Creeping Around, Doing Things

Things have been on the up and up and I've been not writing about them as a preventative method against jinxing myself.

!!

So I started school -- Methods in Research and Literary Criticism, a.k.a. lit theory as applied to 18th century British literature. What a difference from Delaware! -- my professor is Indian; my classmates are various shades of brown and peach, and of various ages; no one is falling asleep or dumb; urban campus. There is something entirely more real about walking to class down a city block, with fat mothers and music blasting from the fake Louis Vuitton store and the teenagers slouching around outside the fried chicken place and the dried fruit vendor reading a magazine, than strolling through a colonial-style Ugg boot-wearing campus. I miss trees sometimes, but not those trees.

Going to school in Brooklyn has also helped to reboot my tourism -- I've been casually exploring Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO (home of my beloved Jacques Torres), and Downtown Brooklyn on foot; nice weather will bring me out on my bike. I've also discovered a new co-op, the 4th Street Food Co-op in lower Manhattan, which is a huge improvement over the incomptetently-run (and overpriced) organic store across the street from me ("what is tare weight?"), as well as more flexible and accessible than the massive, 14,000-member Park Slope Co-op.

Next: MORE BEER! Don and I made another batch of beer last week, and thus far it has proved itself to be far superior to the semi-carbonated, vaguely bleach-flavored batch of "Rye PA" we made a few months ago. This one is a bit darker than the first, with less hops and more barley; it was a Chestnut Brown Ale, and indeed, we threw a couple of home-roasted chestnuts in there for flavor. The batch is already bubbling and perky, and should be ready for bottling in a couple weeks, meaning it should be drink-ready by the end of March. If this one turns out well, our plan is to buy the grain and yeast ourselves (from the co-op!), and make our own batches, since right now we've been using the pre-measured ones from the Brooklyn Brew Shop. I'm thinking, replace the barley with quinoa or brown rice, or toasting the hops, or adding herbs and spices, or growing our own hops...

And finalement, a cat! Don and I adopted a two-year old stray about two weeks ago, who had been found by the NYC animal police and kept in kitty prison since August. She was discovered wandering around the south Bronx with a sketchy older man cat, and was nearly euthanized for "questionable behavior." She's long-haired and green-eyed and has a broken tooth. Her name is The Wizard.

Her fur was patchy and dull when we first got her, and she stank (she had some bad hygiene when she arrived..). But the dullness has given way to a fluffy white cravat of fur and a puffy tail, and her behavior is certainly not questionable. She chirps instead of meows, and will hit you (clawlessly) if you anger her. It's nice coming home to a little wild, chirping creature every day.

...And I think that's it. There are more changes (which may involve me having to leave my cheesemongering job...), but I'll post those as they occur. I'm feeling invigorated and excited, and still have the impression that I just moved here. I haven't even touched the techno/club scene or independent film, and am just starting to get a feel for the food microcultures that exist all over this city. It seems like the busier I get, the more time I have for active exploration...