Wow Congratulations Gunther

thanks ... enjoy!

I have a cat or cats (LOL)

Margie (ILovePhotos) said:

I have a cat or cats (LOL)

Most everyone does but there are some who have only dogs!

Forbidden City

Tonight at Forbidden City on Avenue A we gorge on Wasabi Baby Octopus, a generous tender plateful of them in a nose-burning sauce, followed by Salt & Pepper Squid with shredded green peppers and iceberg lettuce. We move on to a Dumpling Tasting:

Scallop
Shrimp & Spinach
Shrimp & Leek
Pork and Shrimp
Beef Shumai
Vegetable
Shrimp Stuffed Mushrooms
Shrimp
Shark Fin

Each one is better than the other, we can't decide though the stuffed mushrooms are perhaps the best. Then we almost ruin it all by being gluttons and ordering a serving of too sweet, too fatty five spice BBQ Spare Ribs which melt in your mouth.

Our nondescript Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile is adequate, opaque with a peppery chocolate middle but no finish, it actually goes well with even the spicy wasabi.

Back home now, for a change I'll have a piece of Entenmann's Marble Loaf Cake with my usual Jello chocolate pudding ... coming up shortly.

₀₁₃₁₀₇

... and just a couple more, many years later:

The Rambles are the densest section of Central Park. I hang back a bit to let tourist pass the guys occupying two adjoining benches. Five tough dudes, but they look to be busy with today's edition of The New York Times. No one else around so I proceed. Pablo sees me coming, beams a smile and turns a page to the Entertainment section, revealing a neatly cleaned pile and a number of freshly-rolled one dollar joints. I pays and head deeper into the Rambles looking for a secluded bench from which to enjoy the scenery.

same stoop same brownstone

Decided to grow one from seed in the living room window, rotating the pot frequently to spread the sunlight. Proud to say it got rather tall, five feet. The super was impressed and I wasn't worried about the activist neighbors across the street minding, but could anyone see it from the street? Checking ... not from street level unless you look hard from the top of the stoop of the brownstone across the street.

Thunder. Lightning. Downpour! I love storms in the City and head for the windows. There are two cops seeking shelter on top of the stoop of the brownstone across the street. If they saw the tree, I never heard about it.

We axed it shortly thereafter. It didn't give much of a rush.

...

I'm sitting there by the kitchen window cleaning my smoke and rolling a couple ... now that is weird .... heavy duty limos and SUVs up and down the block, men in black with  earpieces mill about.  Looks like another movie shoot. The last time a film crew winnebagoed in and took over the block some neighbors showed their annoyance by wandering out into the scene right after ACTION!, resulting in an exasperated C-U-T !

The door at the top of the stoop of the brownstone across the street opens, out comes Hillary with a retinue of well-wishers. She hugs and cheek busses the neighbor, gets into one of the SUVs and everyone is gone. No ACTION on the block today.

A Goldfish and an Octopus