It's the holiday, I am on vacation and I am seeing some stuff.

Happy holidayze

Its been a while since I last posted. I've been really busy having adventures.

We got a bunny.


I cooked us a Thanksgiving dinner.
Sweet potato latkes!

Cranberries!

Stuffin muffins!


and.........
Turkey breast cordon blue! (in puff pastry)



Deni brought the most yummy pumpkin pie.


I started a new job last week. A video start up in Soho. We launch in late January. I'm sure to post more about it then.

Now the full on Christmas season is upon us.
We saw the Santa rally in Bryant Park as we roamed around the East Village yesterday.


Today was Christmas set up day.
Susie made some ornaments to hang from the ceiling.




The bunny hid and slept. Can you see him?


The tree is all set up.

Along with Spongebob.


I am a happy man.

My Flickr tag cloud as of now.

Trip to Amsterdam and Berlin

I went to Amsterdam and Berlin last week, and am now just getting to the blog post. I put alot of work into my Flickr set so I will record the highlights here.

I got into Amsterdam early on the Wednesday the 31st and checked into the Botel.


I needed a cup of coffee as I didn't sleep on the plane. I learned on this trip how little sleep I really need. I walked into a coffee shop, and oh yeah, i was in Amsterdam. It kind of caught me off guard because it was 8 in the morning, and I wasn't thinking.

I hiked over to the museum district to check out the Van Gough museum. The city is pretty easy to get around. It was interesting, but I was about to crash. I went back to the hotel for a nap.

I woke up and went in search of an Indonesian rice table (in Dutch, rijsttafel) for dinner.

The food was fun, but is more for a group, then just one person.

Aaron came on Thursday morning. I didn't pack an underwear, so we went on a hunt for an H&M. Good sale, back in the saddle. We stopped off to eat a bunch of stuff along the way including bitterballen, frites w/ mayo and a crepe.





We stopped into their new library which is behind the Botel and found we could check email on an iMac.




On Friday we went to the Eastern Docklands, one of the most impressive social living spaces in the world.


Aaron worked on a project for the architect who built this piece of he project.


The next morning we had to get up at 4am to catch our flight to Berlin. Ouch.
We left our things at the hostel and then headed over to Alexanderplatz, which is where the big TV tower is in the old east Berlin.

We walked around for a bit, saw the Berliner Dom, the Reichstag building, Potsdamer Platz, Berliner Philharmonie and The Brandenburg Gate. You know, we hit all the highlights.

What was amazing is putting everything this city has gone through in perspective. I knew very little about Berlin, and felt like one of those dumb Americans on TV who can't identify Iraq on a map.

Aaron took us to see the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which was the most amazing thing we saw in Berlin. Aaron studied under the architect of the memorial.


We went back to the hostel to have a nap.

Aaron suggested we head over to Kollwitzplatz back on the east side for a good meal. He found out about Gugelhof, an Alsatian restaurant, in one of our travel guides. I am glad he did. We had a steak with a potato au gratin dish that was amazing. I had a berry tart that had so much flavor, I can still taste it.

When we left the restaurant, we just started walking with no new destination in mind. We turned a corner, and saw what looked to be a 100 year old dive bar. We had no idea what was behind the door, but I needed in.


Aaron and I had stepped into another world. The bartender was a 5'10 with long blond hair, rolled up with a Russian winter hat on. We thought she may be a burlesque dancer. The place was candle lit and something like Robert Johnson or Ledbelly played on the stereo. This may be the coolest bar in the world.

The next morning we got up and casually walked through Potsdamer Platz before getting Aaron to hi train. After Aaron left, I waited in a two hour line to get to the top of the the Reichstag building.

Here is view of the dome from up top:


I went back to the hostel to pick up my stuff before heading back to the airport, for a night back in Amsterdam.

Got back to the Botel at 1am, and everything had been shut down. At least I had a clean bed and a warm shower!

So this is how the story ends...except for one more amazing thing. After I check my luggage at the airport and get my boarding pass, I go get a cup of coffee and who do I see? Jeff Tweedy. We've already made eye contact, so I had to talk to him. Wilco is one of my all time favorite bands. Just a few words, and a good luck in travels. Then off to my plane.

New bunny!!!

Susie and I have been talking about getting a pet for a long time. A real long time.
We aren't able to have a dog right now and we're both allergic to cats.

We went to the pet store around the corner from our house.
Once the bunny was in Susie's arms, it was over. This bunny had to be ours.


We don't have a name for it.



I like his floppy ears.

I got a new a passport and I am leaving...

I thought it would take forever. I lost my passport when I moved. Every one said it would be a pain in the ass. and take forever. Everyone is a moron.
but it just came.

and so I am going to leave. I leave for Amsterdam in like 72 hours.
It has a RFID in it.

yeah, I had to scum this picture up. No info for the enemy.

Couple of cool things:

"This document contains sensitive electronics" Like what, a f*ing boom box?
That would be so cool.
First generation of passports to have this message. Does yours have this?

and a satellite?

I want to go to space.

Popeye's and PPC

I am rocking the paid search advertising on this blog because I figure why not? This is where Google gets 99% of their money from, and alot of people don't understand how the process works. I have worked around PPC key word buying for more than 4 years now but wanted to know exactly how they place the words that they do.

Last week, I blogged about the Popeye's chicken by my old apt on 2nd ave closing.
Today I see this ad:


Weird.
What's even weirder is it takes you to a a Yahoo store that sells Chicken nick nacks, not even an official Popeye's chicken site?

As I started this blog post, I went back to check something and then saw this ad:


so I click on it and it takes me to a site giving away TVs

nothing to do with KFC OR Popeye's.

A shoutout and a garbage can

First, Fred gives me
a shout out on his blog.

Second, I had become obsessed with getting a new garbage can for the kitchen that had a pedal. Closed tops on garbage cans are crucial. Susie had a plastic one with a spinning top that was always awkward to work with. When I cook meat, I need to get that packaging in the garbage ASAP, and the one we had was just not working.
We went to Bed Bath and Beyond on 6th avenue (shopping here is a New Yorker right of passage), and I had a coupon for 20% off that had expired. Coupons for B,B,B never really expire. We walked in, and there she was, for $60!

And a 20% off coupon making her $48. I was so excited.
Until I just checked Amazon that is...
Whatever, its a great garbage can, and this is what my life has reduced itself to.

Nate asked me to make him a new comp

And I told him I would before coming out to SF next week. Making a few extras for the folks, so let me know if you want one.

I love that chicken from Popyes

I just wrote about a few experiences I had in the past week that were directly tied to events from my past. Happy times.

I also have to write about Popeyes, and specifically the Popeyes that was 2 blocks down from the apartment I lived in the East Village.
We were walking back to the train after dinner tonight, and I'd noticed it had closed.


Now I'd lived close to a Popeyes in San Francisco too. I can't say I'd eat the stuff regularly, but when I wanted some spicy fried chicken and some red beans and rice, I'd go.

There is a funny story behind my Popeyes semi-obsession. My first job out of college was at a big ad firm in Houston. Popeyes was a client. I was asked to help with a store launch and wear a costume at a store opening. When I started to hesitate, I was told that I was an intern and had to do what they say. I looked at the two costumes, one was Popeye and one was a chicken. I said that they probably would not fit.

We get out to the location and I am told to change into the Popeye costume in the men's room and then head outside to flag down traffic. This is what I took out student loans and got a marketing degree for?

The costume didn't fit. I open the door, holding the Popeye head under my arm so the boss would believe me. There was a little kid there seeing a half naked man holding a Popeye head. He started to scream his head off. I said 'see! - I told you it would not fit.' She started screaming, knocked on the door to the woman's room and said - "You have to switch costumes, you're Popeye now, Josef, you be the chicken. " I said this costume won't fit either. I was told to try, and had the same issue.

Needless to say, I never really recovered from this at this firm. I ended up moving to San Francisco a month later. Every time I pass a Popeye's I can't help but think of this experience. I wasn't the only person eating at this East Village Popeyes, but I think its funny that two months after I leave the neighborhood, it closed.