May 112011
 

Last night I went to my friend Ginny’s book release party. I purchased her book, Dellwood, a few weeks ago. It’s an engrossing horror story of a woman named Constance who has a creepy and mysterious past. If you’re a fan of horror novels, I recommend picking it up.

Ginny’s book release party was hosted by my friends Larry and Anne at i Trulli, where Patti Jackson is the executive chef. (Larry, pictured below, is the gentleman hugging Ginny in the photo–not to mention Ginny’s beau.)

Ginny and Me

Larry and Ginny

 Posted by at 8:16 pm
Dec 242009
 

This morning, Patti Jackson and the Marzovilla family were on Good Day New York on Fox 5. They made cavatelli with broccoli rabe. Four segments were shot; Dora was shown with the grandkids making the pasta and then Patti prepared the dish with the anchor. I'll post a link to video later.

Update: You can see the video of Patti making cavatelli with broccoli rabe at i Trulli at the Good Day site, or see it below.

http://www.myfoxny.com/video/videoplayer.swf?dppversion=4747

 Posted by at 9:46 am
Oct 062009
 

My friend Peter turned 40 in August. His significant other, Valerie, threw him a surprise birthday party at Stella, a restaurant in the South Street Seaport.
Peter

Cake
Peter works in the wine industry, so my friend Patti made a wine bottle cake. To celebrate the birthdays of my friends Anne and Mike, she added a wine “bible” (also made of cake), written by them.

Pig
Darrin, the chef at Stella, roasted a small pig.

 Posted by at 2:13 pm
Jan 182009
 

My friend Phil Jache’s is very close to the Appalachian Trail. I went to his house for Thanksgiving this past November, and we hiked a couple of small segments. Hiking through the forest is relaxing and energizing.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail
Phil, Anne, Kathy, and myself

Hiking the Appalachian Trail Hiking the Appalachian Trail
The flora and fauna on the trail are amazing. I could probably spend hour just documenting an area of land less than ten square feet.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail
The trail winds up and down mountains of all sizes, from hills to high peaks. It also dips into valleys and wetlands. Across many of the swamps, people have build walkways across the mud and water. Since it was November, this land was semi-firm mud.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail
Hiking trails are marked with blazes at irregular intervals attached to features like trees and rocks. The Appalachian trail is uses one white paint blaze most of the time. When the trail turns, you will sometimes see two blazes pointing the way.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail Hiking the Appalachian Trail
If you walk the trail quickly, you sometimes miss odd features. I found the skull just to the side of the path.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail Hiking the Appalachian Trail
The views from the peaks can be fairly spectacular, even if they aren’t actually that high. The second photo is a self-portrait. It was back-lit, and it wasn’t possible to get a perfect exposure on my small camera.

Hiking the Appalachian Trail
Hiking the Appalachian Trail
Hiking the Appalachian Trail
Anne, Phil, and I hiked two sections of the trail, while Kathy left after one. The trail goes by a lot of houses; a man was walking dogs along the trail.


A video of one minute of the hike.

If you live on the East coast, it’s definitely worth taking a day trip along the Appalachian Trail. And it’s arguably a good reason to visit the East coast.

 Posted by at 11:04 pm
Nov 022008
 

My friend Emily ran the New York City Marathon today. As far as I know, she is my first friend to run a marathon. It was my first time watching any marathon in person; I went up to Sarah and Jeremy’s new apartment in Park Slope to watch her go by. It was a ton of fun, and something I want to repeat next year.

Emily wrote about her training for the marathon and also raised over $1,400 dollars to fight cancer. This was her first marathon, and she completed it in under five hours. She looked great when she passed Jeremy, Sarah, and I at 4th Avenue and 1st Street–not only was she right on pace, but she looked fantastic. She called out to us as she ran by. (Jeremy made a large cardboard “Emily” sign that Sarah was holding.)

Congratulations Emily!
Emily runs the marathon

I also took some poorly composed video of the marathon before Emily came by.

 Posted by at 10:37 pm
Oct 142008
 

Last weekend, I rode on a yacht, had food poisoning, and climbed Anthony’s Nose.

I took Friday, October 3rd off to sail around the New York Classic Week Regatta, a schooner race around New York Harbor. Anne, Ginny, and I met at Chelsea Piers to board the yacht Manhattan. We paced most of the race to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and then made our way up the East River before heading back to the finish line at the Hudson. There was a bit of extra time, so we continued up the Hudson to see the Intrepid before returning to dock.

The day was overcast, but it was still pleasant outside and we all had a great time. We were supplied with a brunch of waffles, quiche, ham, salmon, and bagels; not to mention a fully stocked bar.

New York Classic Week
New York Classic Week
New York Classic Week
The Pride of Baltimore

New York Classic Week
New York harbor is a working harbor, and the sailboats navigated along large container vessels and barges.

New York Classic Week
New York Classic Week
Turning at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.

Anne and Ginny at New York Classic Week
Anne and Ginny

Anne and Ginny at New York Classic Week
The Manhattan was comfortable, fast, and fun. It’s worth looking into if you want a pleasant cruise around the city.

New York Waterfalls
The New York City Waterfalls. The project just finished this past weekend. We were able to get very close to the falls.

Intrepid Museum
The day before our ride, the Intrepid returned to its permanent berth.

Manhattan
The view of Manhattan from the middle of New York harbor.

Unfortunately, several hours into the ride, I started to become sick. I was still fatigued and weak after the ride, and took a nap when I went home. I woke up shaking several hours later and realized that I had food poisoning. I don’t think it was from the food on the ship since no one was ill; I think it was from my breakfast at a coffee shop or my lunch the day before. The details are a bit gross, but the good news is that my fever broke that night at 3 am, and by the end of Saturday I was in good shape.

So on Sunday, I went up along the Hudson to visit my friend Phil at his house in Garrison. Anne, Mary, Phil, and I started out the day by climbing Anthony’s Nose, a peak overlooking Bear Mountain. We climbed the mountain fairly quickly; it’s a fairly easy, but steep, climb with a beautiful view.

Phil and Mary at the peak of Anthony's Nose.
Phil and Mary at the peak of Anthony’s Nose.

Bear Mountain Bridge from Anthony's Nose
Bear Mountain Bridge

Sam Greenfield overlooking Bear Mountain Bridge from Anthony's Nose
Me (Sam Greenfield) overlooking Bear Mountain Bridge from Anthony’s Nose

Anne, Sam, Mary, and Phil at Anthony's Nose
Anne, me, Mary, and Phil

Climbing down the mountain, I saw many weird looking mushrooms. I would have taken more pictures, but I didn’t want to keep everyone waiting.

Mushroom in Garrison, NY near Anthony's Nose
Mushroom in Garrison, NY near Anthony's Nose
Mushroom in Garrison, NY near Anthony's Nose

I didn’t do as much this past weekend, but I did walk down to Brooklyn Bridge Park with a friend of mine. It was a clear, warm day.
Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge

I finished up the weekend playing with my camera. I want to work with the strobe to see if I can capture better images of water droplets.
Stream of Water
Water drops

 Posted by at 6:47 pm