Christmas O8

Group photo documenting Christmas '08 at the Swartz's.


Dinner at the Old Towne Buffet with high school friends. (l-r. Becky Mertz, Molly Sharp, Cindy Frobose, Lisa Behnfeldt, Renee Carter, JaNell Koskie, Me)


Traditional family dinner on New Year's Eve with the Nelsons.

Holiday Season '08. we traveled back to Ohio again for our festivus traditions of feats of strength (Bowling) and the airing of grievances over the annual lasagna dinner. Mostly we just reminisced about old times, to which Roderick was lost. However, there were some new games, 'dance dance revolution' and jeopardy contests and the local places of color tour, especially the Depue.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 08. This year there were 11 guests at the dinner table. Emily created the magnificent feast on which we all dined with gusto. Only 1 chair and 1 coaster were lost. There was lots of wine, pumpkin pie, apple pie and plenty of ice cream to follow the 25lb bird. Maya and Maizey enjoyed the chocolate turkey most of all. We had lively discussions about religion and politics. And Maya fulfilled the Potts family tradition of watching 'Predator' at an early age, or in her words, 'The Man from Space', which is also pretty accurate.

Argentina highlights

If you are thinking about spending some time in Buenos Aires, the 'Paris of South America'... here's a post with lots of photos, summing up what we've learned from our 10 day visit there.
1. Sleeping. We stayed at Caserón Porteño, a B&B and Tango Studio, www.caseronporteno.com. Our rates were very reasonable and we enjoyed a nice breakfast of medialunas, fruit and cafe con leche or tea as well as friendly conversation with the other guests. Here's Rod in the sunny courtyard, with the dance hall in the background.
2. Walking Palermo. We did a lot of walking around the neighborhood of Palermo. It's a very hip section of town with many good restaurants, beautiful architecture and good shopping. Here's an example of the architecture, typifying the rich european heritage and the charming cobblestone streets.3. Walking the MicroCentro. Here's me in front of Argentina's equivalent of the White House or in their case, 'Casa Roja'. Supposedly the reddish hue comes from mixing the plaster with Ox's blood.
4. Feria de San Telmo. Every sunday, there is a terrific street fair and antique market on Avenue Defensa in San Telmo. Not only is there great shopping, but also lots of entertainers about such as these performers above.5. The Recoleta Cemetary. Something not to be missed is the famous, above ground cemetary dedicated to Argentina's rich and famous leaders. Though once inside, we made a beeline for Evita's grave.6. Salta. We decided to visit the city of Salta in the northwestern region, situated in the Andes Mountains. This small colonial town was much more traditional that Buenos Aires. Shown above is an elaborately painted church, a replacement for the original, which had been destroyed in a fire. Also shown is the town plaza, where many café's and shops lined the center park. Reminded us of Oaxaca, Mexico.
7. Lost in Translation. We found that fluent english was less common in Salta. Many signs and posted translations were a little off. We found this on our gondola ride up to the San Bernardo Hill overlooking the city.


8. Driving through the Andes. We rented a car in Salta and drove south towards the wine town of Cafayate. The distance between Salta and Cafayate is about 3 hours on a winding highway, that also cuts through many small towns along the way. We got to see some amazing landforms, such as the Garganta del Diablo ( behind me) and beautiful, jagged red rocks like those of the Southwestern USA, (behind Rod).

If you enjoy our photos and want to see more - you can check out our flickr set here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32459511@N03/

50th St. Subway Art

I never noticed the subway art at the 50th St. ACE Subway station before. When I saw this designed icon system resembling the clear Swiss signage system icons, I had to take a photo.

Dumbo Walk

We took a bike ride through DUMBO a few weeks ago and stopped to walk around and check out some of the cool local art projects. I liked the color chip study as it reminded me of my college days in color class. I'm not sure what the dinosaur made from hubcaps was all about.

Brooklyn West Indian Festival 08

Living in Brooklyn has it charms. Not more then a mile from our place in Park Slope, we got to experience a taste of the Caribbean and West Indian culture. There is an annual parade that appears much like Carnival, with dancers in elaborate (and skimpy) colorful costumes. It's a madhouse spanning blocks and blocks along Eastern Parkway with many local foodstands. We had some delicious roti and jamaican jerk chicken. The festival seems to be just as much about the food as it is about watching the crazy parade!

Jones Beach

We also went to Jones Beach over labor day weekend. One of the most beautiful points on this long stretch of beach along Long Island. It's a popular escape for New Yorkers in the summer months. Of course, it's a bit hard to get to without a car which makes it all the more desirable a destination because the riff raff are kept away. We, being the riff raff, made this our first visit. We ate ice cream and watched the sunset as enormous seagulls begged for handouts.