On the Road, Day 3

On the Road, Day 3

The French Language -- I don't know it and I have no idea how to pronounce it. It is fortunate that most people speak both French and English in this area of Canada, but sometimes the signage is in only French. Practicalities aside, I enjoy this feeling of alienation: it is almost like walking into another world, fumbling over street names and offering a soft-spoken "Merci" when I can. A few years ago, I tried to teach myself French, telling myself that it was the third most spoken language in the world and that it would be useful, but that never panned out. I resolve to learn enough French to hold an uninteresting conversation in two years.

Does anyone find nature and the natural world ugly? Sure, Nature is a cruel mistress and there are certainly ugly situations (e.g.: freezing to death alone on a mountainside, getting killed and eaten by some predator), but for the most part, I find that natural landscapes elicit this inexplicable but pleasant feeling. I really can't imagine someone looking out from a mountaintop with sunlight streaming through the clouds onto the valley below and saying, "I find this an unpleasant sight." Let me know if you think or know differently.

Speaking of ugly, my car is the ugliest and dirtiest it has ever been. It's amazing. I'm so thrilled.

It was cold today. I mean, real cold. Canada cold. I've never had my knees go numb before. And yet, this morning, there was a guy riding his bicycle through the wind and the slush on the streets of Montreal, sliding around in traffic. You crazy Canadians. I admire you, in a way. But it was too cold to have fun snowboarding at Mont Tremblant. I think we spent most of the day indoors, drinking coffee, eating poutine, trying to beat some life into les frozen limbs.

On the Road, Day 2

On the Road, Day 2

We woke up to about two inches of snow and slick roads. It would snow another four or five inches through the course of the day, putting us in the enviable (in my opinion) position of being at Whiteface on a powder day. Unfortunately, beneath the fragile layer of fresh snow lay the ever-present East Coast Sheet of Ice. Nevertheless, Whiteface is a fun mountain.

Incredibly, we ran into Soonjae and wifey at Whiteface. The were there for a few days, taking a short vacation around Lake Placid and staying at this bed and breakfast that we wanted to stay at: Winterberry Inn or some such name. Coinciding events are such an interesting thing. We were not able to spend much time with the above-mentioned couple because we had to make our way across the border to Montreal, QC, Canada. Wait at the border crossing: 1.5 hours.

After checking in and eating dinner at a pricey yet mediocre restaurant, I passed the hell out.

On the Road, Day 1

We were supposed to have been on our way to Hunter Mountain at 7a today. But, since we left our packing for the last minute and had to do laundry, we went to sleep at about 5a. Needless to say, we never made it to Hunter.

Now it is almost 11p and I'm writing this from the Willkommen Hof, in Wilminton, NY. We've driven about 250 miles due north of Brooklyn, NY today. And, just to relive days of my winter driving past, I drove my car straight into a snow-filled ditch, driven wheels first (I thought it was a snow-covered driveway). If I'm good at one thing, it's freaking out the Girlfriend.

Winter Weekends

I practically live for them. I'm not just saying that, either.

I've spent the last two weekends in Vermont, getting my snowboarding fix at Killington. That would put my total number of days on the snow this winter season at 7. This was a particularly popular weekend at Killington; I ran into many acquaintances, family, and friends. And as far as to why I like winter weekends so much, I'll let pictures do (most of) the talking.

Driving to and from points North used to be a nightmare because of inclement weather, idiotic drivers, and holiday traffic. It is usually especially bad in December and January. But, since I've put a set of snow tires on my car (after sliding into a ditch off the side of a particularly icy mountain road in Vermont), my car eats snow the way Bob Barker eats pieces of sh-t for breakfast.

And just one more thing about winter that I like: Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout: 10% ABV, dark as night, pours like honey, and feels like velvet on your tongue. It is probably my favorite beer in the world. Girlfriend likes hers with a scoop of vanilla ice cream as a chocolate stout float.

Busted. Again.

Cop Magnet

I think I look pretty innocent.

Van Gogh, Starry Night Over the Rhone

This is amazing.

New York City: Bushwick

I Like This One

Even if it means that my motorcycle is on the ground. See here and here.

Roxy Paine, Maelstrom

This is Roxy Paine's installation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It would've been 300x better if there were less people. The piece is made of welded, ground, and polished 6061 aluminum. The exhibit is long over, but I never posted these.

New York City: East New York

New York City is a million things to a million different people. This is East New York, frequently regarded as one of the worst neighborhoods in Brooklyn, if not in New York City as a whole. The neighborhood can be scary at times, but I'm such a sucker for industrial landscapes, steel structures and urban decay. People tell me I'd have a field day in Detroit. I wish that I had taken advantage of my close proximity when I was in college. I also wish I had something better than a camera phone to take these pictures with, but this will have to do for now.

New York City: East New York

This is super cool. There is an unused rail line below that terminates in an huge, dilapidated steel-and-brick rail station that is fenced off by barbed wire. One of these f#cking days I'm jumping down here and following the rails to the station. Because that's what cool kids do.

New York City: Water Towers

Water towers are quintessential NYC.

Tacos for Dinner

In addition to our endeavors at the taco blog (http://carnitastacosnyc.blogspot.com), I've been thinking about making tacos at home. They are so satisfying; I can't stop eating these damn things. How many pigs have I killed in the last month alone, in the the name of a greasy, savory taco?! I don't know. Call me weak, but I wish that plants taste better than animals. By the way, if you're in Sunset Park, it is cheaper to buy tacos from 5th Avenue than it is to buy: carnitas, onions, cilantro, corn tortillas, limes, and salsa verde.

Goddamn My Car Is Dirty

It just so happens that the next morning, I found the missing cable in my motorcycle jacket.

I didn't realize how dirty this car is until I took these pictures at night. But anyway, shown in red are the Cravenspeed Strut Tower Defenders (STD). Whether they will function as advertised is pending a suspension once-over and a force diagram. So, what is it that they are supposed to do? Well, repeated high-g loading (read: potholes) deforms the strut towers (3rd pic) and this results in sloppy suspension feel. If it gets bad enough, the mounts can break. I was charged $400 once to fix it; if some stupid pieces of aluminum can prevent that, I'm all for it. I figure I'm going to be driving on a lot of pot-holed and frost-heaved Upstate NY and Vermont roads this winter, so now is a good time to do it.

Slow Posted Rork

Did that make you hungry? What I meant to say was, 'slow posting', because I lost the USB cable for my camera phone. Therefore, no pics and no posts.

Girlfriend and I had an awesome Thanksgiving dinner w/ my family and I was probably full for two days. I'd been looking forward to this dinner for a few months because of the great food, fun with the family, and that it's usually the official start of the snowboarding season. Well, that last one didn't quite come to pass just yet.

I'm also putting myself out on the slippery slope of car mods. First, it's a few cheap bolt-ons. Before you know it, you've dropped $5k on an engine & transmission swap. To put it another way, it's like taking ibuprofen for pain, and before you know it, you're the neighborhood connect for meth. But anyway, pics forthcoming.