chinese new year in flushing, queens

The Howard E. and Jessie Jones House, Bay Ridge, NY

williamsburg walks 2011

garden of eve farm. riverhead, long island.

My roommate and I belong to our neighborhood csa, who's farm source is Garden of Eve on Long Island. For anyone unfamiliar with csa's (community supported agriculture) they're a win/win/win socio-economic model of agriculture distribution that brings fresh-from-the-farm produce [almost] directly to your table. By purchasing a share before the local season, you're guaranteeing income for your farmers, getting fresh produce every week, cutting down on greenhouse emissions (by reducing shipping distance) and having the peace of mind of knowing exactly where your food is coming from.

Wanting to complete the latter part of this awesomeness, we took a trip out to our farm for a tour and bbq/picnic.

First stop: feeding the goats and sheep. Making a mental note to come back next month for GARLIC FEST!


There's a farm stand in front of the property where any passerby can pull up and buy some fresh produce, eggs or misc local goods.



picking blackberries






The good stuff.


Renegade chicken.


The chicken field, my favorite part of the trip. The guy kneeling here is the food dude from "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" and the lady in blue to the right is Eve, of Garden of Eve (a.k.a. our farmer!)


What's up, chicken butt?


Guard dogs. They LOVE chickens. Literally.


"It's easiest to pick them up when their head is stuck in a melon."

Community Board 1 and the McCarren Pool Update.

ok first of all, cb1 mtgs are actually really interesting and since they deal with everything from the public spaces (waterfront, mccarren, etc) to approving liquor licenses and gardens for restaurants and bars and dealing with the bike lane, um, stuff, i highly recommend attending them. plus it's a good way to keep track of other things going on in the neighborhood (i.e. the new chez bushwick arts project funded by a $150,000 award from the rockefeller new york city cultural innovation fund!!) here's the cb1 website for more info, agendas and a calendar of scheduled meetings: http://www.cb1brooklyn.org/




so drumroll please.....
...aaaaaaaand..... the plans haven't really changed since any of the last presentations. but in case you missed all of those as well....

here's the architect's site:
http://www.rogersmarvel.com/McCarrenPool.html

and gothamist's write-up
http://gothamist.com/2009/02/11/mccarren_park_pool_presented_to_com.php

and of course the official new york dept of parks and recreation capital projects mccarren highlight
http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_about/parks_divisions/capital/parks/mc_carren_park_and_pool.html

Canvassing in PA, Walking for Farm Animals

I spent last Saturday knocking on doors in Philly for the Obama campaign. About 180 of us drove down in private or rented cars, arriving there early in the morning. After a full day of canvasing, we collectively knocked on 12,824 doors, signed up 4,878 new volunteers, and registered 495 new voters. All in all, the campaign estimates we gained 900 new votes for Obama. These trips happen every Saturday and Sunday, with smaller groups heading down during the week. If you're interested in going to PA (or any other swing state, hello VIRGINIA!), which I'd highly recommend, even if you have zero experience in politics, canvassing, or volunteering, let me know and I'll get you in touch with the right people. It's really making a difference.

Anyway, I wish I'd had the balls to take photos of people (or, better yet, the talent of a REAL photographer) because we talked to some really interesting characters.

Farm Sanctuary held a benefit fundraiser Walk for Farm Animals yesterday in Central Park. It was a tad humid out, and even rained pretty hard at a few points, but even with the crappy weather, the event turned out really amazing. I took a few photos before things got really busy...

Setting up the info table.




The sign on his back said "Baby piglets need their mommies too!"


About 400 people showed up, despite the rainy weather.




Nummy vegan food from The Groovy Baker. A lot of volunteers donated vegan treats as well. There was soooo much food, and a lot of it was donated to charity when we had too much leftover afterwards.

DNC Day 5

LA Times published a photo of me at the convention on Tuesday in their Thursday paper.

DNC Day 4

7am: Wake up call.

8am: State delegation breakfast.

930am: Pick up credentials.

10am: Black Caucus (we're all African.)

Donna Brazile at the Black Caucus.

DNC Day 3

I like this time-stamp thing.

630am: Wake up call.

8am: State delegation breakfast.

DNC Day 2

So I think maybe I skipped some back story, so here's the quick version:
I've been volunteering for Barack Obama on a grassroots level since January 2007. Last October, the campaign reached out to a handful of us asking that, if we were interested, we run for delegate seats in the Feb '08 presidential primaries. I ran, won one of two seats for my congressional district, and now here I am (ok, there was A LOT of stuff from there to here, but I have 5 seconds to upload this AND eat lunch.)

I'm going to include some very loose and *approximate* time stamps in this update so you can get the feel of a day in the life of a delegate at the Democratic National Convention. It's been absolutely incredible so far, and I only regret that my limited talent with words and photos does not do this once in a lifetime and history making experience even the slightest bit of justice.

630am: Wake-up Call. There's three of us sharing one bathroom. (hotels are expensive and out of pocket)

800am: NYS Dems Delegation Breakfast.

Every morning, different guests speakers are featured. (I believe the speeches are possibly being broadcast on NPR.)

DNC Day 1

I'm in Denver for the Democratic National Convention.

Riot Police on the 16th St Mall.

woodstock farm animal sanctuary, woodstock ny

the williamsburg courier published a photo from one of the voter registration drives i organized at the pool this summer.

philly weekend.

drove down to philly for the weekend. jersey is such a beautiful state. i wonder if they named it "garden state" for the same reason that greenland is called greenland?


she-ra wasn't stoked.


i did some canvassing downtown for obama.


philly campaign headquarters.

southside williamsburg and verrazano bridge.

i'm growing pretty fond of this view.