Note to self

It may be the weekend.

But you should still wear pants to the laundromat.

Faith and begorrah!

'Tis almost St. Patrick's Day!

As you can see:

Thanks landlady.

BOOKS

Found in a recycling bag in the East Village:

There's nothing like books for tweens.

And, bought from Abe Books:

Book III! This may aversely affect my ability to finish a certain freelance job this weekend.

New hobby

The Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle!

Some other hobby's gonna have to go. But which one?

Ham cooked in butter

Is this even legal?

Found in a trash bag

A jacket! (Twas in with the shower curtain.)

Quilted cotton; soooo soft and cozy.

It's super 1980s-ish, with a small waist and large shoulders. It looked freakish on me but it looked awesome on my friend! She took it back to LA with her.

Yeah!!

New friends

How do you like these siamese twins?

I met them in Greg's studio.

On the High Line

"Free" grass.

It is allowed to do whatever it wants.

This so rare in the city—it makes my brain feel good to look at it.

Books read in 2011

My new thing is, read actual books! (I mean, books made of paper, not audiobooks on my iPod.)

So far this year, this is what I have gotten through. All good—and all by dead people, as per the usual.

I loved the Lucia books so much I read one of them in the dark, walking home from the subway after work (it wasn't easy!)—something I haven't done since I reread Harriet the Spy a couple years ago. It reminded me of when I was a kid, when my mom would call "Supper time!" but I wouldn't want to put down my book. . .

Hexagon UPDATE!

All joined together!

Now I just need to deal with the loose ends and crochet the border.

Good morning Mr. Smoothie!

Now I eat you. Yummmmmmmy.

Again

I am trying to grow some paperwhites.

It didn't work last time . . . and I get the feeling it isn't going to work this time either! It's been a week and absolutely nothing has happened.

Old things

Are they objectively better?



Or do I just like them better?



These are old and new locker tags from my gym.

A dime!!

I love finding money.

A weird dinner

Featuring all-natural jumbo Polish hotdogs I found in the freezer!!

Plus toast, an egg, salad greens, half a cucumber, and all the condiments you want.

(You can tell Greg is an artist, can't you.)

I know it's just a tree

But it still makes me sad to see a living thing thrown on the trash heap.

Me

Somehow this little Nova Scotia girl is 34 years old today.

Shall we

Go back to sleep?

Greg and I had the best nap this afternoon.

Beverages

They make a Beth delighted.



(She really does like her iced drinks.)

Tickets to the Met

This is what they looked like in 1961(?).

I love the stripes on the back.

This person paid $1, the day before Christmas. Or do you think that says December 2?

(Found in an old book.)

New drawing by Greg

I like it.

And there's more where that came from!

Baby blanket

For a friend.



Three sizes of granny squares! (There's a mini version not visible.)

I packed it up and sent it off to Toronto with:



Two baby hats!

One with pompom!!!!

Old-timey

I want to steal these from the office supply shelf.

Found

Awesome paperbacks!

The Shook-Up Generation (1958, third paperback printing 1969)—a "shocking exposé of juvenile delinquency," with an introduction by Eleanor Roosevelt. It reminds me of this (the book, not the sweater).

I'm Done Crying (1969): "THIS BOOK WILL SCARE THE HELL OUT OF YOU!" Ha haaaaaa!

Aren't books great?

My favorite chocolate in the entire world

They changed the recipe in the fall—and the new formula is really bad. Since then I have been buying up and stockpiling all the original bars I can find. For a while I had quite the cupboard full.

Tonight I ate the very last piece. I actually feel really sad!

Halifax, Nova Scotia

My friend Jennifer secretly recorded this starling on her office windowsill.

Turn up the volume to hear him whistle!! (Did you know that starlings are mimics, like mynas?)

Sigh. I miss animals.

Windowsill

A friend of mine. (He wartches me while I sleep.)

Found sticking out of a bag on the curb

Printed cotton or linen.

It's a shower curtain?

Found in a recycling bag

"To the guys on the block, J. T. is the kid who stole the radio out of the red convertible before they could get to it. His neighbor, Mrs. Morris, declares him a first-class nuisance. His mother is bewildered —'He's just gone bad, that's all. . . Stealin' and lyin' and I don't know what all.' But all the sensitivity, responsibility, and care of which ten-year-old J. T. Gamble is capable emerges when he finds an old, one-eyed, badly hurt alley cat."

With pictures by Gordon Parks, Jr., son of photographer and film director Gordon Parks and himself the director of Super Fly (1972).

BEST EVER!

Christmas vacation

I miss it.

Something amazing I found in a box by the curb

The Bluejackets' Manual, 1973: "Since 1902, it has been used by millions of enlisted people—everyone from the most junior seaman to the most senior chief petty officer—as the one most valuable reference book on how to do things the Navy way."

I had no idea this existed! It's pretty fascinating.

Seamanship:

Rules of the Road:

Knots!

And FAQs:



No, the Navy cannot "cure" homosexuality.

I love books so much! They are endlessly interesting, don't you think?

Calzone in a bag

It's what's for lunch! At your desk, while you read "your blogs."

Snowman

Cute. He's eating his greens!

But—what's that thing on his neck!?

I suggest a biopsy.

Snow storm morning

Leaving the house.

It was awesome!