WRITING CULTURE 2012: Film, Food & Beyond

This class has given us the knowledge to pursue blogging in a serious capacity. We’ve learned how to incorporate multimedia into our personal blog posts using different platforms such as flickr, youtube and dropbox. We’ve explored the ethics concerning blogging and the importance of citing sources and reporting accurately. In this class we have also found our individual voices and learned to stay true to them while staying true to the facts. We hope to use the skills that we have gained here to communicate effectively and professionally on social platforms. THANK YOU PROFESSOR DAVIS!

photo courtesy of www.puertoricanmeals.com

During the holidays it is guaranteed to have Arroz con Gandules (rice with pigeon peas) accompanied with other traditional dishes. While having so much rice is not the healthiest diet, I love when my mom cooks up a pot of rice and peas. Let’s not also forget the slab of pork chop that’s perfectly seasoned and fried with a small green salad to complete the whole dish. The juice that drips as you bite into the pork chop is mouth watering as I type this description. 

My family and I are very fortunate not to have suffered any loss during the massive hurricane that hit New York like a nuclear war missile. Our days were spent quite and waiting for when it was safe to go out into the world. Like those that feel the same way I do, it was pretty much a waiting game that was miserable at times. The only loss I can honestly say my family and i had was that of the kids not going to school. My daughter was home schooled for the days that the storm shut  down the city. I let her relax for the first two days, but after that it was crunch time. We did go out, but it wasn’t without precaution and making sure we had enough fuel.

My group and I deceided to go to a local sandwich shop in the Flatiron District called Eisenberg’s Sandwich shop, “Raising New York’s cholesterol since 1929”. In my case that wasn’t as such becasue all I had was a typical tuna sandwich. I didn’t know what to expect when I arrived at the shop, but I was definelty surprised. One would not expect to see a place that looks like a trip into the past few decades still making business in a modern gotham  city such as New York. Eisenberg’s was definelty a time warp, but not only was I surprised at the old 50’s diner grill setting, but the pictures of all the celeberties that have visited Eisenberg. All celebrties from past and present have each had a photo-op with the owmner.

To any person it’s just a sandwich, but to me it all matters on how it is prepared. A tuna sandwich is not just about slapping some mayonaise into a bowl of a can of tune, but its the quanity of mayo that’s put into it. We can’t put to much mayo and make it soggy, but we can’t put to little mayo and have it dry. Eisenberg’s put just the right amount of mayo and the right condiments amount of condiments that include the typical lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles. But to my suprise not only did I not expect the pickles, which is a fav of mine, but I was treated to two large pickes. Yummy!

Tuna sandwich at Eisenberg’s

photo 1 is courtesty of NYCGO.COM

photo 2 is courtesy of BUSINESSINSIDER.COM

New York is full of distractions.  Sometimes the best way to get anything done is the get away from everything.

Here is what I found along the way.

Habitat for Humanity
454 North Pearl Street
Albany, NY 12204

If you’re looking for house stuff, you’re in the right place, especially if you are BUILDING the house.

Since 1976 Habitat for Humanity has rehabbed over 500,000 houses for families in need and your purchases can help.

Habitat for Humanity Re-Store is a huge warehouse packed with used appliances, kitchen cabinets, bathtubs, ceramic tile, light fixtures, and old wooden doors. Any building material you can imagine can be found here.

Everything appeared to be in good usable condition and is donated/salvaged from people remodeled their homes.  Not only can you save money, but also the money you spend will be used to rebuild the community.

After you finish the construction, you’re going to need some furniture and this store has a lot of furniture. I noticed mostly large pieces for people that live in real houses, so nothing for me.

On this visit I found high-end bunk beds with an attached dresser, lots of desks and dining tables, two art deco trunks ($40) and a lane coffee table ($18). My favorite items were an old porcelain pedestal sink and a pastel pink Jacuzzi tub ($110). I should have bought it!

Prices were reasonable, and if I had a house instead of an apartment I would stop by every time I passed through Albany.

You shouldn’t have to go into debt to buy a dress you will only wear once. Next post I’ll show where brides can find a huge selection of gorgeous wedding dresses that were only worn once.

The book that got stuck in my head forever, which I could not stop reading, which was like a drug for me was “The Diary of Anne Frank.”
I dont like the war, nor I like to read about it, but this book is not about the war, but about a young girl and her family hiding in the attic in the heart of Holland, crammed with fascists.
The author of the diary is Anne Frank herself. She died in concentration camp after her family was discovered and sent there.
And all that just because they were Jewish.

Emma
Photo Credit: © 2012 Kari Whitehead Photography. Emma’s Facebook Page.

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” – Albert Einstein

A lot of the times the world is a hard place to survive in. As a college (read: stressed out) student I am always looking for inspiration and anything that will let me know the world is actually a great place to live in. Today, I found a little piece of world goodness in Emma Whitehead and her heroic story.

Picturing a 7 year old usually means imagining dolls, cool rollerblades, and the typical “but I really  need (insert toy name here)“. Emma is a beautiful 7 year old girl who, unfortunately, has spent more time in the hospital than in Toysrus. She’s not your typical 7 year old because she’s extraordinary.

Why #CoolKidsRead this: It’s beyond amazing to see a warrior, and someone with so many desires to live, at such a young age. Emma is a girl who fell asleep being 6 years old and woke up being 7 years old a week later, hopefully with leukemia forever in her past.

Check out NYT article on Emma and how her own T-Cells turned her life around.

The Holidays are stressful. In a perfect world there’s no Holiday Stress just snow, hot cocoa and Michael Bublé’s Holiday album.  And, yet, despite my wishful thinking all I get on the East Coast is 60 degree weather piled on by stress.

If you’re a post-grad you’re probably stressed about the Holidays (i.e.. Can I ask for rent money for Christmas?), if you’re college student your thoughts are revolving around finals and whether you have enough Ramen noodles to last you through the week, and if you’re younger than that you’re probably traumatized at the fact that Taylor Swift is dating 1/5 of One Direction (the Harry 1/5).

Well, if this isn’t a time for a much needed laugh I don’t know when is. Today’s laugh comes courtesy of an amazingly hilarious Conan O’Brien penned Vanity Fair piece.

#CoolKidsRead this because, I mean, for one it’s Conan O’Brien. Also, sometimes you just need a good natured laugh about the end of the world and how stand up comedians take a huge part in it. 

Check out Conan O’Brien’s Vanity Fair piece here.

When I was a kid my grandmother could never pass a yard sale without stopping, nor could my parents. My family didn’t have much money so we often went back-to-school shopping at thrift stores.  At the time, I was embarrassed shopping at yard sales and used clothing stores but now that I can afford to buy new, I choose to buy used. Besides the obvious savings, I do it now for economic, environmental, social and political reasons, and it’s just a lot of fun.

Nowadays, I shop at auctions estate sales and of course thrift stores and I often travel. I have visited countless thrift stores from New York to Los Angeles. Since I’m lucky enough to live in New York City, I regularly visit what I consider the best thrift stores in the country. As I travel and shop I will write reviews to share my thoughts, advice and of course what I find.

This is my first blog post ever, so please love it! 

You will like my blog, if you know that somewhere deep inside of you is hidden a genius who has this urge to gobble books or if at least sometimes you feel like reading. Most of the time you read the books or the authors you know, because you know those are good authors and you feel like you do not want to lose time by reading something you might not like. I am here to help you. I will post about the books Ive read, will quote some of them, will say some words about the author, will make you read something I really loved or save you from the bad ones. This is a pilot post, but this will lead to something great, trust me.

When in doubt what to read, please please please pick a book by Hemingway. 

Hemingway is a master of subtext. He is my favorite American writer.

Isnt he awesome? (with Jean Patchet, a model of the 1950s)

You dont need to be a nerd to write Nobel-prize-winning books

“For Whom the Bell Tolls” is a book about the WW2. One of the main themes the author raises here is how everyone should demonstrate the feeling of solidarity when fighting against the fascists. But to me the quote he uses as epilogue (that was initially written by John Donne in the 16th century) means something else. Read again the second part of it.  

“Perchance he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill, as that he knows not it tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me, and see my state, may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that.

…

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.”

This quote shows us ourselves. We are not isolated, we coexist together, we should treat each other like we treat ourselves, we should feel nothing but grief when someone else has a bad things happening in his/her life, we should help each other by all means and not ask whose funeral is that, because that could be you outside, and that will be some day.

This excerpt reminds of a poem “First They Came For the Jews” by Pastor Martin Niemoller:

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Love the world and the world will love you back.