Trebsworld

May 23, 2006

What I Hear, I Forget

Michelle and I came across this during a walk through Riverside Park this past weekend...

Turns out that it's a variation on a quote by Confucius.

Posted by Thomas at 11:59 AM | Comments (0)

March 02, 2006

Smile!

Spotted this evening in the window display of the Sketchers store on 34th street:

Wiggy...

Posted by Thomas at 03:14 AM | Comments (0)

February 27, 2006

Alive and Kicking

For all of you out there who've been wondering, yes I am indeed alive and kicking! It's been ages and ages since I last posted to Trebsworld. In some ways I've had alot of things going on (lots of renovation to my apartment and general "de-cluttering"), in other ways not so much (not alot of music/acting/adventure items to report). I've wanted to do a complete redesign and move the blog to it's own sub-domain for some time. I've also been thinking very hard about switching the whole thing over to Wordpress. I like their one step theme options, as well as the fact that it's PHP. (Writing and updating entries is a hell of alot easier... no rebuilding.) I've also wanted for some time to find an effective Gallery application to catalog my photos. (I'm not a fan of Flickr as a permanent solution... I want my photos stored on my servers.)

My plan is to keep things here for the time being while I work on the redesign and decide which platform to go with. (It's easier to migrate from MT to Wordpress than vice-versa.) Perhaps if I put it out there publicly that I'm going redesign the site it'll help motivate me to get things moving.

Better to be a work in progess than have no work at all, right?

Posted by Thomas at 10:05 AM | Comments (0)

October 11, 2005

UFO: Party!

Who says we don't live in a land of opportunity?

Posted by Thomas at 04:31 PM | Comments (0)

August 14, 2005

Freakin' Hot!

It's been really freakin' hot lately. I know it's probably hotter down south right about now but DAMN, enough already!

Posted by Thomas at 05:48 PM | Comments (1)

July 22, 2005

Jesus Lives Outsite My Window

And the Lord said "Let there be cable! There shall be praise and salutations!" Tempted by the promise of more bandwidth and customer service representatives who don't count English as a second language, I made the jump from Verizon to RCN today. My cable guy Richie just finished the inside work, and I'm typing this offline while I wait for the guy with the 30 foot ladder to come back and finish the outside hookup.

Interestingly enough while he was installing the cable I found this crucifix on the roof outside my bedroom window, covered in dirt and dust. You have to wonder at the backstory that leads to Jesus being tossed into the airshaft. I mean, who throws a cross into the alley? I now find myself in the position of not knowing what to do with the darn thing. I don't want to keep it around the house. (Religious icons don't appeal to me as decoration.) I don't want to throw it away. What to do?

--**Update**--
I'm online now and the speeds are blazing compared to Verizon. So far, so good!

Posted by Thomas at 03:43 PM | Comments (2)

June 20, 2005

Art is Fresh Like a Virgin Slutt

West 28th Street between 9th & 10th - Chelsea
Sunday, June 19th 2005

Posted by Thomas at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)

June 19, 2005

I-House Salon - Friday June 17th, 2005

When I first moved here in the fall of 2002, I lived in International House. It's a kind of youth hostel of sorts for students from around the world who are studying in New York. If memory serves me correctly, I lived there for about a year and a half. (It's right around the corner from Manhattan School of Music, where I did my masters.) One of the folks that I've stayed in touch with over the years has been Fernanda Stein. She's a dancer in Brazil. (Oddly enough, she recently met and hung out with my friend Dav, who was visiting Brazil for an extended Sabatical back in March. You can read about their adventures here.)

This past weekend (ok, I'm cheating... it's actually the 29th and I'm finally getting around to posting this stuff and will be back dating all my posts...) was a reunion for all the folks who had lived at International House in the early nineties. Fernanda was one of the coordinators and asked if I'd like to collaborate on on a performance the Salon they were putting together involving alumni. She arrived in town on Tuesday, we got together on Tuesday night and bounced around some ideas, rehearsed them on Friday afternoon in the space and came up with the performance you'll find here. (90MB)

Posted by Thomas at 03:53 PM | Comments (0)

June 05, 2005

Ashes & Snow

Michelle and I went to see Ashes and Snow yesterday. It's an awe inspiring collection of the works of Gregory Colbert.

From the New York Metro article:

"Over thirteen years and 33 expeditions (Burma, India, the waters off Tonga), Colbert has assembled what he calls “a loving exploration into the nature of animals in their natural habitat as they interact with human beings.” The people in his work include Burmese monks, trance dancers, and, of course, Colbert himself."

(You'll find an archived copy here.)

The show has been housed for the past month in a temporary "Nomadic Museum" constructed entirely of shipping cars (for the walls) and paper tubing (for the roof and columns) and housed at Pier 54 on the Hudson. The feeling upon entering the space is like being in a church. The center aisle is made of wooden planks, and Colbert's photographs are suspended on either side. The spotlights shining on the photos cast beautiful shadows onto the river stones that are to the left and right of the wooden walkway."

As to the work itself, it's hipnotic. You walk down the aisle thinking to yourself "This is amazing... how in the world did he capture these images? He must have used Photoshop...", only to find yourself watching a one hour film shown at the end of walkway that documents the creation of the very images you've just seen. "Yes, that actually is someone swimming with 3 humpbacked whales with no scuba gear. Yes, that really is a young child sitting serenely while a pack of African wild dogs circle menacingly". The images are other-worldly. It's an inspiring show that leaves you wanting to go out and purchase the "How the heck did he do this?" DVD, which unfortunately doesn't seem to exist. You're also left with a sense of how big this world of ours is, and how much you want to go out and spend time seeing more of it.

And here's a terrific Manhattan sunset to put an end to terrfic afternoon...

Posted by Thomas at 06:48 PM | Comments (0)

May 31, 2005

Chelsea Sunset: 20th & 6th Avenue

While on my way home from running errands at around 7 on Sunday evening, I came across this amazing scene on 20th street looking west towards the Hudson. There was just a certain way that the light was catching on the brick that made me grab my camera and start shooting. As I was shooting, I overheard someone in a group of people walk past say "Look at the beautiful freight elevators" (Insert mocking tone here). Interestingly enough, I heard a few "wow's" when they realized what I was really taking pictures of. On a separate note, I absolutely have to find a better way to upload pictures for viewing online. Movable Type in it's default form absolutely sucks at this.

Posted by Thomas at 11:40 AM | Comments (1)

May 29, 2005

Coney Island - Eak the Geek

How do you pay the rent when you're tatoo'd from head to toe? Apparently you supplement your income with HSBC print ads:

Spotted this afternoon on 23rd & 6th Avenue...

Eak the Geek is currently performing with the Coney Island Circus Sideshow, which Michelle and I checked out this past Saturday. (I'd been several times... it was M's first time...). It's definitely one of the highlights of any trip to Coney Island. (Another standout in the current lineup is Heather Holiday, the worlds youngest sword swallower... she's just too cute!)

More on Eak...

Eak the Geek is the senior cast member of the Coney Island Circus Sideshow. A native of Mexico City, Eak he has become internationally infamous as both a Pain-Proof Man as well as the Man Who Tattooed his Face Like Outer Space. Eak’s solo act displays his many tattoos, includes a lecture on diversity and stands three audience members on his chest as he lies sandwiched between two beds of nails.

When Eak introduced himself as "The Geek", I immediately thought of Mr. Enigma, who had a pretty big part in the (most outstanding) X-Files episode 44, "Humbug".

Posted by Thomas at 10:53 PM | Comments (0)

May 02, 2005

Don't Forget... Mother's Day: May 8th

There's still time to purchase those cards and flowers, folks. Or at the very least remember those who brought us kicking and mewling into this world!

History of Mothers Day

"It started in Rome and became a United States national holiday less than 100 years ago.

You may think it was all started by Hallmark in an effort to sell cards, but that's not the case at all. Mother's Day dates back to the ancient Romans and made its way to the United States in the early 1900's and finally became a national holiday in 1914.

The earliest tributes to Mother's Day date back to the annual spring festival the Greeks dedicated to Rhea, the mother of many deities, and to the offerings ancient Romans made to their Great Mother of Gods, Cybele. Christians celebrated a Mother's Day of sorts during a festival on the fourth Sunday in Lent in honor of Mary, mother of Christ. In England the holiday was expanded to include all mothers. It was then called Mothering Sunday.

In the United States it started with one woman named Anna Jarvis. Jarvis was an Appalachian homemaker and she organized a day to raise awareness of poor health conditions of her community. She thought the day would be best advocated by mothers and called the day "Mother's Work Day".

When Anna Jarvis died in 1905 her daughter, also named Anna, began a campaign to memorialize the life work of her mother. Anna remembered that her mother said there were many days dedicated to men but not for mothers. Anna then began to lobby the politicians of the time to support a day dedicated to mothers. Anna Jarvis talked to many politicians including Presidents Taft and Roosevelt hoping they would support her campaign.

Jarvis organized a church service to celebrate her mother in 1908 and Anna handed out white carnations to those in attendance because the white carnation was her mother's favorite flower. Anna Jarvis' hard work began to pay off five years after that service in 1913. The House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for officials of the federal government to wear white carnations on the day many began calling Mother's Day, the second Sunday in May.

Finally on May 8, 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed a Joint Resolution designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.

"Now, Therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the said Joint Resolution, do hereby direct the government officials to display the United States flag on all government buildings and do invite the people of the United States to display the flag at their homes or other suitable places on the second Sunday in May as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country."

That was the first official Mother's Day and the tradition carries on to this day. In fact, Mother's Day has flourished in the United States. The second Sunday in May has become the most popular day of the year to dine out, and telephone lines record their highest traffic, as sons and daughters everywhere take advantage of this day to honor and to express appreciation of their mothers."

via Everything Mothers Day.

Posted by Thomas at 08:13 AM | Comments (0)

April 25, 2005

Presentation Complete!

Self Portrait. Friday, April 22. 2:49 a.m. Just back from the printers, color presentation in hand. (I did end up shaving before my 11:00 a.m. meeting...).

Posted by Thomas at 05:04 PM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2005

Shakabuku

A swift spiritual kick in the head. This past Wednesday I was laid off from my part time day job of the past 2 years, 8 months. Morning: job. Afternoon: no job. It was that swift. (If not entirely unexpected. We'd lost major business this past fall. Everyone knew the ax was coming, just not when and to whom).

I have to say that it was one of the most brutally cold and efficient things I've ever witnessed. My boss called me at 1 o'clock (she worked from both Boston and New York) and asked me to pack up her office. She'd just been let go. I'd heard rumblings of lower level employees getting the ax earlier in the day, but this was a senior executive and head of a group of 14 employees in 2 cities. As I was her NY assistant, I began to realize that I was probably the next to drop. Sure enough, around 3 p.m. I received the call from Human Resources. "Could I stop by...". I was told that the company was making a change in strategy, etc. and that I was unfortunately being let go. (It seems they ultimately laid off 60 people. One sixth of the staff.) I was told that I didn't need to finish up the day (or any of my work), and that when I returned to my computer it would be locked. IT would contact me to retrieve any personal files. Someone from HR would give me a call in a few minutes to discuss my severance package. When I got back to my desk the office manager stopped by to say that if I had any personal items that I couldn't carry home, they'd be happy to ship them to me. Wow.

As an artist living in NYC I've had a variety of supporting income. It's mostly been temp. positions (cater waiter, office work, etc.). This is the first time I've had an opportunity to be with one company for an extended period. (I was a research assistant for a major media planning/buying company...). I have no doubt that the past 2 years, 8 months have been extremely valuable. I made some good friends with whom I plan to stay in touch. I had a terrific boss and a group of co-workers that I respected and enjoyed working with daily. I gained many valuable skills that continue to help me in the pursuit of my career. I also have no doubt that this is one of the best things that could have happened to me. It is time to move on and use these skills in the pursuit of what I really want.

July 15th, 2002 - March 9th 2005.

One door closes, another opens.

Shakabuku

Posted by Thomas at 12:53 PM | Comments (2)

February 28, 2005

The Gates - Saturday February 19, 2005

NYC has been all a flutter these past few weeks over The Gates, a large installation by Christo & Jean Claude in Central Park. I came across a post about an evening walking tour that sounded pretty interesting on my weekly Nonsense NYC mailing, so Michelle and I decided to check it out. It was being put on by Derek Lomas at Cognitive Culture. (I'd later learn that Derek was not even a New Yorker - he's from Columbus, Ohio - , and that he was pretty surprised when all the folks from Nonsense showed up for his little tour.)

We bundled up, downloaded the soundtrack into my I-Pod as instructed and headed for Central Park. There was a group of about 60 people gathering at the Alice statue. At the designated time we all started our soundtracks and ventured further into the park.

It’s difficult to articulate what “The Gates” really are. (I’m sure they're something different for every person…). For me the evening was almost cinematic (maybe it was the soundtrack…). The Gates seemed to focus my experience of the world around me. It was almost as if they created rooms and corridors in an outdoor space. The park at night was extraordinary. Around every bend was a new thing to see and experience. There were breathtaking and magical scenes that were brought into sharper focus by the darkness.

Thanks again Derek, for providing a live action real time shared movie-like experience!

Here's the evening through my eyes...

Here's an article on The Gates by Anna Quindlen, taken from Time magazine.

Posted by Thomas at 11:19 PM | Comments (2)

February 19, 2005

"The Pile" - Project Complete

I cleared away the last remaining papers in the pile last weekend...

and found a local non-profit that would pick up my books... They came this past Thursday night.

Here's a slideshow of the process from start to finish.

Thoughts on the process:

The public nature of this project (blogging about it...) provided an incentive to finish the job. That this blog is still in beta, and only a few people know of it's existence is irrelevent. Also, the process of documenting each step along the way helped to break a potentially overwhelming task into manageable chunks, as well as provided me with visual incentive along the way. (I really looked forward to presenting that Flickr slideshow of "beginning pile" to "no pile".

One of the goals of this project was to analyze my clutter to see exactly what was in there, and find ways to eliminate the need to blog about another pile a month from now. The biggest thing that I learned was that it's terribly important to have an effective collection system in place for all of the stuff in our lives. "A place for everything and everything in it's place" so to speak. This is especially true in NYC, where every bit of square footage is at a premium, and we don't have garages or attics to hide our junk away. One of my biggest issues is paper clutter. I discovered is that there are specific "meta-tags" to my piles of paper:
Teaching Notes
Book Notes
Personal Notes/Concepts
Acting Notes
Bills & Statements
Receipts
Phone Numbers/Addresses (usually scribbled down on bits of paper or in the form of business cards)
Junk Mail

Alot of these notes tend to end up on legal pads, wire binders, or miscellaneous scraps of paper. Usually in no particular order, which left me with a bunch of stuff that I couldn't throw away because there might be something valuable in there and would have to sort thru later. (Which never happened, because it was such a mess that I avoided it and created another pile...).

To keep this from happening again, I've begun keeping all notes of value in a single Moleskin notebook, which I keep in my bag at all times. These are great little notebooks...They fit well in your bag, open up flat for easy writing, and look quite handsome on a bookshelf when you've filled them up with all your master plans. (There seems to be quite a buzz at the moment about Moleskin notebooks... either that or I'm way late to the party. It's quite fashionable in the GTD set.) I also meta-tag each entry so that it's easier to locate ideas later.

Receipts I keep in an accordion file in my newly redesigned studio space (possibly more on that later...). They're stored right next to my binder for Bills & Statements. Phone Numbers I enter right away into my computer and trash the original. Any websites scribbled onto pieces of paper go to del.icio.us. The thing that seems most necessary for me is to develop the habit of putting things into my collection system(s), and then be ruthless in the application of this habit.

All in all a very illuminating process!

Posted by Thomas at 09:58 AM | Comments (2)

February 07, 2005

"The Pile" - pt. 6 - Less paper in the pile

I eliminated about 3/4 of the stack of paper in "The Pile" tonight. You'll notice that I waited to address this stack until last. These stacks of paper haunt me and have until now vexed me in my search for organizational zendom. I've been trying to "metatag" (for lack of a better word) the contents of the pile as I sort through it in hopes of finding places for this stuff so that it doesn't end up creating a brand new "Pile" next week. I'll present a summary of my findings when I finish. Until then, revel with me in the gathering SPACE!

Posted by Thomas at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)

"The Pile" - pt. 5 - Couldn't Sleep...

Couldn't sleep last night, so I decided to knock out the "old journal" part of the pile. These were notebooks that may or not contain useful information. (Really all I did was tear out the content, staple it together and put it in the "paper pile", but it's good to have only two things left to knock out.)

Progress is a beautiful thing!

Posted by Thomas at 10:10 AM | Comments (0)

February 06, 2005

"The Pile" - pt. 4 - Clothes-B-Gone!

I bagged and carted the clothes off today to Riverside Church.

Nothing earth shattering. One of those "Just Do It" moments. The result?

3 more parts of "The Pile" to eliminate. Nearing the home stretch! See the progression.

Posted by Thomas at 05:55 PM | Comments (2)

XO Cafe & Grill - Tribeca

Michelle and I went Tango dancing last night at Lafayette Grill & Bar in Tribeca. The plan was to have a late dinner there and then go dancing, but when we arrived they told us there were no tables. (Which was quite annoying, as there were very obviously 3 or 4 tables for two clearly unoccupied...Surly hosts at restaurants piss me off...). Cranky and famished we wandered the desolate streets of Tribeca until we stumbled across the "XO Café & Grill". When I googled them later I found the cuisine described as "a modern interpretation and fusion of Western and Chinese cooking" which seems pretty accurate. There were over 200 items on the menu to choose from, some pretty exotic... ("Salted Baked Head on Shrimp" was one of my favorite odd titles.... ). The food was absolutely delicious and the prices were extremely reasonable. I had the Sea Scallop w. Black Pepper Corn Sauce (not sure if this meant "black peppercorn sauce", or a sauce that had black pepper and corn...) which at $13.95 was the most expensive thing on the menu. Most items were $6.95-$7.95. Michelle had the "Udon Noodle Soup with Mixed Seafood" (which oddly enough was listed under the "Prime Ribs Udon Noodle Soup" section. So wacky!.) Both were delectable!

Alas I hope to some day post beautiful mo'blogged pictures of the food from my travels ala Mie at Kokochi (Mmm... Cuban... looks tasty!), but I've not yet purchased a camera phone, nor found a decent provider in NYC who supports mo'blogging. One day, though!

Posted by Thomas at 12:57 PM | Comments (0)

February 03, 2005

"The Pile" - pt. 3 - Wayward CD's & CDR's

Went ahead and knocked out the CD portion of the pile...

No big secret here. Just a matter of digging in and "Just Doing It". I returned the wayward audio CD's in cases to their original home (I have five large Case Logic crates that hold most of my collection...). The other loose CDR's (some .aiff, some .mp3, some software...) were redistributed to existing Case Logic folders and then moved to my Studio. Most of this part of the project was deciding which CD's to keep, which to throw out, and which to archive.

One of the goals of this little exercise is not only to eliminate "The Pile", but to also examine the processes that brought the pile o' junk into existance in the first place. I'm hopeful that a good bit of the need for these CD's & CDR's will be eliminated by my new I-Pod, which I can use for moving software around. I may even pick up a cheap jump drive at some point for times when the I-Pod isn't convenient. I think the biggest thing that I'm learning right now is to go thru the "Review, then Keep, or Throw away, or Archive" process much more often. Just as important it seems is to have effective archiving/storing options available at all times. If you don't have empty places for those CDR's (or Cassettes, or whatever...) they're going to end up in the junk pile.

See the progress on my Flickr site.

Posted by Thomas at 12:57 AM | Comments (0)

February 02, 2005

"The Pile" - pt. 2 - Cassettes

Started the day by stubbing my toe on the cassettes in the "Staging Area"... Enough of this crap!

Problem: Ever multiplying cassette tapes from my weekly voice lesson
Solution: 3 shoe boxes from The Container Store, Chelsea location
Cost: $4.47
Storage Capacity: Each box holds 29 cassette tapes

The full box of cassette's I stored under my bed, keeping the other boxes at the ready for future lesson tapes.

The result? "The Pile" is a little bit smaller!

See the progress on my Flickr site.

Posted by Thomas at 09:25 PM | Comments (0)

January 31, 2005

Tandoori Chicken with Dirty Rice and Green Beans

I'd like to think that I could be a good cook if I ever set my mind to it. I've had success to varying degrees throughout my life with the culinary arts, but find it difficult to consistently cook for myself. In NYC many times it's easier (if not more satisfying) to just eat out. I have a few reliable Chinese dishes (Mei Fun, Chicken & Shrimp with Mixed Vegetables, Sesame Chicken with Vegetable Fried Rice... all usually with a side of onion rings...) that I rotate with the occassional "Voila" meal (an all in one "meal in a bag" type of thing... available in your local frozen goods section. Throw it in a pan, wait 10 minutes and you have a decent enough meal with only one pot/one plate/one fork to clean.). As distasteful as this combination might seem to most, it's actually a step up from the days when I varied my rotation with McDonalds & Taco Bell. Comparatively speaking, I now eat down right healthy.

To make a long story short, I've begun to cook again of late. I wanted to document the process so that I remember which recipes I like, which recipes I don't, and hopefully find an effective way to do this consistently.

To that end, my first documented recipe:

Tandoori Chicken with Dirty Rice & Green Beans
Ingredients:
  Chicken (thin sliced)
  Tandoori Sauce
  Liptons Dirty Rice
  Chopped Onion
  Chopped Garlic
  Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  Sofrito (Goya is good...)

I have a terrible track record with fresh meats & vegetables. The process is usually as follows:

• Make resolution to cook at home more.
  
• Visit grocery store. Purchase lots of fresh meat & vegetables.
  
• Return home. Cook. Put rest of food in refridgerator.
  
• Enjoy home cooked meal! Yummy! Cooking is fun!
  
• Wait two months. Notice questionable odor...
  
• Remove decaying food from fridge.
  
• Rinse. Repeat.
  

I'm learning slowly but surely that the way to avoid this is
  a.)Make sure you always have freezer bags on hand.
  b.)Freeze your meat immediately upon coming home from the store, and
  c.)Marinade your meat before you freeze it (preferable overnight...)

Making Tandoori Chicken with Dirty Rice & Green Beans:

• Marinade chicken in sauce overnight then freeze if not using immediately
  
• Defrost chicken in microwave if necessary.
  
• Cook rice as per instructions (takes about 10 minutes)
  
• Open can of green beans. Throw vegetables in small pan. Add one teaspoon Sofrito. Season to taste with Curry/Ginger/Garlic/etc. Cook over low heat till all bubbly! (You know it's hot if it's bubbly!)
  
• Saute onion & Garlic. Cook 1-2 minutes. (Cooks down the onion and seasons the oil...)
  
• Toss in the chicken. Stir & mix with onions and garlic. Cover to retain juicy chicken goodness!
  
• By the time your rice is done, your chicken should be through cooking. Make sure to cut into the chicken to check for pinkness. Salmonella bad!
  

Ok, it's not fancy and technically it's probably not even a recipe as much as it is a process. But it's a start, right? (For the record it wasn't too bad, though I'd probably substitute some other pasta/rice side for the Dirty Rice... a few too many of the same flavors mingled together. Would have been better with some contrast.)

Posted by Thomas at 06:58 PM | Comments (2)

"The Pile"

By Manhattan standards, I probably have a reasonably large apartment. Nevertheless I constantly find myself drowning in ever multiplying piles of stuff. Junk that suburban dwellers take for granted because they have the space to hide things. (Multiple closets, whole rooms, basements, garages, rental facilities... devoted entirely and filled to the brim with the daily bric-a-brac they don't want to deal with.) Maybe it's human nature. Maybe I hate to throw stuff away.

In my NYC apartment where every ounce of space has to be optimized for maximum usage potential these random piles are not just a nuisance, they frequently annoy the hell out of me. In the spirit of rebirth and to celebrate the coming February I've begun a new category in my blog and will be sharing my journey publicly in the hopes that I can at last eliminate "The Pile" and restore order to my home.

In a moment of brilliance inspired by the work of others (It's pretty interesting how many people are documenting their attempts to organize recently...), I created a Flickr account so that I could document the journey, and hopefully inspire myself to get rid of all this crap.

Here's how it's gonna work. I've taken all of the miscellaneous little piles and created one large pile. We'll call this the "Staging Area". The concept is to make the rest of my apartment more liveable by putting all of the chaos into one clearly defined area. As you'll note on my Flickr site (they have a cool mouse over feature where you add notes to photos...), I've broken "The Pile" into different sections...

Miscellaneous Papers - I have no idea what the hell is in here.

Old Clothes - Goal: Either take these to the local church clothes drop-off site, or take em to Brooklyn to the cool clothes store and trade em in for undersize vintage t-shirts and trucker hats, in noble attempt to look like Williamsburg hipster.

Books I don't want anymore - Goal: Either Sell em (The bastards at the Strand didn't seem to be interested when I read the titles I had to offer over the phone... it's like someone saying "Hah, what the hell were you thinking buying those titles?"), E-bay em (Is it worth the hassle?), or give em away.

Assorted CD's. - The thing about having a CD Burner is that one seems to acquire a ton of CDR's. What the hell to do with them?

Old Notebooks - Not sure what's in em, but afraid to throw em out, and don't know where to file them.

Assorted Cassettes & Videotapes - Analog takes up so much space.

Here's a "before" picture of the "The Pile"...

I figure if I keep tripping over the damn thing it will inspire me to take it apart piece by piece. I'm also hoping find a method of containment for all this crap to use once "The Pile" has been eliminated. Stay tuned!

Posted by Thomas at 01:05 PM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2005

Snow is NOT better than rain...

Note to self: For all those times when it's the middle of January and cold and rainy and I say "Rain sucks... I'd rather it just snow"... well, snow sucks more. Or maybe I should say "10 inches of snow (at least) with bitter biting cold and wind sucks more". Damn, California is looking really nice right about now.

The view from my window this morning...

Posted by Thomas at 08:00 AM | Comments (0)

January 12, 2005

Brooklyn Street Art

Every so often I break down and get my hair cut. I'm pretty picky about my hair, and the one person I've found that I trust it with lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. (His name is Mikail, he's also a painter and a very interesting guy with an amazing loft space...). I really love this neighborhood, and it's one of the only places I think I'd consider moving that is outside of Manhattan. On my way home, I came across this really cool street graffiti...

Creativity finds a way!

Posted by Thomas at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)

December 05, 2004

Argentinian Tango! La Belle Epoque

Michelle and I went to La Belle Epoque this past Friday for my second tango lesson. (I'm learning that there is quite a thriving tango scene in NYC. If you choose to, you can dance 7 nights a week. This is a pretty comprehensive listing of what's out there.)
La Belle Epoque is a beautiful restaurant near Union Square that specializes in Classical French, Creole and Contemporary American cuisine. (We only came for the dancing, but apparently the food is pretty good.) They give a beginner tango class from 8:30 to 9:30, and then feature a live trio for the more experienced dancers later on. The class was pretty crowded, but went well. (I managed to not hurt anyone, and my partner was quite the trooper to join me in the class... as I learned later when she paired up with the more advanced dancers.) Here's the thing about Michelle... I knew that she was into tango, but I had no idea just how good she really was. She's an amazing dancer, and completely took my breath away. Such wonderful footwork. It really was a joy to watch her move with such grace and precision.

Posted by Thomas at 02:11 PM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2004

Found: One Inmate Identification Card

I had just gotten on the 1/9 train after my Floor Barre class at Steps this afternoon when I noticed a laminated ID card on the seat labeled "INMATE IDENTIFICATION CARD". It had a passport size picture of a rather unfortunate looking soul and listed her name, religion (Muslim) and some other ID-Type numbers. "Department of Correction was stamped at the bottom. On the other side was a place for a signature, and a request that "If this card is found on a person in the street, please hold the individual and notify NYC Dept. Correction Central Operations Desk immediately."

What I love about this is that if this truly is a bonified "Inmate Identification Card" for the NYC Department of Corrections, they want you to "hold the individual" and call the cops. Of course they don't give you a phone number on the card to call, so I guess you're supposed to ask said felon to wait while you consult a phone book, or perhaps invite them back to your home while you check for the number online.

But hey, maybe it's just a hoax...

Posted by Thomas at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)

November 01, 2004

Always Bring Extra Batteries, aka "NYC Village Halloween Parade 2004: The Pictures You Won't See"

Ok, so I confess. I don't have a great track record the last few months when it comes to cameras and pictures. First there was the "Incredible beautiful day at the beach in San Francisco that I didn't capture because I left the compact flash in Dav's laptop and had to go all the way back to his house to get it because gosh darn it I was going to take some damn pictures" Kodak moment. (Luckilly this turned out ok, because I ended up with "Really cool creepy fog rolling in at the beach with Dav & Mie pictures" instead.)

Then there was last night. It was Halloween, and time for the NYC Village Halloween Parade. I've been to the parade a couple of times in the past. It's an amazing showcase of the creativity and joie de vivre that is NYC. Unfortunately it's usually cold as a witches nipple so to speak, and can be really difficult to get any type of position on the street to see anything. Because of unseasonably warm weather, we decided this year to dress up and march in the parade. I resurrected my "Danger Man" costume. My friend Michelle made quite a fetching Little Red Riding Hood.

We made our way to the line-up spot at Broome & 6th Avenue. All seemed well. Wacky ghouls goblins and creatures were plentiful. I took one picture... I took another... Then the dreaded "Change Battteries" message appears. Oi, Gefilte Fish! You see, the thing about being a superhero is that you're a bit short on pockets. I only had room on my utitility belt for a set of keys and my camera bag, (which in turn only had room for my camera, my cell phone, some cash & those little Listerine breath strips...) As my evening preparations began, I distinctly remember saying to myself "I wonder if these batteries are ok... maybe I should bring an extra set... nah, I'm sure they're fine!" Doh!

Oh well! : ) All equipment malfunctions aside, the parade was alot of fun. Being a part of things is a great way to see the spectacle. You're not able to see the big showcase pieces... (the big floats and such...) but you are able to interact with your fellow New Yorkers, both in and out of costume. Marching in this years parade and the attendant after-parade festivities made this a night to remember!

Posted by Thomas at 09:08 AM | Comments (0)

October 24, 2004

Mr. Choade

In the spirit of "I really need to get out of the house more often...", a friend and I went to The Slipper Room last night. (It's located on the corner of Orchard & Stanton, south of Houston a couple of blocks from Katz's Delicatessen, the diner where the classic "When Harry Met Sally" orgasm scene was filmed. There are quite a few cool little bars/clubs/venues/restaurants in this area actually...)

Anyway, I'm a subscriber to the Nonsense NYC mailing list (a sort of weekly newsletter for alternative and cool parties and events.) It seemed that everything this weekend was in Brooklyn, so we opted to stay in Manhattan and check out Mr. Choade's Upstairs/Downstairs at the Slipper Room. They bill themselves as "NYC's Longest Running Burlesque Show". It's 1920's burlesque complete with pasties & quirky routines. Miss Saturn (Our hostest?), Harvest Moon, The World Famous *Bob*, Tigger (who did a hilarious George Bush routine), Delirium Tremmens... We had a great evening!

Posted by Thomas at 12:24 PM | Comments (0)

May 21, 2004

Erin & Her Cello

I made my first trip to DUMBO this evening to see a friends show. She was performing (with her cello, as the flyer above suggests) at a nice little space called One Arm Red I'd never seen Erin perform before so I had no idea what to expect. I must say that I was completely blown away! Erin took center stage, with a backup band of 3 female vocalists, a beat-boxer, and an accordion player.

She sang original songs while playing the cello (alternating between pizzicato & bowed), and the songs were hilarious. She had a great stage presence, and the crowd really responded to the show. I think it's safe to say that you're going to be hearing more from both Erin & Her Cello in the future!

Posted by Thomas at 05:56 PM | Comments (0)

April 18, 2004

Nice Day at Last

We finally had a mostly spring-like day here in the city. I went to Central Park and walked around for a couple of hours and just enjoyed sunlight and trees and the gathering of people. Sheeps Meadow was packed... It almost looked like the beach on a summer day, when there are so many people you can hardly see the sand.

Posted by Thomas at 05:36 PM | Comments (0)