Author Archives: emsilees09

May 13 2010
Leave a comment
La Splenda Vita

Excitement and Impatience in Hoboken

From the May 14th Edition of Hoboken’s Progress:

I know it’s not the best idea to self-diagnose yourself, but I can’t help it. With so many WebMd type of websites out there, even answer sites like Yahoo! Answers seems like they have responses for every question imaginable. Type in a question like, “why does my foot hurt,” and you will arrive at a plethora of conditions just waiting to be discovered.

I believe that I suffer from an overactive fascination with exploring all things in this area. I believe it’s seasonal, as this condition affects my attention, especially during the warmer months.

Signs of the warmer months to come in Hobo...

Symptoms include: dog-earring every Time Out New York and New York Magazine that I read, bookmarking New York and Hoboken blogs on my computer, and leaving about 15 tabs and windows open on my computer, loading with interesting activities I’ve found to do, from museum exhibits to movies in the park. All this is happening, usually while at work. If I get one second that isn’t weighed down with a deadline, I compulsively Google for things to do outside in the sunshine, then match my desired agenda with my calendar.

You have no idea how many times I’ve refreshed links that will eventually reveal the “Movies Under the Stars” schedule for the summer on Pier A in Hoboken, or the HBO film series they play in Bryant Park.

Another side effect of this condition is an incredible lack of patience, due to acute excitement.

I’ve become so spoiled. There is so much to do in this area, I get overwhelmed picking and choosing what I want to do on days that I happen to find myself with a free afternoon.

Last Sunday I was lucky—my free Sunday filled quickly with the Hoboken Arts and Music Festival. It was perfect timing for a day to explore locally with friends.

Other times, I’m not so lucky. As of right now, I find myself faced with gorgeous weather, matched with a late dinner reservation in the city. My mind is now swimming with ideas for how to fill up my time until dinner.

Another side effect is indecisiveness.

Perhaps the boyfriend and I could check out Gallery Week, which runs from neighborhood to neighborhood from Chelsea to the Lower East Side, or maybe we could explore the new Limelight Marketplace, an old Episcopal church, now filled with 60 retail shops, including a Grimaldi’s outpost, on 20th St. and 6th Avenue.

Or, maybe we could hop back over the Hudson and enjoy the Riverwalk in Hoboken, and get a drink and sit outside, since the outside dining offerings we have here are infinitely cozier and intimate than the city’s, since it’s much quieter out here.

Though my attention may be limited and imagination heightened due to the sheer amount of opportunity for fun things to do, I would not have it anyway, since another side effect of my condition is happiness that there is never a dull moment.

Tagged
May 04 2010
Leave a comment
Apartment Life, My Life in Hoboken

The Ways In Which We Know Our Neighbors…

From the May 7th issue of Hoboken’s Progress:

A U-Haul van parked in front of my apartment building was the excitement of last Saturday morning. I wracked my brain to think of who could be moving out, and in between sips of coffee and scrambled eggs with my roommates, we came to the decision that it had to be the one neighbor who has really made himself known to us—the heavy walker.

It’s quite odd that we live in such close quarters with people that we essentially know nothing about. In my building, where there are only three floors, in which each floor has one apartment, there are probably no more than nine people living in this building, and yet, if my neighbors were to stand in a line-up, I would have no idea how to identify them, unless of course, they had to run up and down a flight of stairs. Then I’d most likely be able to identify at least one neighbor—soon enough to be an ex-neighbor.

Perhaps my neighbor aspired to be an extra in STOMP, and carried out his trash this way...

If you’ve ever lived in an apartment, you’ve probably experienced hearing the unfortunate sound of someone who experiences gravity with a bit more pull than push than other human beings. It’s a heavy burden to bear, and it’s even worse for those who live under them.

Ever since I moved into this apartment, back in August 2008, as I’ve mentioned in this column many times, I’ve had to get use to a few certain eccentricities around the apartment: the rattling pipes that sound like Woody the Woodpecker, early morning showers void of hot water, and then some other odds and ends, like its donut shape, where walking back and forth between my closet and my room make me feel like I’m running for high school track.

But, I have also learned what it’s like to live with a heavy walker. I’ve also especially developed an closer relationship with him since one of my bedroom walls is on the other side of the stairwell. Like clockwork, I know when the heavy walker goes to work, gets home, goes to the gym, gets home, goes out, gets home, and well, pretty much every time he leaves and comes home, because I feel the need to “hit the deck!”

Not only is he a heavy walker, but he takes the stairs like he’s being timed during a relay race. There are no words to describe the sound and volume of this repetitive act.

It wasn’t until early evening that we figured it was the heavy-walker moving out, since all day Saturday we heard him, up and down the stairs, though each step was slower, due to the fact that he was carrying his possessions.

Dear heavy-walker, though I won’t miss hearing your daily schedule, I wish you the best.

Tagged
Apr 30 2010
Leave a comment
La Splenda Vita

Next Object of Desire: A Crockpot

I love toys for the kitchen, and even when I come into ownership of a food processor, or a blender (don’t you love when your roommates possessions become your own? Their birthday presents are mine too…even if only for another lease term) my appetite is never satiated. I want the next item on my list.

Lately, I’ve been crushing hard on the idea of owning a dutch oven. Maybe I will be able to become an owner of one when I have the ability to not giggle when I say its name. Dutch oven.

Anywho, I’ve had my eye on Le Creuset dutch ovens for some time now. The shapes. The sizes. The colors. Drool. Oh, the sheer amount of Jim Lahey’s “no-knead bread” loaves I could bake brings a tear to my eye. Yet, the price of such candy colored cookware is a bit out of my price rage, and so I will have to wait for another birthday or Xmas present.

So, while I wait another six or seven months, I have now found a new apple of my eye: the crockpot, and this post I just read on Brokelyn.com only added more fuel to the fire.

Though I have self-declared myself as the queen of stretching food, this guy from Brooklyn is the king of the same practice, with the help of a crock-pot.

As also noted by the editor, “Please consult a medical professional before embarking on any diet plan, especially one involving skipping breakfast and spending more money on drinks than food.”

Bill, the king, documents his week in crockpottery and debauchery. In a week he spent a total of $12.30 for food, and $101 in drinks. While I think that ratio may not be too nutritious, the idea that you can live on a budget with a social life is a noble one, (and what my blog is all about!). He also lists a recipe for a chicken, mushroom, and pasta recipe that looks kickin’.

The King of stretching food...courtesy of Brokelyn.com

Apr 29 2010
Leave a comment
Apartment Life, La Splenda Vita

A New Fact For The Resume

From the April 30th edition of Hoboken’s Progress:

When asked what your strengths and weaknesses are during a job interview, you need to be able to admit a weakness, but then try to make it sound like a strength. For example, if you happen to be a control freak, you’d spin it to sound like you are just painstakingly detail-oriented.

Lately, it has come to my attention that I have a weakness, which cannot be euphemized.

Ladies and gentlemen, I talk to myself. And no, I’m not wearing a Bluetooth.

This realization arrived slowly, but now my eyes are still wide, even 24 hours since I’ve made my discovery.

It started with a bug. (Stay with me.) Not a roach—but it was a water bug. The corners of mouth turn down as I type that, that word, “water bug.” I’m perpetually ill-equipped to kill or catch a bug due to my squeamishness.

Maria, my friend/roommie doesn’t help. In fact, we only egg each other’s screams on when we try to get rid of a bug. To my dismay, placing a bowl over a bug is only a short-term solution.

Long story short, the water bug that I had seen a few days earlier that mysteriously disappeared was found dead under a slipcover in our living room. Time of death, unknown, but the other roommie probably sat on it.

Regardless of it being dead and practically snapped in half, Maria and I screamed as if it were alive. To get rid of it took a team—me to lift the slipcover, Maria to suck it up into the dust buster. Neither one of us will empty it.

After cooling down, I started to reflect on the situation. With my throat still hoarse from screaming and laughing, it occurred to me that if what you’re yelling at is dead, aren’t you essentially just yelling at yourself?

I never thought that I talked to myself, but then I realized this wasn’t the first incident. As it turns out, I’m quite the “Chatty Cathy” in my apartment, and half the time my conversations aren’t directed toward anything with a pulse.

As someone who doesn’t like loud noises, I find that when I clink together a few plates and glasses in the kitchen sink I’ll call out “SHHH!” or “Oh, shut up,” to the inanimate objects. But, since they don’t have the faculties to respond back, who am I really talking to? You are correct. Yet again, I’m just speaking to myself.

I also sing to appliances. “I am unplugging you now!” I’ll sing to my hair straightener, or a “I’m turning you off now!” to the coffeemaker. Not very creative, but I must admit, it’s been quite effective since I apparently blackout any time I unplug something.

I’m not quite sure what to make of this discovery, or even how to make it sound like a strength. But, it’s slowly becoming one of my top eccentric traits.

Who needs to ace a job interview when I have the capacity to become a crazy character in Hoboken?

Someday me...only with dogs...

Tagged
← Older posts
Newer posts →