Gothamist: Extra, Extra

Central Park performer
Central Park performer

Guess what? The Gothamist picked up one of our vacation photos (above, taken by mein Schatz) from my Flickr account yesterday, and used it for their July 1, 2007 Extra, Extra post — click here to check it out!

We went to Central Park on Saturday to check out the newly renovated Bethesda Terrace underpass, and saw this street performer, known as Thoth. He’s a fixture of Central Park (see here and here for more info) and I remember seeing him a long time ago, before they closed the underpass for renovation. It looks like he’s back with the reopening!

NYC to the Adirondacks

I feel extremely relaxed after this week’s vacation, which involved hanging around NYC and traveling up to the Adirondacks for a few days. In New York City, we celebrated my birthday on Long Beach and at Habana Outpost, did some shopping, watched bits and pieces of the Pride Parade, went to a Celebrate Brooklyn performance in Prospect Park, ate lots of delicious food (here and here and here, for example), and fit some running in as well.

In the Adirondacks, we stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast that I would recommend, if you’re ever in that area. We took a boat tour of Lake George, which was a nice way to spend two hours and prepared us for kayaking in the lake later that afternoon.

One day was devoted to hiking Crane Mountain. This book described a moderate 4.8 mile loop that summited the mountain and worked it’s way down around to a pond and descended back to the trail head, taking about 4-5 hours. In actuality, the hike only took us 3.5 hours (including our stop for lunch and a swim in the pond) and included incredibly steep ascents and descents, many of which required scaling rocks and boulders. Not exactly what I was expecting, but we made it through unscathed (despite the 95 degree weather) and without getting lost once (which I was incredibly anxious about).

On our way back to New York, we stopped by the Hyde Collection in Glen Falls, NY, which reminded me of a more laid back version of the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum in Boston.

We took hundreds of photos of our adventures, of course, and you can see the New York City pictures here and the Adirondack photos here. Hope you enjoy viewing them as much as we enjoyed taking them!

Today Is…

…the solstice, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere (though we can’t really enjoy that fact in New York City because the skies have been darkened by thunderstorms).

…the second day of my thirties. So far, so good. Thanks to all the good wishes, cards, phone calls, e-mails, flowers and chocolates!

…the eve of my week-long vacation, beginning tomorrow at 4pm (yay!), when I leave to pick mein Schatz up at the airport.

…probably my last post for about a week (remember that vacation I mentioned?).

See you soon with photos and stories!

Eccentric, or…?

I suppose in some places, I could be considered eccentric. An unmarried 30-year-old (on Wednesday!) woman, who is left-leaning, uninterested in having children, has a career in the evaluation and research of programs serving victims of violence, with a boyfriend in Europe, spending her vacations in far flung destinations, living in an apartment without a television (gasp!), and eating out way more than cooking in.

Yeah, maybe in some places. But I happen to be living in a city where I’m right in the mainstream, and probably am even on the boring side of the mainstream. It’s really all about your perspective, right? You do what you need to do, and you find the place where you feel like you can do it to the fullest. I was reminded of that this morning when I was reading The Bold Soul‘s blog. What is eccentric to some, is perfectly normal to others. I strongly believe that we all need to find that place for ourselves and keep on living it.

Lots more eccentricity at Sunday Scribblings.