April 2006 Archives
So my dad gets this email from a local parents group....
From: XXXXX
Date: Thu Apr 27, 2006
Subject: Found: Pet Chicken (Might need good home)
Yes, you read right. A chicken showed up in the community garden today. It's very comfortable around children, and at one point had three little ones petting it, so it must be used to kids and to being handled. So, I believe it is or was a pet.
It is a small white chicken, and it might be slightly ill. It's rear is somewhat messy, indicating possible loose stool. However, it had energy to roam the garden, interacting with people (lightly pecking toes), and looking for food.
If you had a pet chicken escape, contact me. Also, we may be looking for a home if no one claims the chicken, so if you are interested and know how to care for it, please contact me and I'll pass your information along. If you are thinking of adopting it, though, please know a vet visit would be a good idea.
Thank you,
XXXXX
OK, so a couple of questions:
1. Who keeps a chicken for a pet in Brooklyn?
2. If you stumbled upon a chicken in need of pepto-bismol in the most populous area of the United States, do you:
a.) Call the C.D.C. to report a potential case of bird flu? or
b.) Invite the three nearest children over to pet the chicken?
This evening John and Ntina were over for dinner. John is a native of Cincinnati, which I'm told is where Bengals come from. Every time I see him he's wearing Bengals gear; I had no idea John liked animals so much. Ntina on the other hand, seems altogether less interested in tigers from Cincinnati.
It's shaping up to be a great summer.
My Grandma flew in from Chicago for the day just to see me. I feel special.
photo by John Payne
After filling up on Chicago Dogs, we stopped by to see my dad at the office. Turns out he goes to this cool place where he and his friends sit around and type all day.
I was able to talk him into knocking off early on this gorgeous Friday afternoon and hanging out with mom and I. A bad influence already.
Today my mom and I met some of her old work friends from Pentagram for lunch at one of mom's favorite places; The Shake Shack. The Shake shack is in Madison Square Park, across the street from her former office. It's known for great hot dogs and extremely long lines, sometimes stretching for 90 minutes.
Mom's love of the Shack stems from it's idyllic setting in the center of the park and their faithful and technically accurate recreation of the "Chicago Dog", right down to the fake green relish and celery salt.
CHICAGO DOG $2.77
Vienna all-beef dog on a poppy seed bun. Drag it through the garden! topped with lettuce, tomato, sport peppers, green peppers, pickles, onion, neon relish, cucumber, celery salt and mustard.
Moving around town; got people to see, things to do and places to be.
I am currently disinterested in anything I can't put in my mouth
Watch the movie
On Saturday I went to Il Bagato with my parents to meet Phil and Jeni for brunch. Phil and Jeni are moving to Australia soon which I'm told is very far away.
Spring is here and my mom and I spent the day in Prospect Park. The parks is HUGE; 585 acres designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the same landscape architects responsible for Central Park.
Happy birthday to my Grandma Meiers.
I recently discovered my feet. I've been watching them for awhile now, never quite sure who they belonged to. But now I know they're mine.
Now if only I know what they're used for...
My neighborhood has long been held as one of New York City's most "kid-friendly". Some would argue that "wealthy-kid-friendly" may be more precise. Regardless, children are taken very seriously and residents seem genuinely concerned with maintaining a suitable urban environment in which to raise people like me.
It seems that concern went off the rails a few weeks ago. Read about an incident involving a gender-neutral hat in New York Magazine and on Gothamist.
And for the record: I live in the dodgy end, where nobody bothers to pick up some kid's stupid hat in the first place.
The first step in the passport application process is the passport photo, and I for one, think I'm off to a fantastic start.
My friends David and Susan brought me this elephant back from London; he's from Muji, the Japanese product store and his name is "Nigel".
Now I don't know much, but I know elephants don't come from England or from Japan. So I suspect Nigel is an Indian Elephant who's family emigrated to the United Kingdom because of India's status as a former British Colony and member of the Commonwealth. While I have yet to see an actual elephant, I'm told that Nigel is on the small side compared to other Indian Elephants— Which is fine with me because I live in a small apartment.
My chair teaches me geography, meteorology, color theory, classical music, Español, and stuff about dragons. What have you learned from your chair today?
In the future I'll just stick to my crib. Seriously, I don't know how you people sleep in these things; a guy could get lost in here.
As luck would have it, I have ended up with my father's pale complexion and fear of sunburn; rather than my mother's sun-loving genetically superior epidermis. Ahead of me lies decades of sunblock and large-rimmed hats.
And so life begins, with this sweet fishing-style number my mom got me. My mom has always had a thing for funny hats on babies... No doubt there will be more to come.
