Thursday, February 26, 2009

The Little Owl


On a recent Sunday I had brunch at a place in the West Village called The Little Owl. I was meeting someone for which there was the potential of playing, "Where do you want to eat?" "I don't know. Where do you want to eat?" For the better part of the morning. So instead I picked up New York Magazine, randomly picked this place out of the brunch offerings and said, "Let's go here. It sounds like it could be good." And it was.

It was tiny, of course. I think they have 10 tables and four bar stools. The kitchen looks like a closet and the prep room and lockers for staff are in the basement. On brunch mornings (weekends and they apparently do a popular President's Day brunch — who knew!) people start lining up outside about 30 minutes before it opens. I know this because I forgot what time they opened and got there earlier than I though I would. The person I was meeting was late. And so they wouldn't seat me until the "whole party arrived," which is understandable when you only have 10 tables and yet it was still annoying. They did however invite me to sit on this tiny elevated lounge area they had (hard to explain) in the corner where they kept the cell phone they use as a business phone and the laptop they use to play music for ambiance.

The music was great - as if they put my own iPod on shuffle. (There's music on their Web site, if you click on the link above. The music and Web site amused me for some reason.) And then they brought me coffee. For this I gave them major, major points, even as I secretly fumed that my brunchmate was 30 minutes late (that's about an hour I was waiting). He walked in right after a couple who took the last open table. So instead we crammed in with the two other people at the "bar". It turned out not to be so bad, though. One of the people left right after we sat down, so it turned out we had plenty of elbow room. Plus our coffee and water always stayed full.

The food was awesome as well. I had the fluffiest French toast ever with whipped cream and fruit and syrup. He had the applesmoked bacon (which apparently just tasted like regular bacon; minus points there) and pancakes. The menu also had heartier options for those who like their brunch to be more lunch and less br. The place was really adorable and I'd like to go back for brunch again and also to try their dinner menu. It looks good as well.

All in all, a happy happenstance find, The Little Owl.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

American Museum of Natural History



Last week I finally went to the Natural History Museum. I think I went wrong somewhere in life because I'm obsessed with animals. I love visiting zoos and natural history museums and especially aquariums. I believe that I am actually part fish. (That said, I have I visited neither the Bronx Zoo nor the aquarium. I'm sure it will only take me another three years to get around to that.) I briefly flirted with the following professions in college: Marine Biologist, Archeologist, Astronomer. Seriously. I actually took 16 hours of astronomy before realizing the degree at my college was really just a physics degree with a little star gazing thrown in on the side. My college also didn't have an archeology degree. You had to study anthropology. But I digress.

Anyway, back to the Natural History Museum. This is not a place to visit if you don't have a lot of time. I had five hours and still only saw a tiny fraction of it. It is also an extremely confusing, sprawling place that at times makes no sense whatsoever. You wind up in places where it appears no one has been for many decades. This is what happens when you shun the maps and try to do things on your own. Finally, we went back to the front desk and picked up a map so that we could find the dinosaurs — because like every six year old in the world, I LOVE DINOSAURS. And I wasn't leaving without seeing them...or their bones, I guess would be the more appropriate wording. And in some cases their eggs.

It's ironic, I guess, that I love dinosaurs so much because my mom doesn't believe they ever existed. This is because there is no mention of dinosaurs in the Bible. I found this little fact out from my brother recently who told me my mom thinks people just stuck some old horse bones together to make them look like dinosaurs. I must admit, I was a little appalled.

So, in opposition to that, I give you even more dinosaur bones:


Friday, February 13, 2009

Ice, ice...you know



I may be an odd person for this, but I am captivated by the small, incongruous items of daily life. This results in my taking pictures of things no one else is looking at. The way a shadow makes bars on the ground, or wild flowers that in LSU colors, or most recently this arrangement of ice, which was created after several snows, some snow plowing, more snow, a warm day that partially melted the block, a little grit and then more freezing weather. I took a lot of photos. (The iPhone has allowed me to indulge this passion to a new degree. Before I didn't always have my camera with me and the one on my old phone was, I think, one of the first digital cameras ever inserted in a phone. It was really sad. I share with you only two because I know you all aren't as weird as me.



Sadly with the warm few days we've had recently, I imagine this little ice kingdom is no more.

Monday, February 09, 2009

Hello February

I have no excuse for my total lack of blogging. I mean, I do have excuses — work, too much time on Facebook, nothing to write about, no one reading this anyway, blah, blah, blah — but in the end I really have NO EXCUSE.

It's probably because this blog has no direction; it has no theme. Since I moved to New York, it has slightly more of a theme, in that I try to write about local things that may interest all of you back home (back at all my various homes), but I don't really do enough for this to provide a steady stream of information like a blog needs. But as the snow outside has thawed and we have at least a few warm days on the horizon, I hope that this will change someone and I'll get out more and I'll have more photos/stories to share. In the meantime, here's a cute guy for ya:



More soon.