I Wish It Was Christmas Today

One of our best Brimfield purchases: an aluminum Christmas tree. With the color wheel (and the 8mm iPhone app 60s filter), it looks so awesome.

Sadly, a few minutes after taking this video we realized the bulb might be just a little too hot so we shut it off, but it was fun while it lasted!

The Sunshine State

I haven't been all that interested in going to Florida in my adult life, but Miami seemed like it might be a little bit different from the rest of the state. I just got back from a little Thanksgiving week trip there, and while I had fun, it doesn't really make me want to go back there. If I want palm trees and beaches I'll go to L.A.--there's better food and even better cultural offerings. But that isn't stopping me from posting some pictures...

We learned of a vegan food truck that was serving lunch in Coconut Grove, so we took a walk around the neighborhood beforehand and stumbled upon a little waterfront park (can't remember the name of it). At the end of the pier there was a sort of repository of boats.

Almost looks like a toy from this angle.

Some spilled paint on the pier.

A grove of palm trees on the other side of the pier.


After that we went to Crandon Park, which includes a beach, golf course, tennis court, amusement park, etc. We went swimming at the beach and later on wandered around the gardens, which are actually the grounds of a former zoo.

They left a few of the cages there, but with the bars mostly removed.

I love the murals on this one.

There's very much a feeling like the animals have just recently escaped and are still lurking nearby, especially with all the crazy sounds from the dozens of birds roaming the park.

We saw peacocks, ibises, vultures, some really tall birds we couldn't identify, a group of really angry ducks that hissed at us a lot, and even a bunny.

We went there just before dark as the sun was setting. I love the low light in these pictures.

Coconuts!

Another Brimfield Fair

I know I said I'd be posting all these updates from the summer...you'll get them eventually. Instead, here are some photos from the Brimfield Antique Show, which I went to this past weekend. I didn't get quite as much good stuff as last year--a small wood crate for the top of the fridge (something to stash all those loose chip bags in), an off-brand Evergleam Christmas tree (now we just need to find a color wheel), a vintage Copco baking dish, and some wood type. I guess not a bad haul, really. Maybe I just felt more exhausted this time.

It's not hard, not far to reach

I'm going a little bit out of order, but I'm starting with Rockaway Beach. These photos are from July, but I just went there on Sunday so it's still fresh in my mind, in a way.

We've been going to the beach at Jacob Riis Park for the last couple of years (definitely the best beach in the city!), but I'd never realized there was a boardwalk a couple of miles down. I still prefer Riis for their huge parking lot (we drove around quite awhile looking for a spot near the boardwalk) and the awesome abandoned military base, but the boardwalk has its perks.

This year they've opened up a series of hipster concession stands, including Blue Bottle Coffee, Caracas Arepa Bar, Rockaway Taco, and Rippers, a burger joint that has a decent quinoa black bean burger.

I'll bet it's weird for the locals (definitely heard some guy complaining about "all the faggy shit") but it's a great ploy to get people to make the trek there from Brooklyn and Manhattan. I'd still be going out there anyway but I love that now the day involves great food too.

I was a little skeptical at all the surfboards I saw people carrying, but look--people actually surfing (albeit on tiny waves).


Under the boardwalk

A rusty yet active skatepark just off the boardwalk.

How I spent my summer vacation (eating)

So I more or less took the summer off from blogging, even though I hadn't intended to do so at first. But I'm back, or so I'd like to think, and am going to start with a recap of the summer. (It might take a couple of weeks...I have a lot of photos to share, and as usual, I can't narrow them down as much as I want to.)

While it rained a lot this summer, mostly on weekends, I did manage to fit in some fun excursions to both new spots and old favorites--Los Angeles, Provincetown, Beacon, Storm King Arts Center, Red Hook, Saugerties, and so on.

But I'm going to start with what I ate. Or at least the photographs of food that I found on my computer, taken with intentions of posting here but never followed through on.

Garlic scapes

We used them to make a pesto,

some of which ended up on this pizza (under the cheese, so you can't really see it). Amazingly, these photos were taken months ago but I still have some pesto in the freezer, which I plan to finish this week.

Tomatillos and a couple of jalapenos, about to be roasted

and turned into salsa.

Mushroom empanadas before,

and after.

Pasta with red chard (I love how it turns the sauce pink).

A pretty salad, made with radishes and lettuce (and maybe a couple of other items)

Strawberry shortcake

I of course ate a lot of other great stuff this summer (both home-cooked and in restaurants) but for whatever reason this is what I photographed.

Vintage matchbooks from Dallas

While in Dallas I happened upon a basket of vintage matchbooks in an antique store. I've never collected them before, but after glancing at a few of them, I ended up scouring the basket for at least five minutes, a pile of matchbooks stacking up on the floor next to me.

I was able to narrow it down to these twelve.

Some of them I loved for the illustrations, some for the subject matter, some for both. I guess Smokey the Bear is the mascot of the Parks Service, not Yellowstone National Park, but I still had to laugh at the bear on the matchbook cover. Maybe it's okay to play with matches sometimes?

I thought Oberg was a city in Sweden but it seems to be a common surname. I haven't yet figured out what the special offer for high school drop-outs is but it seems noteworthy that it was the only one whose matches had all been used.

I've always loved generic hotel postcards--same goes for matchbooks, I guess.

The one on the left is for a private investigator, which is so awesome. Love the fingerprint with the hat. Also note the illustrations on the back of the Yellowstone matchbook.

I also found another use for the letterpress tray: displaying these. I just wish more of the slots were wide enough to fit them.

A few more from Austin

A few more random photos from my week in Austin.

Waiting at the traffic light near Austin Books and Comics.

The Boston Cream Pie and Orange Dreamsicle from Casey's New Orleans snowballs

The cupcake truck in the rain.

We witnessed this house being demolished. *

Bowling at Dart Bowl, where I once saw The Big Lebowski in the parking lot. *

Chocolate chip pancakes courtesy of my gracious host

The preserved Daniel Johnston mural on the side of the former Sound Exchange. *

More street art around town. *

*Photo by Dave