Family Time A-Z (Sandy/Athena ‘12 Edition)

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Beast amorphous
Coconut water
Darkness
Earth benders
Fun photos with “sparkle” filters
Games
Halloween chocolate sorting
Indian basmati rice
Juggling
Kit kats
Lights
Morning run
Nanowrimo
Outage, power
Ping pong
Questions and “Q” in scrabble
Red panda squishable
Scallion pancakes
Tbsp and tsp
Unimpressed
Volleyball
Walnut bread
Xtra scallion
Yeast
Zuko, Prince

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Written in the same vein as my previous A-Z entry [link], about 2 days after my family got power back after the combination of Hurricane Sandy/Storm Athena which changed people’s lives forever. The storms will be heavily documented in history books to come.

My friend Gail wrote about ten lessons she learned [link] on her blog, and I agree with all them. My A-Z list is not mean to trivialize the storm and aftermath in any way, despite the fact I wrote more about the positive stuff that I experienced. As a result of my family’s house losing power (my apt had also lost power for the same week), I went to live with a relative’s family for a week or more. For the first time, I got to hang out with my cousins D. and C. and found myself getting to know them better.  This entry is a tribute to our time together. Sure, the outage and storm and devastation will also be remembered, but I have to say I was quite thankful to have D. and C. around.

At first, I had wanted to post the scallion pancake recipe that aunt had taught us. I had documented the process in detail along with photos. D. and C. used the recipe I wrote down as basis for the pancake they made all by themselves a few days later. Decided against posting the recipe, but do enjoy the photos below!

NYC A-Z (Summer '12 Edition)

Air conditioners
Bagels and bourbon
Cookies
Dark Knight Rises
Espresso from Financier
Five Guys
Good stuff diner
Hale and Hearty - Mac n cheese
Ice cream at Duane Reade
Juggling in Bryant Park
Korean dinner in Ktown
Lobster roll
Mets and the Met
Night skyline from Brooklyn Bridge
One percent
Potbelly's chicken salad
Queens by subway
Roosevelt Island
Staten Island Ferry
Trucks (of the food variety)
Umbrellas
Village
Walking Summer Streets
X - Lexington line (4/5/6)
Yes, we rock!
Zeytuna's

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About this entry:

I wrote the above on my iphone on the plane back from west coast while fighting insomnia (gotta love those late night rides from west to east). Most of the letters came to me quite easily, while others took a bit more time. I kept the original version although there had been multiple attempts to edit and replace letters/words. That’s when I realize I just need to post it. I wanted to put some photos from the summer along the way but most of the good shots have been posted in the previous entry [link here]. My other thought was to have links to all of the letters but that seemed too busy and cluttered. Even writing this paragraph is destroying the minimalistic entry I set out to do.

When I first came up with the A-Z project a year or so ago, I was inspired by children's’ books, especially ones that came with colorful pictures. How cool would it be to do my own NYC book with my own photos? The project was stuck in draft form when I agonized each letter and whether or not I would be able to take a photo of the associated objects. Would I have Mets (baseball) or the Met (museum) for the letter M? Do I do a tourist version and include major landmarks? Do I do a park version and focus on park and outdoor sightings? Are branded landmarks excluded (i.e. iconic cube Apple store?)

In any case, while my A-Z photobook project is still underway, I do like how the Summer ‘12 edition came out. It’s a time capsule of sorts, just waiting to be forgotten, uncovered, remembered, and treasured for summers to come.

Pirates Mad Libs

Some people love crosswords. Others prefer word searches. Words with Friends (and Scrabble) as well as Boggle offer yet more ways to play with words. While my friends on Words know I’m not the best player to come up with long words or to take advantage of triple word/triple letter spaces, I still enjoy the social aspects of the game. Another word game that is not as popular as the above is “mad libs”. Perhaps this is the next social app idea? One friend can make up a story, leave blanks for the other friend to fill out? and both can read the story afterwards? (update: just looked up the app store, there exists such apps already)

While chilling out in Penn station the other day, I browsed through Penn Books' collection and found a book and a series of themed Mad Libs. The pirates one looked funny so I decided to try it out with J. It proved to be quite a fun activity together. I will post the results from time to time on my blog so you can share the joy and laughter.

How to throw a pirate party
If you are looking for a fuzzy way to celebrate your next birthday, how about a pirate-themed costume party? Start by sending invitations in the form of a buried panda map with an X marking the location of your sea panda. Make a sign for the front door that reads: “Ahoy, fuzz balls” and fill the house with lots of adorkable booty—Mom’s silk bamboo trees, satin lettuce, and snuggly costume jewelry for starters. As your guests come abroad, tie a bandanna around their alligators and place place an acrobatic patch over their paws, and give them fake tattoos for their arms and teeth. And remember, when the cake is presented, sing a rousing version of “Happy Birthday” using your pirate name, like “Happy birthday, dear songbird-face C.!” Then, and only then, may you cut the chocolate sport bike with your delicious sword.