update again

The travel blog has been updated again. This time the Marais quarter of Paris is written about. Don't miss this installment if you like grand old houses, gourmet cafes and cobblestone streets!

update

Travel blog updated!

Go check it out.

Gracias & merci!

new york sun works

Also, how cool is this? A farm on a floating barge in the middle of NYC?! Very awesome.

People who want to visit the vessel may do so. Go here for more information.

I am going to check it out and report back soon on this!

the 2007 pickle festival

The annual New York City International Pickle Day Festival took place in the heart of NYC's pickle district, the lower east side in Manhattan. An entire city block was turned over the event, which was flooded with people, vats of pickles and free samples galore.

Vendor after vendor were set up under tidy white tents, giving the scene a carnival like feeling. Almost every vendor was giving away free samples, many of which weren't the usual green pickle. I tried everything up for grabs, including pickled grapes, pickled turnip, dried ginger, pickled hot peppers and kimchi. There were plenty of the normal American style pickles too, from hot and spicy to mildly sweet.

In the spirit of pickledom, people were sporting t-shirts depicting smiling green pickles, and one vendor was giving away free pickle pins. (Of course I had to take one ... and yup, I still wear it.) Bulletin boards were set up on the sidewalks and posted with information on how to make pickles, what vinegars to use, and foods good for pickling. I tried reading one page of information but got bored after about a minute, so I have no idea how to make pickles. Oh well.

There was live music as well, although what I heard was pretty lame. I'm not sure what pickles and electric guitar have to do with each other, but I guess somebody was trying to add a little pizzazz to the festival.

Although packed to the gills with people, the over all atmosphere was fun, enlightening and pickle friendly. Plenty of small children were running about, and I saw many grandmas and grandpas sporting half gnawed on pickles in their hands.

If interested, the pickle website is still up online, although I'm not sure how much longer it will stay posted. Here's the site, which gives a complete run-down of the vendors present, presentations given, and more: PICKLE FESTIVAL WEBSITE.

facebook, the final frontier

As usual, I'm putting off being productive by prowling around the internet. This time it's on facebook, the infamous (or famous, depending on who you ask) networking site that comes from the tradition of the myspaces and friendsters of the world.

One of the features of facebook is the ability to form and join groups. They can be on the topic of anything, and are designed as places where people can get together and discuss related themes. While there are many serious groups on facebook, it seems the majority are humor related, or, at the very least, quite tongue-in-cheek.

So, a trip through the vaults of facebook's groups yields some interesting finds.

Some of my favorites:

School/Work Related Groups:
I Wish My Homework Were Asexual So It Would Do Itself
Graduating College in 4 Years Is Like Leaving the Party at 10:30!

Politics:
Oh Shit, He Won Again (in reference to Bush)
Ayn Rand Is Incompatible With Reason (ok, not political, but still funny!)

Musical Groups: (and yes, these are only going to appeal to people who know music theory and/or are involved in classical music.)
Nice subject, Wanna Fugue?
Everytime you write parallel fifths, Bach kills a kitten
I'm a Fermata ... Hold Me.
I'm Glad Pluto's No Longer A Planet; It Makes Gustav Holst's Suite Complete

Misc. Groups:
I Speak My Mind So My Life is Awkward
I Secretly Want to Punch Slow Walking People in the Back of the Head
I Flip My Pillow Over to Get to the Cold Side
When I Was Your Age, Pluto Was a Planet
I Use My Cell Phone to See In The Dark
I Can't Believe I Have Braces In College
My Friends Are Getting Married. I'm Just Getting Drunk.

That's it for now. I'm sure other deserving group names will be posted here at an indefinite point in the future when, once again, I am putting off being productive.

Also, the pickle festival post *is* coming. Look forward to the sour, savory, crunchy post.

update

Posted my first entry about Paris in the travel blog. The link to my second blog is on the right hand side of this page. Please click and read if you're interested. Photos from the trip will be posted at some point in the near future, but I can't until I find the cable to upload photos from digi cam to my computer.

Also, I'll be posting an entry on here about the annual pickle festival held in Manhattan's Lower East Side that I attended yesterday. And yes, I ate PLENTY of pickles -- and pickled fruits and veggies!