potholes & pitstops

melissa shared an Instagram photo with you

2011-09-16T20:33:00.001-04:00

Hi there,

melissa just shared an Instagram photo with you:

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"Dramatic Brooklyn water tower. Manhattan Ave, Greenpoint"

Thanks,
The Instagram Team

Chive Blossoms

2011-06-04T16:42:00.001-04:00

McCarren Park farmer's market
Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Rhubarb

2011-06-04T12:32:00.001-04:00

Union Square farmer's market
NYC

Asparagus

2011-06-04T12:31:00.001-04:00

Union Square farmer's market
NYC

Hot dogs

2011-06-04T12:29:00.000-04:00

Side by side comparison.

2011-06-03T14:15:00.001-04:00

Kittens in jail

2011-05-28T14:11:00.001-04:00

Marcy Ave.
Brooklyn

Tree holding a cane

2011-05-19T17:16:00.001-04:00

N. 7th St.
Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Free Wig

2011-05-14T12:09:00.001-04:00

Also: part-time manager wanted.

Thornton St.
Bushwick, Brooklyn

Sul Long Tang

2011-05-13T22:15:00.000-04:00

Oxbone broth w/beef, rice & noodles

Gham Mi Oak
32nd St. @ Broadway

Dessert is served

2011-05-13T22:13:00.001-04:00

Gham Mi Oak
32nd St. @ Broadway

1986?

2011-05-12T10:00:00.000-04:00

Or is it 1985?

Metropolitan Ave.
Brooklyn

Pretty subway mosaic

2011-05-12T09:58:00.000-04:00

Delancy F Train
NYC

Loosed onions

2011-05-12T09:57:00.000-04:00

The driveway

2011-05-12T09:55:00.000-04:00

At my folks' place in Reading, PA

Party!!

2011-04-24T02:02:00.000-04:00

Fort Greene

Suddenly springtime!

2011-04-14T17:43:00.000-04:00

Btw 52nd & 53rd St.
NYC

Still in nyc

2011-04-08T11:54:00.000-04:00

I don't post to this blog very much anymore, mostly because who takes the time to visit someone's personal blog when there's Facebook and Twitter? But then again, it's not really for visitors so much as a sort of visual diary that I sporadicly update. I'm glad to be able to look back over the last 5 years of my life, especially the move and early times here in nyc.

My great grandmother Sonia kept diaries for most of her life and used to give me one every year for Christmas, or as she called it, Hanukkah. Ha ha. Anyway, it was always this cute little book with gold-edged pages and a clasp that popped opened when you pressed a button. It usually came with two tiny keys on a ring so you could lock up your secrets if you wanted.

I still have a few of those diaries that I was not very good at maintaining. My younger self was even less disciplined about making entries than I am now. There's something very touching about my short, perfunctory records of the day's activities. A typical day:

After school Miranda came over for dinner. We played cards then mom went to a meeting. I watched Three's Company and went to bed.

It snowed today. I went sledding with Miranda. We had spaghetti for dinner then I did my homework.

Every now and then there's an event that looms large in memory, and as recounted among the other entries makes my heart ache for my young self. I want to reach back through the years and give little Melissa a hug:

When I came home from school mom told me that Papa Boyle died. I went upstairs to say goodbye. I was very sad. I watched Mork & Mindy and went to bed.

I remember that my mom and grandmother tried to be upbeat about my grandfather passing. He was sick with cancer and bedridden for months. My mother and I lived in the farmhouse and he slept in a room down the hall from me. I found out many years later that he had tried to kill himself during his long illness. Somehow I slept through the event, but the rest of the family were all there and kept him alive.

Now his suffering had ended and these women urged me upstairs to say my goodbyes. How does a 10 year-old process the death of her grandfather? I remember summoning the courage to walk into his room alone and circle the bed. Everything was still. He was there, and not there. I didn't know what to do, so I looked and left. They kept the body there for at least 24 hours. Something about allowing the spirit to accept the death and move on in due time. For years, I was afraid of that room at the end of the hall. But the last time I lived in the farmhouse, briefly during a summer in high school, I actually slept in the room and came to feel a sense of harmony and peace with my departed grandfather. The room was light and bright and always felt still and quiet.

Dear Diary, thanks for listening. It's nice to know that Mork & Mindy were there for me no matter what happened. And also a family that didn't try to hide the reality of death, but instead celebrated the end of a terminal illness and the life a hard-working farmer, husband, father and grandfather.

Best mullet ever??

2011-04-01T18:12:00.001-04:00

File under "subway sightings".
Queens bound E Train around 5th ave.
NYC

In the fridge at work

2011-04-01T18:10:00.002-04:00

I wonder what's in there??

Brooklyn Winery

2011-03-20T23:37:00.002-04:00

Williamsburg
Brooklyn

Street art

2011-03-20T23:36:00.002-04:00

Smith St.
Brooklyn

Tacos

2011-03-14T09:51:00.001-04:00

From the Mexicue truck @ 6th Ave & 52nd St.

Bike Shorts

2011-03-14T09:48:00.002-04:00

Short films about bikes/bike culture projected simultaneously on four screens.

Bowery Stadium
NYC

Skill shot

2011-03-14T09:46:00.001-04:00

Commonwealth
Brooklyn

Looks who's coming to nyc

2011-02-03T12:13:00.000-05:00

Broadway @ 20th St.

Beer tower

2010-12-14T19:30:00.000-05:00

Work party @ Frames
NYC

It's blizzarding!!

2010-12-11T22:25:00.001-05:00

Des Moines, IA

2010-12-11T13:23:00.000-05:00

Brrr...

I'm in Iowa!

2010-12-11T12:20:00.000-05:00

Too bad I'll miss the wienermobile.

Bodega cat

2010-12-10T17:34:00.000-05:00

Clinton Hill
Brooklyn

Packing

2010-12-09T21:17:00.001-05:00

Shirts? Check.
Shoes? Check.
Kitty? Check!

The Sword

2010-12-04T23:15:00.000-05:00

Webster Hall
NYC

2010-11-27T11:27:00.000-05:00

Nassau G stop
Brooklyn

Couldn't get to the subway this morning

2010-10-01T09:15:00.000-04:00

Marcy Ave @ Flushing
Brooklyn

2010-09-17T19:11:00.000-04:00

Broadway
Bushwick, Brooklyn

Sunset on 14th St.

2010-08-19T22:38:00.000-04:00

14th St. & 3rd Ave.
Manhattan

Wine tasting

2010-08-19T22:35:00.000-04:00

Some food event

Dog on the subway and not in a bag

2010-08-19T22:34:00.000-04:00

Nassau G train
Brooklyn

Cat of the manor

2010-08-01T20:08:00.000-04:00

Bushwick, Brooklyn

2010-08-01T20:01:00.000-04:00

In honor of The Great Hot Dog Cookoff 2010: ketchup & mustard French
tips!!

Oh, hey, I think I found your iPod

2010-08-01T20:00:00.000-04:00

Clouds over Crown Fried Chicken

2010-08-01T19:59:00.001-04:00

Rumor has it that Jay-Z worked there long ago.

Marcy & Myrtle aves.
Brooklyn

I love when he sits like this.

2010-08-01T19:57:00.000-04:00

Sunset over the J track

2010-08-01T19:56:00.000-04:00

Gates Ave. stop
Bushwick, Brooklyn

Chinese grocery kitty

2010-07-12T11:02:00.000-04:00

Please note the happy crab-flavored chips in the foreground.

4th of July poetry

2010-07-12T10:59:00.000-04:00

YMCA
Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Holy ?!

2010-06-25T18:42:00.000-04:00

Crest Hardware
Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Spike Lee vodka

2010-06-14T22:27:00.000-04:00

Gotta get me some.

A new front door

2010-06-14T22:25:00.000-04:00

Well, new paint anyway!

Makin' the noodles

2010-06-03T20:00:00.000-04:00

Tasty Hand Pulled Noodles
Manhattan Chinatown

It's golden

2010-06-03T19:58:00.000-04:00

4th Ave/9th St. F/G Station
Brooklyn

Moustache

2010-05-24T18:08:00.000-04:00

I don't know why, but I love this!

Court Square E/V subway platform, Queens, NY

Tiny baby!

2010-05-01T20:12:00.000-04:00

Well, I guess they're using the shelter.

I would have hated this as a kid

2010-04-25T13:18:00.000-04:00

But today, I can't get enough: Kale & Parsley Salad with feta, tomato
and walnuts. In the background: scrambled eggs with dill, mushrooms &
ramps.

Coming soon

2010-04-23T19:56:00.000-04:00

Union Square, Manhattan

no pinball in coney island

2010-04-20T13:36:00.005-04:00

I was looking in my drafts folder in my email and found a draft with the above title from June of 2008. I opened it expecting it to be an email to a guy I dated briefly back then, but instead found this poem that I apparently wrote in some sort of emo "can't find what I'm looking for" state of mind.

they don't have pinball in coney island
there are machines with claws to grab at stuff
like elmos or lucky bears
there is skee ball
and around a corner two air hockey tables
$1 per game
for the air and pucks

there is a revolution
dance dance revolution
in the zone
dance off

wheel of fortune hits 500 and spews tickets from its
ticket slit

they don't have pinball in coney island
just lots of big ass video games
and cotton candy
and sand

Orzo

2010-04-15T19:14:00.001-04:00

Melissa! That's me!

Gurgle ? - 4/10/2010

2010-04-09T17:30:00.005-04:00

Hanging out with his favorite guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

A very sad day. Riff's turtle, who he's had for 21 years, passed away today. Turtle (as we called him,) was full grown when Riff got him so it's impossible to tell how old he really was. Needless to say, he was well cared for by Riff, who often treated him to strawberries, tomatoes, and grapes topped with turtle's favorite worm-flavored protein sprinkles, provided heated rocks to sit on and warm bulbs to bask under.

He was a good turtle and will be missed.

On the road with Marta.

Fatty 'cue

2010-04-08T22:00:00.001-04:00

Pig chandolier @ fatty 'cue
Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Bike parts vending machine

2010-04-08T21:58:00.001-04:00

S. 6th St.
Williamsburg, Brooklyn

2010-04-03T17:58:00.000-04:00

Grand St., Brooklyn

Melt

2010-03-15T09:59:00.003-04:00

What is the definition of irony? I've heard that most people use the word incorrectly. They say that something is ironic when in fact, it is just coincidental. So tell, me, internets, is this irony or coincidence:

Today the restaurant Melt started following me on twitter. Melt is the restaurant where my ex-boyfriend took his soon-to-be new girlfriend for dinner when I was out of town for work. We were living together and I was starting to get suspicious that something was going on. I found the receipt from the restaurant in the trash. He admitted that he had gone there, but stuck to his story that he had also gone to the movies by himself. It was a stupid story and obviously a lie. The time stamped on the receipt was the time he had told me he'd been in the movie theater, and the bill was obviously for more than one person. Plus, he had used his personal bank account, instead of our joint account. Duh. I was absolutely devastated by the lie, simply because I knew it was a lie, lying there between us. He forced his way into the bathroom, where I sat on the floor, crying. He told me to look at him. He implored me to believe him. "Melissa, it's me," he said. As though my love for him could make two plus two into five. When he went out of town, I went to the bar where she worked and did some reconnaissance. It came out that they had gone to Melt together. She didn't know that he had a girlfriend, much less that we lived together. The lie was confirmed. I confronted him a week later. We decided to break up.

In a way, although the problems started much earlier, the receipt from Melt was the catalyst that began our breakup. It became a symbol for me of his betrayal. So today, March 15, on his birthday, I got an email to let me know that the restaurant is following me on twitter. I'm supposed to go out to dinner with him and a few of his friends tonight. Our break up is so far away. I've forgiven him and hardly think of the bad ending to our otherwise great five years together. But for some reason, seeing the name of that place brought tears to my eyes. It's just a restaurant - just a symbol - but why today? Irony? Coincidence?

Brodaway

2010-02-24T15:32:00.001-05:00

G Train, Broadway stop

Lunch start early

2010-02-24T15:31:00.001-05:00

Hot steamy buns

2010-02-24T15:30:00.001-05:00

Marta's senior portrait

2010-02-24T15:19:00.003-05:00

Marta & Artemis

2010-02-24T14:53:00.003-05:00

Here's an old pic I just came across...

Tartufo al Caffe

2010-02-06T19:52:00.001-05:00

Lunch @ Del Posto
10th Ave
Manhattan

Soup

2010-02-06T19:51:00.002-05:00

Lunch @ Del Posto
10th Ave
Manhattan

Butter & oil

2010-02-06T19:50:00.001-05:00

Lunch @ Del Posto
10th Ave
Manhattan

Boozeness

2010-01-24T19:36:00.001-05:00

Bushwick, Brooklyn

Cupcake photography

2010-01-23T19:40:00.000-05:00

In the Flesh Reading Series
Happy Ending Lounge
LES, NYC

Bodega cat

2010-01-23T19:36:00.000-05:00

Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Broken

2010-01-23T19:35:00.000-05:00

At Char no. 4

2010-01-10T13:16:00.001-05:00

A delicious blob

Turkey soup w/homemade noodles

2009-12-31T11:17:00.000-05:00

At work.

Marta on the couch

2009-12-31T11:15:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I'm in the Memphis airport.

2009-11-29T09:03:00.000-05:00

At the stable

2009-11-29T08:58:00.001-05:00

Fairfield, IA

Horse in bronze

2009-11-29T08:52:00.001-05:00

It really looked like wood.

Sydney's sculpture garden

2009-11-29T08:51:00.000-05:00

Des Moines, IA

Little orphan Penny

2009-11-04T12:31:00.000-05:00

Up for adoption!

Pretty day

2009-10-04T16:32:00.001-04:00

Route 6, Indiana

Alongside the train

2009-10-04T16:31:00.001-04:00

Route 6, Indiana

Improve your personal life

2009-10-04T16:28:00.001-04:00

Walkerton, IN

Adam & Annie's wedding day

2009-10-04T16:27:00.001-04:00

Tippacanoe Place, IN

Adam's dad's sweet ride

2009-10-03T14:14:00.000-04:00

Walkerton, IN

Adam's wedding day breakfast

2009-10-02T09:37:00.000-04:00

B&G w/extra G on the HB

Now boarding

2009-09-29T11:13:00.000-04:00

Seattle Airport

Xtina plots her next move...

2009-09-29T11:09:00.000-04:00

The view from the hot tub

2009-09-29T11:08:00.000-04:00

Lincoln City, OR

There's one behind me right now, isn't there?

2009-09-29T11:07:00.000-04:00

In the tub

2009-09-22T21:55:00.000-04:00

In the tub

2009-09-22T21:54:00.000-04:00

Sauteed spicy bok choi

2009-09-14T21:23:00.000-04:00

Ketchup Blanket

2009-08-29T16:17:00.000-04:00

@ BFS (Burgers Fries & Shakes) in Greenwich, CT

I hope this day gets better

2009-08-20T10:06:00.002-04:00

This day actually started last night, when I left the birthday present I had just bought for Robyn at a dive bar in Williamsburg. When I called them to see if anyone had turned it in, they told me they were slammed and to come back to look for it. Of course I was a G train ride and a longish walk away, in my pj's and already up way past my bedtime. As I started to ask the guy at the bar to to just take a quick peek under the middle table in the back room I heard the phone slam into the cradle (a sound you rarely hear these days,) and then silence. Awesome. Thanks so much for caring, dude.

So I'm pretty sure some hipster idiot went home with my newly purchased and gift-wrapped items that I was going to send out to Portland today from work.

This morning, right after I missed my train because the people getting off were clogging the turnstiles, I started reading my twitter stream and accidentally (stupid, stupid!!) read a spoiler for the Top Chef Masters season finale that I didn't watch last night. Poop.

On the positive side, I had a dream last night that I won $12,000 in the lottery. Maybe it's a premonition?

I've seen this message before

2009-08-15T21:05:00.001-04:00

But it doesn't hurt to be reminded.

Previously seen on a refrigerator.

The Redhead

2009-08-10T22:00:00.000-04:00

East 13th St. NYC