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seeking inspiration in the mundane and unfamiliar

Category: brooklyn

The days so far

And that’s how I spent my Super Bowl weekend.

Other than that, I’ve been so beat this week I haven’t had energy to write patent-related ramblings (Stop that. You, with the pumping of the fist).

Luckily, that’s what pictures are for. Here’s a few days in my life.

On my way back from a meeting at City Bakery, I looked to my left long enough to walk back to the middle of the crosswalk and snap this picture. If that cab looks like it’s gunning for me, it’s because it was.

City Bakery, by the way, is the kind of place where you have to be vigilant about finding a table at 3 p.m. on a Tuesday. On the upside, there’s never a need to fill awkward silences because no such thing exists there.

The roomies and I are trying to do this thing where we get together more than once every leap year.

Though I’ll always refer to them here as my roomies, one of them actually moved out months ago. Still, it’s not uncommon for New York roomies to never see each other. Which is not always a bad thing.

One Wednesday, the original plan was Buffalo Cantina for dinner, land of buffalo wings and more buffalo wings. But when I found out there was a creative nonfiction panel at Housing Works in SoHo, I dragged everyone to, you guessed it, a bookstore. The buffalo wings (and it’s not every day I say this) had to wait.

I wanted to hear about a piece I’d read some time ago that explored why Asian males, despite doing well in academic settings, usually don’t successfully climb the corporate ladder. Turns out New York Mag editors, as editors tend to do, had assigned the story to a writer with a tenuous connection to the subject matter: “You, Asian guy. You’re up.”

One night in Park Slope, a friend celebrated his birthday at Pacific Standard. Presidential debate playing in the background with very serious spectators in attendance? Check. One dude adamantly arguing about why shark fin soup is a symbol of this generation’s disposable nature? Check.

It was That Kind of Night.

As always, lots of train ennui have been had.

(Ennui. Just wanted to say it again.)

As well as fun but photo-unworthy libations.

One of them in Beauty & Essex.

The kind of place with snazzy bathrooms.

And snazzy tiles.

On most nights, this is what I see when I head home.

Happy Friday, friends.

The Silent Island


Coney Island in the fall is far different from its summer self.

At least how I imagine it to be; I’ve never been at its peak. The boardwalk was empty. A man growled at me for taking pictures that weren’t even of him. A lone musician strummed his guitar, singing to no one. A lady stared at a bird that stared at her back.

Yet, it was exactly what I needed.

Tired from jumping for pictures, we headed back to the city.

That weekend, for me at least, Baltimore beckoned.

A Coney Island Kind Of Day

I’d dreamed about my vacation for months, hoping to jet off somewhere overseas or embark on a grand road trip. But as my vacation approached, it became obvious I hadn’t put enough time in planning a trip or even budgeting for it. My grand adventures, I decided, would be in the city.

Flights to foreign lands were replaced with all too familiar subway rides, and my hikes consisted of getting lost in the East or West Village. The farthest I ventured was to Baltimore, with a day trip to Coney Island. Other items on my agenda? Sleep. Lots of it. Clean my room. Sign up for a library card.

Funny how mundane tasks suddenly become extraordinary when you lose all sense of routine.  It was a lesson in seeking something new in the familiar, and that sometimes it doesn’t take a plane ticket to find adventure.

Meet Paul and Alex. I met these two in college, and they’re among the most energetic, fun and talented guys I know. Paul loves wearing shirts with tiny thunderbolts on them. And Alex enjoys Paul.

Alex is a stuntman/actor/super warrior extraordinaire.

When he’s not modeling Poland Spring bottles, Paul lives and works in New York as an animator/designer.

Together, they are… well, this is pretty much what happens.

They’re also incredible jumpers.

They talk with their hands.

And are mighty photogenic.

See ya later, friends.

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