Good Morning Bronx

Pumpkin Cheesecake

I am loving the fall in New York City. Tonight, I found another reason to love it... Pumpkin Cheesecake* from Sweet Melissa's. What will my life be like after Brooklyn? Hope you are all having a sweet fall too! 

*If you come visit, I promise to take you there! 

Sad in the City

I really miss the school I worked at last year. I miss how much it made sense, how amazing the people were there, how pleasant and happy it was. Hindsight shows me that I didn't have stressful day there, period. My classroom felt like a home to me; my administrator recognized the hard work I was doing. I actually got to use the copy machines and had enough resources to teach and do my job. The focus was on important things, and the minor stuff was put to the side to worry about later or never. I had no idea what I was walking away from. I miss everything about it, everyday.

I do have to say, I love my commute here though. I see the sunrise each morning for a brief moment as it begins to touch the city... and, at the end of the day, I see the sun set behind the sky scrapers and the Brooklyn Bridge. Kansas has beautiful sunsets, but this, it's completely different... shocks and amazes me every time I see it. I still cannot believe that I, a girl who grew up on a farm and went to an elementary school in a town the size of the school I work in now, am living in New York City.

O and get this for a different life, dealing with something as simple as what my students live in. As I was thinking about the differences between my students and the Kansas students we've started writing Pen Pal letters to, I wondered how many of my students lived in apartment buildings... turns out, every single one of them do. When explained that all of my students last year and most likely all of our pen pals lived in houses with yards, they were SHOCKED! They couldn't believe it was even possible!

Wear What You Want

I like New York for it's style and for the fact that you can wear the clothes you choose in the way you choose to wear them.

3 Types of New Yorkers

A friend recently sent me an E.B. White quote about New Yorkers:

There are roughly three New Yorks. There is, first, the New York of the man or woman who was born there, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size, its turbulence as natural and inevitable. Second, there is the New York of the commuter--the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night. Third, there is New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something. Of these trembling cities there greatest is the last--the city of final destination, the city that is a goal. It is the third city that accounts for New York's high strung disposition, its poetical deportment, its dedication to the arts, and its incomparable achievements. Commuters give the city its tidal restlessness, natives give it solidity and continuity, but the settlers give it passion. And whether it is a farmer arriving from a small town in Mississippi to escape the indignity of being observed by her neighbors, or a boy arriving from the Corn Belt with a manuscript in his suitcase and a pain in his heart, it makes no difference: each embraces New York with the intense excitement of first love, each absorbs New York with the fresh yes of fan adventurer, each generates heat and light to dwarf the Consolidated Edison Company... 

--"Here Is New York" appears in Essays of E.B. White, Harper, 1977

Looking Forward

My To-Do list for the last 2 years has been topped with Crocheting. I've picked it up a few times but haven't had the drive to keep at it and actually create something successful. I already have a list of books to start inspiring me (gotta make it up to the library soon), and the box of crochet needles, yarn, and books have been pulled off the shelf. Just got to get myself back up-to-speed to where I was when I last left off. O and I need to untangle the yarn mess Indivar left me to remember him by. (That dog pops into my head all the time - seems like everyone has a dachshund around here.) The other exciting thing I found, that may encourage me to continue crocheting was a group in Park Slope that meets various times throughout the week just 2 avenues up. I need to work on my abilities before I join up for meeting, but I think it could be really fun - giving me the chance to meet new people and also get some guidance on exactly what I'm doing. I'd like to get a hand on crocheting and eventually start knitting too. But, I need to not get too excited, I've got to get the crocheting down first (and obviously I'm a bit of a slow learner!).

Something else I'd love to do someday, but don't know if it will ever happen, is to run a marathon. This year, I'll be lucky to have the chance to watch from the sidelines as the NYC Marathon runs by just an avenue away! Can't wait for November 2nd. This will actually be a first - I've never watched a marathon!

Gray Day on the Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge - A couple weeks ago. It was a rather gray day.

Violinists

At a surprise birthday party for a friend of Seth's family last night, we had the pleasure of hearing his two young girls perform songs for us on their violins. As the violins were being put away, it was suggested that others take a hand at the violin, Seth being first to go. Seth and I have been together for over 4 years and married for almost 4 months, and I have never heard him play the instrument he played for 14 years during his childhood. On a tiny violin, I heard him play for the first time and have the picture to document it (because I'm not sure when he'll ever pick one up again to play for me). Phoenix even got a chance to play. His feelings for the violin are definitely the opposite of Seth's loathing.

Blue Skies

The sky is often beautiful when I come home from work. I thought I'd better start getting some pictures of it, because as soon as the time changes for winter, I won't be seeing any blue skies at the end of my day. This is the Brooklyn Lyceum. It's a theatre, cafe, and gym (didn't know about the gym part of it until I looked at the website). I wish the cafe opened at 6 a.m. so I could stop for a morning coffee every now and then, but most coffee shops around our area don't open till 7 a.m., so I'm of luck.

Finally a Winner

I was starting to think that Solitaire on my iPod was impossible to win. After an hour and a half of playing on the subway ride the other day (so much for trying to rest my strained eyes), I finally won! I had to get proof; I may never know this again. Oh and this picture may also be proof that I'm the only one left in NYC with the Old school iPod. :) This things going to last until it dies or gets stolen - whichever comes first.

Crumbly is Better

There is one thing I do miss about Kansas... My two favorite burger joints Kuntz's Drive In in Abilene (where I was employed during H.S. and spent days in Burger Heaven!) and Nu Way Cafe in Wichita (introduced to my taste buds by my husband and his family). Some days I just crave a good burger and a frosty mug of homemade root beer, which are served at both restaurants.

The other night, as I was flipping through the recipe book I found a recipe called "New Way Burgers" and although it's not the Real Deal, Seth and I were very happy with the result! Now I just need to find some homemade root beer to go along with the burgers. :)

Complete Bums

Seth and I were complete bums today. We were awake at 6:30 a.m. to shut our windows because of insane rain. Yet we didn't get up until after 11:30 a.m. After making brunch (mostly Seth's doing - a nice treat on a Sunday morning), we laid around on the sumos watching part of the first season of The Shield and then watching part of the first season of Sex and the City.

Seth talked me into not going to get groceries for the week... which means we have to go tomorrow night. Mondays at the grocery store always blow because everyone who bummed around on Sunday is trying to get their groceries after work Monday (and there are many people in that boat; now it includes us).

Seth also talked me into ordering Thai food from a recent find on our street (actually just across the street and a few doors down). The place is called Song, and I've always wondered what exactly was in there... but never looked close enough to find out (not sure why I never looked at the menu in the window)... Despite living so close to the great Thai treasure, we have only discovered it in the last week -- thanks to some new friends! Amazing food and amazing price! Although delicious, this may be an easy out for dinner more often than it should be... especially with Seth's love for fried rice and spring rolls.

Seth and I will both be sad to see our lazy Sunday go. Although, I have a short week again... No School on Thursday! I love October!

Come Together

A little more in your face than past subway performers, this guy entered the subway and parked it right in front of us. He informed us he'd be singing one of John Lennon's best songs, and he'd be singing only for us! Did we look like John Lennon fans? Then again, who isn't! The music was free, and I loved the song (Come Together). The picture, he informed us, would cost. Russell, kindly, pulled out some change. The guy made him give all of it for the pictures! $2.50 but we got to listen to a good song and I got to snap a few pictures!

Hurricanes in Kansas & the Neighbor to Ohio

It's interesting the lack of geographic knowledge that New Yorkers have of any area outside of the Northeast. (Not that my knowledge of the Northeast is top, but I have a bit better sense than what you are about to hear!)

One person, whom I work with, had a whole conversation with me about the devastation of hurricanes in Kansas. I tried to explain that there is actually no devastation caused by hurricanes in Kansas. We do, indeed, have tornadoes, and they do, indeed, cause destruction... but hurricanes and tornadoes are quite different. I am still unsure if he was just completely confused about the difference between hurricanes and tornadoes, or if he is confused about the location of Kansas compared to the paths of hurricanes.

Another person at my school, a substitute teacher and someone who's been working in the NYC DOE for over 20 years, was surprised to hear I moved from Kansas... At first, though, she thought I said Kentucky, twice. The only reason I believe she thought this was because she didn't actually remember Kansas was a state (I spoke very loudly and clearly, trust me). I explained to her that Kansas was in the Midwest. As a light bulb appeared to go on, she asked, "Oh! That's right by Ohio, right?" .... Ummm... Right, only about 600 miles apart from the Eastern side of Kansas and the Western side of Ohio... but close. Or Not.

I would have expected our 5th graders to come into 5th grade with the prior knowledge of the locations of the 50 states. I am surprisingly Wrong. Very Wrong. They have no knowledge of states at all. Some don't even understand that New York is a state in the United States. One actually thought California was Alabama (pictures to come soon). Ahhh, the work I have ahead of me of not only educated my students, but also the people I work with.

Another Night In Williamsburg

Our friend, Russell, came into the city to visit this weekend. For Friday night, we had originally decided to hang out in Park Slope since we'd worked all day and were too exhausted to take the subway into the city. Then we began discussing Williamsburg as a possible place to visit... and it was decided that he Had to see it. I mean, where else do you see a village of hipsters?

It's a bird... It's a plane... NO! It's SUPER OBAMA!

Another Dain. I love the pictures that plaster the walls along the streets in Williamsburg.

After getting dinner at the Thai restaurant, Sea, we headed to Bar, a very chill bar in Williamsburg. After Bar, we stopped by another place we've previously visited. We didn't realize, but we were walked right into John's 30th Birthday party. (We don't know John.) According to his friend, the pictures that plastered the walls were created by a friend of theirs. She had taken his face in placed it on the heads of various people in various situations - some too inappropriate for this blog. Everyone seemed to get a kick out of John as Officer Donaghey above.

You can also find John here with a group of guys who "totally party". He's the second from the left.

Our last stop was another bar we've visited with Seth's brother. We were trying to figure out where it was and had given up the chance of finding it when we stumbled upon it at the end of the night. So in we went for a bottle of wine. Despite the sprinkles, we were able to enjoy their garden out back. Before we left, we took some time sitting in the windowsill seats.