Union Square afternoon.

I think one of the finest views in the city is Filene's Basement's Union Square Park overlook. Union Square brings back many memories for me. This is where I had my first job in the city. I hated that job, but I love the park. I love the energy of the place. The farmer's market, street performers, skateboarders, and people hanging out by the steps that trickle down onto 14th Street. With the holidays here, the booth shops have taken over the steps and much of the normal Union Square vibe. But the view is still pretty awesome.

Cooking, Part I.

So I decided to start blogging about some of the simple, but delicious creations that come out of our kitchen. Starting with brunch. On Sunday mornings, Carol and I usually make omelettes, but last weekend we made a scramble - inspired by the scrambles at Martha's 22nd Street Grill in Hermosa Beach, CA. They make a white corn and Havarti cheese scramble which is really tasty. The one we made (see above) was much simpler: onions, green peppers and glorious cheddar cheese. Served with my red potato home fries. If we went out to brunch somewhere in Manhattan this would've cost us about $12-15. But instead it probably cost us about $2. Home is where the deals are.

Victor Lin.

For quite a while I've known God to touch souls through music. I've experienced it myself plenty of times - and many of those instances came through the live and recorded performances of Victor Lin. I first met Victor at my church, maybe four or five years ago, and soon after witnessed the incredible gift God gave him for performing music. I've come to realize that he's not just a talented musician, he is in his own way an instrument being played by God Himself. Tonight he played again, and again God was moving in my soul. 

Last year, Victor released a CD called "The Hymnbook", a collection of jazz interpretations for Christian hymns. I grew up hearing - and on occasion, singing - those same hymns in church. Those songs never meant much to me when I was a kid. But now - as an adult and having personally chosen to live this faith - the lyrics and themes of the hymns are so much more profound and are a source of assurance. Several times during the past year I've played "The Hymnbook" on my iPod, and it would minister to me in way that a monster guitar riff from Jimmy Page couldn't. Ironically it spoke to me deeply - even without the words to the hymns. I'm thankful that this album exists. But like many artists, hearing Victor Lin play live is a whole other experience. It's like music loses something on its way through people's headphones. And sometimes people - along with their souls - need to be reminded of the power of live music.

MNH.

Last weekend Carol and I went to the Museum of Natural History. I haven't been back since I was a kid, and Carol has never been there. When I found out this last piece of information, I was kinda shocked, since she grew up less than an hour away from the city. What prompted us to visit the museum was the indie flick, "The Squid and the Whale", with Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, and Anna Paquin. The movie's title is based on an exhibit at MNH. Unfortunately we couldn't see the squid and the whale up close because the room was closed for a special event. But we got up close and personal with several dinosaurs. That was a lot of fun for us, and it was interesting reading about all the different nuances for each saurus.

I just had a flashback to a moment in my childhood. I forgot exactly what grade I was in or how old I was, but my teacher told us to buy a copy of "Thesaurus" at the bookstore. When I show up at the bookstore, I asked a man there if they have "The Saurus". He looked it up and said that they didn't have it. I remember asking him to double-check. I also remember being confused because my teacher told me that the bookstore should definitely have it. Funny times. Stupid kid.

Toney Toney Toney.

I went to my first Knicks game of the season, thanks to a generous friend of The Doe Fund who offered up four seats in the first section above courtside. The Knicks looked ugly in the first half: no ball movement, settling for way too many long-distance jumpers, and barely playing one end of the floor. Then suddenly they transformed into another team in the second half, particularly in the fourth quarter, clawing their way out of misery. Basketball is such a rhythmic sport. Also, a rookie began to blossom in the second half. Toney Douglas - from Florida State. I heard quite a bit about him when he made a splash in the ACC, the same conference that BC plays in. Despite a loss that came down to the final shot, I liked two things that I saw tonight: big time effort in the fourth quarter and a rookie who's willing and able to take big shots down the stretch.

Poll thoughts.

Last night I ventured over to my local polling station and cast a vote for a man named John Liu. John is a rarity: an Asian-American in politics. John got 76% of the vote for City Comptroller. With a percentage like that, people must believe he's the right guy for the job. I have to admit, I didn't even know what the Comptroller did until I started looking into John's campaign. Basically he'll function as New York City's CFO. CFO sounds much loftier than Comptroller.

In contrast, the Mayoral race was a lot closer, really proving the importance of getting out and voting. Bloomberg only won by about 50,000 votes, a much smaller margin than what was generally expected. Every vote counts. At least in terms of last night.

Bombers.

I remember there was a time when I'd sit in front of a tiny little t.v. set and watch entire Yankee games on WPIX, Channel 11. Those were the days of Mattingly, my favorite Yankee. The team wasn't even that good back then. I would've killed to see them go to the World Series back then. Now that we're in one, I'm blogging instead of watching Game 1.

I've lost interest in the Yankees for quite a few years now. It started when the franchise made a habit out of spending crazy amounts of money to bring in players who are past their prime. There was definitely a period when there didn't seem to be much player development at all. I missed seeing players come out of the farm system, turning from boys to men inside those pinstripe uniforms. But I've also found that as I've gotten older, I just don't have the patience and time to follow a 162-game season anymore.

Go Yanks.