Oyster Bar

I've never been here, but I do like their neon sign. It reminds me of one of those really old school New York joints. This restaurant is on 7th Avenue in the 50s, just north of Times Square.

Tiptoeing Down Park Avenue

More tulips on Park Avenue. These fine flowers are pictured at full blown and seemingly shouting up to the sky for more rain.

Bound for the Promised Land

I agree. Me too.

Isn't She Lovely?

After a quick afternoon trip to the post office (no line!), I figured it was way too nice of an afternoon to stay inside with Mr. Orange. (OJ did spend some quality time looking out the open windows at birds and taxicabs so you needn't worry if he had a productive afternoon or not.) Apparently the rest of the city had the exact same thought as me because when I went out for a bike ride it was unbelievably packed everywhere. Doesn't anyone stay inside on a nice day like today? I actually don't really like unseasonably warm weather. The normal temperature for today is 64 degrees, not 80. Tomorrow is supposed to be around 88. I might have to make some iced tea though I think I need a new glass pitcher.

I went out to the bike shop on 58th Street near 7th Avenue where I managed to get the tires on my bike pumped up. I noticed they were a little low and I was happy to cross that off my list. I also ran into a totally insane man on the corner of 59th Street right near Central Park. I didn't feel like stopping for a chat with him, but he was more than happy to strike a Madonna-like pose for me.

Saturday

Nothing to say right now.

Shakespeare's Statue

William Shakespeare was born 445 years ago today (Thursday). There is a imposing statue of him in Central Park right near an area known as The Mall or the Literary Walk. It's one of my favorite areas of the park and is actually a really good place to read a book. I am sure that Shakespeare would like that. There are lots of benches in this area of the park.

The sculpture was donated by the citizens of New York, led by a committee to honor the 300th anniversary of the birth of the poet and dramatist in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. There wasn't much fanfare around the statue today.

Most people in the area were jogging or riding their bicycles by quickly and I am sure that those who passed by the statue today didn't even realize it was his birthday. I did notice that some thoughtful person left a small bouquet of roses at the base of statue.

You can read more about the William Shakespeare statue here.

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On a totally unrelated note, my new neighbor, Kristen Dalton, moved in down the hall this week. I haven't met her yet, but you can see my front door in this clip. If you listen carefully, maybe you can hear Mr. Orange meowing. Her apartment is decorated much differently than mine! I don't think she finished her sandwich, but I blogged about the deli mentioned in the clip a few months ago. Those sandwiches are good.

Parking Tickets

I think that aside from finding a place to park, one of the biggest difficulties of driving a truck in the city has to be getting parking tickets. Here's a great example of an illegally parked truck and a traffic cop writing out a ticket. Notice all the other orange tickets in the window.

The Horrors are coming to New York. This could be a really good show.

Rooting for Root Beer

By popular demand, here are some bottles of cold New York City root beer. I like all kinds, but Boylan's Root Beer is really good and found at deli's all over the city. They seem to have the monopoly on root beer in glass bottles. If you look hard you can find other brands, but you don't seem to see them as frequently. I also love Black Cherry soda, but only when I am in the right mood. One thing to note -- I can't stand Diet Root Beer. Bleech!

Apparently, my only redeemable skills are taking photos and buying root beer so here I present both skills in one image.

I think I'm rather good at music listening too. The last day or so I've been listening to Fever Ray. It's a freaking great record. I like the song Triangle Walks. Here you can sing along. If I had my way, I would go to Stockholm, Sweden for the show on June 13th. That would be fun. Unlikely, but fun to imagine all the same. Don't say I didn't tell you about good music.

Raining and Hailing a Taxi

It rained out tonight. Certainly not a good time to try to find a cab.

I found out tonight that I am thought of as a good taker of photos and a good buyer of root beer. I'm not entirely sure how important or useful these skills are in the real world.

All We Really Need In Life...

I took this picture a few weeks ago, but it seems like a really good image for a Friday.

I especially like the wooden chair and the yellow and blue colors on the house are particularly good ones since I like blue shutters. I haven't been feeling up to par lately and it shows in my lack of blog postings and in my mood and overall perhaps in my general disposition. I can't quite figure out what the last line of this says, since a couple of the wooden letters are knocked out, but I'm pretty sure the last line is "And love growing in our hearts."

This was a favorite verse of Ruth Rawlings Mott. She was 97 when she died ten years ago. She was married to one of the founders of General Motors.

City Tulips

Some white tulips on 6th Avenue. I don't normally get the white ones, but tulips are definitely my favorite flower.

Where's the Gus?

Asparagus is now on sale in Union Square at a very good price - $1 per bunch. It's usually not a good thing when the -gus has gone missing. Mostly, I like it in limited doses.

The problem I have is that I'm not a very good cook. Even still, asparagus, like most green vegetables (brussels sprouts, green beans, etc.), is fairly easy to prepare. You just cut off the bottoms and you steam them until they are tender and then add a little butter to taste. There are other, much better ways to cook asparagus, but I don't have those culinary skills.

I have no idea where -gus went.

Gone Away

A modified street sign on 5th Avenue at 18th Street.

Pretzels

A stack of pretzels on Easter.

Happy Easter!

A tantalizing display of items for Easter. No chocolate bunnies here.

Lucky Draw

My friend Mame and I went to the annual Scupture Center Lucky Draw event on Tuesday night in Queens.

The Sculpture Center is, in my opinion, this totally underrated boutique art museum located outside the city just three subway stops. Every year they host a fundraiser/event where 160 artists donate work and the museum hosts a raffle sale to raise operating funds. It's a good idea, but even more so, it's a really cool event. I think I've gone four years in a row. My friend Rob used to go with me, but he dropped out and Mame has gone with me the last two years. It's got to be one of the most fun things I can think of attending. They provide a nice spread of food, free drinks and lots and lots of great art.

What makes the evening so exciting is that they sell exactly 160 tickets (it always sells out) and then they throw all of the tickets into a bin and spin it around. Meanwhile, before they call the names you walk around the museum looking at all the art that fills every wall space and make a list of all the art you might want to choose. Some of it is awesome and other pieces you might think are crappy. You try to make a list in order of priority, but it's really hard to choose exactly what you might want if your name is called early. The guy who hosts the raffle (it's more like a funky auction) is funny and captivating. I love listening to him. As they select the names out of the spinning bin randomly one by one, you wait for your name to be called so that you can select a piece of art that you want. However, because you never know when your name is going to be called, you basically sit there on pins and needles waiting, waiting, waiting. Meanwhile the assortment of art gets smaller and smaller as people who are chosen before you select pieces that you may have wanted. A lot of the art is quite valuable and other pieces less so, but all of the art is from relatively known or upcoming artists and are exceptionally well-conceived.

I really wanted a piece by Christian Tomaszewski, but it was one of the first ones selected and I ended up taking home a nice wooden sculpture instead. (See picture of Mame with my sculpture in a box.) Mame snagged a cool painting for herself.

All in all, another really fun night in New York City.

All Arrows Lead Forward

For reasons unbeknownst to me, there are arrows in on the floor at Barnes & Noble in Union Square.

Are the lines so long there that people would get confused which way to go to find one of the 10 or so cashiers? Is the process of buying books that entirely mind-boggling that in order to go a dozen or so steps straight forward, someone felt compelled to haphazardly affix masking tape of some sort directly onto the carpet as though this will radically simplify things?

I should realize that some people have difficulty doing what they say they are going to do. You can't wait around forever for even the simplest of things to happen like making a phone call, or waiting in line to go to see a movie or buy a book. You need to put directions directly on the floor and if they can't figure it out you have to realize they'll never get to the cashier and you just need to look for more thoughtful customers.

Broadway Bound

As I was walking through Union Square on Thursday night I ran into this girl who wanted directions. I think her name was Ginger (she kind of said it quickly) and she was looking for directions on how to get to 1087 Broadway.

Closed Set

Night time road work in the middle of 6th Avenue.

These construction crews work round the clock digging up the avenues throughout the city. I suppose it's a necessary evil in a bustling metropolis. It only really bothers me when I notice how loud everything is here or when they are digging up the street with those noisy jackhammers at 3:30am outside my apartment. Oh yes, it happens all the time.

It's amazing to see how in the center of a city like this one, even the torn up streets look like movie sets. Unfortunately, no one ever asks the back-hoe operators for their autographs -- though they probably contribute a hell of a lot more to our daily lives than Ashton Kutcher (twitter posts notwithstanding) ever will.