i keep a diary

May, 2015

The May Roundup

Here are the pics I took in May 2015 that didn't end up in their own entry.

Friday, May 1st

Started off the month with some consulting work! Nobody likes digging into another person's big complicated spreadsheet like me! Trying to understand what numbers say is more fun to me than Netflix. (PS - sorry about my hobo-desk. I eventually gussy it up with some handsome contact-paper).
computer ˆ flux capacity ˆ home office ˆ leagueapps ˆ work
It's a nice day, for a....white widow! By the afternoon, I'd finished and was eager to switch mental gears.
weed
Oh, yah! There ya are, flowers!
flowers

Saturday, May 2nd

grant
On Saturday morning I had Grant...
living room ˆ grant
ellen, hans, the dude
...Ellen and Hans over for an apartment brunch!
ellen ˆ hans ˆ the dude
Later that afternoon I took the subway out to...
bloom ˆ flower ˆ tree
karen
...Citifield (for the first time in my life)...
crowd ˆ karen
Little bit of this...
baseball
karen, me
...to see a Mets game with Karen (who, if you don't know, is REALLY into sports).
karen ˆ me
...a whole lot more of this...
baseball ˆ food ˆ taco
...and this! I'm a sucker for a stadium marg!
baseball ˆ margarita man
Full moon and....
flag ˆ moon
...big swings...
baseball
karen
...who could ask for more?
baseball ˆ excited ˆ karen
maddy
Took Maddy out for a walk and all she did was stand 10 feet away from my door and watch rats run around deep inside this face-sized hole in the sidewalk. Murder on her mind.
dogs ˆ maddy

Sunday, May 3rd

Stopped to watch some Shakespeare in the La Plaza park...
la plaza cultural
...while I was out with Maddy for her afternoon stroll.
la plaza cultural
grant
Later in the afternoon I met up with Grant in East River Park and I we tried out the slackline I purchased in a location where we hoped we wouldn't be seen!
grant

Tuesday, May 5th

Tuesday morning's assessment of Monday evening's aikido injury. Ouch.
aikido ˆ bruise ˆ ouch
Someone just planted neat new trees in La Plaza!
la plaza cultural
I like these leaves.
plant

Wednesday, May 6th

maddy
Waiting for the morning walk.
maddy
jane anne
Hung out with this one. Adorbs.
best ˆ pretty ˆ jane anne

Thursday, May 7th

me
Maddy was marking my new living room carpet with pee and so I ordered a blacklight flashlight and some yellow glasses in order to try my hand as a CSI PISS-INVESTIGATOR!
flashlight ˆ me
Needless to say, the light and glasses revealed a level of pissitude...
flashlight ˆ pee
...that I was completely unprepared for! It's good to own a steam cleaner, that's for sure!
flashlight ˆ pee
maddy
Found the guilty perp hiding in the corner. SO BUSTED!
flashlight ˆ guilty ˆ pee ˆ maddy
The ALL documentary is EVERYTHING! Holy shit, watching this brought back so many good memories from high school listening to ALL & Descendants (FILMAGE)
band ˆ movie

Friday, May 8th

Love me some falling petals.
bloom ˆ flower ˆ trees
Spent Friday using Photoshop to compare previous wave-events in the price of Bitcoin. All my obsessions with fractals finally had some "real-world value" when I decided to make some fractal predictions about the possible future-price of Bitcoin. Back on this particular day, May 8th 2015, Bitcoin was trading at $240 USD. (A little over two years later in August 2017, it's at $4000 USD - almost a 20x increase!)
bitcoin ˆ photoshop
ellen, jenny penny, karen, quinn
Friday night I went over to Ellen & Hans for a dinner party...
ellen ˆ jenny penny ˆ karen ˆ quinn
ellen, jared, jeet, quinn
...to celebrate Gurj's birthday!
best ˆ birthday ˆ cake ˆ candles ˆ excited ˆ ellen ˆ jared ˆ jeet ˆ quinn
jared, jeet
Happy birthday, Jeet! We love you!
birthday ˆ cake ˆ jared ˆ jeet
Look at the cake that Hans made! So wonderful (wunderbar).
birthday ˆ cake
juliette
Juliette was there and was going through a phase where she was super-interested in...
juliette
juliette
...trying on all the big-people shoes!
juliette
josh adcock, juliette, meredith, the dude
Exploring the fridge.
josh adcock ˆ juliette ˆ meredith ˆ the dude
Here's a New York City kitchen after someone cooked dinner & dessert for 15 people!
kitchen ˆ party
ellen, jared, jeet, matt, meredith, the ktb
Love all of these ones.
birthday ˆ laugh ˆ ellen ˆ jared ˆ jeet ˆ matt ˆ meredith ˆ the ktb
hans, matt
Hahaha. I love this picture soooo much. <3 <3 <3
best ˆ laugh ˆ lifted ˆ hans ˆ matt
ellen, jeet, juliette
Happy birthday, Gurjeet!
ellen ˆ jeet ˆ juliette
Casual West Village on a Friday.
crowd ˆ nyc

Sunday, May 10th

Made it to the 9am Aikido class on Sunday
aikido
Spent the afternoon in La Plaza admiring...
flowers ˆ la plaza cultural
...the plants.
la plaza cultural ˆ plants
Recorded some music...
living room
...then listened to this excellent (albeit, nerdy) audiobook that was recomended to me after I finished Ready Player One.
book ˆ laptop
amanda
Late Sunday evening I went out to Williamsburg to see Interval...
flyer ˆ amanda
amanda
...a short-lived band Amanda played a few shows with
band ˆ amanda
amanda, grant, katie, siege
Post-show reception line of adoring Amanda-fans.
amanda ˆ grant ˆ katie ˆ siege
me
Got home at 1am...
me
...and ordered myself a sandwich! I love New York City.
food ˆ sandwich

Monday, May 11th

Spent some time with the flowers on Monday morning.
flowers

Monday, May 11th

On Tuesday afternoon I walked over to a smoke shop on St. Marks and decided to make an investment in my Mary Jane hobby.
vapor ˆ volcano
She's a real beaut, Clark.
vapor ˆ volcano
Diagrams from German-engineers about watching to ensure the proper amount of weed-vapor density, for the win! Ok! Let's do this!
best ˆ drawing ˆ lifted ˆ volcano

Tuesday, May 12th

maddy
Morning East River walk with the winkle.
east river park ˆ maddy
jeet, me
Had Jeet over in the evening for to celebrate her official birthday with a few bottles of Prosecco. Look at us, all grown up!
birthday ˆ cheers ˆ jeet ˆ me

Wednesday, May 13th

Maybe it was the new vaporizer, but I saw a documentary about flying fish and just could not stop thinking about them and how crazy it is that they exist. Flying. Fish.
fish ˆ flying ˆ tv

Thursday, May 14th

Biked down to Soho for a catch-up lunch with a founder I'd done consulting work for in the past.
buildings ˆ flux capacity ˆ work

Friday, May 15th

Delicious lunch from the Organic Grill and...
food
...watched some interesting videos about imagining higher dimensions.
tv ˆ video
Hold on to yer mind!

Friday, May 15th

me
Woke up like this.
messy hair ˆ me
maddy
This fuzzworm compelled me to take her on a long walk...
maddy
...and I tried out the slackline again! My 4th time doing it and was finally able to walk back and forth a few times without falling.
slackline
Love me a good econoline.
east village ˆ graffiti ˆ van
Later that night ordered up some handsome Gruppo pies...
food ˆ pizza
jared, jeet, meredith, sarah
...and had ourselves an old-fashioned pizza party.
e9th apt ˆ jared ˆ jeet ˆ meredith ˆ sarah

Saturday, May 16th

Meredith got crafty with my pipe cleaners!
crafts
mr stoddard, mrs stoddard
Later Saturday night I went out to Sing Sing to sing karaoke with Grant's parents!
karaoke ˆ mr stoddard ˆ mrs stoddard
grant, mr stoddard
The apple and the tree singing some Frank together.
grant ˆ mr stoddard
ellen, grant, mr stoddard, mrs stoddard
They are both excellent singers!
karaoke ˆ ellen ˆ grant ˆ mr stoddard ˆ mrs stoddard
catrinel
Cat on the mic!
karaoke ˆ catrinel
catrinel, ellen, grant, niki
Cat & Niki duet!
karaoke ˆ catrinel ˆ ellen ˆ grant ˆ niki

Sunday, May 17th

me
Two-hour Sunday morning aikido class kicked my ass.
aikido ˆ sweaty ˆ me
grant, mr stoddard, mrs stoddard
Sunday afternoon we went the Hudson with Grant's parents...
grant ˆ mr stoddard ˆ mrs stoddard
amanda, colin, marina
...to a BBQ at Marina...
amanda ˆ colin ˆ marina
fatty
...and Dave's.
bbq ˆ grill ˆ fatty
grant, mrs stoddard
Grant introducing Violet to hatwear!
violet ˆ grant ˆ mrs stoddard
amanda, fatty, maddy, marina
Maddy waiting for grill-droppings.
bbq ˆ amanda ˆ fatty ˆ maddy ˆ marina
henry, maddy
Henry was feeling a little shy around Maddy...
dogs ˆ henry ˆ maddy
henry, maddy
...but they ended up becoming best buds!
dogs ˆ lick ˆ henry ˆ maddy
fatty
Dave made the mistake of throwing Violet up in the air a few times...
violet ˆ fatty
fatty, henry, marina
...and then Henry demanded his fair share of the action.
fatty ˆ henry ˆ marina
Little kid in a big chair!
cute ˆ violet

Tuesday, May 19th

Got into this excellent book on Hermetics (Alchemy) and did reading to learn the meanings of the different tarot cards.
book ˆ tarot
The Magician.
tarot
They closed the gas station on the corner of Houston & Ave C
east village ˆ gas station ˆ nyc
amanda, maddy, mrs stoddard
Tue evening I walked over to Amanda's for a dinner party...
couch ˆ amanda ˆ maddy ˆ mrs stoddard
mr stoddard, mrs stoddard
...with the Stoddards!
mr stoddard ˆ mrs stoddard

Wednesday, May 20th

Afterwork on Wed, I hung out in the park and did some slackline walking....
east river park ˆ slackline
...and when I got home in the evening the wood weapons that I'd ordered for aikido class had been delivered.
aikido ˆ sword
Tanto (knife)
knife
Jo (staff)
aikido
Bokken (sword)
aikido ˆ hallway ˆ sword

Thursday, May 21st

vin
Bought some excellent art from Vin on Thursday afternoon.
art ˆ drawing ˆ vin
leigh, maddy
Leigh came over for a hang and to drop off an Edie for me to watch for a bit.
dogs ˆ edie ˆ leigh ˆ maddy
Along with a bounty of thank you gifts from Kiehls...
gift
...and a bottle of my favorite Indonesian hot sauce! Mmmmm.
gift ˆ hot sauce

Friday, May 22nd

maddy
Hung out with these two hounds.
couch ˆ edie ˆ maddy
Spent the day playing guitar...
guitar
...and experimenting with layering guitar tracks in Garage Band.
computer ˆ garageband
Here's what I ended up making while messing around. Five guitar tracks on top of each other! I have a melody and words for this song, but was a little too shy to track them! (Always surprised to find what comes out of my fingers when I play. This song reminds me of a mid-90s band I used to love called NO KNIFE).
treat
Stopped at Johnny Air Mart after an awesome back-walking massage and stocked up on some Filipino delicacies!
food ˆ treat
treat
Ensaymada is a sweet roll, filled with butter and covered in grated cheese. Yes!
food ˆ treat
treat
First time trying these out.
food ˆ treat
treat
Rounded out the score with two dried mango things and some delicious DING-DONG!
food ˆ funny foreign products ˆ treat
maddy
Got some real good reading in with my reading partner.
asleep ˆ couch ˆ dogs ˆ feet ˆ maddy
Nursed the mat-burn on the top of my foot from aikido class. Ouch.
feet ˆ ouch

Saturday, May 23rd

maddy, me
Spent the early evening...
maddy ˆ me
padmasambhava
...chanting this guy's songs.
e9th apt ˆ living room ˆ padmasambhava
vin
Met up with the Vin around 11ish and we headed up to 32nd street....
coldlamp ˆ tough ˆ vin
...to go out dancing at HOLY MOUNTAIN!
crowd
It had a been a long time since either of us had been to any kind of night life thing.
crowd
Oh, word?
sign ˆ wtf
lauren flax
Lauren was DJing along with Karin Dreijer Andersson from THE KNIFE!
lauren flax
Dance floor was packed.
crowd
Thanks for inviting us, Lauren!
balloons ˆ band ˆ dj
vin
Bro, do you even rave? It had been a while since we had a long night of dancin at the kleeeerb.
crowd ˆ vin

Sunday, May 24th

Woke up at 7:30am with a weird stamp on my wrist. This used to be a daily occurrance. Made me laugh and realize I'm getting older.
hand ˆ stamp
Was early so I could walk Maddy before aikido class.
east village ˆ ivy ˆ la plaza cultural
me
7:30am.
me
After I got home from class there was a street festival going on below.
crowd
Read in the park.
tompkins
next lev kev
Exchanged reiki with Kevin in the evening and then we got and Indian food feast!
e9th apt ˆ indian food ˆ next lev kev

Monday, May 25th

treat
Memorial Day breakfast of champians.
food ˆ treat
maddy
Such majesty.
maddy
Score this decent book on the sidewalk...
book
...along with this one which I was't super into.
book
Here are two books that I bought (and didn't find on the street) and much prefer.
book
After trying all sorts of devices to consume santa maria, I have to say the volcano is my fave.
hand ˆ vapor
me
All smiles.
lifted ˆ me
In the afternoon I went to a roof BBQ at Dylan's.
dylan, ellen, hans, mandy o, matt, the ktb, vin
bbq ˆ roof ˆ dylan ˆ ellen ˆ hans ˆ mandy o ˆ matt ˆ the ktb ˆ vin
ellen, hans, mandy o, the ktb
bbq ˆ roof ˆ ellen ˆ hans ˆ mandy o ˆ the ktb
On Monday night I passed my first belt test in aikido. (Also managed to go to 10 classes in May...oof).
aikido ˆ calendar

Tuesday, May 26th

Korean feast and Game of Thrones and then...
korean food ˆ laptop ˆ tv
...read this new book on pranayama I got talks about learning to hold your breath for three hours like it's NBD!
book ˆ wtf

Tuesday, May 26th

Watched Apocalypto.
movie

Wednesday, May 27th

maddy
East River Park hound walk
east river park ˆ maddy
Flower patterns
flowers
The Twelfth Trump XII. The Hanged Man
drawing ˆ tarot

Thursday, May 28th

Morning blanket hound.
me
Aikido and cross-fit starting to buff me up a bit.
mirror ˆ me
Got this excellent flyer handed to me by neighbors in my building advertising their awesome upcoming party! (I obviously went!)
best ˆ e9th apt ˆ east village ˆ flyer ˆ nyc ˆ party
Thursday night I went out with Sarah to an event. I don't remember what! (bookreading?)
andy g, sarah
But I know Andy Greenwald was there!
andy g ˆ sarah
andy g, me, sarah
I like handing my camera to other people to take a pic.
kiss ˆ andy g ˆ me ˆ sarah

Friday, May 29th

books
Late May reading list. All excellent books!
books
Bought a few extra copies of this excellent book to share with others.
book
Admired the roses in La Plaza
la plaza cultural ˆ roses
Queen Anne's Lace (wild carrot)
flowers ˆ la plaza cultural
Weird wispy clouds at dusk
clouds
jeet
Friday night fresh-juicing with my favorite Bassi.
juice ˆ thumbs up ˆ jeet

Saturday, May 30th

On Saturday I took the midtown ferry across the water...
ferry
jeet, juliette
...to the park in Queens to celebrate Juliette's birthday.
jeet ˆ juliette
juliette
Aborbs.
juliette
jared, jeet, meredith
Solid hangs.
jared ˆ jeet ˆ meredith
Serious grilled cheeses.
food ˆ french fries ˆ grilled cheese
smoke tree
Took Maddy for an evening walk. Smoke Trees in lovely mauve bloom.
bloom ˆ trees ˆ smoke tree
Checked out the garden on my other corner that isn't La Plaza. (Shhhh! Don't tell!)
ivy
maddy
Walked along a neat pathway that ended in this round mirror.
mirror ˆ maddy
maddy, me
Crystal ball selfie with dog. (Maddy is making a great expression in this pic!)
best ˆ garden ˆ mirror ˆ maddy ˆ me
Solid roses here too!
garden ˆ roses
Lots of strange ornamental garbage among the plants.
Was hanging out reading when I heard the telltale crunch...
living room
...of taxi impact.
accident ˆ east village ˆ nyc ˆ taxi
No one hurt just dented doors.
accident ˆ east village ˆ nyc ˆ taxi
Walked home through the hood on Saturday evening and saw that my dream RV is still for sale and whispering my name every time I walk by.
rv
Did you know they mention BLACK MIRROR in Spinal Tap?
movie

Sunday, May 31th

Up at 7am to walk this reluctant sleeper before aikido class.
Had a real mellow Sunday evening that included Ghostbusters II.
movie
Pick-up game...
movie
...STRONG!
movie
books
Sunday reading.
books
Finished the month by recapping some pics from June 2013. Happy May 2015!
ikad ˆ meta