Look Ma, I'm a MIT Student!

Ok, so technically speaking not officially, but look how cool this is:

I found this resource online that provides all course material (lectures, notes, assignments, exams, etc.) for a HUGE number of MIT courses. Seeing as how I've needed something to occupy my idle hands, I've "enrolled" myself in three courses. 

I'm taking a course each in the fields that I received my degree in, Urban (Meyer) Planning, and Geology, as well as a course in the field which I am currently working, FOOD!

The courses are:

-Introduction to Transportation Systems

-Introduction to Fluid Motions, Sediment Transport, and Current-generated Sedimentary Structures (as seen above)

-Kitchen Chemistry

The only course that requires a textbook is the Kitchen Chemistry course, which is 'On Food and Cooking, the Science and Lore of the Kitchen' by Harold McGee. Well it just so happens that I already own that book, and it is one of my favorite food-related books (yay!).

I plan on submitting all of my coursework to the respective professors upon my completion of the classes, regardless of whether they will provide any feedback or not. I'm going to give myself the same timeline for the coursework as would be in a normal semester, starting right after we get moved into Brooklyn.

Seeing as how I didn't learn shit from FAU, I figured MIT would have a thing or two that it could teach me. I'll keep you updated on my progress! 

Gator Party #1

Ok for starters, I apologize for the naked woman behind us in this photo, that wasn't planned I swear.

So this is at the 'Gotham Gator Club's Season Kickoff Party' on Tuesday. From left to right is Katie, Jamie, Gavin (who are engaged), and myself. This was at a bar in the West Village called "Town Tavern", and it is one of 3 main bars in New York city that play every Gator game. The other two are "The Gin Mill" and "SideBar". I have a semi-boycott of SideBar however because I have only been there once, which was last year for the Ole Miss game (grrrr). So, even though I am going there for the first game of the season, I refuse to attend ANY big games at SideBar.

Aaaaanyways, the party was a blast, we hung out with our own kind and watched the Championship game from last season which was great! It was like we were watching it for the first time, complete with Gator chants and all!

I promise I'll be putting up blog material more frequently, I know I've been really bad about it lately, bye family!!!

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!

OK, I'm sorry to post two Gator videos in a row. Actually wait, I'm not sorry at all, this one is so good. It truly is great to be a Florida Gator! You have to love this!

September 5th cannot get here soon enough!

If this doesn't get you pumped for football season, you're not a fan.

If you're not a Gator, you're GATOR BAIT!

Viva Baltimore!

Last weekend I made the decision that it was just time for me to get out of the city. As much as I would've liked to go to to Florida, or the Bahamas, or Fiji, that just wasn't in the budget. However a bus ticket did fit my budget. For $35 round-trip, I could go to Boston, Baltimore, D.C., or Atlantic City. Seeing as how my wonderful cousins Allison and McRae, along with my favorite little redheads Grace and Megan live in Baltimore, I figured that was a good choice.

I was even more excited to hear that on Saturday they were heading to Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania to meet up with Aunt Sally, and my cousin Tracy along with her two boys Connor and Brian. I haven't seen Connor since he was a few months old in Ocean City, and I had yet to have the honor of meeting little Brian. We had a blast, the first photo is of myself and all the little ones in the first tree house we visited at the gardens (there were 3). One of the tree houses had a see-through honey-bee hive that had the kids mesmerized for a good 15 minutes. Here's a couple more pictures from the Gardens:

Brian trying to catch the jumping water jets in the kid's water area...



Connor and I in front of one of the orchid walls...


It was great to see everybody and I can't thank Allison, McRae, Grace, Megan, and Weezie enough for their hospitality. I also got a chance to go into Baltimore Saturday evening and have a great dinner with my old friend Meghan, who is in grad school and is working at the Kennedy Kreiger Institue helping children who have trouble eating. We went to a Tapas restaurant called Pazo upon Allison's recommendation and it was great.

I look forward to going back to Baltimore real soon!

This is Amazing...

This makes me want to leave NYC immediately and fly back to Florida, where I would (without hesitation) drive straight to the beach and jump in the ocean.

Just watch it.

Buy me one of these!...Now!

Are you kidding me?! I want a slow loris as a pet so damn bad...Look at that friggin thing!

And if you can't get me one of those, just buy me a red panda, equally as bad ass...

Highline Park is almost here!

This video, from Cool Hunting, shows a bit of the process for the development of the Highline Park in Lower Manhattan.

Jon works at a bar that is almost directly underneath the Highline (his restaurant actually used to be called 'Highline', now it's 'Sea') so I've been by many times. It's one of the things I've been looking forward to since I moved up to New York, and it finally opens in June. I will be there on week one to check it out.

So until I can get pictures from the actual park, watch this video...It has some really cool animations and renderings of the park.

This Sucks...

I have tendinitis in my right wrist, so I have to wear this brace at all times. It's basically like wearing a cast that I can only take off to shower and sleep. Not fun.

You don't realize how much you use your wrist for EVERYTHING until it is completely immobilized. Can't wait until this heals...

What (or rather Who) I'm reading...

About 2 months ago, I was reading one of my favorite blogs, BLDGBLOG, written by Geoff Manaugh. If you have any interest in architecture, or just interest in good writing, read BLDGBLOG! Anyways, he mentioned a lecture he was giving along with a few other people. One of those people was Lawrence Weschler, a longtime writer for the New Yorker as well as an extensively published author.

Mr. Manaugh (whose book's late summer release I'm anxiously awaiting) suggested reading the above book, 'Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder'.

Originally published as an essay in the New Yorker, the book explores the often unbelievable exhibits at the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles, along with exploring the mind of it's curator, Mr. Wilson.

Riding the subway every morning gives me plenty of time to read, so I picked it up.

Fantastic book...so good actually, that the minute I finished reading it I went straight down to Union Square and bought another Weschler book, 'Everything That Rises: A Book of Convergences'.


Equally as enjoyable to read as Mr. Wilson's, the book explores the often overlooked relationships between historical events, spanning the worlds of art, society, politics, medicine, religion, and more. Very, very interesting reading, and expertly edited to ensure the reader establishes a visual connection to Mr. Weschler's words. So with 10 pages left to read in this book, I bought another one:

'A Wanderer in the Perfect City'

18 pages in and I'm completely absorbed already. His writing style is such that paints every single subject to seem so interesting and unique, and makes you want to sit down and have a conversation with all of them.

This book is a collection of eight nonfiction essays, centrally themed around individuals who were just going about their daily lives, when all of a sudden they "caught on fire", as if their purpose in life was suddenly revealed to them, and follows their subsequent journeys.

My next book will be 'Boggs, A Comedy of Values', surprise it's another Weschler!

Quilted Maps

Ok this is really cool (appropriately from CoolHunting.com), it's a quilt sewn to resemble a network of streets, this particular one is of a neighborhood in Brooklyn.

This simultaneously attracted the 'Urban Planner' and 'Artsy' parts of me and had me started thinking of other interesting ways in which to integrate maps into art projects. My interest in cartography has been steadily growing in the last few months as I've come across some really cool maps and antique prints (a majority of which I couldn't imagine affording)!

The detail in these quilts is impeccable though, down to the street names which subtly appear, matching the background color. Check it out...

I want one.

Spring...finally...

I promised my mom I'd update the blog today for Mother's Day so I'm gonna try and put a few things up.

I don't know if you remember this picture at all, but this is our front yard about two months ago. There's a bush with a painter's bucket over it, our fig tree wrapped in black plastic, and a bunch of plants without a trace of green.

Well check it out now...


It's not exactly the most exquisitely pruned yard in the world but it's green finally! Actually the whole street looks a hell of a lot better than a month ago. And the best part...


The fig tree has figs already! It's only mid May and figs will be ready shortly...can't wait!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Well the title of the post says it all, but not really. No words can be used to describe the amount of love and patience my mother has shown in raising me. I haven't always been the model gentleman that I now clearly am.

She has always worked her ass off just to make sure Courtney and I had the best possible opportunities available, and nothing I have accomplished or ever will would have been possible without the undying support from my mother. I love you so much Mom!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Happy Birthday Courtney!!!

Look how f-ing adorable we were!

Tomorrow marks the occasion of my amazing sister Courtney's birthday! She is turning 29, but doesn't look a day over 21. Courtney has always been the much needed voice of reason in my life (along with my mother).

Growing up in a house of women can be pretty taxing, especially when your sister and her slumber party friends come into your room late at night and laugh at you talking in your sleep, but I could not imagine having a more loving and caring big sis.

Walking her down the aisle at her wedding is one of the most meaningful moments in my life and I am eternally grateful for that honor. It was easy though, knowing that she was being blessed with such a great husband, and a damn good brother-in-law.

Now look at how good we turned out, man we're attractive! (Thanks Mom!)


HAPPY BIRTHDAY COURTNEY! I love you more than words can express!

Happy Easter

I hope the weather down in Florida is a bit more pleasant than up in New York right now, at a brisk 36 degrees. Nonetheless, we have a fun day of Easter festivities planned. The girls downstairs are having a little Easter party, and then we're cooking some delicious dinner.

So I thought this would be a better time than ever to show you the awesome little church on the end of our block. This is Trinity Lutheran Church and I walk by it every day on my way to work. I really like the green roof and incredibly detailed windows, it makes our street very attractive.

I hope you guys all have a great Easter!

Courtney and Stewart's Christmas Present

Hey guys,

New name, new look, and (probably to my mother's delight) less food. I can't begin to say how excited I am to be living out in Queens, despite the added 25 minutes of commuting. I'm surrounded by really good friends and the much more laid back atmosphere of Astoria matches my personality much better than the turbulent pace of the city. So posts will generally revolve around good times at the apartment and interesting things I find in Astoria. There will still be a little Manhattan, and a little food thrown in.

That being said, I finally got the chance to make the trip down to SoHo to use the fantastic Christmas gift I got from Court and Stewart, a gift card to one of my favorite stores, Sur La Table.

After extended mental debate with myself, involving but not limited to pots/pans, knives, stand mixers, and espresso makers, I finally cemented my decision. So I give you:

The Atlas 180 hand crank Pasta Roller

Isn't it nice?

I have yet to make my first batch of pasta with the roller, but when I do, it will be documented.

Thank you so much Court and Stewart, my roommates and I will have many great dinners thanks to your gift. And when you can finally make it up to visit, I'll organize a nice pasta dinner for you.