Well, that was fun. It seems that I’m at my [blogging] best when I’m writing about Japan. I am not nearly as timely when I’m posting about Brooklyn, but a slow blog is better than no blog in my book. I didn’t take that many pictures in December, the short days mean I’m cooped up in an office for all the daylight hours every day, and my weekends are usually full. I have some night pictures, and some weekend pictures today.

First up, I was meeting family in Chinatown and got there about half an hour early, so I spent the time walking around with my camera, taking pictures of stores and restaurants. Here are a few I liked.

I like this place because it has no English name. Makes me want to try it out.

Fresh veggies! I never shop in Chinatown, although every time I’m there I think to myself that I should.

This is about as typical as Chinatown views get.

I like this picture best. Each little tank of fish is like a little framed picture. The three across the bottom make a nice little triptych.

I took the Chinatown pictures in mid-December, and other than various concerts and parties, I didn’t shoot much else until the holidays. We have a huge holiday party every Christmas Eve, but I actually didn’t take any great pictures at the party, so here are some before and afters.

This is actually a picture from Christmas Eve day. I got up around 10 in the morning to go help the family set up for the big party, and as I was leaving my apartment I noticed the sun shining in through the back door and hitting our old worn-out garden door. I took about five pictures (another one here) and then went to help out.

Neko came to help too (she sat on a stool and sniffed for food.)

The party happened, and it was great as usual. The house was full of people, the Christmas tree was decorated, and since we’ve been doing this every year for as long as I can remember, it finally felt like Christmas. Much egg nogg, beer, and ham was consumed.

Neko actually made herself scarce for the party - she’s more of a chill kind of girl, not so much into big crowds. Dinner parties are more her scene. Once most of the people left and there were just a few friends left, she came up for some holiday relaxation.

Of course, she’s not relaxing in this picture - she’s about to attack Ben Popper’s hand.

And to round it out (I know, I barely wrote anything this time) here are a couple pictures of family time after the Christmas madness was over.

Maud and mom at MoMA.

And Leila and Maud at the Koreans around the corner. They were buying… ice cream? Orange juice? I really can’t remember, but I like this picture of them, and it was good to have the girls back in town, even if it was just for a few days.

Further photo-ization on Flickr, as usual.

I realize it’s been over a month since I last posted, that I haven’t even posted what the kitchen looks like post-rennovation (it looks awesome!), and I don’t really have any excuse. It’s hot out, it’s summer, and somehow when it’s hot and summery out, the last thing I want to do is sit in my steamy living room and post a long blog full of pictures of hot summer days. That said, I have to post them eventually, or else it will be winter and I will feel very silly posting summer pictures. If this were the sort of blog where I wrote about every little twist and turn of my life I would now spend three paragraphs telling you how good this summer has been, how I have been making new friends and seeing old ones, how I’ve been making dinners for people and going out to fun restaurants, but it’s not, so I won’t. In short: it’s a good summer. Much better than the last one when I got home from Japan and was on the brink of despair.

Speaking of despair upon returning from Japan, I may be having a little of that come October - I have gotten final boss approval - and so I will definitely be going back to Japan, and to Osakikamijima on October 6th. I have two weeks off, and I plan to make full use of it. Part of me is really really excited, to be sure - but there’s a part of me that is worried. Leaving Japan the first time was hard enough. How can I go back to all that for just a tiny slice of time, and then leave again? Sometimes it seems like it might just be easier to never go back, to let myself slowly forget it, rather than do this. I still think about Japan every single day, and that doesn’t show any signs of abating. Sometimes I think that I have damaged myself somehow by living there for a year, like I left a piece of myself on that island, and no matter what I do that part will always be there, no matter how hard it is to go back, no matter how far away it is.

No matter how it is, we can be sure that there will some very nostalgic blogging that goes on when I get back.

Whew, I thought I wasn’t going to going to delve into my emotions and all that. Anyway - Backtracking a little bit, a few weeks ago a bunch of friends and I went to N.Y. Noodletown, probably the best restaurant in Chinatown. The food was (of course) delicious, and while we waited for a table, I took some pictures of my friends that I liked.

Evan, in front of the perpetually steamy window. Evan was insistent that I take a candid photo of him. And then he just kept posing.

Evan checks out the meat, Annie checks me out.

It was Jason’s birthday a few weeks ago, and I went to his friends house where we had a barbecue and cake. It was in a funny back yard, and in that funny back yard I took a funny picture of Anna and Annie.

This is sort of reading like a laundry list of what I’ve been doing, but I guess that’s what happens when I wait this long to post pictures. I have practically forgotten when I took these photos. One of the more recent projects has been motorcycles. Remember when I went to the car show and sat on a big BMW and suddenly remembered my love for motorcycles that had taken root in Japan? Well, I’ve been taking pictures of all the nice bikes I’ve been seeing all over the city (that means no Harleys), and I’ve been putting them on Flickr. Here’s one I took on my way to ‘wichcraft, which is the best place I have ever been to for sandwiches.

Now, a funny thing just happened a few days ago. I wrote this blog post about a week ago, and then got busy at work. Last week, I wrote the second half of this post, and then put it online. It was there, because Lena Webb saw it, but then the next morning when I went to look for it, it was gone.

I am so backlogged right now that I am just going to post the pictures that remain without stories, and then try to post the next one soon.

Kristina’s We Are Your Friends parties: still happening, still fun, still attracting people with awesome shoes.

Sometimes though, depending on the weather, people clear out early, and then I take pictures of the disco ball.

Cafe Luluc on Smith Street: An comfortable neighborhood dinner place that turns out to also be an excellent brunch spot.

Many weeks ago we had a terrible heat wave. As I type this, we are having another one, so this seems very appropriate. I was walking crosstown to meet Emily for fish and chips, and it was probably 90 degrees and humid. Aside from the tremendous physical discomfort, it was kind of beautiful.

West 25th Street - home to Hip Hop, and also where I work.

There’s something very New York about sitting out on the sidewalk eating an early dinner on a hot summer night. You’re only going home to a rickety old fan, so why bother getting yourself used to air conditioning? Just have your burrito, sweat, and then go home and sit in front of the fan.

Lastly, a picture I like, taken in my garden, during one of my barbecues. It looks more glamorous than it is.

Joanna Wiederhorn and Anna Hoberman - now when you google search for them, you will find this image.

I’ll have some new pictures up soon.

So, instead of making a full blog post as promised earlier, I went to see Mr. John Doe in concert again. In lieu of a real blog post, here is a picture of that man.

Two other things I saw today: A very silly car and a very awesome motorcycle.

Have a good weekend!