Fort Brooklyn

Fort Defiance, soap from Saipua, Saraghina

Silent white

If color could be a sound, white would be silence.
Experiencing abundant snow as it is falling and gathering is so much more profound than any images or written/verbal descriptions.
And at the end of this colorless, soundless vacuum, hand-pulled noodle soup.

This game is seven-card stud

So. Epic. In every sense of the word.

More from PS 1/NYABF/last Fri

A few things of note:

• We liked the Lines & Shapes table a lot
  
• Leandro Erlich's Swimming Pool - a must-see installation
• Rose in Williamsburg has gorgeous wallpaper and great cocktails

All photos originally taken by Kat, who happened to be my date for this particular field trip.

Wednesday luxuries

Accompanying Sophia (of the fabulous Kitchen Caravan) on a research trip in Williamsburg, we went to Marlow & Sons for lunch yesterday, which really is a luxury - not because the food is anything short of amazing, but because it is such a calm and cozy place to eat midday. I'd only been at night where it's frantic and packed and the wait is usually an hour, even on a weekday. For lunch, you can take your time, which gives you a whole new appreciation for this very special restaurant.

After a couple pit stops gawking at cheese and chocolate, there was Saltie for dessert. After this second visit, it's safe to say that their ice cream menu is probably one of the best I've encountered, ever. I got the Eton Mess ice cream and Sophia got the Anise Hyssop ice cream sandwich. Heaven. But I won't forget that Salted Caramel ice cream from last time. P.S. their lavender shortbread does not taste like aromatherapy candles.

Later in the evening, I biked with the usual boy to DUMBO for a book launch party, finishing with a late dinner at nearby Superfine with the usual suspects.

The transition from Summer to Fall is kind of drastic. The change in weather is a given, but there's also being back in that ambitious, New York head-space where hustlin' is in full swing again after months of ADD due to travel and good weather - something I need to be eased out of, slowly. Indulging in luxuries midweek is not a bad vehicle for this transition.

Last Friday

With Ally (the NY stowaway) in Williamsburg...

Anorak from Built By Wendy on sale from their spring line. Due to a footwear malfunction (thanks to my $1 thrift store shoes), I also bought Minnetonka moccasins which are absolutely not overrated; they make your feet as happy as papooses.

Lunch at Saltie, which is a new favorite. Everything was divine; I'm going back this week to try more things.

(Photos of Saltie's food are by Kathy, who also has a cool food blog. In the meantime, I'm trying to be better with by own visual documentation.)

The BQE

We were lucky enough to attend the world premiere of The BQE at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2007 - the symphonic/cinematic piece composed by Sufjan Stevens commissioned by BAM. Two years later, its release from Sufjan's label:

The official album release of The BQE follows nearly two years after its original performance at BAM, providing the songwriter (and his various collaborators) ample time to wrestle out all the thematic incarnations of the project, and to attempt an appropriation of Wagner's Gesamtkunstwerk ("total work"). The resulting album might be best described as a grand creative franchise-incorporating movie, symphony, comic book, dissertation, photography, graphic design, and a 3-D Viewmaster® reel-in which a songwriter's interrogation of one of New York's ugliest landmarks expands athletically to forums and formulas outside of the song itself. In fact, the BQE is everything but a song.

Makes me love Brooklyn even more. via Pitchfork

Inspirations from Brooklyn Museum visit today:



"Maiden & Moonflower" Wallpaper, Kiki Smith. (The museum displays the top-left vermilion version. Many other gorgeous colors discovered from Studio Printworks.)


Homage to the Square, Josef Albers. (Not exactly the ones on display at the museum, but it's similar to this colorway)


Hanging Room Divider, Ted Hallman.


Landscape, Stuart Davis.

Other pieces of note that I can't find good images for: a vase by Pueblo potter Grace Chino and a gorgeous painting entitled "Light Extending Itself" by Irene Pereira.

Winter activities

ME
- Wearing a big puffy jacket that makes me look like a robot
- Yoga
- Watching PBS

GREGG
- Indoor gardening

BOTH
- Not going outside
- Not going grocery shopping
- Noodle soup in all Asiatic varieties

Billyburg knows good design

Familiar gripes about Williamsburg aside, there is some great stuff to be found (and less people to encounter) if you venture off of Bedford Ave. In the spirit of gathering inspiration and ideas for a client, Kat and I went on a small design tour last Friday. No, I haven't branched off into interior design, but it's good practice to tease your senses with real-world textures, shapes, lines, colors and contrasts before making any sort of graphic statement on the screen.

I'm not going to complain about the prices (but I will make a nod toward the irony of W'burg restaurants being filled with young people on a weekday... seriously, how these people make their income to spend on expensive design is a mystery), but the design stores were accompanied by good-natured and relaxed shop-people who actually allowed us to take photos. I really love the "craftsman" feel of design of all forms these days, lying somewhere between DIY and DWR.

(Moon River Chattel - ocean and botanical-inspired mercantile at 62 Grand St b/w Wythe & Kent)

(The Future Perfect - high-end but endlessly witty and well-crafted pieces at 115 N 6th St & Berry)

(A&G Merch - next door to The Future Perfect at 111 N 6th St & Berry. Felt like a grown-up version of Urban Outfitters, in a good way.)