Birthday

I've always loved this song, but this year lyrics are especially apropos.
Happy Birthday my love.

Late Summer Music

Today the Annapolis Sound features my favorite late summer songs.

Links

Boots that I badly want.

I once turned down a job a Trader Joe's, this article has me contemplating seeing if I can take it back.

Porn for neat freaks (Axon and Zeb, I'm lookin' at you).

I was completely moved by Christopher Hitchens' thoughts on being diagnosed with cancer.

Dreamy photos (film of course).

My sister had a very cool extra Interpol (the band) concert poster lying around that she gave to us. We don't particularly like Interpol but it was so beautiful it's now hanging on our bedroom wall. It got me thinking about other band posters we could use as art - here is a great selection.

More affordable art.

Lots and lots of good summer playlists.

Beautiful photos capturing rural Russian culture before it dies out.

A comic for font geeks (timely as I search for a perfect photography biz font).

A laugh for graphic design geeks.

A Winner

A winner. I found myself saying that phrase at least four times tonight in regards to this sandwich. We've had a bit of an eggplant explosion lately in our CSA. Unfortunately the boy isn't a fan of the eggplant. I've tried eggplant ragu with smoked mozzarella, disguising it on pizza with peppers and onions and he can still always pick it out. But this, this is a winner. Zeb said it's a 'wonderful combination of flavors' as he gobbled it down, my sister kept groaning which I know is a good thing. I want to eat it for breakfast. It's a winner.

Eggplant, Mozzarella, Prosciutto Sandwich

Not much to direct here.

Just slice the eggplant thin and grill it first (so that it's not mushy). Spread butter on pieces of bread and layer mozzarella, a slice and a half of proscuitto (not to overwhelm the other flavors) and the eggplant slices on the bread, top it with another buttered piece of bread and grill the whole thing.

Witchy Stuff Fail

Lest anyone get the impression that around here it's all natural sunshine and compostable rainbows, I'm here, today, to tell you about two colossal failures in the witchy stuff category. I'll get the most embarrassing out of the way first.

The story goes: I had a tiny blemish. In the past I have used tea tree oil or witch hazel to treat such blemishes - both are astringent and healing and slightly drying and regenerative and all sorts of good things. I figured both together would be doubly effective and certainly zap my zit. Instead it burned my face. A jumbo cotton ball sized burn that has taken two weeks to heal and incited countless 'What happened to your face???'s, every one totally deserved. I've heard it said, but now I believe more than ever that herbs are powerful. You have to know what you're doing. Now I know that tea tree oil and witch hazel should not be used, together, full strength, on bare skin. Don't do it! And if you think I have a photo to go along with the disaster you're crazy, I spent the week shunning everything with eyes, mechanical or human.

Next up, not quite so embarrassing but perhaps more costly. I saw this post about making one's own lotion, and since I've become a bit more concerned about what I rub into my skin lately (see Oil Cleanse Method) I thought it would be worth trying. It's basically just olive oil in a more manageable form. So I ordered the emulsifying wax and, admittedly jumping the gun, starting collecting a million little bottles that I could fill with wonderful herbal handmade lotion and give away as Christmas gifts (Yeah, you see the label right, almost every Friday night my boy brings home a pair of shots, and after enjoying my shot I rinse out the bottles and save them. Last year we filled them with flavored salts for all the fam. This year they've been saved for the handmade lotion).

On a rare afternoon that I was feeling caught up with life and ambitious I made up the lotion. It's as simple as the homemade deodorant, and takes about 5 minutes, and the cooling lotion looked so promising.

But I'm here, today, to tell you, that you might as well smear straight olive oil on your skin, that would be less gloppy and soak in better than this lotion. It was terrible, it coated my skin with an oil slick impenetrable layer on an already humid day, and I ended scraping it off because I couldn't stand it. I'm sure there are good lotion recipes out there. But this is not it. I'm going running back to my Trader Joe's Midsummer Night's cream, and I'm up for suggestions on what to do with my million whiskey bottles.

Tony

This is probably only of interest to Annapolitans, but the Annapolis Market House has become a real symbol of local government corruption and inefficiency. The Annapolis Sound has been covering the current saga and I did a photo essay on the all but abandoned market - you can see it here. This photo didn't get included but I love it. This gent's name is Tony, and he told me he lives on a bench outside The Market House. He also told me that if I sell this photo he would like a 10% commission and to be my agent. I told him I'll work on it.

New York

A few weekends ago we went to New York City for what I hope becomes an annual summer trip. Last year we met the Julians there and tried to get tickets to Shakespeare in the Park, but even though we were in line at 5 am we missed it. It was closing weekend and Anne Hathaway though, so it was understandable.

This year Ben and Anna joined us for another try. Ben and I woke up to get in line at 3 am. It actually wasn't a bad way to spend the morning, sleeping in the shade and reading and having Zeb and Anna bring us drinks and treats before we got our tickets at 1.

In case you don't know what I'm talking about, Shakespeare in the Park puts on wonderful performances with a famous cast for FREE! You just have to stand in line to get the tickets. We were 250 in line, with 600 behind us, and we got the last few tickets of the day. But this year, it was Al Pacino playing Shylock in Merchant of Venice, thus the line that started the night before.

When we finally got our tickets we felt like we'd been handed gold because we'd slept so little and sat so hard for them. And they fetch a pretty penny on Craigslist. But selling them didn't even cross our minds, much.

That afternoon we found one of the food carts that I had been excited about, The Jamaican Dutchy. I had the stewed goat and it was wonderful. I knew that the food carts in NYC are world-famous, and they even have competitions for them, so I compiled a list of the top 30 ahead of time and we sought them out when we got hungry.

Then we went to the MoMA because it's free on Friday nights. I'm crazy about modern art in general, but there are a few that I go, 'Really?' I know Ben shared my sentiments, and I didn't ask him but he might have been thinking that about this piece. This looks to me like one of those retro speckled countertops. In all seriousness, though, it's quite pretty. I really had a problem with the blue square. I don't think it evokes any immaterial and boundless utopian views of the world, but maybe that's just me.

(Photo by Anna)

Then back to Central Park for the performance that night.

It was easily the best performance of any kind that I've ever seen, or hope to see. The dialogue was so completely natural and the whole thing just flowed so beautifully that I couldn't believe when it was over already. The sets were beautiful and sparse and the tone of the whole thing was haunting. Al Pacino blew us away, I got chills over and over. And Alec Baldwin was in the audience with us so I got my star sighting out of the way.

The next day Brian and Mel joined us.

Staten Island Ferry

(Photo of S+Z by Ben)

Remember this scene from last year? I feel a series coming on. Also, I went back to the spot with the graffiti wings from the Val photo last year to try to reproduce it with Anna and they had torn it down and put in an Anthropologie! I've never been so disappointed to see an Anthropologie.

Highline Park.

(Photo of Mel+Sarah by Zeb)

The Meatpacking District.

All day subway passes.

The food cart I was most excited about, the one I'd heard the most about, was N.Y. Dosas. A dosa is a crepe made of a lentil and rice or cream of wheat batter and then in this case stuffed with lettuce and veggies and topped with a delectable coconut chutney. It was so good, if a little spicy for my taste. But I'm a wimp about spicy. We ate our dosas with chilled coconut water with big chunks of coconut floating around in it. Perfect.

The dosa cart parks at Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village.

We did lots of other things like the Met which I liked OK, and Zeb loved because of all the sculptures and ancient armor. He loves those things.

(Photo by Ben)

We ended our trip with a trek through Chinatown to Little Italy for Lombardi's pizza, supposedly the best pizza in New York, thus the world. It is credited as the first pizza place in New York at any rate. It was fantastic, it deserves its reputation.

(Pizza photo by Ben)

Speaking of New York's best, one night we all decided to stay in at the flat we were renting and we ate fancified Mac'nCheese and Brian and Mel bought a cheesecake from Two Little Red Hens Bakery, supposedly the best cheesecake in New York, thus the world. And it was amazing. I was so full but I couldn't stop eating it.

Baby hands on the subway. And cousins.

And that's the last of our fun trips for a while.