Dancing in a better place...

New York, New York

If you are in Manhattan any time soon, take a trip up to Harlem at 125th St. On my recent visit, the entire street seemed to be a makeshift Michael Jackson memorial, with every street vendor hawking t-shirts, CDs, DVDs, and memorabilia of all sorts, as well as playing MJ's hits from boom boxes and car stereos.

At the Apollo Theater, where Michael Jackson supposedly got his start, there is a wall on which people have posted notes and flowers, and written heartfelt messages.

Also, if you do make it up to Harlem, be sure to check out the Uptown Juice Bar (54 W. 125th near Lennox Ave), a vegan Caribbean and Soul Food restaurant. Everything is delicious. Worth the subway ride. Not too pricey either.

Teddy Roosevelt's Island

On a recent trip to DC I was delighted to take a trip to the Teddy Roosevelt memorial. TR has his very own wooded island in the middle of the Potomic river, complete with trails, a boardwalk through wetlands, and views of Georgetown, as well as a lovely and peaceful hilltop memorial to the man who essentially started the conservationist movement, albeit through taxidermy as much as land protection.

This island doesn't get a lot of tourists, and is a perfect place for a walk and a picnic. And there are plenty of giant stone tablets with inspirational TR quotes and a larger than life statue of the man, waving hello.

Only those are fit to live
Who do not fear to die:
And none are fit to die
Who have shrunk from the
Joy of life
and the
Duty of life

Thanks Ted, you're right.

Kick Ball

Great idea, not my idea.

In the not so distant past, an enthusiastic Carrborran posted flyers around town advertising an open kick ball game, and that interested persons should show up in a color, and teams would be divided up based on how many people there were in each colored shirt.

I went for the first time this past Saturday and was a fan for my friends here on the Yellow team. Next week, I'm playing!

Folks meet at the Carrboro Community Park Saturdays at 5pm at the soft ball fields. Last week people were in Blue, Red, Orange, Yellow, and Green. Skill levels vary widely and beer drinking is encouraged!

More moving parts

In Union Square, in Manhattan, there is a lovely sculpture (statue?) of a mother and child, which is surrounded by cafe tables and chairs, cleverly labeled, and well used by lunchers, studiers, people watchers and socializers of all sorts.

Goat Shank

Last Thursday I was tasked with preparing a Goat Shank (procured from Small Potatoes Farm for $22.00) for a Friday night pot-luck in Carrboro. The process would be long, and as the only funemployed pot-luck attendee, I had the time available to figure out how to cook this beast.

I had two recipes to follow, but (due to a lack of some ingredients and an abundance of others) I forged my own path in the world of goat cookery. According to the other pot-luckers I done good.

Goat Shank:

1 goat shank
3/4 pound Butter
Lots of: garlic, basil, rosemary, sage, dill, or other fresh herbs you can procure, chopped
One count pour of: yorkshire (or worcestershire) sauce, soy sauce
Sprinkling of: celery salt, table salt, black pepper, whole black pepper corns, cumin

Preheat oven to 250°. Put all ingredients, except the goat, in a frying pan. Cook at a low heat until butter melts and it smells delicious. Wash the goat shank in cold water and pat dry (I used clean, reusable, washable kitchen cloths, paper towels suffice). Place shank in a large roasting pan with a lid (I used two Dollar General aluminum roast pans, one for the bottom, one as the top). Pour liquid butter mixture over shank, cover, and place in hot oven. Cook for 4 hours, basting occasionally. Remove from oven, drain juices into a pitcher. Place goat shank on hot grill, pour just enough juices over it for the grill to flare up. Flip and repeat. Slice and serve with juices as gravy.

We ate this grillside on a candle lit picnic table. We paired it with beer and purple potatoes and summer squash, both grilled, and poured the juices over everything. Also, each person had to say something they were thankful for, and one great thing that happened to them during their week.

I was thankful for friends. And excited that that week I learned how to cook goat!

Friends

I am thankful for together time with good friends, especially those who will take sunset silhouette photos with me.

Seriously?

I recently had the good fortune to visit Savannah, GA, a city of which I am now an avid promoter. It has beautiful park space, spanish moss, a thriving artists community, a diverse population, bikeablility, not to mention open container laws (woohoo!). I was sold, to say the least. However, one completely insane thing caught my eye and made me question this otherwise devil-may-care attituded city.

As I understand it, a young man was visiting from a faraway place (Europe?) and was enjoying himself, as young people are inclined to do in this great city. He was having himself a good ol' time on one of the busiest pedestrian streets in the city, when he stepped out to cross. He was hit and killed by a motorist.

This led the Savannah Police Department (whom, I have heard, are notoriously uninterested in the crime ridden and impoverished areas of the city) to crack down on Jaywalkers.

Mind you, this city is old. There are few handicap accessible curb cuts, let alone cross walks or lights. There are no traffic calming devices on the large one-way thoroughfares down which cars sill speed upwards of 60 miles per hour.

But really, let's not inconvience the automobiles by making them slow down. Let's punish people for walking where they're not supposed to.

Seriously?

Creating a Place

Denver, Colorado

While attending the 17th Annual Congress for the New Urbanism (http://www.cnu.org/cnu17/) in Denver Colorado this past June I had the opportunity to explore a city which is making an enormous effort to be, well, more like a city. That is to say, livable, workable, walkable, with defined parts, and excellent mass transit.

This photo simply illustrates how simple strings of light define a block as a place to be. Great idea.

Moving Parts

We have a problem, in which we have simultaneously an abundance of public space, and an absolute lack of friendly, functional, inviting public space, which people actually care use and enjoying spending time in.

I have recently been reading The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces by William H. Whyte in which he concludes, through a series of photographic studies of well and poorly functioning Urban Spaces in Manhattan, that movable furniture in parks is essential:

Small moves say things to other people. If a newcomer chooses a chair next to a couple or group, he may make some intricate moves. Again, he may not take the chair very far, but he conveys a message. Sorry for the closeness, but there’s no room elsewhere, and I am going to respect your privacy, as you will mine. A reciprocal move by one of the others may follow. Watching these exercises is itself one of the pleasures of a good place.

Moveable chairs allow for the most choices and autonomy, which is coveted in public settings. Fixed individual chairs function more as set pieces than as actual furniture. It sure looks like a place one might sit, but most would rather not.

Steps and ledges also offer excellent seating as they are individuals and groups can manifest infinite variations and patterns of seating.