Photo of the Day: Framing Fiery Fronds

When you are running around, from one building to another, before the snows fall and the hues bleach to grey, sometimes you see things in an ochre light and just the right frame of mind.

~ photo by iPhone

40 Diamonds for 40: Journeys with Jane

There are moments of serendipity in life. There's the day you turn a corner in a hallway of your college dorm and come across a sight that makes you laugh and laugh at the incongruity of the scene in front of your eyes. Fast forward, more than twenty years later, and wonderfully two of the submissions for your 40 Diamonds for 40 project come in back to back, perfectly echoing the interweavings of harmony that come from chamber music partners. Those forged bonds of friendships, in and out of practice and classrooms, behind instruments, on stage and off, with verbal and physical shorthands that are only keyed to your core group, echo through the musical cosmos. Even though you don't talk all the time, and only see each other sporadically, you can pick up the threads that make up your relationship-- almost seamlessly.

Jane tells the story best. What she has left out is how wonderful she was to let me try my hand at her harp, not wincing at my tone and technique; how she would let me escape to her houses on Flax Hill Road for visits to The Dutchess for fast food, Trader Joe's for supplies, the thrift shop for deposits and withdrawals, to the yarn stores for supplies, and to Book Aid to "volunteer" -- and take home more books; how she so thankfully warned me about my 19th birthday "surprise" as planned by the girls, to take me to "a show" aka Chippendale's (seriously, THANK YOU for the warning); how she and her parents had/have adopted me and let me accompany them on trips to concerts, fancy restaurants where I got to try mako for the first time, fixed my clothes, given me advice, generally put up with me; how she allowed me to work out my aggressions by basically single-handedly demolishing a room in her house, with a mallet and crowbar, brick-by-brick; and so much more. Jane's been my arty travel buddy, who really knows that it's quality, not quantity, of time spent together.

Not only is Jane a talented string teacher, harpist, friend, but she's also responsible for many of my charming letters and postcards from college.

Brava and Milli Grazie, my friend. Brava!

Dear Auntie Nettie,

When we first met, I was sitting on the dorm hallway floor with an entire door lock in my hand. That moment was the unlocking of our friendship over the last twenty-two years.

After our initial introductions, we found our love of music as a common bond. We played together all four years of college. You could play anything and were the best accompanist a violinist could hope for! As members of Trio Non Sacre (Unholy Trio—named not by us, but the department chair), we enjoyed playing such favorites as “F- You, Martinu!” We must have been pretty good since we found ourselves to be the on-call musicians for various college functions. Not bad considering each rehearsal seemed to start with me playing a strip tease tune while you and Kristen removed coats, scarves, hat and gloves!

After college, you continued to support my musical pursuits, now as a string teacher. My young string students loved the opportunity to visit Caramoor and attend concerts or workshops. We felt that Caramoor was an extension of our classroom.

Because we have very full schedules in the “Ed Biz,” we find it hard to schedule time to do things together. But I’m glad we’ve been able to enjoy lots of things that NYC has to offer---walking the newly-opened Highline, concerts at Carnegie Hall, lunch at Peanut Butter & Co. or A Salt & Battery, and the annual Makers’ Fair.

May you have a wonderful birthday! I look forward to celebrating many more milestone birthdays with you!

Lots of love,
Jane

Postcard Art by Jane, c. the College Years

Sometimes you just feel like screaming!

YouTube Tuesday: British Blackberries

We're going to start a new segment on the blog, called YouTube Tuesdays, when I'm going to post all the weird YouTube clips that people have sent me, or that I've posted to YouTube.

This one came to me over the holiday break, from my pal Jane over at the Flax Hill Gardner. Jane and I enjoy silly bits of British humour.



If you can't view it here, try this:
My blackberry isn't working! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI

Fried Adventures of the Shushing Librarian

S.L. here to give my report on Auntie Nettie's birthday feast. As part of my culinary explorations of the City, Auntie agreed to let me tag along with her and Jane from Flax Hill Gardener when they went to visit A Salt and Battery, a chip shop in the Chelsea section of Manhattan in celebration of Auntie's b-day.

We all took an oath that the weekend did not count as part of calorie counting and that the Food Police could take a long walk off the shortest part of the Chelsea Piers. Trans fats? What trans fats? Salt? Yes please. Fried foods? Load us up! This poster was a perfect symbol of the day. We all had our fingers in our ears to avoid the mocking of our own consciences. This humble facade is misleading. Auntie said she almost passed out in bliss when she walked in and smelled in all the fried wonderfulness.So many choices. Luckily, we already knew what we wanted. Small chips for everyone. Small haddock and a Diet Coke for Auntie and small pollock and a Tango for Jane.

The shop is tiny. Don't go expecting tables or seating. There's about 10 spots to perch in the window and along the side. There's a bench outside. Don't try and change the atmosphere by suggesting tables and more seating (like some blowhard did while Jane and we were eating). Embrace the place for what it is. Like this view out the front window.And while you're embracing the authenticity, don't use salt or that red stuff on your chips. Use Malt Vinegar.

Here I am, trying to score some Tango and pollock from Jane. She wasn't sharing, so I had to help Auntie with her chips. Auntie said she wasn't overly impressed by the chips and next time would skip them and just get a double portion of haddock and TUBS of the house made tartar sauce. It apparently is so much better than the American-ized relish with that pickle garbage in it, and more like dill with Crème fraiche! (Wait, she's telling me that maybe she'll try the curry sauce next time!)

To be honest, Auntie was really there for the Deep Fried Mars Bar. Apparently she's been lusting after one for about 10 years, or whenever she first saw it featured on the Food Network or the Travel Channel.

Hot from the fryer, oozing chocolate, caramel, and nougat, this Mars Bar was out of this world. (Yes, yes I did make that pun.)

A.N. Quote: "This is the best bad thing I've ever eaten!"

At least, I think that's what she said. There was some mumbling through all that gooey molten goodness. And that's saying a lot, because believe you me, that Auntie girl loves her her junk food, AND she did years of service at a fast food restaurant.

Stick a fork in me. That last bit of Fried Mars Bar just did me in. Sugar Coma!

I'm still salivating about this culinary adventure. We topped the day off by wandering up to the Chelsea Market where our eyes, ears, and other senses feasted away. ...

I can't wait to see where my culinary and other explorations take me next.

For now, I'm The Shushing Librarian ... shhhhhing off.

Summer Fridays 2009 - Part One

One of the best things about working at the Big J is that fact that we get about 10-12 Fridays off from June to August, in exchange for some of the Monday holidays throughout the year. This comes in very handy for vacations, explorations, etc. After working so hard for so many summers, sometimes I don't know what to do with myself with all this time off. In an effort not to sink into the horridly debilitating depression that clouded last summer, this year I made a list of places to go and things to try and do. Luckily the weather cooperated, for the most part, and I was often joined by friends, or persuaded by others to deviate from the list. Here's a partial sampling of some of the things that I did on my summer Fridays (besides going to the office and blogging about them!)

Lion Brand Studio

After reading about the studio for so long, I finally had a reason to be downtown. I planned my perambulations to include a walk over to the very lovely Lion Brand studios, where I spent some time ogling the wall of yarn, downloading patterns for projects, and ordering more materials. I tried not to be intimidated by the serious knitters and other crafters. I'm a rank amateur compared to those people.

Right next to the computers are some of the amigurumi animals that can be made by various knit/crochet patterns.

The front window display is changed up occasionally. When I visited, it was a knitted display of the New York City skyline and other notable landmarks/institutions.
There was even a knit replica of the Mayor knitting. Having just seen the mayor outside the office, this guy looks better and more approachable. During my walk-about downtown, I strolled by some very interesting window displays. Since I was on my way to the Lion Brand Studio, I was in a crafty state of mind.

These are a little creepy though.

I think I was so distracted by what I had seen in these windows, I almost completely missed the fact that I walked right by a very low key Spike Lee.

This trip also included an excursion to the famous Strand Bookstore. Now, I love books. I love the smell of old books. I enjoy reading. Unfortunately, I have a problem with narrow aisles and crowds. I like to browse without feeling squished and rushed. I also like my sci-fi sections not be regulated to the back tiny corner of bookstores. Sadly, I've also found that when you are looking for obscure sci-fi books you run into the dilemma that sci-fi geeks hang on to their materials, so the likelihood that you are going to find that rarity is pretty slim. While I did find a few things on my list, I have to spend more time looking on-line for my missing volumes. Maybe my real problem with the Strand that day was that it was a muggy Friday at lunchtime and everyone was hanging out in the a.c.?

Since I was starving and it was lunchtime, I headed uptown and dove into the Union Square Green Market. After the quick walk uptown, the inhaled dust in the Strand, the inferiority complex I had also picked up at the Lion Brand Studio, I was even more susceptible to the aromas emanating from all the food vendors hawking their wares. The breakfast radishes, cilantro, and lettuce that went in my bag were later joined by jalapeno cornbread, maple-flavored breakfast rolls, and chocolaty baked goods. If I had had a cooler with me, I would have picked up fresh cheese and homemade bacon. Somehow, after all the browsing and purchasing, I never did get an actual meal! Once back in Grand Central, I finally bought a Jamaican beef patty at Golden Krust. I've only been walking by it almost every day for three years. For under $5, a well-balanced meal of an ice-cold Diet Coke and very hot, fried dough and spicy meat is the best. thing. ever! On other rambles around the Upper West Side, I walked right by the former residence of famed composer, Sergei Rachmaninoff.

On another Friday, my good friend Jane (from Flax Hill Gardner) joined me in the City. We went back downtown, bought goodies at one of the MoMA design stores, had our nasal passages assaulted in a Lush store, were serenaded by mourning Michael Jackson fans, discovered art works in new places, and were reminded that a City of over 7 million people is just too darn small.

My list of places to visit this summer included the Pearl River Market downtown. This wasn't Jane nor my first visits to the store, but we couldn't resist going back. It's just a sensory delight. From the incense that wafts through the building, the rich brocades of the various shoes, jackets, and children's mandarin-style outfits, to the feel of the fine origami papers, and all the various blue porcelain-wares that I was lusting over, it was fun to explore the two levels of the emporium. It caters to tourists and locals alike. Not only did I buy the typical I heart New York stuff, but I finally got some spicy chili sauce to soup up the Chinese food that my local purveyor just won't make hot enough for me.

The true purpose for our trip this time to New York was to visit Peanut Butter & Co.

For YEARS I have been watching various Travel Channel Sandwich Paradise shows, not to mention Rick Sebak's documentary on PBS, and have seen this shop. It's ridiculous that I've been in New York this long and not gone. Now I can cross another thing off my list.

Luckily Jane I have different food tastes, so we were able to pick different things off the menu.

When at Peanut Butter & Co., you have to try the Elvis ("A grilled peanut Butter sandwich, stuffed with bananas and honey. Try it with bacon for that extra indulgence. Long live the King!") Jane had hers without the bacon.
I hate banana, but love bacon, so I had a specialty sandwich with their Mighty Maple peanut butter and bacon. Salty, sweet, drippy, goofy, and DELICIOUS. So good. (All of their sandwiches are served "homestyle with a side of Cape Cod potato chips and carrot sticks. Just like Mom used to make!") HA! My mother didn't put bacon on our sandwiches. Fried baloney maybe, but not bacon.Here Jane models the fab ring she bought at MoMA. We had a corner booth. Now when I see Sandwich Paradise again, I know exactly where we were sitting, and I can enjoy it even more.It was pretty busy when we were there. We weren't the only ones influenced by the Travel Channel as the clientele was pretty obviously all tourists. After a while Jane and I had more fun watching the construction workers from next door removing a door papered over with flyers. Of course, that may had more to do with the naked male dancer from Pilobolus on the posters than anything else.

After such a yummy lunch, you would have thought we were done with food for the day, but Jane indulged me in back-tracking to find the Baked by Melissa cupcake stall I had spotted on my previous trip downtown. The whole trip back to the cupcake stall was because I promised Casey that I would eat a chocolate cupcake for her, and I wanted to find a vanilla cupcake to eat in honor of Nie's birthday. These little tiny cupcakes are scarily addictive (and expensive too!). One bite and they are gone.

While I didn't quite fulfill my promise to either lady, in some respects the flavors at Baked by Melissa represent their lives a little bit more accurately. I bought a dozen or so with the intent of taking pictures of them in strange locales and for a photo essay for Casey. However, the subway ride and the heat and the humidity conspired to create what what can only be called a 'hot mess' in the box. Happily, after refrigeration, the gooey mess was still edible and was devoured in a New York minute.

Thanks to Jane for schlepping around with me to cross a few things off my Summer Friday list!

For more information about my summer Fridays, stay tuned or check out the Shushing Librarian's adventures.

City Gardener First Harvest

After months of impatiently waiting, Auntie Nettie is pleased to announce that the basil from Jane over at Flax Hill Gardener has finally gotten large enough to harvest.

Thursday afternoon, I plucked about a dozen leaves to add a fresh taste to my salads and mozzarella sandwiches for the weekend.

The salad was so yummy. Jane, thanks for the basil ... and for the sharp bite of your radishes.

City Gardeners

You know how a tree grows in Brooklyn?

Well, we're hoping to have basil growing in Manhattan at the Big J.

Potted on Friday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. at my desk,

to the amusement (or befuddlement) of my boss

One BuzzySeeds Basil Grow Kit courtesy of Jane over at Flax Hill Garden.

I don't have enough light at home,

so I left it in the window sill of the office to get growing.

Stay tuned for updates.
I have more seeds to plant if I fry this batch of soil.

UPDATE: Monday morning discovery -- too much light in office window heated up the pot and cracked it into lots of piece. Thankfully, there are lots of vases and pots in the office, so the basil pot (cracks and all) are away from the window and in new containers. Lesson learned.

I'm hoping to get pesto out of this, as well as some basil, mozzarella, tomato sammies.