Monday, January 11, 2016

Poetry in Motion - What Do You Believe a Poem Shd Do?

I have always been a fan of the Poetry in Motion series on the NYC Subway system. I am going back in 2016 and posting some of the posters that have appeared over the last few years.

This is one of the more recent entries, which appeared late in 2015:


The poem is "What Do You Believe a Poem Shd Do? by Ntozake Shange:

quite simply a
poem shd fill you
up with something/
cd make you swoon,
stop in yr tracks,
change yr mind,
or make it up.
a poem shd happen
to you like cold
water or a kiss.

Tuesday, January 05, 2016

I Had My Druthers

Someone asked me what my New Years Resolution was yesterday.

"Play less Candy Crush on the subway," I said.

He laughed. He lives in Albany.

I can't make a resolution to lose weight, exercise more, or write more. I just have to do it.

I can resolve not to waste my hours (or as many hours) on those addicting phone apps.

On the subway to work, I did not play games. I composed the beginning of a blog post.

At 12:30, I headed to Penn Station and boarded Amtrak to Albany.

I met up with work friends and we went to a fabulous place called Druthers, where I drank their Oatmeal Stout


and their "Against the Grain Smoked Weizen."

And then I ate this:


That's their "Memphis BBQ Mac N Cheese." It is what it says it is. Pulled pork, barbecue sauce, coleslaw and mac  n cheese. 

I ate half.

The weather is single digits win Albany on day one of my trip.

I went back to the hotel, worked, and posted on Tattoosday (here) for the first time in almost a month.

Sunday, January 03, 2016

New Year's Day, the Brooklyn Way

After sleeping to 11, or so, which is quite unusual for me, I breakfasted on King's Hawaiian french toast, courtesy of my lovely bride.

Around 3:30 we headed into Manhattan to meet some old friends from California, and met them on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge.


We then walked over a very crowded bridge, as the sun set, and stopped for a photo op.


Then we headed to Old Fulton Street, and Juliana's Pizza, one of the best pizza places in the world.

It is in the space of the original Grimaldi's, which closed and then reopened in many incarnations, including right next door to its original location.

When we arrived, the Grimaldi's line was about the same size, but it moved faster. We waited over an hour in the cold, but it was worth it. Their classic Margherita pizza is divine, and their white pizza is pretty amazing, too. We also had their special #4, which consists of tomato, mozzarella, arugula and prosciutto.

I washed it down with an Insulated Dark Lager from Brooklyn Brewery.

When we left, the line for Grimaldi's was gone, but the line for Juliana's was as long as when we arrived.

Saturday, January 02, 2016

An Unusual New Years' Eve

December 31, 2015, found me in Manhattan with my family.

I left work early, headed home and made a pit stop at Red, White & Brew, where I grabbed a Blizzard of Hops Winter IPA, from Trรถegs Brewing. (More on that later)

Then the family headed into the city and went to the 7:00 show at Eastville Comedy Club.

Among the comics we saw were Dave Smith and Mark DeMayo.

From there, we wandered to Union Square, considered the line at Max Brenner's and then decided to miss the stroke of midnight and catch a 9:50 showing of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2.


When the movie was over, it was 2016. The subway got us home at about 2 AM on January 1.

Happy New Year to All!

Friday, January 01, 2016

2016

2015 has come and gone and not a peep from me on BillyBlog. All my activity has been over on Tattoosday.

But even over in the land of tattoos, fall posting fell off. Work kept me busy. The work that pays the bills.

But, you know, I'm not particularly happy with the state of affairs in my corner of the bologosphere.

So here it is, January 2016, and I am resolving to write more. BillyBlog will be my platform. My goal is, if I don't post here, I'll be busy over on Tattoosday.

Truth be told, I'm typing this on January 3, but dating it January 1. A neat and not-so-honest trick.

I fear, however, I will be playing catch-up year round.

I fear, however, I will return to old ways.

Who knows? May be I'll surprise myself.

Social Media has taken over many things, and I resolve to do less there and more on these old and crusty electronic pages.

Maybe it will be a BillyBlog renaissance.

Maybe these are the death throes, the final thrashing of words before I, ultimately, fall silent.

We shall see. We shall see.