Recently I met Justin, who restores vintage cars on the side, in South Slope, Brooklyn.

Under the hood of the 1953 DeSoto that he’s been spending some time on recently.

While we were shooting, we also talked over some beers. That’s another vehicle of his in the background, a 1950s Ford delivery truck.

When I moved to Brooklyn (via Manhattan and Queens for a few years), I was surprised to learn that many people have project cars. I had assumed the concept only existed outside of large cities – but there are definitely a few very close to my apartment, including a super-loud drag car a few doors down.

Some cyclists in Adams Morgan, a neighborhood in Washington, DC.

This past weekend, Jenn and I took a bus down to DC to hang out with Terry and Stacey. Stacey took us to a large public pool with a diving board – something I hadn’t seen in years, maybe due to insurance liabilities. Definitely the best way to spend the afternoon on one of the hottest days of the year: flying through the air, trying new tricks (while hopefully not landing on one’s stomach).

• I forgot to thank Big Joseph for the great birthday dinner over in Bushwick two weekends ago. After eating, Jenn, Big Joseph and I went over to my cousin Julia’s open studio party, a short bike ride away. She and her friends were in great spirits, and I recall talking to someone for a while about fire-breathing / fire-swallowing and such.

An alleyway near Columbia Heights, in Washington, DC.

The glorious Hamilton Pool, in Austin, Texas.

• I just returned from 10 days in Austin with Jenn and a bunch of friends from Seattle and Cincinnati. We rented a house and set out to swim and eat our way through the city, also catching some local music in the process.

I’ll always be partial to palm trees. They remind me of fond memories of visiting Florida in the early 90s. Always magical.

It was good to see Daniel Johnston’s illustrations still up, like this spot near the University of Texas campus, off of Guadaloupe. Many stores sold clothing with his illustrations printed on them as well.

Brad and Jenn near the large Capitol Building, in downtown Austin.

Sapphire performing a song at a drag game show night at Jo’s Coffee Shop.

Austin seems to be overflowing with little animals and insects. This green anole (Anolis carolinensis) was in our backyard, and would occasionally puff up its reddish throat.

Austin will be continued in part 2.

• A quick note, unrelated to Austin: two Brooklyn-based filmmakers have just released new short films that I’d like to mention:

Sean Dunne (who created “Man in Van” and “The Archive”) just put out a new short film called “The Bowler.” Like his other pieces, this too presents, without overt judgment, the life of an unique individual. Worth checking out, even if you’re not curious to see into the life of a man from Staten Island, all of Sean Dunne’s pieces are shot and edited beautifully.

Another Brooklyn filmmaker, Terrence Elenteny, mentioned his new short film, “LeBron James: King of NY,” to me the other day as well. While I’m not the biggest fan of professional basketball (collegiate is more appealing to me), there are some great moments in this short, which is comprised almost entirely of interviews with people on the street in Manhattan.

There are many feral cats in my neighborhood. Everyone once in a while, there’s an especially rough character, like this guy. Between an infected left eye, missing left ear, and some sort of open sore on his right leg, he may not have a lot of time left.

This stray, albeit tired, was in better shape. Unfortunately though, its tail was chewed down to the bone, with a little tuft of hair at the end.

On to happier topics, I was lucky enough to go on WNYC’s client appreciation cruise this past Tuesday evening. The three-hour open bar and full dinner, hosted by WNYC personalities ended up being good fun. Unlimited Johnny Walker Black Labels did help as well.

• BAMcinemaFEST opened this past week, with a premiere of Cyrus. Most of the cast were in attendance for the film and afterparty (including John C. Reilly and the gorgeous Marisa Tomei). I also saw Susan Sarandon walk through the crowd. Jenn and I enjoyed the film, which felt like a humorous and fun take on a standard romantic comedy. My only criticism is of the extensive hand-held camerawork (with sporadic quick zooms) is worn out and unnecessary, very heavy-handed. The festival runs until June 20th.

Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

• Speaking of Williamsburg, on Friday night, Rebecca Smeyne, Tod Seelie, and Maxim Ryazansky presented a selection of their photography and spoke about their approaches to image-making, feelings on subject-photographer interaction, and the lifestyle of an artist. Tod, the only one of the three I’ve met on a few occasions, always comes off as genuine, modest, and passionate. Definitely check out all three of the artists’ work if you’re not familiar with them; a lot of great photography and traveling experiences.

Shane road his bike all the way down from Scarsdale to join Jenn and I at the photography talk. Afterward, we hit up Caracas for arepas.

A front yard in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn.

• A friend pointed out Urban Plant Research to me yesterday. From my understanding, it’s two women who document urban plants and weeds here in New York City and elsewhere. Worth checking out.

On the bike front, I’ve been very happy with a recent handlebar & brake lever swap on my Kogswell, over to Velo Orange Porteur bars (in stock over at Bespoke in Fort Greene) with Tektro RX 4.1 reverse brake levers.  Makes grocery runs even easier.  The bar tape is Serfas Echelon.

• The other week, Shane’s wife, Echo, began a new job which involved relocated to China for a year. The company is being really accommodating, though, in flying her back to the states at least 4 times over the course of the year, and two round trip tickets for Shane in the other direction as well. They had a send-off party in Koreatown the other week: drinks at the roof of the La Quinta hotel, then we all had a Vietnamese dinner later in the evening.

The M train in Bushwick, Brooklyn, as seen from The Opera Singer’s old apartment, circa 2007.