August 25, 2018
The final installment of 5 Boroughs in 5 Days might very well be the best. The Bronx. Let me show you why, starting with some sustenance to energize the hours to follow. Vegan options are sprouting up all over the place. Manhattan and Brooklyn get widespread vegan exposure, Queens and Read more…
August 22, 2018
Queens has plenty of beautiful things to see, though I don’t spend much time there. More often it’s the chunk of traffic between me and my family or some errand on Long Island. But today, a deep dive in. My first stop would require binoculars, my camera, and a hefty dose Read more…
August 16, 2018
I was so happy to learn that the Brooklyn Botanical Garden is *free* before noon on Fridays. With my free Fridays dwindling, I set out to beat the rain. The grounds are gorgeous, lush and teeming with color, texture, activity–and it’s totally possible to see everything in several hours, unlike Read more…
August 11, 2018
Going forth into the ocean is a sensory ritual that has always wrung the stress right out of my cells. Few things are more pleasurable than stepping inside 71% of the world with your little foot. I’m a sea lover… and not a chemical water lover. (I’m talking to you, Read more…
July 29, 2018
This is the time of year where I make a lot of parfaits. For one, it’s berry season and the farmers market has bright, beautiful berries a-plenty that bring those creepy Driscoll’s berries to shame. (Besides its labor practices, their berries pretty much taste like NOTHING.) For two, both my Read more…
July 13, 2018
My new view in Brooklyn, the mighty Verrazzano Bridge is never out of site in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn–my new home. Also, in site, lots of unique vegan options ready to be explored. This is a selection of my welcome eats. Kusharista‘s tag line is “Grains, Lentils & More.” This is Read more…
May 26, 2018
Water is one of the most powerful forces in the world. Water makes spaghetti and mountains and me and you. Lest you be too concerned with your occasional swells and rages. Such is the nature of water and of you… Water also made the Delaware Water Gap: The chunk of Read more…
May 19, 2018
I work several blocks away from Brooklyn’s historical Green-Wood Cemetery. And I had been meaning to get in there the entire school year. Now that the weather is relatively nice, I have taken a few opportunities to kill time, getting lost within its 478 acres. The cemetery is beautiful, quiet, Read more…
April 3, 2018
The blooming daffodils got a coating of snow this week in an early Spring cold snap. Such juxtapositions had me breaking out the camera. And the doves looking for a seed handout… Happy Spring!
February 22, 2018
Arts & Crafts, Beautiful Places Far Away, Eating Out, Nature, Photography, Urban Exploration, Wanderlust
It was a short walk from my hotel to breakfast at Cafe Pascal’s, right on Santa Fe Plaza–the heart of downtown. This is a popular place so centrally located, dressed to the nines in New Mexican flair, and with awesome service. I had to doorbust so as to not be Read more…
February 21, 2018
Dear Aldo, I write to you from an abandoned farm in an indescript rural town about 15 miles or so from Interstate-80, the massive throughway that stretches from New York to California. Yes, our great country is completely engulfed in a web of asphalt now and it is difficult to Read more…
Today I heading back north from Roswell, New Mexico towards Albuquerque, I came upon these two cowboys having a squabble across Highway 285. Now, if I pulled over for everything that piqued my interest on the road, I would never get anywhere! Colors, textures, abandoned and decaying buildings, old neon Read more…
February 19, 2018
My 23rd National Park: Carlsbad Caverns. Every time I go to a new National Park I say to myself, “This is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.” And it’s true, at the time. But this place, this time is just… (resisting urge to deconstruct my good feelings)… I can’t Read more…
February 18, 2018
A visit to White Sands National Monument, 100 miles north of the Mexican border, had more enchanting views, more blue sky backdrop. This state is so varied in its beauty. Standing within these stark white sand dunes was a thing of fantasy. It’s like you’re on the beach, but you Read more…
My second day in New Mexico was absolutely beautiful. With a bright blue sky behind all I did, I ended the day sun-drunk and in awe, again, of this country, her land. I realized that I can hike devotedly for hours for the reward of seeing a glimpse of her Read more…
February 16, 2018
In the northwest corner of New Mexico, just east of the Navajo Nation, is 45,000 acres of wild land: the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Badlands. 70 million years ago the land was a river delta from an inland sea that used to flow from the present-day Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. The Read more…
January 3, 2018
Here are the best shots of a ton by my fumbly frozen hands: the gorgeous supermoon waking up Brooklyn. And here is that same supermoon the evening before saying goodnight. That’s all: “With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?” (Oscar Wilde)
December 31, 2017
I am enchanted by chubby male cardinals in the winter. I can photo-stalk them for hours. Though my camera insists on trying to focus on the falling snowflakes, I got a few good shots.
December 26, 2017
On the Winter Solstice our sun takes a nice long and potent look at the Tropic of Capricorn… and then turns around all poignant-like, tossing her golden rays–all resolved in beautiful definiteness. Winter comes and she seems farther away… but really it’s just because you’re leaning in the other direction Read more…
December 19, 2017
Walking into a sunrise like this on my way to work does all kinds of things to perspective and priorities. And it makes me later than usual. What is better than a pressed, warm sandwich with your favorite morning foods within… in your hand and on the way up to Read more…
December 2, 2017
Art always imitates nature. I like this fact. It’s why I don’t often feel the need to go to an art museum. Not to sound like some stoner or the American Beauty guy watching the plastic bag, but there is so much magic and beauty everywhere. And you don’t even Read more…
November 6, 2017
My birthday keeps on keeping on. A gift trial of the all-vegan Petit Vour means even more creams and salves in my medicine cabinet. Driving this stretch of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway from South Slope, Brooklyn to Long Island City, Queens, I get distracted by the gorgeous outer borough of Read more…
October 29, 2017
I had the chance to stop at La Bella Pasta in Kingston, New York to score some of their vegan pasta. Fresh made vegan pasta is a new blog reporting passion of mind. I hope as more accept plant-based as normal, other pasta makers will experiment with vegan options. Read more…
October 22, 2017
New York’s Ulster County is rich with worthy day trip destinations. And it is just far enough from the City’s hustle and bustle without being too much of a roundtrip drive. Because I have been visiting since I was in high school (My first serious boyfriend went to SUNY New Read more…
September 30, 2017
This is kind of how summer is… and kind how the days after summer are, too. They are potent… and in the rear view seem further away when they’re gone. Seeing pictures from the summer once the school year starts is surreal. Time passes with a tremendous stomp. This blog post Read more…
September 28, 2017
The Farmers Markets end. I eat dinner in my classroom on Back to School night. (Kiku Sushi) Things get organized into colorful bins… …and I spray paint other things. The sunset grows more potent, weeping for the fall of its crown. (Long Beach, New York) And a small, sliver of Read more…