i keep a diary

February, 2014

The February Roundup

Here are all the photos I took in February 2014 that didn't end up in their own entry.

Saturday, February 1st

Took Maddy for a long walk over to the East River despite it being so cold...
east river ˆ ice
...that there were frozen bits of the river! All of the usually-crowded athletic fields were empty of teams practicing except...
east river ˆ ice
quidditch
...the NYU Quiddich team was there practicing.
wtf ˆ quidditch
quidditch
Hoops set up.
wtf ˆ quidditch
quidditch
Running around with brooms between their legs at all times. I like sports that try to formally incorporate actual life skills. This one seems specifically designed to help cultivate "not caring what other people think" which is actually one of the world's greatest superpowers. What better way to spend a freezing cold Saturday?
wtf ˆ quidditch
I don't know much about the weather, but it's cool to notice the tipping point (in humidity? temperature?) where the sky will turn from almost clear blue to hazy white in just a few minutes. Anyone know what causes this? 3:20:01 pm
clouds ˆ nyc ˆ wtf
3:20:24 pm
clouds ˆ wtf
3:20:58 pm
clouds ˆ wtf
3:23:18 pm. From blue skies to sun-dampening milky-haze in less than 3 minutes!
clouds ˆ nyc ˆ wtf
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz. Very quirky and strange read. I enjoyed it but only remember how strange the story was.
book

Sunday, February 2nd

maddy
On Sunday afternoon Maddy and I were walking over to the East River
maddy
...and we stopped to watch NYPD respond to a van engine fire. It's interesting to watch experts work expertly at a job that you don't know anything about. At first it seemed like just a lot of smoke...
fire ˆ nyfd ˆ van
...but as soon as they pried the hood open....
best ˆ fire ˆ nyfd ˆ van
...the fire got way more intense.
fire ˆ fireman ˆ nyfd ˆ van
After the smoke had grown into an open blazing inferno, the fireman seemed pleased...
fire ˆ fireman ˆ nyfd ˆ van
...and stepped back a few steps to hang out and just watch the car burn.
best ˆ fire ˆ fireman ˆ nyfd ˆ van
Just chilling while waiting for the guys across the street to finishing connecting the hydrant to the engine pump. So awesome to see these guys being all casual and routine next to a raging fire.
fire ˆ fireman ˆ nyfd ˆ van
Took less than ten seconds to squelch the situation once they got the water flowing.
fire ˆ fireman ˆ nyfd ˆ smoke ˆ van
Watching firemen work always makes me feel proud to be a human. I want to buy them all drinks all the time. Nicely done, guys!
fire ˆ fireman ˆ nyfd ˆ van
Later that evening I walked over to Sarah's apartment to watch the Superbowl...
apt 3a ˆ living room ˆ tv
...with all my favorite sportsfans!
apt 3a
amalia, me, quinn, the ktb
Thanks for having us all over, Sarah!
apt 3a ˆ amalia ˆ me ˆ quinn ˆ the ktb
brother lawrence
Meredith got up to leave well-before the game was over and as she got on her coat I asked her, "Headed out to another gathering?" "Nah," she replied, "just don't give a shit about who wins." Haha.
apt 3a ˆ living room ˆ brother lawrence

Monday, February 3rd

Lovely snow on Monday
east village ˆ snow
The snow was the really wet and heavy kind that clings to everything.
snow
The tall bamboo that usually stands-up straight was slouched over the sidewalk from the icy weight.
fence ˆ la plaza cultural ˆ sidewalk ˆ snow ˆ walking
Painted branches.
snow ˆ tree
Walked through Tompkins to meet up with Brian and help him look at potential new office spaces.
snow ˆ tompkins

Wednesday, February 5th

grant, jared, jeet
On Wednesday evening, Gurj and Jared came over for a hang and then we headed over to the West Village to meet up with Grant...
comedy ˆ grant ˆ jared ˆ jeet
...for a night of laughs at the excellent Comedy Cellar.
comedy
jared, jeet
Mozz sticks and Fruity Drink is always my go-to. The crowd was a little light because of the cold weather and snow, so after we finished watching the first set of comics, the house invited everyone there to stay and watch the second set of comics for free. (That hardly ever happens!) Surprise comedy double-header!
comedy ˆ jared ˆ jeet
maddy
When you come home late at night and your dog looks at you like WTF.
maddy

Thursday, February 6th

I found this book really interesting. It's about a Western allopathic doctor who while working on patients in 1974, suddenly becomes aware of his ability to sense the human bioenergy field and writes an entire book about it only to discover halfway through that other cultures have been talking about "chakras" for years. Joy's Way
book
Healing with Form, Energy and Light. This book is the real-deal Holyfield discloser of "hidden esoteric knowledge." Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's is a Tibetan Buddhist / Bonn lama who uses his books to openly talk about techniques THOUSANDS of years old that formerly were only orally transmitted directly to students in caves. (It's also one of the books that most clearly reveals the overlaps between Eastern schools, the Egyptian mystery schools and Western Alchemy / Tarot!)
book
me
Going through one of my drawers, I found my Freshman year Roxbury High School id card!
best ˆ id card ˆ license ˆ me
Later that night I went out to Bushwick...
stairs
...to stop by a houseparty at John's place...
...to celebrate his roommate Avi leaving for Liberia!
house party
books
John is an artist who mainly works on creating the communal group homes he's built that houses 9 other people! It had been a while since I'd been to the apartment, so I asked John to take me on a tour of the recent developments because it's like walking through the externalization of an artistic genius' brain! The entire hallway is a communal music / book library...
best ˆ hallway ˆ library ˆ books
books, john roche
...that of course John has taken to organizing via the DEWEY DECIMAL SYSTEM! (When you borrow a book, he knows!)
best ˆ dewey decimal ˆ library ˆ books ˆ john roche
One of the rooms in the apartment.
...with storage boxes all label in John's unmistakable handwriting.
box ˆ hallway
The upper levels of the hallways are lined to the ceilings...
The storage terminates with this film projector / monkey lamp storage area!
john roche
Catching up on life. Very happy to know this guy.
bed ˆ guitar ˆ john roche
Handwriting as recognizable as a face.
graffiti

Saturday, February 8th

Pad Thai always tastes better when eaten out of a boat-shaped plate!
food ˆ thai food
meredith
Hung out with Mer & Maddy on Saturday night.
e9th apt ˆ meredith

Tuesday, February 11th

These flyers were taped up all around a building in my neighborhood for a few days. HELL HATH NO FURY...
flyer ˆ nyc ˆ wtf

Wednesday, February 12th

fatty, grant
On Wednesday night, Grant and I went over the Bower Diner to catch up with the Fatty!
fatty ˆ grant

Friday, February 14th

Took myself out on a Valentine's Day date to the midnight showing of Breakfast at Tiffany's.
movie ˆ poster

Saturday, February 15th

I got a Valentine in the mail...
card ˆ valentines
...from my mom. Wiener dog Valentine's Day card? <3 SOLID!
card ˆ valentines
After years of grappling with the winter blues, I decided to buy a light therapy box.
light box
Got my new light box set up in my office and decided to watch an episode of House of Cards...
computer ˆ desk ˆ light box
...while getting blue light shined directly into my eyes for 20 minutes. Take that, Seasonal affective disorder!
computer ˆ desk ˆ light box
Every little bit helps during the winter bleakness.
snow
Trying to get through the winter like.
squirrel

Sunday, February 16th

grant
On Sunday night I went over to Amanda's apartment and Chef Grant made us...
cooking ˆ japanese food ˆ kitchen ˆ grant
...his very excellent version of okonomiyaki, which is like the Japanese streetfood version of latke (and literally translated means "what you want, grilled"). Oh, I want it.
japanese food ˆ pancakes
amanda
Dig in, Amanda!
japanese food ˆ pancakes ˆ amanda

Monday, February 17th

Spent the snowy President's Day off catching up on errands and worrying about the the business trip I had to take tomorrow for a new client that was starting to feel like a bad fit. (They ended up being a disaster - lesson learned! Trust your gut!)
east village ˆ snow ˆ walking

Tuesday, February 18th

Woke up at 6am to fly out to San Francisco and after landing...
clouds ˆ driving
...had to drive down to Santa Clara.
flux capacity ˆ hotel ˆ work
me
The weird feeling of checking into a hotel in the middle of an office park awaiting to attend a meeting that you don't know much about = the life of a self-employed consultant.
hotel ˆ work ˆ me
After getting settled in, I drove up to Berkeley...
clouds
kristina
...and picked up Kristina who took me out for a lovely dinner!
house ˆ kristina

Wednesday, February 19th

Spent my day in a conference room listening to two companies discuss how they could potentially work together. Back at the hotel that evening, I caught some much-needed winter rays poolside...
pool
michael s, mike doyle
...and then drove up to San Francisco to catch up with Michael and Mike! We met up at 9pm...
best ˆ san francisco ˆ michael s ˆ mike doyle
...and managed to make it to last call! Great to see you!
bar ˆ san francisco

Friday, February 21st

Read this weird and excellent Chuck Palahniuk novel on the read eye back to NYC instead of sleeping.

Doomed, by Chuck Palahniuk
book
grant
After catching up on my sleep on the couch all afternoon, later that evening I met up with Grant and took him out to dinner at Motorino to catch him up on my weird work trip.
grant

Saturday, February 22nd

Despite the snow on the ground...
clouds
maddy
...Saturday was a warm day and Maddy got to run around and enjoy the melting snow sans-jacket.
east river park ˆ snow ˆ maddy
maddy
Later that night, I took out my suitcase to unpack from my recent trip and I came into the living room to find this heartbreaking scene: Maddy's adorable way of trying to stop me from traveling without her! STOWAWAY!
cute ˆ suitcase ˆ maddy

Sunday, February 23rd

Sunday Winter Routine: coffee from downstairs, breffis sandwich from across the street. Eat 'em the garden on the other corner and enjoy the sun.
coffee ˆ la plaza cultural ˆ sandwich ˆ snow
amanda, grant
Spent Sunday evening hanging out with these two lovelies!
amanda ˆ grant

Tuesday, February 25th

maddy
By Tuesday, all the snow had melted and I took Maddy for a nice long walk over to East River Park. All of the trees were ringed with wonderfully-fragrant Christmas tree mulch!
east river park ˆ mulch ˆ tree ˆ xmas tree ˆ maddy
jeet, quinn, sarah
Later Tuesday night I went out to Mesa Coyoacan to celebrate...
hug ˆ jeet ˆ quinn ˆ sarah
karen, peter g, quinn, sarah
...Quinn's birthday!
best ˆ karen ˆ peter g ˆ quinn ˆ sarah
jared, jeet, karen
Look at all the people that...
jared ˆ jeet ˆ karen
ellen, me, meredith, the ktb
...love you so hard!
best ˆ ellen ˆ me ˆ meredith ˆ the ktb
karen, quinn
The best part about a friend's birthday is when you get to secretly order them a FLAMING dessert....
birthday ˆ cake ˆ karen ˆ quinn
karen, quinn, sarah
...and then sing happy birthday really loud to embarrass them when it shows up!
birthday ˆ camera shy ˆ karen ˆ quinn ˆ sarah
karen, quinn
Happy birthday, Quinn! We love you!
birthday ˆ cake ˆ karen ˆ quinn

Friday, February 28th

grant
On Friday morning I went over to meet Grant for breakfast for our weekly conversation centering mostly around WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?
breakfast ˆ diner ˆ odessa ˆ pancakes ˆ grant
gravy
Later that evening, I got a call from Gravy! He was in town on tour with Young the Giant and I took the subway up to meet up with him and hang out on the back of the bus, just like old times! Good to see ya, buddy! Happy February 2014!
bus ˆ tour ˆ gravy