Saturday night in the District

Tacos at Taqueria Nacional

Dessert at BakeHouse

Culture and Art at Nuit Blanche at the Wonderbread Factory

fun with stencils

fun with ink balloons 

Watermelon house

There is a giant watermelon in the hood.

Hello June.

Now that May is over, time to revisit the goals... maybe its time to make some new ones?

No snooze... No problem

Run 6 Races... In May I ran the Warrior Dash! 3 races down 3 to go.

Track what I eat and when I work out... slacking on this a little bit, but mentally calculating

Knitting... fail, fail, fail

Travel somewhere new... Mechanicsville, Embassies, Renwick = Success

Be friendlier to strangers... Great conversations with random people this month, but I also kind of told a bicyclist to ride in the bike lane instead of ringing her bell at me on the sidewalk. But in my defense there was a bike lane! 

fine, thank you

Before I die...

Recently "Before I die..." popped up on a construction wall in the neighborhood. Panted with chalkboard paint and permanent blanks for filling in what you will do before you die (or Antes de morir quiero in spanish). What's great about the wall is every time it rains people get to fill out more goals/dreams/wishes.  

graffiti = not cool

my favorite = Be a farmer

What would you write on the wall?

Occupy DC banned from camping

By Monday morning Occupy DC is to be clear of McPherson Square. McPherson Square is maintained by the National Parks Service and always has a ban on camping, the ban just hasn't been enforced for the past four months. When I walked by today they were holding a meeting and none of the tents had been moved. I'm curious to see what goes down tomorrow.

Live at the Gantries

I made it to my first Live at the Gantries concert tonight.  They have fun Tuesday night concerts all summer long.  Tonight it was Gamelan Orchestra- Yowana Sari.  The Orchestra was made up of Queens College students and some native Balinese people from the community.  Yowana Sari is a Balinese orchestra.  It was pretty cool they explained all the instruments.  It sounded a bit like a bunch of chimes and flutes and gongs playing all at once.

Warming up

Kids dancing

In concert garb

I got home from work early today so before the concert I took a walk around the neighborhood.  I found some artist in action at 5Pointz.  They were working on a bright, pretty, aztec looking piece.  It looked pretty awesome (some of the art is creepy and gross) so I'm definitely going to swing by and see the finished mural.

Unhappy 7-Eleven on 7/11/11

Today is the 11th of July or 7-11 the convenience store 7-Eleven's unofficial birthday.  The day of free Slurpees!  I looked for a 7-11 near work, but figured they would all be super crowded so I decided to walk to the one kind of near me.  I say kind of because its a mile away.  So I walk a mile in 87 degree muggy heat dreaming of a cherry slurpee.  I get close and see people walking out holding the coveted beverage in their hands.  But as I approach the machines I see with horror that "this store is not participating in free slurpee give away".  What!!!  What did I do?  Did I pay the $2.50 and get one anyway.  No!  I have rules.  Actually I was going to get one as I was hot and sweaty and needed power to walk back home, but the good flavors weren't ready so that gave me the strength to walk back without one.

no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The walk was worth it as I spotted this tape sign advertising for hipster speed dating on July 16th!  hahhahhaha.... not going, but intrigued

"Hipster Speed Dating"

UPDATE:  If you want to cash in tonight you can find participating locations here.  And if you are curious about the economic impact of a free slurpee read here.

Never know who you'll run in to

I was on my way to Paragon to buy cycling shoes (which I didn't purchase) when I saw this shiny man shopping in the area.

The Andy Monument- Andy Warhol in chrome by Rob Pruitt

Rain - Run - Renegade Craft Fair - Randomness

It has been a week of crazy weather. It made it to the high 90s then there was severe thunder storms and now today it is chilly (60s) and after overcastness (credit me when Webster adds it to the Dictionary) and a few hours of misting it began to rain all out.. now its back to an overcast sky.

I went for a run this morning to prepare myself for the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge next week.  I signed up for Facebook to automatically post my split times, so I want to make sure they aren't embarrassing.  I usually run a 10 minute mile and the Challenge is 3.5 miles so I set out to run for 35 minutes.  I've mapped a nice course through my neighborhood that runs me past several great landmarks (one of these days I'll post about some of them), but I tend to switch it up a bit.  Well I got back to my apartment and mapped my run... guess what?  Exactly 3.5 miles, exactly 10 minute miles.  I'm going to try to speed it up for the race, but it will be difficult with the millions of other runners.  

By the time I cleaned up and headed out the door the mist had begun.  Luckily I planned for it and had my rain jacket.  I had great timing and the bus to Brooklyn pulled up right as I got the bus stop.  I don't ride the bus as much now that I live in Queens, but I love riding it when I can. A few stops later I got out at McCarren Park in Greenpoint/Williamsburg for the Renegade Craft Fair.  If you are on the market for handmade jewelry, prints, t-shirts, kid's toys, and bags you should definitely head over.  Some of it got repetitive, I mean how many different things can you put a mustache on? or a bicycle? and I wish everything wasn't so brooklyn and manhattan centric... I would of bought a map print of queens.  I bought a necklace and a hamburger.  I almost purchased a purse and a print of the Midwest, but the purse was $110 and the print had the star for Jefferson City in the wrong place.

After the craft fair I continued walking down Bedford Ave into Williamsburg.  The street was blocked off for "Williamsburg Walks" unfortunately the rain was keeping people away and activities off the street.  I walked down and stopped in a few shops and got a non-fat latte at a nice little shop.

But then the mist started to turn to rain and walking in rain isn't as fun as mist. I headed to find the bus, which was detoured because of the street fair and ran into this guy:

The Renegade Craft Fair is going on again tomorrow from 11 to 7 (hopefully with less rain) and the Williamsburg Walks is going on again next Saturday.

Doggie Park

The dog park got a nice new mural.

The Golden Rule aka JT in my hood

Before we begin there are a few things you should know:

1. Peeps are always filming things in my neighborhood.

2. I'm always having to go sit in a cubicle and work while they be filming

3.  I kinda still love Justin Timberlake

Ok now we can start

Remember a few weekends ago when JT and Lady Gaga were on SNL?  Remember how you tivo'd it because you have better things to do on a Saturday night?  Remember how you later watched and thought... oh my JT you so funny?  Remember the Golden Rule?  I do.

I woke up from a nap to watch SNL (I had played three games of touch football in the hot sun on Randall's Island, I was exhausted)  but only made it through a few skits be for falling back asleep (yeah I know).  As my eyelids were growing heavy I see this:

Wait a second... is that the yopaintmywall wall?  can't be....

Then I zonked out.  A few days later I remember the scene and youtube'd the video.

Not sure why it took till the yopaintmywall wall to make me realize that the entire video was SHOT IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD and where was I?  AT WORK.  No big deal... I could of met JT.  I don't get excited about celebrities, but JT... dressed like that?  come on.

the boardwalk by the gantries

is that my old apartment building in the background?  yes.

the loading dock building? uh huh

more Gantry State Park

next to my laundromat 

yes I pass this wall on the way to the grocery store

Cows on the corner

As part of the Art Festival (I think) two large cows showed up hanging out on my corner.

I don't mind.

Seen in the Subway

"Moustaches" written to look like moustaches.

on Helen Mirren

on some other movie poster

on model in clothing ad (I think)

Park Ave Roses

Recently Will Ryman's "Roses" popped up on the median of Park Avenue. I don't spend as much time as I used to on the east side so I hadn't seen them in person till this week. The roses are made from fiberglass and stainless steel. Apparently some people aren't so impressed with them. I think they are fun and a great splash of color during the cold dull winter. I didn't walk all 10 blocks of the installation, but since they will be there till May 31st I might have a chance to see the others. PS. sorry for the cell phone pictures...

complete with thorns

notice the ant

no rose smell

pretty against a dull building backdrop

Curb Appeal

Want a cheap way to redo the exterior of your house? Chalk! This building on my block recently showed up dressed in hearts. Makes me smile every time I pass by.

brick love

Can you spot them?

Currently in Madison Square Park you can spot many naked men. Not real men, but statues. They are Antony Gormley’s Event Horizon. Apparently there are 31 statues, but we only saw about 18. It's pretty cool looking around and finding them a top all the buildings. Can you find them in the pictures below?

Socrates Sculpture Park

On my way home from the game I cycled past the sculpture park, which I've been wanting to visit for awhile now, but had only recently figured out where it was located. The pieces were interesting and it was a nice park. You could tell a lot of locals came there a lot and the dogs seemed to love it as well. A few highlights:

Tiny resin buildings

Dogs love art.

Ouch

The bird on top and the accompaning droppings are part of the piece...

Cake!

Fun with rebar

Follow the yellow brick road?

And this little guy is some of my own art. He was walking along the path when I noticed his shadow before I saw him.