i keep a diary

March, 2013

The March Roundup

Here are all the photos I took in March 2013 that didn't end up in their own entry.

Friday, March 1st

ellen, jared, matt, quinn
On Friday night, I went over to Ellen & Han's apartment for a potluck dinner and a night of awesome hangs with all these lovely people that give me the feels so hard.
house party ˆ laugh ˆ wine ˆ ellen ˆ jared ˆ matt ˆ quinn
jenny penny, josh adcock
Jenny and Josh showing off their work in progress. Here they are about about 11 weeks away from meeting baby Juliette for the first time!
preggo ˆ jenny penny ˆ josh adcock
jared, michael jackson
Jared went up into the loft to recreate the cover of Michael Jackson's Thriller. Hahaha. This is my 100% favorite photo of J-rod. So sultry.
best ˆ doppleganger ˆ xmas lights ˆ jared ˆ michael jackson
I don't have any pictures of the dinner potluck, but I did manage to snap this pic of the crazy dessert spread!
brownie ˆ cake ˆ food ˆ pie ˆ treats
jared, josh adcock
Jared & Josh's excitement while exploring the SIX FLAVORS of ice cream was palpable.
ice cream ˆ treats ˆ jared ˆ josh adcock
hans, maddy
Maddy fluffed the couch pillows to the group's adoration.
pillow ˆ hans ˆ maddy
ellen, jared, maddy, meredith, quinn
These are my friends. There are many like them, but these ones are mine.
ellen ˆ jared ˆ maddy ˆ meredith ˆ quinn

Saturday, March 2nd

When I see a restaurant that has a logo like this and is still in business, I think to myself, "The food there's gotta be FANTASTIC."
empanadas ˆ sign
In the case of Empanadas Bar, they were that delicious. (But they closed a few months later anyway.) Boo!
empanadas ˆ food

Sunday, March 3rd

craig
On Sunday night I went to see Craig's band.
band ˆ craig
craig
I'm pretty sure my favorite song by them was called "Crushing On Your Sister"
band ˆ craig

Monday, March 4th

On Monday I actually scheduled time on my calendar to work on my website for my consulting business. Started my morning off with my daily trip all the way downstairs...
e9th apt
...to the coffee shop around the corner.
coffee
Ready for work to commence!
coffee ˆ stairs
After almost two years of consulting full-time as Flux Capacity, I finally had worked with enough clients to put together a decent-looking clients page. Photoshop drop-shadow, kapow!
computer ˆ flux capacity ˆ photoshop ˆ work
Launched a temporary version using wordpress...before eventually opting to use Squarespace. The site I built with their CMS is way nicer.
computer ˆ flux capacity ˆ work
Weird fuzzy-edged clouds.
clouds ˆ tree
Ate half this pineapple and then juiced the rest.
juicer ˆ pineapple
I don't have a toaster so I just pan fry my bread along with my eggs.
cooking ˆ egg ˆ sandwich
Awww, yeah bachelor cooking.
egg ˆ food ˆ fruit ˆ pineapple ˆ toast
Later that evening, while walking Maddy in Tompkins Square Park, I watched one of the resident hawks swoop down and nab an unlucky squirrel.
dead ˆ hawk ˆ squirrel ˆ tompkins
Not used to see hardcore predation on a Monday afternoon! Look at his bloody beak! He was tearing off pieces...
best ˆ blood ˆ dead ˆ hawk ˆ squirrel ˆ tompkins ˆ wtf
...and gobbling them down like the steely-eyed raptor he is.
dead ˆ hawk ˆ squirrel ˆ tompkins
Oh, shit is he looking at us? Let's GTFO of here, Maddy!
blood ˆ dead ˆ hawk ˆ squirrel ˆ tompkins
And your little dog too!
blood ˆ dead ˆ hawk ˆ squirrel ˆ tompkins ˆ wtf
Later that night I went to the first of several Monday lectures at the Interdependence Project with the excellent Dr. Jeffrey Rubin.
The site of lots of shoes piled up in the hallway makes me happy .
shoes
Cmon in.
door
Headed back out into the world. Feeling lighter-hearted. I don't remember if Dr. Rubin mentioned it during his talk or it came up somewhere else, but I also have this Rumi poem written out in its entirety in my journal for the day:

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

-- Jelaluddin Rumi,
translation by Coleman Barks
shoes ˆ stairs

Tuesday, March 5th

The bulletin board on the community garden near my house is a great source of neighborhood news.
fence ˆ flyer ˆ la plaza cultural
Excellent Anti-7-eleven art protesting the chains recent arrival on Ave A.
art ˆ flyer ˆ sign
On Tuesday night Dmitry invited me uptown to the land of glass and steel to be a guest speaker...
buildings ˆ skyline
...on designing a minimum-viable product (MVP) to test a hypothesis you have about product market fit at one of Startup Leadership's events.
flux capacity ˆ work
ellen, hans, matt, meredith
Afterwards, I took a cab down to the West Village for a Mexican feast to celebrate Meredith's birthday.
birthday ˆ ellen ˆ hans ˆ matt ˆ meredith
I think there's been a mistake, sir. I ordered the large burrito.
burrito ˆ food ˆ mexican
Heart-shaped sparkler...
heart ˆ lighter ˆ sparkler
hans
...patiently set ablaze by Hans.
birthday ˆ sparkler ˆ treats ˆ hans
The sparkler helps seal in the deliciousness!
birthday ˆ sparkler ˆ treats
ellen, meredith
After the opening sparkler salvo, a cake with a candle came out!
birthday ˆ cake ˆ laugh ˆ ellen ˆ meredith
So good.
birthday ˆ cake
ellen, meredith
Happy birthday, Mer!
birthday ˆ cake ˆ ellen ˆ meredith

Wednesday, March 6th

Paying close attention to all the fruit I cut up for my juice. Really like the red and green pattern on this Fuji apple's skin...
apple ˆ window
...and the strange "ribs" that are inside.
apple ˆ fruit
Weird, right?
apple ˆ close up ˆ fruit
Someone puts up these flyers in my neighborhood. They are always worth deciphering:

"If you love someone kill your cell phone and pick up a sketch notebook or Scotch on the rocks. Save your eyesite make friends not enemies. Save wild life. Throw a party in the human jungle."
art ˆ east village ˆ flyer ˆ graffiti

Sunday, March 10th

maddy, meredith
I was sick for almost a whole week! By Sunday I was feeling better. Meredith came over to hang out and to see Maddy. Someone fell asleep while wearing their hand-hat!
asleep ˆ couch ˆ maddy ˆ meredith
maddy
Hey! Where the lady go?
dogs in outfits ˆ sweater ˆ maddy
After Meredith left, I let it rip with this guy...
cough ˆ medicine
...and then binge-watched THE FUCK out of the excellent Damages. Hey, is that statue consoling Mr. Montgomery Burns?
tv

Monday, March 11th

Took a break from working at home to bike over to my local falafel shop for lunch. Mmmm.
bike
matt
Went to Motorino for dinner with this handsome nibbler.
pizza ˆ salad ˆ matt

Tuesday, March 12th

alysha
On Tuesday night Alysha came over with her friend Gretchen...
couch ˆ e9th apt ˆ alysha
alysha, mons
...who Alysha affectionately calls "Monster." Laughing blur...
couch ˆ e9th apt ˆ laugh ˆ alysha ˆ mons
alysha
...and giggle blur.
couch ˆ alysha

Wednesday, March 13th

La Plaza Cultura's fence casts a halloween-zipper shadow...
fence ˆ la plaza cultural ˆ shadow ˆ sidewalk
...all the way down the sidewalk.
fence ˆ la plaza cultural ˆ shadow ˆ sidewalk
me
Portrait of a dog-walker.
scarf ˆ sunglasses ˆ me

Saturday, March 16th

I got up early on Saturday morning and headed down to the Financial District to a free seminar I'd been invited to attend...
buildings ˆ construction
...by a buddy who'd recently become a life coach.
The conference room we were in overlooked the just-opened 9-11 Memorial.
buildings ˆ crowd ˆ ground zero ˆ nyc
After the first few hours of sitting around a table and talking about different personal challenges we each struggled with, the organizers asked us to do another exercise where each of us suggested one-adjective to describe each of the people we'd just met. The point of the exercise was that whether we realize it or not, we are constantly broadcasting who we are to others. Here are the words that people who just met me said about me!

It was an interesting seminar, but not really my kind of thing (especially when I found out how much it cost to continue participating! $15k a year!)
"The first thing to say is this is definitely not pyramid selling, OK?"
maddy, meredith
Came home to find the dogsitter smashing the dog!
couch ˆ smoosh ˆ maddy ˆ meredith

Sunday, March 17th

david k, grant
Here are 3 frames from my Sunday morning Soho breakfast with THE BRAINTRUST.
food ˆ pancakes ˆ david k ˆ grant
david k, grant
Fork-point and a let-me-tell-you-another-thing.
blink ˆ food ˆ pancakes ˆ point ˆ david k ˆ grant
david k, grant
This pancake stack totally defeated my appetite.
food ˆ pancakes ˆ david k ˆ grant

Monday, March 18th

Spotted this lesson in advanced dogwalking (six!) from the window of a client of mine on Bond Street.
dogs

Tuesday, March 19th

maddy
Maddy has a very specific dirty look she gives me when she's ready for a walk.
dogs ˆ e9th apt ˆ living room ˆ maddy
Filling the apartment with cedar smoke. Mmmmm.
incense
maddy
Walk now?
maddy
grant
Met up with Grant to celebrate our Seinfeldian life at Odessa.
breakfast ˆ diner ˆ food ˆ odessa ˆ pancakes ˆ grant
You don't have to stop walking to eat a slice.
pizza ˆ walking

Wednesday, March 20th

me
I spent most of Wednesday spring cleaning my apartment. I caught sight of myself sweeping and drinking a beer pantless and decided it was a toastable moment. Living the dream.
beer ˆ mirror ˆ mop ˆ me

Thursday, March 21st

the ktb
On Thursday morning, Kim moved from London to NYC! I offered up my extra room for her to crash for a couple nights before her new place became available.
suitcase ˆ the ktb

Friday, March 22nd

Overcast day in East River park.
east river park

Saturday, March 23rd

grant, maddy
Saturday morning pop-in from the Grizz.
couch ˆ e9th apt ˆ living room ˆ tv ˆ grant ˆ maddy
jared, jeet
Gurj & Jared came over for a lovely evening hang.
hat ˆ jared ˆ jeet

Sunday, March 24th

Circular rainbows are called 22° halos
rainbow
Oh! Halo there.
rainbow
The church down the street had put out a bunch of free flowers. I grabbed a few of the lovely white roses.
flower ˆ roses ˆ sign
maddy
Maddy is really good at stalking pigeons. She sneaks up on them all slow and low and then pounces!
pigeon ˆ roses ˆ sidewalk ˆ walking ˆ maddy
A well-timed yank on Maddy's leash is the only thing that prevented this pigeon's wiener-y death.
action shot ˆ bird ˆ flying ˆ pigeon
maddy
Roses for my pigeon-vanquishing hero.
roses ˆ maddy
Dusted off an old vase I found stashed away in the cupboard.
flower ˆ roses
Beauties.
flower ˆ roses
ellen
Later that afternoon, I met up with Ellen at we went to Bowery Diner (RIP!) for milkshakes.
diner ˆ excited ˆ milkshake ˆ ellen
Later that evening, I got inspired with my recent purchase of a compass and decided to create a flower of life mural on my living room wall.
flower of life ˆ sacred geometry

Monday, March 25th

maddy
Someone needed their jacket for the morning walk.
maddy
On Monday afternoon, I moved the couch away from the way...
e9th apt ˆ living room
...and decided to enhance the flower of life pattern I'd drawn....
flower of life ˆ sacred geometry
...by connecting the center of each circle to every other circle's center with string, producing the sacred geometric figure that's impressively-known as Metatron's Cube.
book ˆ nails ˆ string
Tools of the trade.
compass ˆ nails
Soundtrack.
record
maddy
Big nose was underfoot for the entire project.
nose ˆ maddy
Close-up of all the overlapping strings.
close up ˆ metatrons cube ˆ sacred geometry ˆ string

Tuesday, March 26th

Took Maddy for a mega-walk over to East River Park to enjoy the nice weather.
east river ˆ east river park
maddy
Maddy is OBSESSED with squirrels, pigeons & rats. Squirrel go up a tree.
tree ˆ maddy
maddy
Pigeon fly away.
dogs ˆ maddy
maddy
Yes, hello. Who lives here?
dogs ˆ maddy
Chair in an empty lot on E. 5th St
parking lot
Did some work in the afternoon.
computer ˆ flowers ˆ laptop ˆ roses ˆ window
Spritzed the roses with water to try to make them last a little longer.
flower ˆ roses
bruno, catrinel, grant, meredith, sarah h
Went out to Brooklyn with Grant to celebrate Sarah's birthday! Happy birthday, Sarah!
birthday ˆ bruno ˆ catrinel ˆ grant ˆ meredith ˆ sarah h

Wednesday, March 27th

On Wednesday, I was walking Maddy in East River Park again and she was being extra feisty with the squirrels so I decided to let her off the leash for a second.
tree
Right after doing so, I looked up for a few seconds to watch a group of three large, noisy helicopters go by...
helicopter
...and then I stopped to take a photo of these spiky, hangy, tree-balls....
balls ˆ tree ˆ wtf
...and when I looked around for Maddy, she had totally disappeared. I had a 2-minute freak-out where I sprinted around like a nut before I found her near one of the soccer fields.
sign

Thursday, March 28th

john roche
On Thursday afternoon, I went over to St Mark's to have lunch with John.
john roche
Then I had an afternoon visit from the local flower company! Sour Diesel, Dutch Treat & Green Crack.
weed
I like to look up whatever I get on Leafly.com.
weed
Good to know what kind of oblivion...
weed
...you're heading towards.
weed
Later that afternoon, I listened to a binaural beat audio recording that is supposed to help you drop your awareness from your mind, down near your heart, the spot known as anahata.
heart ˆ sacred geometry
I looked up and couldn't help but notice a similarity to the Metatron's Cube I made in string a few days prior.
art ˆ computer ˆ laptop ˆ sacred geometry ˆ string

Friday, March 29th

Vietnamese feast!
food ˆ vietnamese

Sunday, March 31st

After months of using a website to calculate what hexagrams I threw with my I Ching coin tosses, I finally bought myself a hard-copy.
book ˆ i ching
Here is the table in the book to help you decode which of the 64 hexagrams the universe is giving you in answer to your query!
book ˆ i ching
Every event in the visible world is the effect of an "image," that is, of an idea in the unseen world. Everything that happens on earth is only a reproduction of an event in a world beyond our sense perception."
book ˆ highlight ˆ i ching ˆ quote
I also picked up this book at John's recommendation!
book
Went to the park and jumped rope for a while. (I enjoy this way more than running - much easier for me to zone out).
hoodie ˆ jump rope
Went grocery shopping. My fridge looks a whole lot healthier than it used to!
food ˆ groceries ˆ refrigerator
I like the flowery-hole that's left behind after you twist off the crown of a pineapple.
food ˆ juice ˆ pineapple
Took Maddy on a nice spring walk over to the videogame store and picked up this bad-boy!
videogames ˆ xbox
Roses on their last leg.
flower ˆ roses
me
Self portrait with jumprope and juice-stache.
juice ˆ moustache ˆ me
grant, siege
Later that evening, Grant and I went over to Clayton's to watch the DOD's latest Oscar-winning film, Zero Dark Thirty. Nice to see where our tax dollars are going! (Did you know that Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012 overturned a law that was in place for 64 years that made it illegal for the government to directly propagandize to American citizens? The new law not only makes it legal, they now have a congressional budget to do so) Happy March, 2013!
garage ˆ grant ˆ siege
If you have a few minutes, definitely watch Naomi Wolf speak some alarming, real-world implications of the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act that affect everyone on this planet.

2 comments

  • ellen hartjuly 16, 2015

    Omg that hawk!!!

  • lespaultelestratjuly 16, 2015

    That hawk was impressive!