new jersey delli

04/17/2009, NYC as seen from Edgewater NJ

A carefully charted course constrains. Spontaneity frees.

COFFEE BREAK

 

Cerveceria Baldo, Calle Ribera 5, 46002 Valencia

TRES TRYST

It's long overdue. The tryst with Pablo, Antonio and Santiago has commenced.

WHAT THE PAC

"Are you coming to watch Pacquiao tonight?"

"No!"

"Why not?"

"Dude, if I wanted to see brawny guys going at each other until they're all sweaty and spent, I'd watch porn!"

LIGHT IS A BLUR

04/27/2009 Union Square

A VIEW TO A THRILL

04/17/2009, Edgewater, NJ

No photograph can ever give justice to this magnificence.

Shooting two hours before midnight is clearly a breach of established norms of photography, and sans tripod one could only hope for the best.  

BLANC CANVAS

04/2009

04/2008

Every year, for two weeks in April, the much-maligned city of Newark becomes a mecca as everyone descends - or ascends, depending on what geographical location in the Garden State one is from - into the Branch Brook Park for the Annual Cherry Blossom Festival.  Though it lacks the pomp of the festival in the nation's capital - a city as notorious but of a different variety - the blooms are just as pure and magnificent. 

SPRINGING FORWARD

 

09/2008, Seattle Center

It was one of those uncharacteristically warm winter days Northeasterners easily warm up to, what with the uncharacteristically cold winter we've had to give the cold shoulders.  (Except of course when we were up on Mountain Creek making embarrassing somersaults and struggling to get our sore asses up in full view of everyone, then we'd gladly cozy up to it.  But that's another story.)

This is the thing: Winter doesn't appeal to me at all.  To me, it is a season for cocooning.  I'd rather spend days off work enveloped in the warmth of cashmere-cotton sheets than brave the cold while being weighed down by layers of clothing. And being someone who knows a thing or two about human behavior, I'm sure I have SAD.  Of course, this emotional and psychological roller-coaster hasn't necessitated chemical or psychiatric intervention - I do have a great support system after all - but, boy, am I glad this sickening weather is almost over.

C'EST SI BON

 

Moi friend at the cafe

Three small tables and petit fours crammed in a square-footage of a decent-sized bathroom. Don't let the cramped space deter you though or you would miss out on the magical flavors whipped out by one of two sisters who manage the place. Two guys from across the river braved the terrible Saturday night traffic and the futile search for a parking spot and were rewarded with the best desserts this side of Manhattan. 

However small the place, the tasteful decor that echoes an authentic Parisian coffee shop makes for an ambience that is both inviting and relaxing.  So is the voice and demeanor of Diane.  Whoever said the French were rude and condescending certainly hasn't met this lady.  And rude or not, there's just something in the French language that makes me wanna take on the tongue.  The house blend hot chocolate suggested by her left a very pleasant aftertaste.

Dousoeur de Paris, NYC

GOT MILK

So we've been Bolly-booed. That lotus flower pattern on the stage was a giveaway. This, however, is reason enough to start drinking low-fat dairy again.

THE LAND OF THE FREE, THE HOME OF THE BRAVE