Photos
- I forgot my camera’s charger at home, and it’s too old for the local CVS to have the right USB cable 😖.
- My photography skills are rusty. I can see the “spirit” of the photo and the reason I took it, but it’s not quite there.
Feels like this vacation ended before it even started. We still have some time to spend tomorrow, and we’re planning on pizza1 at some point before we head back.
It took me too long to stop thinking of work. I haven’t realized how deep I’m in. It helps to have this understanding though. As always, I’m glad to be going back home to my little cave, where Hedwig the second - my Pop OS desktop - is waiting with my games, after the latest issue seems to be resolved.
Turns out I can take pretty good photos 📷 with the iPhone. I know, not a huge shock there. In the past, I used my camera for “the serious” stuff; this time, all the photos you see from the last couple of days on the blog are taken with my phone. I only took a couple with the camera that ran out of battery quickly. Considering the ease of use of syncing these… well, we will see.
Footnotes
1 : Since I stopped eating cheese, Pizza has been one of the top things I miss. Fortunately there’s a good place here that has vegan options.
Between the shops, there was a green space, a shed, and plants for sale in the yard. The owner was attending to the various plants, apologizing continuously for the long hose that was snaking around the visitors' feet.
I enjoy industrial buildings since I ever seen one I think. Not sure why. Another iPhone picture of opportunity 📷.
After the thunderstorm, the heat broke to a cool breeze. We had a nice walk next to the water 📷.
Attempting to take photos 📷, I realized two things:
of motorcycles and he-mes
I’m currently at a motorcycle cafe. I just sat my butt down 20 minutes ago. The music is good (90s rock, punk and such). There are motorcycles for sale inside, parked next to the tables, shelves with helmets, and other riding gear hanging from hooks. I’m enjoying a good cup of almond milk cappuccino.
Some version of me in an alternative dimension owns a motorcycle. Probably a Suzuki or a Kawasaki, maybe a Ducati (my this-dimension self doesn’t know much about motorcycles). He-me went on a couple of roadtrips earlier in life, but nothing in the last couple of years. He’s reflecting on some of those moments right now, sipping coffee.
Like me, he read Zen and That Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, but earlier in life, and got interested in motorcycles enough to get one. I started my career with computers around the same time. He had different jobs in different locations for a while and eventually settled working at a cafe in a small town like this one. His organizational skills and trustworthiness worked in his favor to eventually manage the cafe, with the owners' blessing. He probably got involved with one of the regular customers or maybe even one of the younger baristas, but only that far. He-me are not monogamous, and even if he got comfortable for a time, it was probably more of a temporary arrangement.
Some of the emotional energy can pass between dimensions. Deja-Vus that are not mine, memories of scents I’m not sure I smelled before, faces of people that I’ve seen before and can’t place.
I think I found my new avatar🦉📷
Yesterday, I went to see The Muppets Take Manhattan at the Museum of the Moving Image. The Muppets are ageless and always relatable, as were the people who came to the viewing - all ages, colors, and sizes - just like the muppets themsleves.
As Pete said, “We’re all just people.”
I haven’t used this coffee ☕️ beaker in a while. Very fitting when I’m writing about org-mode experiments.
This morning, made Seitan tacos as part of improving my cholesterol intake. I don’t know that I’ll go full vegan, but I’ll go back to “my roots” and past it. 📷
Spotted on a weather appreciation walk.
Nature takes over… good day for a walk today. 📷
One of the things I realized (again) on this staycation: I am curious and my hunger for technology didn’t go anywhere. It was just squished under layers of workload.
Captured this guy this weekend 📷. We’re enjoying “hunting” birds: Nat identifies them using the Merlin app, and I try to capture them with the camera. It’s not easy, and I’m rusty, but it’s fun!
I’m visiting my mom, who lives with her boyfriend of several years. As a New Yorker, this place is huge - a garage for two cars, two showers and a half, a dining room separate from a kitchen and a foyer, and more space that I don’t know how to name correctly. I’d say it’s a big house, not a huge house, somewhere in Pennsylvania where you can afford something like this on a mortgage without robbing a bank, I guess.
I’ve lived in NYC for over a decade, and I’m used to small spaces. My new bedroom is huge compared to anywhere else I’ve lived before, but the apartment itself is small, but not in a contrasting way, it’s comfy. I don’t understand why people need all this space.
Most people my age (40s) have a family and kids, so a few more bedrooms make sense, two bathrooms and showers, sure, but let’s say you only have one kid, or maybe the kid moved out, or maybe you just don’t have kids. I think (and I may be wrong?) most people live in houses, and these houses have space, and, well, what do you do with this space?
Over here, they love plants: 📷
And then there’s the art they like to get, and the basement has a lot of tools and additional storage, and then there’s another old fridge in the garage, and the dining room has a table, but you can also eat in the kitchen - but why? I feel like I’m criticizing and not coming from the angle of “this is wrong,” I just don’t get it. Maybe if I were to live in a place like this for a while, I would. What do you get out of the extra space and extra stuff?
Walked from Canal to WTC to catch the path. Good weather for a brisk walk. I like the style of the area 📷
Good morning ☀️ 📷
East Harlem. I used to run here when I lived in the area. 📷
For brunch today, we wanted to try a new cafe in the neighborhood that looked interesting. It was small and loud with conversation and beats. We waited for our veggie burritos - 20, 30, 40 minutes. The sign on the door said they take some time to make food, so we were patient until the table that got in after us was served the same dish we ordered, while we only had our tea and coffee still.
Turns out the waitress, even though she nodded and repeated our order to us when we oredred, completely forgot to put it in the system. A dog owner walked in and sat next to us, and when the dog started barking loudly, I felt the blood drumming in my ears, and I excused myself for a minute outside. The food, which was disappointing (it was OK, but more of a breakfast veggie wrap with nothing on the side, not a burrito with extra rice and beans), finally arrived. We swallowed the food without a word, paid, and left.
As soon as I walked into my apartment, I felt the calm surround me. The relaxing feeling was even better when I got into my room and stepped on the rug I got, colored in blues and brownish-coffee colors 📷 . It’s incredible how such a simple thing can affect my mood so much. I don’t know why I’ve waited so long without having one.
