Sakura Matsuri

I can’t believe I went back to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. But I did. At least the cherry blossom festival was this weekend, so things were a bit more active. First, the Cherry Esplanade was pinker and much more populated than it was last weekend:


There were lots of other flowers in bloom,


And lots of people taking close-up pictures of them:


There was also cherry-themed performance art. Here’s a picture showing Akim Funk Buddha's Urban Tea Ceremony:

Coooool...

I love getting new stuff in my passport:

Politics

I’ve been pretty apolitical lately, but I have friends who are more politically active than I, so occasionally I wind up at political events. This is what happens when you take a picture from really far away in a dark room with a point-and-shoot digital camera:

Wow, flowers are boring, boring, boring

Yesterday was a beautiful day, and I went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Just because the weather is pretty doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good time to go to a botanical garden. There were some pink trees that were attractive enough:


I took many of the close-up shots that are obligatory when you’re around flowers:


The Ostrich Fern in the Japanese garden was a little less exciting:


The Cherry Blossom Festival is being held next weekend. I’m sure the Cherry Esplanade will be amazing. Next weekend:

A link to the past

When I lived in Texas, I briefly worked—among many, many places—at the Texas Emergency Communications Commission, which oversaw the funding and operation of emergency communications lines, such as 911.

I’ve long since lost (or gone through) my stockpile of Mr. Yuk stickers—they make lovely decorations for all sorts of household appliances—but I also had a coffee mug that the head of the Poison Control operation had given me. Until this week. Oh, well.

Weather 2

And a wet,

wet,

wet Sunday and Monday:

Weather

It was a beautiful Saturday this weekend in Central Park:

How big is my place?

I know it’s been on everyone’s mind lately—what, exactly, is the square footage of her apartment? At least, after seeing an article congratulating the renters, I was curious. (By the way, be sure to check out the interactive feature). So I figured it out this morning.

And the grand total is... 325 square feet.

The revelation seems a bit anticlimactic.

And speaking of religion

People have different ideas about what sort of assistance to ask for when in need:

Leaving the house is so overrated

We had Good Friday off. So for someone who’s not religious, it’s just a free day off—a long weekend, a day to get stuff done, a gift! Thank you, thank you, New York Stock Exchange!

But then I got sick. So I just stayed home and played with the Wii.

I was not watching basketball

I came this close to beating Daryn at darts on Monday night. Oh, well. Stupid bullseye.

The Garden State

I crossed the mighty Hudson this weekend (well, more accurately, I went under it). According to the Census, Hoboken has a population of roughly 40,000. It has an area of 2 square miles, although .7 square mile of that is water. It was the seasonal campsite of the Lenni Lenape collection of tribes for 2800 years. The Dutch landed in 1609 and staked a claim, and you can figure out what happened from there.

It now affords a number of fine places to have brunch, and a fine view of Manhattan: