when love comes to town

in the form of my two nephews, we go to the lego store.
which is pretty nifty place (if you can bear the sight of pleading eyes and the push of grabby hands. and you're deft at avoiding flying elbows. standard kiddie chaos).

october 9, 2010. legos at rock center, nyc.

i like'em husky...

how beautiful, the delicate husks and the colors...

green and purple "revolutionary" tomatillos.

more "revolutionaries": ground husk cherry tomatoes.

oak grove plantation/ the blew family, pittstown, nj.

union square, nyc october 6, 2010.

market fresh: do you see what i see?

a man, grimacing?

ziggy?

mr. tomato head, courtesy of oak grove plantation, and the blew family, pittstown, nj.

union square, nyc october 6, 2010.

back in the saddle/downtown train

i've been without my dslr for about a month.

i've missed it.

(and i'm rusty.)

but here are the first "back in the saddle" shots. last saturday afternoon, the downtown #6 train.

the drummers from subwayrecords.com ("log on to the truth").

squirrel crazy/crazy squirrel

yesterday at work, in the midst of the afternoon lull, i started giggling. i couldn't help it.

my co-workers didn't say anything (this time).

i sort of wish they had because i would have explained that my maximum favorite writer (and i'd probably have to also explain the "maximum" bit) just wrote this really funny story about a squirrel. and i would have let them read it over my shoulder, or i'd have sent it to them.

it's actually not a squirrel "story," it's a lead-in to something about robby ginepri. but i love that he shared the news this way.

and then i thought of all the squirrels that have besieged, annoyed and impressed my friends, like "the scraper" at 147 bleecker. and the squirrel that frequents teresa's neighbor's roof (she flings slices of toast at him. he's clearly never going to leave).

by coincidence, today, at the union square market, the samascott orchards folks were all in a dither about some crazy squirrel that kept stealing their $7/pound italian-american chestnuts.

and then he popped up!


and he zipped and hopped boldly around, probably for the rest of the afternoon. sort of crazy and cute. but not sure how i feel about that garlic after his city squirrel nose and paws got all into it...

storm king, part 10: i've never been to england

but what has lasted in my imagination, at least since last winter, are david hockney's dreamy renditions of the yorkshire landscape, which you can see here.

these "new york trees" are my dream of england.

and in the night...

puddles, park chairs.

bryant park, nyc. sept 27, 2010

splashes, color

today was a dreary, wet one.

but there were a few brights spots, at the market:

all photos © anita aguilar

morandi (let's move)

latte. photo © anita aguilar

more photos, etc. here

i want to move.

i want to move to morandi.

yes, morandi, the restaurant.

it’s a perfect plan—pretty west village spot, right there on waverly and 7th avenue south. (i used to live a few blocks away, i know it will be easy to fall back into a routine...reunite with the dry cleaners on 8th, the guys at the magazine store on hudson. i could start running again, by the water…)

if I lived at morandi, when the weather is nice, i could start the day with breakfast at 8--or ease into the brunch hour-- at a table outside.

i could have a skim latte and something simple—a selection from the basket of sweet breads. everything in it has a distinct and delicious ring, and indeed there are enough for each day of the week: brioche with chocolate and hazelnuts to make the monday less mopey; cherry spirals on tuesday; a simple cornetti, midweek; sweet pistachio bread on thursday; the panetti al forno-–a bit more savory, with prosciutto and raisins--for the friday morning after the night before; bombolini –little italian donuts!--as the precursor to a more luxurious weekend brunch; and, ricotta fritters to celebrate the 7th day.

is it working for you?

there are eggs, served with salt cod or skirt steak or more simply, with grilled tomatoes and country bread.

there’s salad: arugula or escarole, seafood, or spelt.

a more serious commitment can be made--meatballs with pine nuts and raisins, or an egg pasta with a classic meat sauce. (i’m not sure i could make that my first meal of the day—but i wouldn’t dream of messing with you, if you could. in fact, you could wind up being...my hero.)

but that is how a day could start at morandi. imagine where we could go from there?

sounds like a nice little life, ay?

ok, then.

let’s move.

vintage

late summer 2010