Author: southflatbush

Hoboken?

Posted on by southflatbush

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Hoboken?

When one is struck by the word befuddled, one knows an adventure awaits. Cue Hoboken. My dear friend made the move from BK to Hoboken and in a short conversation: What are you doing Saturday? Nothing. Shall we? Yes, Please. I’m not opposed to coming to Hoboken, the fun Saturday night and my first trip to Hoboken, was hatched.

Upon driving from BK to Hoboken, after going through the Battery Tunnel and the Holland Tunnel, I arrived, as told by the painted sign which read HOBOKEN in big white letters on an overpass. The sign, was very hip and as this visualization simmered, a huge building read Hoboken Lofts For Sale and I accidentally was transported back to Williamsburg. After slowly halting at each STOP sign and being petrified to go through unable to tell if it was a 4 way stop sign or not, it was time to park. There is no parking unless you’re a resident but, if you look at the 4×6 sign a little closer, you will see in elfin print, that I actually had to exit my car to see, there is a 4 hour parking limit on non-residents.

My friend’s apartment building was 4 stories maybe, and looked very tiny from the outside. I walked into her apartment and contemplated whether or not I had drank Alice’s shrinking potion because this apartment was incongruously large compared to the outside. She pays the same rent she did in BK for an apartment that is literally 3 times the size. After admiring the space and her own private bathroom (go girl,) we decided to grab some food.

A short walk to the corner bar, I was again transported this time, to some Midwest locale. The bar, played all country music, had a mechanical bull, awesome mini burgers and all young white people (referred to as YWP herewith.) Hoboken en general, is all YWP. It is one of the strangest microcosms I’ve seen, besides Williamsburg and the other areas surrounding Williamsburg that everyone is getting pushed to. Ate burgers, was hit on by guys from PA, that were drawn like moths to a flame when they heard country music, observed the bar had Quinoa whiskey (great for my gluten free friend,) then left to avoid further awkward conversation (Want to party? Want to come to my house party? Want to play flip cup? No.)

We called for an Uber to take us to the next destination. The next bar was totally packed, just like every other bar, with YWP. Next bar was great for dancing and observing some more YWP and so was the next one after that. I was impressed with the variety of restaurants and bars, Hoboken overall has a really great vibe to it. The bar/restaurant scene reminds me of Bay Ridge another neighborhood with the YWP perusing the local watering holes. Walking around, one block was Fort Greene with the beautiful stone sidewalks, one block was Park Slope with some breathtaking Brownstones and ideal stoops for sitting, one block was BK Heights with Row and Carriage houses, a beautifully confused conglomeration.

Till next time Hoboken, this Nu thing must be revisited and researched immediately to curb my curiosity.

The Hunt

Posted on by southflatbush

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The Hunt

It is now day 8 of 2015 and my resolution was to do 1 nu thing a day. Why haven’t you? Oh, well I am moving out of my family home and have been apartment hunting (technically for a year but nothing came up) fervently for the past week.

Being born and bred in this beautiful city of Brooklyn, one may think I would know someone that had an apartment available and I do; however, that apartment is in as much of an obscure area as I am in now, Marine Park. I absolutely love my neighborhood. It is beautiful, kid friendly, family friendly, not twenty-something friendly. Therefore, I am venturing out to one of the only areas I can afford that has some sort of life to it, Ditmas Park.

This has figuratively been a knock out drag out fight between me and some renters that I don’t even know. I strongly dislike them though. You know who I also strongly dislike? These INSANE brokers who do nothing and want to charge you almost $2,000 because you found their listing on Craigslist! Beginning rant now. I refuse to propagate this. You should too. Sometimes the cards fall where they may and the broker has the inventory that the buyer wants. At this point, especially when it is a trendy, hot (insert other descriptively obnoxious adjective) area, the broker probably has some leverage in the fee game. The brokers also know that some RIDICULOUS, ASININE (insert obnoxious but appropriate adjective) person will pay the fee. STOP THE MADNESS PEOPLE OF BROOKLYN.

The rents in Ditmas Park and Brooklyn en general have sky rocketed (yes, rocketed up to the moon) because people are flooding in and agreeing to pay these inflated prices. Fine, pay the high rent and you can even pay the high broker fee, if the broker actually works and helps you find a place! Make sure you negotiate with your broker also, if he is not willing to come down a bit (no bitterness here) then kick him/her to the curb! Good renter inhabitants of Brooklyn, stop messing up the flow of things!

My one nu kick in the behind of the past 4 days has been arduous. I think I will end up in a beautiful spot therefore I am excited and I will get lots of nu experiences. Too bad I wont be able to afford to leave my apartment.

Holy Whole Foods

Posted on by southflatbush

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Holy Whole Foods

It is 50 something degrees in Brooklyn in January. It is rainy and then it is not. This day is confusing already.

After working all morning, yes on a Sunday, I have a little first date with a nice guy. After a glass of vino, because my New Years Resolution was no more drinking and then quickly changed to 1-2 glasses a week as per today, we went back to his place to chat and have some tea. Which to him evidently meant, make out and try to feel me up. End Scene. At this point (as per my little brother) I should state that the feel up attempt was unsuccessful and blocked by a very discreet, yet effective, elbow.

On my way back home, in an even more confused state as to what just transpired, I decided that today’s Nu thing must be to finally check out the Whole Foods on 3rd and 3rd. I was happy I had a plastic bag and a book bag in the car to pack up my impending grocery purchase in. I will not go shopping unless I have bags with me. It irks me so that people still go to the grocery store without their own bags. It is not a difficult thing to do. The Planet and I will thank you.

Driving into the parking lot, you feel yourself enveloped in what I think are LED lights and surrounded by wind turbine like apparatuses; I am looking on their site to see what they are as we speak. I walk in, grab a basket, which is an illusion because it turns into a wheely cart and is great because after the first few groceries my forearm was screaming. They have a beautiful produce department which I of course couldn’t enjoy because I was so enamored with my initial people watching. What is their story? Why those socks with those shoes? Why those pants with that shirt? Why did you not bring your own bags? etc.

Produce aisle surpassed and onto the dominion of Whole Foodshire. I am overwhelmed from a sensory standpoint and have no idea what to see, smell or eat, first. They have a gargantuan meat department with hanging carcasses in a transparent glass fridge and I barely glanced. I am an omnivore. They have a beauty and herbal remedies section which I took a gander at because evidently my hands are dry (see fingerprints.)  There were too many options so I moved on.

Was I looking for anything in particular? Yes. I think I would like to try some vegan items. I like to eat tofu and recently discovered the delectable tempeh so I will get more of that. Oh wait, here is some vegan mayo and some vegan yogurt and some vegan cream cheese. I feel compelled to try them all. One of my very dear friends is a vegan and an amazing cook. I have seen him use some of the aforementioned ingredients and I am hoping to replicate some vegan delicacies. Thirty Dollars later and a metamorphosis into a vegan, this Nu experience was transformative.

P.S. Tried the cheese already. Hated it.

Jane Austen

Posted on by southflatbush

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Nu Sense

So reading a nu (new) book is doing something nu (new) right? Admittedly, ’twas a very lazy day in Brooklyn. The rain was pouring, my left windshield wiper rubber covering thing is detaching itself and therefore not wiping properly so there was little left to do other than pick up a book.

I ventured to the Gerritsen Beach Library the other day, which is beautiful and has a lovely outdoor sitting/reading area for the warmer months. I recommend going there if you are ever in the area, which you wont be, followed by a stroll in the Salt Marsh that has some scenic paths and boats that you can rent.The incredibly helpful and sweet Librarian, notified me that the book I wanted, which was for an upcoming Book Club meeting, was not available and I could put a hold on a copy. Sure, lets do that. I have done this often and it typically does not arrive on time so, after a few days, I cancelled my attendance to the Book Club Meetup. Maybe I wont be so cheap next time and just buy the book. Meetup.com, the hub for many a Book Club, is an amazing website if you haven’t been on it; you should certainly try it if you’re looking for people with similar interests or just want to try something new.

When the news about the Book Club book came to me, I immediately went to the Classics section. Classics are typical school assignment books but also some of the most famous books ever published. I enjoy every book I have read from this section and it has turned into my ‘go-to’ after my Kindle and ipad both decided they no longer want to work and both companies cannot replace them because they are too outdated. I am over the system ergo sticking to paper, until I give in again, and am compelled to read Scientific American and the NYT all in one sitting without wasting paper, which is important to me. Browsing through the Classics, I am immediately drawn to Jane Austen because: most women are, the last Classics I read was Pride and Prejudice and it was delicious and I had recently seen the film The Jane Austen Book Club. Sense and Sensibility was the choice made.

Laying in bed cuddled up with my ridiculously comfy fleece pants, I read. Already delighted by the cover saying that the author was ‘A Lady’. I am immediately distracted by the lighting and put on my little lamp that is attached to the pole of the standing lamp initially used. The new lighting is warm and I am ready to continue. After a minute, the light gets exorbitantly bright and I realize that it is a CFL and just took a minute to reach its full brightness. Being over the lighting complications, I read again.

Austen does it for me every time. She has such a beautifully descriptive language that, even after Pride and Prejudice, I felt the need to speak in 18th Century English. Everything sounds much nicer and much more astounding when you say it in 18th Century English. I wish I could tell my friend who’s boyfriend I don’t particularly enjoy, that “I have not had so many opportunities of estimating the minuter propensities of his mind, his inclinations and tastes as you have.” Case closed.

Fingerprints

Posted on by southflatbush

Screen shot 2015-01-02 at 7.41.24 PMFingerprinting