Memories from the Bronx Zoo

Who doesn’t love a great zoo?!  Please note the emphasis on the word great.  A zoo that has small enclosures and tiny habitats are nothing but unhealthy for the animals and downright depressing for the visitors. But the open spaces, natural habitats, and general care for the animals’ wellbeing is why I love, and have always loved, the Bronx Zoo.

I’m always amazed while driving to the Bronx Zoo that an area of this vast size doesn’t somehow take up the entire borough.  The Bronx Zoo is the world’s largest urban zoo, a vast oasis of animals and plant life representing the countless species we have on this planet. 

Austin and I had come here with our niece and nephew on several occasions, and always had a great time.  Well, it wasn’t until we visited the zoo with another couple that we realized all the fun that can be had as adults in the zoo as well!  We entered the zoo and immediately located a place serving beer in fancy plastic Bronx Zoo cups.  We were the envy of every father there, and several of them actually told us so.  As in, literally told us how amazing our beers looked.   As we passed by the children screaming about the various animals they wanted to see, and bypassed the “stroller parking” we had grown accustomed to stopping at, we realized what a truly fun place the zoo can be, for all ages….       

A Rainy Afternoon in the NY Public Library

There is nothing worse than anxiously awaiting the weekend, only to find that the weather is overcast, rainy, and gloomy.  While an overcast day can definitely make for some amazing photography, a rainy day doesn’t; well, not if your plan for the day is a fantastic shoot outside in the wonderful world of NYC.  I had learned this lesson the hard way too many times, and so I began to keep a running list of amazing places I wanted to shoot, all of which were inside and screaming “come see me on a rainy nasty day!”

One of the top places on my list was the New York Public Library (NYPL), the oldest library in our country and considered one of the top five research libraries to date.  The NYPL is gorgeous.  It serves as part library and part museum; part nerd hangout and part tourist attraction; part functional space and part historical landmark.  It is all these things at the same time, which is what makes it a truly amazing place.

There was another major thing drawing me to the library…my obsession with card catalogs.  I love them, don’t know why but I have an intense fascination with them, and even dream of owning one someday to keep in my home (I know, it’s odd).  Perhaps it’s the nostalgic aspect of remembering the days flipping through the catalog before racing off to locate a book.  Or perhaps it’s related to my love of all things “old” and vintage, to which category a card catalog certainly applies these days.  Either way, I couldn’t wait to find one, and I thought it would be easy—I mean, it’s a library.  And while all things are online these days, I expect a library to keep one, at least one, just for old time’s sake.  It took a solid 45 min of exploring but find one I did! Well, technically Austin did, but whose counting.  I guess on the positive side, the lack of numerous card catalogs in a library as huge and old as the NYPL is a good sign that my dream of having my own may not be that hard to accomplish after all.

Flashback: Patong, Thailand

The bustling beach town of Patong is the tourist capital of Phuket – a party haven on the water.  It is a strange mix of college kids gone wild, and creepy men looking for Thai dates.  When we first arrived and had a bite overlooking the strip, we noticed several things that were noticeably different from other parts of Thailand.  For one, we were eating at a Mexican restaurant.  Secondly, it was noon and everyone appeared drunk.  But the most interesting thing we noticed was the sheer number of people who were injured!  But these were obvious drunk injuries: sprained leg, arm cast, cuts and bruises on only one half of the body…you know the obvious tell-tale signs of a night gone awry.

Beside the constant party, Patong is specifically known for the high population of “girly boys”.  It was unbelievable how pretty, yes pretty, these woman were.  It was genuinely difficult to tell who was who, until we realized that pretty much every scantily clad bartender was, in fact, born a man.

As many single men flock to Patong for its openness with the sex industry, Austin was understandably nervous to be left alone; a white man having a drink alone at a bar is there for a date.  Period.  But I had to pee so we sat down at a bar and ordered a drink.  My beer came in a regular bottle but for some reason Austin’s Long Island came in a glass shaped as a naked female body.  Well, I left for the bathroom and when I returned Austin relayed the following: he had been approached by a woman he termed the “Madam”, who was much older and was clearly a biological woman.  The Madam invited him to play a game where you hit a nail into a block of wood; first nail in wins.  Austin agreed, thinking that being occupied was better than playing sitting duck.  This game was over within 3 strikes of her hammer, though, at which time she quickly said “I win, you buy me drink!”  So within 5 minutes of being left alone, Austin had lost a few extra bahts and little bit of pride.  BUT, something good came from it all.  Upon ordering a second Long Island, it not only didn’t taste like soda water, but it came in a regular, tall glass.  Austin jokingly asked the Madam, “What happened, no more boobie glass?”, to which she replied, “No, you get big boy glass now”…. 

Labor Day Parade, RIP Bob Marley...

For most people Labor Day weekend simply signifies the end of summer, but for Brooklyn this weekend is synonymous with the infamous West Indian Day Parade.  Throngs of people line Eastern Parkway as women and men dance down the street in the colorful costumes of Carnival.  The floats are not shaped into retro cartoon characters or based on children’s movies.  Here, the floats are more like awesome big rigs blaring Calypso, Reggae, and hip hop music to the sea of waving flags in the street.

Like all NYC festivals, vendors are out peddling their wares and selling their food.  Today, that meant that as we enjoyed the music and sights of the parade in front of us, we were continuously pulled around to face the smells behind us.  Jerk chicken, corn on the cob, curry anything, ox tail – Austin had a hard time making any selections.  And, of course, what was there in abundance to wash down all that food?  Why nutcrackers of course, and in a variety of flavors and sizes.

The atmosphere at the parade is electric, as West Indians honoring their various cultures follow the floats and dance down the street to the beat of the music.  And while violence was reported as in years past, that is not the image I would take away from the day.  Brooklyn is the quintessential melting pot, with the food, music, and culture of so many people meshed in one locale.  The Labor Day Parade is a perfect example of why that is such a beautiful thing, and of what makes living in this city so damn fantastic.

Greenwood Cemetery, a pleasant day

Austin and I passed this massive and gorgeous cemetery thousands of times before finally making the plunge and taking an impromptu BKG day at Greenwood!  As there was no attendant at the gate, we passed go without getting a map and quickly realized what a bad idea that was.  It is amazingly easy to lose all sense of direction once wandering through a maze of tombstones, trees, and mausoleum-style resting places. 

There was no method to our walking, just turning corners and climbing hills when something new caught our eye.  Therefore, it should not have been surprising when we realized we had no clue where we had actually come in.  But, hey, that’s the best part of exploring a new place—so much more is found when you are lost.  At times we would pass a dozen graves huddled together in rows, and minutes later stumble upon an isolated monument perched alone at the top of a hill.  It’s always strangely pleasant to be in one of these enormous tree-shaded areas plopped throughout our concrete city.  

Eventually we found our way back to the gate from which we entered.  When we had first arrived, it appeared the cemetery was preparing for a funeral as numerous cars and people in black clothing were loitering outside the only large building on the premises, tell-tale signs.  Now, when we resurfaced by the gate, the cars and people were gone but the chimney was burning…a lot.  We hadn’t been lost for long enough that a fire-breathing chimney seemed appropriate.

As it appeared there was a nice view of the Manhattan skyline in the distance, we walked around the back of the burning building only to find a dumpster filled with the discarded and forgotten flowers that loved ones had purchased for the recently deceased.  It was somehow sad and beautiful at the same time.  So, we admired the skyline view, checked out the fancy little Greenwood trolley, took some pics of the dumpster, and then started the journey to find our way home.