.

dessert: kahlua hot chocolate and mandarins.

brit's away.

updates

skipping the annual auction/party at my law school, and the 40th anniversary of my old jobsite... being a bum, watching jeopardy instead. it happens.

hit the Off the Grid food truck party last night at Stanyan and Waller. i snapped at keith when he started going on about how this is part of a nationwide trend. i should be more accepting of my friends. even when they're pontificating.