Stockholm Syndrome: Part II

After much deliberation we bought a new TV cabinet. Karen's job: watching Erik assemble it. Erik's job: making funny faces without realizing it.

Rug Therapy

We made a rug this weekend, yeah, that's right, we MADE a rug. (FLOR tiles are amazing.) Erik is enjoying a nap before we put the coffee table back. Crazy people always sleep with their eyes open.

Can I get a witness?

Erik went to the DMV today.
This is not a charismatic church. This is where you wait at the Brooklyn DMV.
Slightly less snake handling.

Karen in Fear

Not of the subway, not of germs, but of a very stupid man sleeping next to her. He thought she was a pillow for like 50% of the ride home . . . she was not amused.

At the corner of President & Clinton

Erik finds this intersection amusing.
Karen thinks it's not 1996.

Rabbit...Run!

Brownstone Aquarium specializes in "exotic" pets (you know, that subset of pet that you cannot scratch behind the ears but will have to furnish with special drops and/or lights). Apparently, this category also includes the dreaded bleedy-eyed rabbit. As a pet, not quite as popular as iguanas, yet slightly more so than ferrets.

Rough Neighborhood

See that old guy walking there? Yeah, he lives on our block, so don't say I didn't warn ya.  Brooklyn is one tough town.

You make the call.

Which is creepier?

Central Park, New York: Sketchy guy dressed like national monument trying to interact with tourists and their children.

Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles: Sketchy guy dressed like Spongebob Squarepants trying to interact with tourists and their children.

I don't know but only one has cops on regular patrol in the area. Guess which one? (Hint: It's not L.A.)

I expect this out of you, L.A.

Sometimes it's easy to forget that MTV Studios is based in New York. Other times, not so much.

Digging out of the boxes.

It's getting better, we can even see the floor in entire sections of our bedroom/library. The pile in the far right of about 8-10 boxes is all going to be sold.*

*Books, CDs, clothes and awesome memorabilia. Let us know if you're interested.

The Burgs Go Pretentious . . .

We hung out last night at a place with actual "mixologists", fortunately none had ironic facial hair. Nonetheless, Erik is not amused, but the cocktails were excellent and so was the food.

You mean that wasn't already taken?

Sweet plate, man...and we come from the land of the vanity plate. I'm kinda glad we don't have a car now. I wonder if BKBDASS is available?

Hello Zombie Hut

They've got a huge outdoor seating area, a fireplace, tons of tikis, all-you-can-eat FREE Goldfish (cheddar & pretzel), a ton of boardgames to play AND Jerry. Need we say more?

It's not the Royal Tenenbaums.

...but it's our game closet and we're pretty proud of it. Some day we plan on getting a group of people together to play "Pit", the fast-paced card game for three to eight players, designed to simulate open outcry bidding for commodities.

Anyone? Anyone? (It has an orange bell!)

Let us know, you bring some Jerry and we'll provide the appetizers.

Hot Dog!

We both claim to hate hot dogs. Seriously, we never eat them. But for some reason, when outside, near Central Park, walking on Fifth Avenue, it tastes like the fanciest meal in the world. *

* Erik resisted making reference to the hackneyed joke about the Buddhist and the hot dog vendor during the crafting of this caption. He is very proud of himself. **

** In case you were wondering, the Buddhist asked the hot dog vendor to make him one with everything. ***

*** Karen is very, very sorry and thinks it is more obvious each day that Erik shares a birthday with Buddy Hackett.

It's not my childhood* . . .

 . . . that's getting peed on. But my understanding is, the kids from the '70s feel a bit conflicted about the new "make your own Muppet" feature at F.A.O. Schwarz. Clearly the portly lad in the apron is not amused.

*It IS Erik's childhood however, but that's another story.

I think I smell a rat.

OK. This is the third rat Erik has seen in the subway (they come out, dart away when they feel the rails vibrate, you know the drill) but the first one that allowed him to take a picture. For this, we commend you, rat. We shall call you Ben...the two of us need look no more.

We have a park too.

Listen, Manhattan, we have a park too. It's called Prospect Park and it was designed by the same guys who designed your precious Central Park. It's like her little brother . . . her hipster little brother.

Conjunction Junction...What's your function?

Freaking out Karen and Erik and maybe spitting out sparks.
(This is outside our back door. The white wire is our new internet connection. The technician did not seem alarmed.)

Fancy cookin'

First dinner in the new apartment. Karen made paella. It was delicious.

Lunch Break: Karen

Karen has a secret lunch spot too. It's called her desk.

Karen loves the laundromat

This is in no way sarcastic. Karen thinks it's a model of efficiency. Erik thinks that hat does a good job of hiding the lobotomy scars.

Bottle Shock: Part 1

While consulting her shopping list in Trader Joe's, Karen is perplexed. It looks like a Trader Joe's, it smells like a Trader Joe's, yet the Two-Buck Chuck* is nowhere to be found. We believe it has something to do with these so-called "liquor licenses" nevertheless we are not amused.

* Rumor has it that it's Three-Buck Chuck outside of California.

Erik has regrets

Erik swears he went through his books in California and sold what MUST have been hundreds to Powell's. Yet he wonders where the hell all these books came from.

Subway Philosophy: Part 1

Do you ever read a New Yorker cartoon and wonder if it only makes sense to people in New York? We live here now and, trust us, some things still just don't make any sense.

Lunch Break: Erik

I'm sure you all have a great secret lunch spot near your work. A great little place, somewhere out of the way that only a few people know about. So does Erik. It's called Central Park. (Shhhh . . .  don't tell anyone. We'd hate to see this place full of tourists.)

Déjà vu

We get the feeling we've been here before . . . only it was warmer . . . there were palm trees . . . and definitely a lot more plastic surgery.