Home Improvement Project

Our bookcases looked like a crazy person had put them away. They were shoved and stacked in all different directions. We have an old saying at work, "when in doubt...color it out" I decided to apply that theory to our bookcases at home. I guess I could have alphabetized by title or author but I don't think it would look as cool. Jordan asked "how am I going to find a book? I will have to look through the whole case" I responded by asking how he found them before. I think he like the new way. Now when he buys a book he looks at the spine and says"I know where this goes!"


We can't buy anymore books with white spines.

Aruba

Jordan and I were fortunate to be able to escape one of the coldest weeks in New York. We joined his folks who had already been down there for a few days. They are huge fans of Aruba and have been going for many years. They know all the fabulous restaurants. This was our second trip to this island. Just like the last time, we rented a car and drove around sometimes going off the beaten path.



The water is so beautiful......


and clear.




Our first dinner in Aruba was at Smokey Joe's Ribs. Jordan orders a drink called the "happy tourist" and I had a "pink iguana"




This is our view from the room at the Marriott Ocean Club.






George and Jordan on the way to dinner.


So many iguanas and geckos.


Evening view of pool and palapas.


Diving pelican at a spot we like to call 'pelican beach" Not sure of the real name of the beach.


Kickin' back and relaxin'


Under the shade of the palapa


One day we went on a glass bottom boat tour. I got a little seasick.


Dutch style pancakes at Linda's Pancake House


We had the bacon and apple pancake. The perfect blend of sweet and salty.


Lots of exotic beverages served on the island. This concoction was the color of antifreeze.


My dinner at the Screaming Eagle.


My dessert. Yum


Jordan's dinner.


Jordan's dessert.


Our feathered friend.


Animal Crossing.


Funny little booth. Dushi yiu.


The beaches on this side of the island are rocky.


Coral.


I like the way this sign looks.






The historic church.


Alter in the old church.


George and Sibby at the historic church.


Can you find the iguana?


The California Lighthouse.


An antique shop. Too bad it was closed.




Somehow we ended back at Smokey Joe's for our last dinner.


Rib Mania


The special blue margarita.


So sad it is our last day.


We love Aruba!

Goober Needs a Library Card

This picture has two of Jordan's favorite things. Goober and Spock.

Our honeymoon in Quebec City

This is the terrific place we stayed.




The views from our suite.


This wax dude was always hanging out in the lobby. It is supposed to be Champlain.


A Quebec Goober le chat.


Quebec City is very clean.


The leaves were changing color getting better as the week went on. We took many walks in this park.


It was very breezy at times.




We loved this park. The Plains of Abraham. A very significant battle in Canadian history took place here.


At the revolving restaurant in our hotel.


Fancy salad. The food was awesome.




Hanging out at a bar in lower town. I had a European hotdog. Very yummy! Jordan had the cheese plate. (surprise ha ha) Note: beer is stronger in Canada.


This ship model was inside a very old church in the lower town. The model represents the ship that transported French soldiers to New France. On the spot were this church was built was Samuel de Champlain first residence. Quebec City celebrated its 400th year this year.


On top of the old city walls. We had just seen a rainbow.


The Montmorency falls are taller than the Niagara Falls just not as wide.








Words spelled with logs. It says Omar and Carlos.


Nature finds a way.




Roland the tour guide called this the bread place. For a small fee you get bread spread with maple butter. Bus loads shuffle through to get their slice of bread and move on to the next sight.




There were panels and panels of buttons of bus drivers.




Photos of buses. There was another section of the building that was more hockey oriented but the bus theme really carried through the place.


Basilique Ste-Anne-de-Beaupre


We saw the Copper Museum where these doors were made.






More than a million people come to this basilica every year. Many claim to have felt Saint Anne's healing powers and no longer have the need for crutches etc.




Awesome painting.




The heat in this room was intense. It was nearly 100 degrees inside.




Entertaining street musicians.




Cool building near the university.


Concealed text on fence.


Fun sign.


Mummy pole.


Very hilly.


Modern vs. Old




Slide screen.










Pom poms at a crafty corner.


Interesting public art.


My folks happened to be in town. They stayed at the famous Le Chateau Frontenac. They are standing with the hotel dog. If you are a guest you can take this guy out for walks. On this day we took an entertaining tour of the hotel.


A rainbow.




Jordan's guitar hero, Steve Howe from the group Yes.


We saw a fantastic show of this guy's music, Vieux A Toura Farka.


Ann's lunch at the art museum.


Jordan's lunch at the art museum.


Installation in the old prison portion of the art museum.


We loved Quebec!

Fun at Flushing Meadows Park

A few weeks ago Jordan and I had an adventure at Flushing Meadows Park. Not knowing what we were going to do that day, we got in the car and found ourselves at the Queens Museum. They were in between exhibits but we took the opportunity to look at the panorama. The panorama is a to scale duplication of Manhattan and the surrounding boroughs. It was built for the Worlds Fair in 1964 and remains part of the permanent collection at the art museum. If you are ever in Queens check it out.

After our short trip to the art museum it was our intention to find the carousel and take a ride. We have ridden on the carousel in the past and it is a fun ride. However we got sidetracked as we noticed there was something happening in the park. It was the Korean Harvest Festival.

There were lots of vendors for packaged goods, banking services, trips to casinos, and kimchee. There were also some really awesome food vendors. We had terrific dumplings, some kind of traditional bread (I said it was like a Korean soft pretzel), the best corn on the cob I had all year, and some korean bbq. We didn't leave the park hungry.



It was funny because we saw lots of small dogs in the park and many were in outfits. We saw a couple of dogs being walked in a stroller.


If you can catch Korean Harvest Day next year, I highly recommend it!

Got Married!

Haven't done much posting since May. I had a lot to prepare for. The big wedding event! I did many of the details myself with the help from some crafty folks--Denise, Kim and Rob. Perhaps I will post the crafty details in the future....

It was a beautiful day. September 13, 2008. I had both of my parents walk me down the "aisle"

I thought I would be super-nervous on the day but I wasn't. Of course I was very nervous on the days leading up but that is just my nature. The day went so quickly! Everyone said it would and they were right. Hoping to have more pictures soon.

So Punny I had to laugh

Saw these a while back. I was walking home from work and had to stop and chuckle. I can't decide which is my favorite....I may be leaning towards "wristy business"

Memphis, Tennessee

We just got back from a short trip to Memphis. We were there for the Memphis International Film Festival where Jordan's film Body/Antibody was shown. We met lots of great folks there and ate tons of health food (BBQ). The hotel where we stayed was a short walk to the theatre. When the French Quarter Hotel was built, I am sure it was a great place to stay but the years have taken their toll. Our room even had a huge jacuzzi tub but I was not tempted to use it. I won't talk about what I found under the mattress. Everyday we had to get our key card reactivated because it didn't work and staff didn't really seem that familiar with the area restaurants and could only recommended the Applebees, McDonalds or the IHOP. Luckily we stumbled upon some really awesome restaurants just by walking around. The staff was really nice though as was everyone we met in Memphis. We had one cab driver who could have been the mayor of the town. On our trip to lunch he had at least three conversations with folks in other cars- one guy he rode bikes with in grade school and hadn't seen in years.

Lobby of the French Quarter Hotel.

I liked this wallpaper in our room


This is the oldest store in Memphis.


The window displays.






This bar (Ernestine and Hazels) used to be a flop house where ladies practicing the oldest profession would peddle their wares.


A poster in the BBQ restaurant the Rendezvous


Memphis has no shortage of cool old signs


This sign is not so cool. It was posted outside a bar. I saw a similar sign in a shopping mall also.


We did make it to Graceland. Here are some highlights.

Living room with 9 foot sofa


Lamp in the jungle room


The pool room. Good luck finding the sofa




The TV room--watching 3 televisions at once--was Elvis "The Man Who Fell to Earth"


Takin' care of business in a flash


The Pink Cadillac


24K gold sink basin in the big "E"s private plane. Also, he had 24K gold plated seat belts onboard


Some of the Jumpsuits


What a tiger!


My favorite in the collection


Belt buckle detail


Cool Ad for show


Fun movie poster


A button collection

Berch in Ditmars Area

Here are some of the works of Berch that can be found in the Ditmars Area in Astoria. Often he paints seasonal greetings on windows. The following image is just one example. Many shops have this same motif on their windows.


This pastural scene looks as though it could be an early work.


A shop gate makes an excellent surface to convey a bridge scene at sunset.


One of the best Greek restaurants in Astoria, Taverna Cyclades, has scenes of Greece depicted on the outside building.

A close up at the Taverna


This tropical scene has been tagged


This scene seems to depict the American dream




Berch's eagle has landed


A textured wall poses no threat to Berch's talent. This one is like a pointillist cityscape


This seems like some of Berch's more mature work. Skillful use of the medium. The wall finish must have been a dream surface to work on.






Every where I look I notice more Berch in the neighborhood. Just the other day I was on Broadway in Astoria and noticed some works. I know there is more to find in the Ditmars area and beyond the search continues.........

Easter Sunday Stroll

Who is the Captain of this ship? Why is there a Captain Morgan statue outside a local hookah bar? Why not. That is why we live in an awesome neighborhood. Jordan and I took a stroll through the neighborhood on a crisp but sunny Easter Sunday. We crossed over the Grand Central Parkway to the Ditmars neighborhood where Jordan spent many years as a bachelor and where we first got to know each other. We passed McCanns pub and the Greek restaurant where we met for our first date. Memory lane.... Some things changed but alot stayed the same. As I had mentioned in an earlier post, there are a lot of great representations of the work of Berch (more Berch File and Old Signs posts to come soon). There are a lot more Japanese restaurants (we had dinner at one and it was delicious). There are some more cute restaurants and cafes. The Top Tomato fruit stand is still awesome and still open 24 hours. We wondered which neighborhood had more cool stuff going on? I don't know. Luckily 30th Ave. and Ditmars are very close to each other.