It is said that Hoboken, New Jersey is the city with the most bars per block in the United States. Each year, oddly before the actual St. Patrick’s Day, they host a massive bar crawl.

David & Cindy (not pictured) hosted their own party in their apartment and back patio in prime people-watching territory, on Washington Ave, seemingly the epicenter of bro culture.

I was wearing skinny jeans and a skinny tie (which, well, maybe didn’t cause me to blend in), nor was my clothing green, the dominant color in every direction. But, of course, by mid-afternoon, everyone was too drunk to notice much of anything, even when their friends fell into the street.  I did see a great shirt that read: “NJ ALL DAY” in stacked, massive, white letters, which I’d love to buy and wear around Brooklyn on sunny days, though I’m sure it’d be a regrettable decision (though not as regrettable as Hoboken’s rampant promiscuity this past Saturday, obviously).

• Speaking of parties, Jenn recently made it onto Last Night’s Party (here).  David and I are also in the periphery of the shot, by photographer Merlin Bronques.

On an entirely different note, and back at the home base in Brooklyn, this young plant is doing quite well in my windowsill. I don’t actually know the name of it though, can anyone shed some light on its name? To the left in the shot is a Hindu rope plant cutting that Jenn and I got from her grandmother and are working towards a replanting in soil, and the plant on the right is something than Hans dug up near the Gowanus Canal.

• Happy birthday this past week to B.Davis and Mr. Appalachia.  We celebrated earlier in the week with some homemade cake (from Allison and Mother Appalachia) in the neighborhood, then this past Friday at Great Lakes and Brooklyn Fish Camp.  Dominique and Anna joined in the fun too, both in town for 6 months from Argentina, and studying at Columbia University. I hadn’t seen Dominique since visiting Argentina about three and a half years ago.

Speaking of the Gowanus, it should be mentioned that the recent Superfund status designation has been all over the papers and in conversations, though I still haven’t been able to form an opinion on the scenario quite yet.  It already has meant more attention to the area my friends and I have been trying to rehab for over a year now. This snow melted completely over this past weekend, as we finally made it over 50 degrees in NYC.

Jenn and I made it over to the Pulse Art Fair on Saturday, thanks to free passes from David Harper.

Midtown Manhattan.

The intersection of Atlantic and Third Avenues in Brooklyn. Snow’s hit the Eastern Corridor a few times in the past few weeks, though it’s always business as usual.

Parking lot near the Gowanus Canal.

Marta (on the right) and friends take a moment to play cards in the basement space of China One in the East Village. As a kick-off to fashion week, there was a secret party in the cavernous labyrinth downstairs (and yes, one would think that caverns and labyrinths are somewhat mutually exclusive, but the space managed to feel like both).  The music for the evening was quite an impressive mix of old Indonesian, Cambodian and other Asian pop, possibly from the 1960s, similar to Thailand’s Shadow Music I may have mentioned before.  The promoters were kind enough to post the entire playlist here. Absolutely worth the time the ~273MB download takes, top notch.

The snow back in Greenwood Heights. Jenn poses next to our late-night, 5-foot creation.  In Brooklyn fashion, the snowman had been decapitated by the next day.

If you’re considering moving to Brooklyn, or are already here but are looking for a different apartment, I highly recommend living within walking distance of the great Prospect Park. Snow & ice has a transformative quality on landscapes in general, but especially so in this park. Jenn and I traversed a good amount of the land on Valentine’s Day, this past Sunday, and saw improved snowboarding slopes cutting between trees in secluded areas and many small ice castles & partial igloos. Trails felt so quiet and remote it certainly was another one of those moments where you find yourself thinking “there’s no way I’m in New York right now.”

While it seems to be the norm for New Yorkers to seek out and crave those fleeting moments of city disguise, I’m reminded of similar thoughts I’ve had in different towns.  One example: in the small town of Bridgewater, Virginia, there’s a modest residential area of homes lining some of the smaller hills/mountains that lead up to the Dry River, and overlook the ancient Bridgewater Parade Grounds. My brother and I used to spend weeks in the area during the summer when we were back in elementary school, wandering around, finding small caves, building dams in creeks, among other things.  But back to the point: there was one street, I’m not positive of the name; it was en-route from our grandparent’s house near the peak of the hill (and surrounded by large evergreens), and Wildwood Park. The street lead off to the right (what seemed like north) as we headed (via bike or walking) to the park, and it climbed upwards and to the left (which would be northwest), and was flanked by a handful of homes possibly built between 1950 and 1975. For some reason I always had a feeling of being in Denmark.  I still have not have the opportunity to visit Denmark, and I imagine I knew even less about the country at that point in life, and yet: I was positive I was experiencing the spirit of Denmark, a temporary vision, if nothing else. The visual/mental association remains, sometimes surfacing in dreams (albeit, not in the past few years), though I can’t find an explanation.

The walls have eyes in the Atlantic-Pacific subway station, in downtown Brooklyn.

Miss Pacman in Metropolitan, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. When Brad visits from Seattle, Jenn, and I always find ourselves at Fette Sau and Metropolitan, inevitably. Always good times.

I finally had an opportunity to see the inside of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank building at One Hanson in Fort Greene this past weekend when it was opened up for the indoor location of the Brooklyn Flea. Ran into some friends who had bought some vintage chairs, but for Jenn and I, the real treat was the food: vendors had set up in the vault area in the basement, and were serving stellar lobster rolls (worth the $14 price tag) and more affordable pupusas ($5 gets you 2 pupusas and two sides, possibly the same cost as when they’re down at the Red Hook soccer fields).  In the warmer months, I believe the flea market will be moving back outdoors.

• At least two birthday shout-outs need to happen today: my brother Clay turns 25, and my friend Shane turns 28.  Happy birthday!

The clean-cut Nymphets perform fast punk songs at Glasslands.

A few weeks back, after a fire-side dinner at Teddy’s Bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with my cousin Julia (who moved to Bushwick several months back) and her friend Mike (in town from Harrisonburg, VA), we went to the Beachniks record release party at Glasslands. One of those 7-bands-for-7-dollars kinda things, which can result in a lot of mediocrity, but sometimes some gems. In this case, we were most impressed by The Nymphets, moreso than the headliner.

• A quick mention of two other shows: the Secret Science Club that happens at the Bell House in the Gowanus area every month or so is a pretty interesting lecture/interactive series by scientists and PH-D students while everyone drinks — certainly has potential, even though the one I caught with Jenn, Christine, and Charlie was possibly not the best (regarding motion capture technologies).

Secondly, Eugene Mirman hosts a comedy series at Union Hall in Park Slope that I hadn’t heard about until Chris & Lindsay Reid (in town briefly from Durham, North Carolina) got a few of us together to check it out. While initially being somewhat film/Hollywood focused stand-up, the comedians did end up being worth the $7 cover in the end (plus modelo cans are $3, which isn’t too bad).

• On the material possessions end, I’m looking to unload a wide-format Epson injet printer, a multi-purpose rice cooker, and a great, disgustingly pink & bright yellow Centurion road bike (61cm), if you or anyone you know is in need, give me a holler for prices.

I’m excited to officially announce that the This City i$ Mine book is now available for purchase.

Here’s a sample spread – the book design (composition, juxtaposition, sequencing, layout, etc) was all done by Jenn Richey.

Winter in New York seems to mean so many indoor spaces (aside from riding one’s bike to and from those spaces). This dim light is in the bathroom of the newish Greenpoint bar named Blackout, where a group of us got drinks after a nice dinner over at David’s apartment a few blocks away.