very simple

You can barely see it in the photo, but the moon was peeking out from the pre-sunset sky while I was waiting for the bus tonight. Days like this are why I like taking the bus over the subway.

Spring seems to have finally arrived for good, and with it, the blooming dogwoods in my neighborhood. I’m torn between the joy of winter finally being over and the dread of the inevitable allergies that accompanies this event.

As its the weekend, no discernible progress on the apartment, other than the fact that I bought paint yesterday.

As part of a daily ritual, my admin and I go downstairs to starbucks every day. Today, we encountered…this. You can’t really get the full flavor of this feathered headdress contraption without seeing the front, where it has scarf-like arm appendages that fall down to one’s knees, but as I am a coward, you only get the back.

As a bonus, here’s a picture of this morning’s snow as seen from our offices that was originally going to be my daily pic. It got superseded.

They’ve started naming snowstorms now, which is generally stupid, but does make for easier blog post naming. New York City got spared the brunt of nemo, which hit most of the northeast with 2-3 feet of snow. But we still got about a foot. My goal was to wake up bright and early to take pictures before the melting/shoveling started in earnest, but thanks to the diligent efforts of the workers in my building last night, I didn’t get much sleep. Don’t get me wrong – I totally appreciate their efforts and wouldn’t have it any other way, but the all-night shoveling wasn’t exactly…quiet. I was finally able to get a few hours of sleep when they switched to the snowblower – for some reason the constant drone was easier to block out. So I got late start.

In any event, traditional snow day jaunt into central park to see it before it all turns into a slushy mess. First picture is the “official” 365 photo, the rest are just, well, the rest.

It’s not the first snow this winter, but it’s looking like it might be the first one to stick around. And, of course, a quarter-inch of the stuff on the ground completely bollixes up all modes of transportation.

this is actually an extra photo that I took yesterday in Madison Square Park. NYC empties out the fountains in the wintertime under the theory that frozen water is not good for them. Of course, it hit 60 degrees today. In January.

It’s too early for the actual post-solstice manhattanhenge, but it pretty much felt like it last night when I was walking across union square north trying to keep from staring directly into the sun. Yesterday was a perfect weather day, and I tried to take full advantage.

(and is it wrong of me to actually like the weird, spotted, reflective effect that happens here on my iPhone 4?).

I think this is the 3rd or 4th year that the city is running summer streets, which consists of shutting down Park Ave. from 72nd Street to the Brooklyn Bridge until 1pm for 3 Saturdays in August. Truth be told, at this point I kind of which they’d vary it up a bit and pick a different street to go down, but I understand why they like Park, given that it’s the only true two way Avenue in the city, and has natural barriers between the north and south-bound lanes. All that being said, I did make it out there yesterday, with my camera and everything, and biked down to Soho. I was attempting to meet up with some folks at the Bicycle Habitat booth, but we missed each other. I did manage to find them later at the lunch meeting spot, so it all ended up fun. Thankfully, yesterday was a brilliantly gorgeous day to boot, given that today the current weather consists of massive thunderstorms that are predicted to go on all day.

Some pics from the ride (as always, click on the thumbnail to see the whole image):

I’ve been hunting for a new morning coffee spot, due to the fact that the cafe I pretty much lived at during my unemployment has gone drastically downhill in the past few weeks. Things ranging from price increases to the fact that they didn’t have any sugar one morning, not to mention the bathroom being out of service for several weeks, have made me long for a change of pace. And then my dad reminded me that there’s a Le Pain Quotidien right in the center of Central Park. Now, I can generally take or leave LPQ as an establishment, but this particular setting was perfect. I spent about an hour over there this morning (during leash-free park hours, so the place was somewhat overrun by very adorable free-ranging dogs), and I can safely say that I’ve found my new spot. At least while it’s nice out, since it’s all outdoor seating.

As a bonus, this is my view walking to and from the cafe/my apartment.

This weekend was absolutely gorgeous – a perfect way to end my life of leisure as I start a new job tomorrow. To celebrate the weather, I decided to take a walk, which ended up turning into a five mile jaunt down to union square. On the way down, I noticed this film set at the Hearst Building, which had been relabeled “Oscorp”. I can only assume this is for the new Spiderman film.