V.V. Holidaze:
Catching Winter Feelings
Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

Winter has a feel. It’s a feel that creeps into autumn early and shakes your hand before it returns to stay for awhile. It paints a grey filter on the land and imparts the blue of the sky with a coldness that distinguishes it from the summer blue somehow–in feeling. Read more…


V.V. Holidaze:
Union Square Holiday Market 🦌
Vegan Eats While Christmas Shopping

The holidays in New York City are back! That means the places like the Union Square Holiday Market are jam-packed with merry-seekers in pre-Covid fashion. Naturally you will need to feed yourself special treats for enduring the mob. I was happy to discover Macaron Parlour and their many vegan macarons Read more…


V.V. Holidaze: The 12th Annual
Classroom Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes πŸŽ€ 🧁

It is crazy to think that this tradition is now 12 years old! Yes, the classroom pumpkin was once again transformed into my most favorite type of cupcakes: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip with cream cheese frosting. Though this batch was for my colleagues, without which I would most certainly not have Read more…


V.V. Holidaze: Celebrate with Reckless Abandon
Happy Holiday Exploration 🎁 🏚️

I’m really excited to feature an abandoned image on this year’s batch of my Christmas cards! With quick shoots in both Long Island’s KPPC and Staten Island’s New York Farm Colony, I brought the holiday cheer for these tongue-in-cheek shots. I intended to hit up Bayley Seton Hospital (also on Read more…


V.V. Holidaze:
πŸŽ„ And Somehow It’s That Time Again…

Another jam-packed year proceeds to its 12th month… December… 2021. Along with the usual confusion of “How is it December already?!” my beloved holiday decorations welcome the wonder, twinkling with a love and appreciation of those who blessed my year and reflecting an enduring hope for continued adventure in the Read more…


All the Foods

Lots of cookie dough for special cookie deliveries to Rochester & West Palm Beach πŸ’›πŸͺπŸ’› I am loving my cookie scooper Check out these beauties Birthday cupcakes for my work ex-wife And a special pick-me-up in the middle of the chaos of middle school teaching… That Lively bite I love Read more…


Two Vegan Egg Sandwiches
Long Island & Staten Island

It’s pretty fantastic that vegan breakfast options are becoming so widespread. For the decades I’ve been vegan, a morning bite was often not easy to be found. To follow, some easy and satisfying bites in between creative tasks. First, the Vegan Egg Sandwich from Hampton Coffee Company in Montauk, Long Read more…


Staten Island Sunday
Checking in On New York Farm Colony

With ambitious and tiring photo missions the day before, a visit to my neighbor Staten Island offers convenience and value to a weekend car rental. And it’s been months since I checked in on my closest abandoned site to explore… New York Farm Colony. Though I was there with a Read more…


Seeing Stars, Seeing TrailsπŸ’«
Camp Hero State Park

After some discussion of star trails in my astrophotography Zoom class, I decided I’d include a star trails mission in my long holiday weekend.. . at the best place for star gazing in my vicinity, Montauk Point. Having gone to Camp Hero State Park just last week but forgetting my Read more…


Montauk Lighthouse πŸŽ„

I’m just going to put this here, because it was such a delight to exit Camp Hero to see the Montauk lighthouse all dressed up for the holidays. I had no idea that this happened and exclaimed to a nice man who was shutting the gate up from the holiday Read more…


A Vegan Thanksgiving 🍽️ (2021)

I really enjoy traditional Thanksgiving dishes. So last minute, I decided I’d go hard for my family’s Thanksgiving get-together. For easy reference for years to come, the collected recipes of my most favorite vegan holiday eats. Process the Pumpkin Pumpkin Preheat oven to 350℉. Prepare heavy-bottom casserole pans by filling Read more…


Return to Downtown Camp Hero
Montauk, Long Island {Pictorial}


Into the Camp Hero Radar πŸ“‘

The most intriguing place on Long Island, Camp Hero’s remains keep drawing me back in. Every time is just as exciting and adrenaline-surging as the very first. But this time, in we went, knowing that access points fluctuate and an unfortunate accident on the frighteningly dilapidated stairwell, and the structure’s Read more…


Some Florida Outtakes

Sky from plane. Welcome cauliflower tacos from Cholo Soy Cantina in West Palm Beach. 😎 😎 Delicious salad from Green Zebra in Sarasota, Florida. Their famous Raw Pancake… dehydrated banana pancake made from hemp seeds, chia seeds, cashew, and flax served with cashew cream, strawberry chia coulis, and fresh banana Read more…


Avocado Queen πŸ₯‘

Stepping into a field of avocado trees is a dream come true. It was a quick but powerful roadside attraction on the way towards Lake Okeechobee in Florida.


Paisley Vegan Kitchen in Melbourne, Florida

Attention all-vegan eateries far and wide, I will get to you all eventually. This day, it was Paisley Vegan Kitchen in Melbourne, Florida. Deviled Potatoes.. . red potatoes piped with deviled egg filling and topped with green onion and paprika Cute and yummy The Crispy Chicken Sandwich.. . seitan was Read more…


Outstanding Vegan Options in Florida
Minty Z
Miami, Florida

Minty Z is home to one of the most impressive version of seitan wings I’ve ever had. I was blown away, in general, by the extensive and scrumptious menu. I highly recommend tolerating an evening in the brash Coconut Grove for some pretty spectacular vegan dim sum. First, the Cuban Read more…


Outstanding Vegan Options in Florida
Christopher’s Kitchen
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

With a high quality menu that hits all the notes with sky-high attention to detail and quality, Christopher’s Kitchen in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida is the perfect destination for any craving you may entertain. On this particular evening it was nutrient-dense salads and a spectacular nut cheese plate. Here, my Read more…


Outstanding Vegan Options in Florida
L’Artisane Bakery & Bistro
Miami, Florida

L’Artisane Bakery & Bistro in Miami, Florida is just perfection. I might have said, as I ate my Avocado Toast Croissant, “This is the best vegan thing I ever ate.” And as I took more bites, I may have said it again. Just look: This was my Dulce de Leche Read more…


Abandoned Tom Gaskins’ Cypress Kneeland
Palmdale, Florida

Ah, how I love road relics like this! …Places that capture the wonderment of kitschy roadside attractions. This post shows the current state of one such attraction: Tom Gaskins Cypress Kneeland. Tom Gaskin opened his display of his beloved Cypress tree knees in 1951. It sat attracting tourists for about Read more…


πŸ–οΈ Life’s a Beach… And A Natural Spring Pool… And A National Wildlife Refuge

Finding beauty in Florida is very easy. As I settle back into a real November in New York, some pictures from the Sunshine State. The first beach stop is always the most powerful: A quick spontaneous stop at Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge–the FIRST National Wildlife Refuge in the country, Read more…


The North Dade Detention Center
Abandoned Miami, Florida

The North Dade Detention Center served as a work release center from the late 70’s until the mid-2010. Since then, it sits abandoned, the canvas of some impressive local graffiti artists. I took a quick walk in to capture its current state during a recent visit to Florida, but didn’t Read more…


A Visit to Beets & Carrots in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

Bay Ridge, Brooklyn has a magical eatery… an eatery with high standards–ingredients, technique, presentation. Labeled as “farm to table” and “New American,” Beets & Carrots never disappoints. A late celebration of our respective birthdays was all the occasion Ang and I needed to treat ourselves to a special meal. Here Read more…


Long Island Outtakes

As long as I can remember I’ve tried to find the best parts of Long Island. From when I barreled down the parkway eastbound in search of wonder in my Chevy Citation as a teenager to now, uncovering shenanigans with a Brooklyn expat who shares my same adventurous spirit, one Read more…


I Put A Spell On You {Pictorial}


Abandoned Drive-in & Driving Range
Rocky Point, Long Island

Some of the best things are found by chance–not googled or researched or even actively sought. There is a magic in discovery like that, especially in this day and this age. The Rocky Point Drive-in, which we saw in passing on our way elsewhere, opened in 1961 and quickly earned Read more…