The Raddest Garden

There's pictures of these "vertical gardens" all over the web and they are so cool looking. I'm really liking succulents these days and am toying with the idea of making a window box or putting a pot on my fire escape (is that allowed?). It will probably have to wait until I buy some other necessities though...blinds...lamps...yawn, I want a garden!

I want a Girlfriend!

I saw this picture on design sponge and I thought, I want one of those! Why is it so hard to find a good girlfriend? Or, hm...is it just hard for me? I have a few requirements...must be smart, but not annoying about it, must like books, movies (nothing comic-book related though, please), food, coffee, wine, museums, galleries, shopping (but not a lot or on a frequent basis), music (not pop, however, I mean good stuff), bike riding, running, traveling. She also should be a positive, upbeat kind of person...also nice and a little funny. She needs to be good at driving because I want to take some weekend road trips and I don't want to drive. Must NOT: talk too much about herself, worry a lot about guys or dating, gossip about other people (a little is ok), be judgy, be poor (let's be honest, you can't have any fun in life without having some money to spend), be boring (that includes philosophizing about life--it's meaning, etc--snooze), be into Japanese anime--yuck, political (awareness and opinions are nice...obsessing, not), high maintenance, a poor listener. I think that covers it. Yep, that's about it. Is that a lot to ask for...I think not.

Babies!!

I really want to watch this movie....looks sooo cute.

What I'm Reading

So I joined three book clubs. I figure, I will go to three, maybe one of those three I will like and keep going to on a regular basis. But for this trial month, I'm reading all three books to prepare. The group on June 2nd is reading What is the What. I really wanted to read this...it's the true story of a man who lived through the the Sudanese civil war and his experience living in the US. So far, it's really good.
I wasn't that excited to read this book. It's about some slave women who meet in the summers while their "families" are on vacation in Ohio, free territory, where they are tempted to escape. It was, naturally, heart-breaking and appalling. It was well-written and engrossing, but just not my type of book. This is for the book club that happens to be 2 blocks away from my apartment, so I'm hoping the group is nice though and the books are more interesting to me in the future. I finished this one already because the group meets on the 20th.

This book is great. I'm really excited for this book club because they have the goal of reading all the Booker Prize winning novels...and maybe the short-listed books as well. If this group doesn't work out, I'm going to keep reading the Booker winners myself. I was surprised at the dry humor in this book...I watched the movie a long time ago, maybe the humor was lost on me back then. I'm going to rewatch the movie after I finish the book...which shouldn't take long, it's really short.

Hopefully I like one of these groups...maybe I'll like all three!

Instant Coffee--Gasp!

When Starbucks came out with Via, I really wanted to like it. But, I don't that much. I really like coffee...furthermore, it's one of the few acceptable reasons to leave your chair during the day when working for a Big 4. I did a little research online and Nescafe Clasico got rave reviews from coffee-folk. It's made for the South American market, but I think it's catching on in the U.S....or it's just one of those things that's easy to find in a NY grocery store. Ginger that isn't squeezed out of a tube, no...but Nescafe Clasico, yes. It's also on Amazon. I chose to buy the "Suave" because why not, right? I can't imagine the advantage of non-suave. Anyway, I boiled up a cup and it's pretty darn good. Nothing compared to fresh of course, but it's really ok...it's going to work out between us.

Should I Do This?

Pro: Everyone else is doing it. It is good information that I really should know.
Con: So many books! Maybe I won't even need this...I am not planning on being a fund manager. For now my only career aspiration is to be the boss of something (I like to keep an open mind).

Days Like These

So, it all started with a bad Monday...and then Tuesday, and Wednesday. I spent all day today convincing myself I should go see a movie after work and unwind and have a nice time. I've been dying to see Please Give so I looked up a theater and planned my subway route and was all set to finally just shut everything out and get lost in a nice movie for a couple hours. The guy told me my movie was upstairs. I went upstairs and my movie started right on time at 6:05. There was no previews, but a "film short" kind of thing. I've seen it before, they show a 5 minute film instead of a preview. But this film short started lasting a little long. I was getting restless. About 15 minutes into it I think....is this the wrong movie? Have I been in the wrong theater? Just out of desperation I wait another 15 minutes really hoping that soon this French film will stop and Please Give will start. It doesn't. I can't watch the French movie. It's cute and colorful. I wanted bleak with dark humor. I leave the theater and notice that there is another upstairs...where my movie is half way over. Sigh. So Thursday's bad too.

My New Home

As you walk in....




Coat closet on the immediate left.




Living space.




Right wall of living space. The door on the left goes to a room with two closets and a bathroom.




Two closets outside that little room by the bathroom.






Whoa, tile in the bathroom.




One-ass wide kitchen.




Lots of cabinet space.