Spring

Park Slope, Brooklyn

Spring is in bloom. Little tiny green bits of leaves are poking their heads out and blossoms are exploding. Today I went for a walk through the Brooklyn Botanical Garden with Tinkerbell. It was so gorgeous. Only a few things are in bloom, though you wouldn't know it from today's selection of pictures.




Daffodils... in New York, they are always one of the first sunny signs of spring.





The daffodils on Daffodil Hill. They still aren't at their peak. There are more blooms to come.





The lone cherry tree with blossoms. All the rest are still waiting to show themselves.





A family enjoying an afternoon under the sakura.





These trees remind me of trees at the zoo in New Orleans whose branches become filled with roosting white egrets at dusk.





Pink Japanese magnolias.





Spot the hawk?





The bird took off after a man approached it. He claimed the bird was speaking to him with a southern accent. Hmmm.





Elegant black and white blossoms in a greenhouse.





Koi in the reflection pond before kids with sticks came and tried to wack the fish.

Ahhh, springtime.

Too Much Time...

Park Slope, Brooklyn

Too much time has passed since the last post. It's almost April. Where did March go?

Classes are on hiatus for the next week so one goal for the time off is to do a bit more posting. I took photos of my fully painted and decorated room at long last and will add them soon. I've been promising them to my parents for two months...

We've spent the last two days interviewing potential new roommates. Tonight we think we interviewed a porn star. Lawyer by day, mysterious modeling "side projects" by night. He will not be moving in.

Here's a space invader video to watch. Fun to watch, tedious to make.

Thank you, whoever you are...

Park Slope, Brooklyn

I don't know who you are, but I want to thank you.

It wasn't until this morning when I was getting ready to go out that I noticed my wallet wasn't in my bag. Or my coat. Or under the bed. Or in the living room. Or on the kitchen table. It was nowhere.

Where was the last place I had used it? The bank to deposit a check? The library to pay overdue fines? Tealounge. That was the place. To buy a mug of hot chai and read the day's news.

Maybe I left my little green wallet on the counter. Maybe it fell out of my bag or my coat pocket. Or maybe I set it down on the table or the seat and forgot to pick it up again.

Anyways, it was gone.

I almost had a heat attack when I looked at the activity in my checking account. OH MY GOD! A spending spree at Macy's and Old Navy... Oh wait, those charges are from last week. That was me. No new charges after all.

I called Tealounge, hoping maybe they would have some good news. Not expecting it, just hoping. It's New York after all.

The woman who answered the phone sounded dubious. "A wallet?" Endless pause. "What did it look like?" Another endless pause. "Oh yeah, there's one that looks like that."

I ran over to the cafe. Thousands of children and their strollers filled the place doing a sing-along.

The guy behind the counter brought out my wallet. The wallet you turned in. Inside was my driver's license, student ID, transit pass (expired, but you didn't know that), library card, and cash. All there, watched over by a Virgin of Guadalupe prayer card stuck in a transparent pocket.

The woman beside me in line couldn't believe it, amazed that someone turned in a wallet, money and all. I left a big tip in the jar for the barristas.

Thank you, whoever you are. You are a good person.

Suing the Corps

Park Slope, Brooklyn

Ever since the storm, saying or writing "Army Corps of Engineers" feels like the equivalent of calling forth Beelzebub.

This morning's top story from nola.com: "Submitting a claim for a staggering $77 billion, the city of New Orleans joined tens of thousands of would-be plaintiffs who rushed to beat a Thursday deadline to alert the Army Corps of Engineers that they may sue for losses resulting from the levee breaches after Hurricane Katrina.

Also joining the queue were Entergy New Orleans, the city's bankrupt electrical utility, which is seeking $655 million, and the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board, which put in a claim of about $460 million, spokesmen for the agencies said."


It's like a scene from Frankenstein where all the villagers come to storm the castle with their pitchforks and burning torches.