i keep a diary

August, 2014

The August Roundup

Here are the photos I took in August 2014.

Saturday, August 2nd

On Saturday I went down to NJ to see my family! Max was a little shy at first...
...but then he remember who I was and every time he'd notice me watching him from across the room, he'd stop what he was doing and smile.
Adorable.
I couldn't help but notice you admiring me from across the room. How about I crawl a little closer..
...so you can check me out.
brett, grandma, max, mom
Chin-tickles from grandma.
family ˆ brett ˆ grandma ˆ max ˆ mom
brett, grandma, max, mom
Haha. So good.
family ˆ brett ˆ grandma ˆ max ˆ mom
brett, dad, grandma, max, mom
camera ˆ family ˆ brett ˆ dad ˆ grandma ˆ max ˆ mom
Later in the afternoon, lots of other family arrived!
It's fun to watch kids watch other kids play. Max was really interested in watching...
...Lana and Lucy!
Lila wanted to help me walk Maddy...
...so I put her in charge.
John & Lindsay came with their cute son, Liam.
dad, uncle bruce
Was reading on the couch when I looked up to catch my dad and his brother Bruce catch up and joke around through the window.
window ˆ dad ˆ uncle bruce
This guy cracks me up all day. WANT!
Can has?

Sunday, August 3rd

After breakfast with the fam on Sunday...
amy b, brett, max, mom
...Brett, Amy & Max got an early start on their drive back to DC.
hug ˆ amy b ˆ brett ˆ max ˆ mom
When everyone starts hugging and saying goodbye, Maddy gets nervous that she's going to get left behind and starts hanging around under my feet.
Don't worry, Little One! You're coming on the bus with me back to New York City where...
bus ˆ newspaper ˆ nyc ˆ strangers
...there are a million ways to die. Thanks, guy on the bus!
bus ˆ newspaper ˆ nyc ˆ strangers
ellen, karen
Was awoken from a nap on my couch from Gurj that a crew was assembling in Union Square to get food at the Coffee Shop! I dusted the sleep from my eyes and hopped on my bike.
ellen ˆ karen
jared, jeet, karen, quinn
And had a nice catch-up with these guys!
jared ˆ jeet ˆ karen ˆ quinn

Tuesday, August 5th

On Tuesday evening Mer came over for dinner. I'm always taking pictures of everyone. Occasionally...
...they take them of me.

Friday, August 8th

jane anne, treat
Friday was my 38th birthday! Jane baked me chocolate-covered peanut-butter rice crispy treats (an Iowan delicacy!)
birthday ˆ cake ˆ jane anne ˆ treat
dad, grant, mom
Grant played host to my parents while they were visiting Vancouver. He sent me this pic before they went to dinner!
dad ˆ grant ˆ mom
I splurged on a ZipCar for the birthday occasion and we headed off to Rockaway Beach!
Spotted these lavender undies hanging from the mirror next to us in traffic on Flatbush.
Made it to Jacob Riis a little before 2pm.
jane anne, me
Thanks for playing hooky with me to be my birthday beach buddy, Jane Anne!
beach ˆ birthday ˆ jane anne ˆ me
jane anne
Excellent day of birthday beach napping! By the way, I'm a big fan of these new kinds of bikinis where they use strings instead of fabric. I find them interesting.
beach ˆ jane anne
Very, very interesting. I think I must be getting more into fashion or something.
beach ˆ butt
jane anne
Around five we head to head back so I could return the Zipcar.
beach ˆ birthday ˆ fort tilden ˆ jane anne
Penelope came over a little after seven...
...to help me set up the garden across the street for my 38th birthday party.
la plaza cultural
me, penelope
Penny and I tried out the various two-person...
birthday ˆ chair ˆ la plaza cultural ˆ me ˆ penelope
me, penelope
...Cape Cod chairs they have in the garden.
birthday ˆ chair ˆ la plaza cultural ˆ me ˆ penelope
Ordered up a stack o' birithday pies from Gruppo!
astra, me, vin
Baddies.
astra ˆ me ˆ vin
jenny penny, karen, me, penelope
My friends have been (semi) supportive of my transition to a person...
birthday ˆ jenny penny ˆ karen ˆ me ˆ penelope
jenny penny, karen, me, penelope
...who burns white sage non-ironically.
best ˆ birthday ˆ smoke ˆ jenny penny ˆ karen ˆ me ˆ penelope
leigh, me
Got to catch up with this one!
birthday ˆ leigh ˆ me
maddy, meredith
Meredith rescued Maddy from my apartment and brought her over in her bag for a tour of the party.
dog in a bag ˆ la plaza cultural ˆ party ˆ maddy ˆ meredith
I really like parties unless they are for me and then they are much harder for me to enjoy. Why is this? I thought this is something that would be different by now, but with each year that passes I go "Oh, I guess this is just how I am?"
birthday ˆ la plaza cultural ˆ party
carla, jane anne, vin
Thanks for coming to my party and loving me for who I am, everybody! ;)
carla ˆ jane anne ˆ vin
It was really nice to see so many people I love in one of my favorite place in NYC.
birthday ˆ la plaza cultural
john roche, meredith, vin
Late night clean-up crew!
john roche ˆ meredith ˆ vin

Saturday, August 9th

Took Maddy for a walk and Jane stopped to admire Dash's van recently adorned with this giant, plywood Chesire Cat.
After Jane bid me farewell, I went back over to La Plaza to make sure we hadn't missed any party trash in the dark.
Love these dragony flowers so much!
Smell delish.
Recovered from my party with a head-sized veggie-guac burrito, cooking shows....
...and I managed to polish off about a third of Jane's rice crispy treats!
Still not really sure what I'm doing with myself, but 38 is off to solid start!

Monday, August 11th

gravy, me
On Monday I got a text that Gravy was in town on tour. We met up at the Hotel on Rivington and then went over to 2-bits and played pinball until we couldn't keep our eyes open!
pinball ˆ gravy ˆ me

Wednesday, August 13th

Organizing to keep the community gardens protected.
Any time we go near the garden, all Maddy want to do is murder the chickens in there. If she spots them, she refuses to go anywhere else. Eventually I just have to pick her up and carry her home.
And then back at home she takes out all her pent-up chicken-murdering aggression out on rawhide.

Friday, August 15th

An apple and two pears grown on trees in the garden across the street from my apt. I didn't know that Manhattan fruit could be so delicious!

Sunday, August 17th

Scenes from an urban dog walking.
fence ˆ stroller ˆ wtf
Who lives here?
the ktb
After grabbing lunch, Kim spotted one of the creepy-ass-fuck Dan Perino "looking for a girlfriend" flyers that had just gone up all around the neighborhood. (Here's a NY Mag article on this over a year later. 158???)
flyer ˆ sad ˆ the ktb
jared, jeet, karen, quinn, the ktb
Rare Tompkins reunion with these guys!
tompkins ˆ jared ˆ jeet ˆ karen ˆ quinn ˆ the ktb
Later Sunday night, I met up with John at Webster Hall to see...
band ˆ crowd
...Propagandhi on their Failed States tour.
band
I fucking love Chris Hannah.
band
For the last few songs, members of RVIVR and War On Women...
band
...came on stage to play. Great show.
band

Tuesday, August 19th

jane anne
Empanada Tuesday!
empanadas ˆ jane anne

Thursday, August 21st

pauly
Pauly was in town visiting with his (future wife) Pam and we met up for an old-time drink at Lucy's!
pauly

Friday, August 22nd

Finished work around noon on Friday and spent some relaxing time with my hound.
My favorite view of the living room...
e9th apt ˆ feet ˆ living room
...while I tore through this bad-boy.
book
me
Before dinner I went out and got myself a fresh haircut so I'd look nice for my upcoming TWENTY YEAR HIGH SCHOOL REUNION. Whaaaat?
haircut ˆ me

Saturday, August 23rd

On Saturday evening I took the train out to NJ to attend the Roxbury High School Class of 1994 20-Year Reunion!
roxbury high school
Margie & Melissa kicking off the festivities. Thanks so much for organizing! You did such a nice job...
reunion ˆ roxbury high school
me
...even went so far as to put eveyone's high school yearbook photo onto the name tags! Haha. So good.
name tag ˆ roxbury high school ˆ me
erika, scott
I was glad to meet up with Scott. Good to establish a "home base" table of high school people you've kept in contact with.
roxbury high school ˆ erika ˆ scott
Group shots at the end of the evening.
This was our classes' first reunion ever. I had a really fun time! I actually wish I'd gotten a little more time to catch up with more people.
me
Close up of me peeking out in the corner. Funny to see so many familiar faces that I hadn't seen since people wore Jincos. Haha.
best ˆ reunion ˆ roxbury high school ˆ me
amy a, scott
Amy, Scott, Gary & Gary's wife. Three of these people MAY have been into show choir with me.
roxbury high school ˆ amy a ˆ scott
The party ended at eleven but a lot of people...
reunion ˆ roxbury high school
me
...headed to the bar next to the hotel to keep the reunion going for a little longer!
best ˆ reunion ˆ roxbury high school ˆ me
Margie, Lenora & Kevin.
reunion ˆ roxbury high school
I sneaked out upstairs to my hotel room around 1am.
bar ˆ roxbury high school

Sunday, August 24th

Woke up early on Sunday morning excited about my plans...
...to get picked up by Scott and continue our high school reminiscing with a trip to the newly re-opened Action Park.
First we had to swing by and drop off Scott's lovely dog...
...and then we made the drove out to Vernon, NJ to meet up with Scott's wife and kids at Action Park! This was THE PLACE that we'd go to in high school when we ditched. It was famous for being STRICTLY for the hardcore.
action park
I didn't bring my camera in because it's a water park. So here's a pic...
scott
...of us driving back...
driving ˆ scott
scott
...to meet up with the fam at Fortune Buffet!
buffet ˆ clouds ˆ scott
abbey, erika, liam, scott
It was pleasantly mind-bending to spend the day at Action Park with Scott's kids who are only a few years shy of being the same age we were when we used to go there twenty years ago! Great seeing you guys!
abbey ˆ erika ˆ liam ˆ scott
The dessert bar was NO JOKE there! The plate of a well-rounded treat hound.

Wednesday, August 27th

maddy
Met a friend to try out "laying down" yoga. It was nice. Hung out with this one and listened to Fiona Apple on Marc Maron's WTF podcast.
maddy

Thursday, August 28th

The 2013 hero from Sunny & Annie deli is still my fave! Cantaloupe & dried cranberries? Out of control.
maddy
Adorable.
cute ˆ maddy
ellen, hans
Got more details about Hans & Ellen's October wedding in Montauk
engaged ˆ ellen ˆ hans

Friday, August 29th

jane anne, john roche
On Friday night Jane Anne and I went to a house party at John's place!
jane anne ˆ john roche

Saturday, August 30th

ellen, quinn
On Sunday afternoon I biked down to the JMZ platform, met up with Ellen and we took the train out to Williamsburg to meet up with Quinn at North Brooklyn Farms.
bridge ˆ farm ˆ ellen ˆ quinn
Such a lovely view of the bridge in the evening.
bridge

Sunday, August 31st

Here is a photo of what I consider an excellent Sunday afternoon and just an all-around good way to end a month. Get up and walk to the diner and have your favorite pancakes and read Larry Livermore's punk rock memoir about living in a cabin in the woods four hours north of San Francisco and starting Lookout Records. Spy Rock Memories by Larry Livermore
book ˆ diner ˆ odessa ˆ pancakes
me
Went home and spent some quality time with my guitar.
guitar ˆ me
Finished off the day and the month watching Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO!
movie
We are slowly turning to dust! Happy August 2014!
movie ˆ skull