What Should We Name Kitty?

Here is a rare sighting of the shy one slinking around the living room. Ain't she a beauty? We have various nicknames for her, but nothing has stuck so far, since we can't get a sense of her personality beyond a sort of regal aloofness. What do you think we should name her?

a) Greystoke (as in the Legend Of)
b) Nessie
c) Bella
d) Fanny
e) Malka (Hebrew for Queen)

In Search of the Slice

Andres and I started our Saturday in our usual fashion - lazy, lazy, lazy. We slept in, made breakfast, lounged around. We decided to get some blood circulation by taking a walk through still snowy Prospect Park. It's gorgeously still in the winter. We walked past the frozen lake where we wondered the same eternal question once voiced by Holden Caulfield - where do the ducks go in the winter? There were actually several of them floating around in some unfrozen patches, along with a swan, much to our amazement. What they survive on, aside from the crumbs from little kids, is beyond me. It's quite serene and quiet in the park this time of year. I actually found myself wishing for the color and vigor of the Gates. Well, it's beautiful just as it is.

When we found ourselves at the south eastern tip of the Park and noticed a Q subway station, we decided it was time to venture to Midwood in search of the perfect slice. Andres has enjoyed many pizzerias around NY, but is still searching for the best pies in Town. He had read about a pizza joint on the Q line that was supposedly one of the best in the City, so it didn't take much time to decide today was our day. 6 stops later at Avenue J, we descended to the street and immediately came upon Di Fara. It was actually packed with people....and it's just your average looking old-school pizzeria! We decided to walk around the block to wait for the line to hopefully die down. Proceeding down Avenue J we realized we were in a VERY orthodox Jewish neighborhood...virtually every store was glatt kosher...and closed, since it's Shabbat. Israeli magazines were for sale on the local newstands. Ain't no main drag in any SF neighborhood like that!! Anyway, after a 20 minute detour around the 'hood, we came back to the same size crowd. About 30 minutes later we had our treasured booty.

Since we didn't have the camera, and since Di Fara's has been raved about in print for several years now (hence the crowd, much to the obvious annoyance of some locals), here's what the guy at sliceny.com has to say about it - along with some visuals. Enjoy...try not to salivate over this perfect NY comfort food, ye residents of California! It really was worth the wait.

http://www.sliceny.com/archives/000103.php

Hey, take a picture of the Gates, not me.... 

Underneath 

Gorgeous 

Just east of Sheep's Meadow 

Rivaling the excitement of bringing home the furry loves this weekend was going to see the Gates again. This time with throngs and throngs of people. The park was bursting at the seams with them. It was a little unpleasant to be elbow to elbow with so many people...but ultimately didn't detract from the majesty of the saffron curtains billowing in the February sunshine.  

Here's the little darlin' during her first venture onto the chair. She's actually not terribly interested in the furry blue thingy, despite appearances. 

Well, we have been threatening to adopt for months. We finally went to PetCo a couple days ago and took home two little furry girls, age one and a half. They had been there for at least a month - appararently they were adopted as kittens and brought back last month because their owner's new boyfriend was allergic. They just needed to be taken into a loving...and patient home. This little adventurous girl was immediately out exploring, and quickly discovered our fake fireplace. We named her Neko. Her best buddy has spent most of the past 48 hours under the couch. Only this evening has she taken some tentative steps towards communication with us. There is no photo because she's been in hiding....we also haven't named her. Our friend Jon suggested we might call her Nessie...since like the Loch Ness monster she is rarely seen. 

The Gates

Well, everyone is writing, talking, arguing and blogging about it, so I thought I'd add my voice to the fray. I've been twice to see the Gates, both times via the 90th Street and 5th Avenue entrance to Central Park (closest to my office). The first day was Valentine's Day - it was rainy and gray and I didn't stray too far. The bright color and sheer whimsy of the gates I encountered, set against a backdrop of barren, brown trees, made me realize how perfect it is that these guests are here in our Park in February. Perfect.

I went again yesterday on a sunnier (but 35 degree) day and walked further down along the reservoir to the Metropolitan Museum. There were many, many tourists out strolling, taking pictures, talking in clumps, smiling. I had an I Love NY moment - my first in awhile. An intense pride in this crazy city, a place where crazy artists would deem our park and our people worthy of this tremendous winter gift.

Andres and I plan to go some time this weekend - I'll take and post some pictures.

Meanwhile, here is the official NYC website about the project:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/thegates/html/about.html

Boston

We just came back from a whirlwind 48 hours in Boston. Gretchen and Kevin were in New Hampshire last week and flew through Logan, so on Friday they drove down and we took the Chinatown bus ($15 each way!!) to Boston for a romantic double date rendez-vous. Kevin found us excellent lodging in the boutique Hotel Marlowe, replete with velvet cushions, leopard pattern wall to wall carpeting, furry throw blankets (which we quickly dubbed "beavers") and canines strolling through the lobby.

We wandered around the Freedom Trail, managing to find Paul Revere's house and some delicious cannoli in the North End. We had an excellent docent lecture at Faneuil Hall, which we learned still operates as a town hall, the most impressive example being that John Kerry gave his concession speech from inside its storied walls. Ultimately, we made our way to an ice rink in Boston Common. Here are some pictures from what, for 3 of us, was the first time ice skating since childhood. Andres reminded me that when they announced the time for Fast Skaters and Fast Skaters Only that I should relinquish the rink. Unlike how I behaved in a roller rink in Gainesville, FL circa 1981, and was asked to vacate the floor by a skate guard.

It was a brief, but much needed weekend with dear friends. Thanks guys for a rich infusion of love and laughter these new-New Yorker-winter-blues-sufferers needed!

FINALLY

Wrong pictures with each post. Switch 'em around and you'll have the right idea!!

There ARE cars under there 

Andres ponders Prospect Park, newly snowy 

From our living room window, early in the afternoon... 

Special Snow Dispatch

This is an email I sent on January 22, the day of the Blizzard of '05. Thought I would reprint it, with permission from the author:

Dear all,

We have spent most of the day indoors today, since around noon the
snow began to fall in what all the papers are already calling the
Blizzard of 2005. It's now 5:30 p.m. and there are about 6 inches on
the ground...and no end in sight until tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow I
hope to convince Andres to venture out to Prospect Park with me for a
snowy frolic and perhaps a good snowball fight. I haven't experienced
snow like this since Thanksgiving 2002 in Tahoe! Then again, it's not
a good comparison...all we had to do then was drive away when we were
done with it. We are very much snowbound here. Check out this
picture, taken a few hours ago, then mentally add 4 inches.

Otherwise all is well. The jobs are fine, my parents are doing great,
we still love Brooklyn. Not much exciting news to report. We are
adjusting to the frigid temperatures slowly and begrudgingly with new
and revived additions to our wardrobes. I dug out my long silk
underwear, which I bought at Sierra Designs circa 1997 and have
previously only worn camping in the Trinity Alps. Glad to have them
now, lemme tell you! I am daydreaming about springtime. There are so
many places we have yet to explore, I can hardly wait. Won't you come
explore with us? Plenty of room here on Sterling Place.

I love this fresco in the Grand Army Plaza 2/3 station right by our house. This is what greets us every morning as we descend to the subway. 

Andres' head is cut off but don't we look cute anyway? 

Kevin and Gretchen coming around the rink 

umm....the photos

Ok, so I'm new to blogging. The final one is of course from our last leg of the journey home, back to good ol' Brooklyn.