hibernation off

the farmer's market is back!

the springtime switch has been turned on. while the winter coats haven't fully gone into storage, everyone's winter blues are slowly but surely being shaken off the system.

the favorite union square farmer's market is back in circulation. rows of stalls selling own-grown veggies and fruits, small plots of herbs and plants, everything organic this and that—and my 2 must stops—the wheatgrass stand where i get my shot of all that catfood health goodness and the goat cheese tent where i always extend my palm for those free samples. oh the joys of free stuff.

midnight walk over b'burg bridge after drinks

the let's do this attitude has likewise been reawakened somehow. last week saw me refusing to succumb to the office overtime blues as i headed home at 10:30ish, tempted to just spend the rest of the night with some TV, chicken wings and cookies. instead i put my shorts on (ignored the "what the f* is this kid doin walkin' in shorts in this weather?" glances) and made my way to the neighborhood track to run a few rounds. the 3 or 4 late night joggers slowly dwindled down until it was just me and my ipod blasting sounds in a language i do not know (it was greek i think, but whatever it was, its foreignness somehow propelled my legs to run more rounds than i thought i would.) a slight drizzle and my imagination thinking crazy thoughts of jogger-stabbers made the late night run all the more exciting. and by the end of it, i was overcome by a great sense of aliveness and accomplishment (although my legs did end up being sore the next 2 days).

dinner and drinks at life cafe

spring is likewise bringing out the social animal in everyone. after staying the quickest 5 minutes at a filipino gathering at a filipino resto friday night, i was off to cafe havana enjoying food with some chinese officemates and their friends from LA (obviously, something about sticking with your own people and your own food and your own comfort zones didnt feel quite like making the most of what this city has to offer, hence the shotgun kumusta-babay.) ended up to be a great night, we headed to a nearby bar with a backyard garden enjoying nice gin and tonics and conversation. and capped by a walk home over the williamsburg bridge soaking in the midnight skyline, and sweating whatever alcohol left in my bloodstream. what's great about spring is that as cafes, bars and restaurants set up their outdoor seating, the people somehow bring out their energies and openness to socialize with other people.

tom hart cartooning workshop at the ADC

it was also the second art directors club workshop last saturday. turns out the artist leading the day, tom hart, is metro's cartoonist. this coming saturday, a certain jason pacheco leads an advertising workshop. im still ironing out a few details on my presentation but it should be fun. always good being able to mentor fresh young minds somehow (im not worthy, im not worthy but we'll try our best). time to rock and roll. speaking of rock and roll, im seeing a latin band on saturday night. not exactly the same genre obviously but should be good to enjoy some nice salsa music at havana central (and a great way to celebrate tomorrow's payday and quite possibly, at least rumor has it, the day when we get our bonuses in the office. suuuuwwweeeeet!).

tulip plantlings at the streetfair

what's there not to like about spring? oh i do know one. apparently, as much as the season brings people's energies out of hibernation, it likewise smokes the mice out of their holes. well at least that one annoying mouse that kept me up for one or two nights. well, the traps and baits have been set in the apartment and somehow the past nights have been quite clear again. nighty night, mickey. unfortunately, there's room for only one living creature in the apartment. although, i do have to make space first 10 days of may coz the flying dutchman's coming over to couch crash. the adcenter execs meet again (after a successful hongkong and philippine tour last november). greatness! but wait!!! (spoken in that infomercial announcer voice) the fun doesnt end there coz end of may, yours truly is off to new zealand and then australia to meet with the whole family (well, except for my dad that is, who's apparently decided to guard the fort back in san juan.) nevertheless, always great being reunited with family and friends who are good enough to pass for family so i can't wait.

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before i go, one last anecdote. so i was doing my laundry sunday (coz i figured i needed to start my spring cleaning somehow). sitting at the bench in the laundromat waiting for my clothes to get dried, a big blind black man steps in with his walking stick in search of his own laundry. he's accompanied by his big tough guy typical italian brooklynese buddy teasing him to go search for his clothes on his own. so the blind man starts walking towards the driers (actually he rams straight into me asking if he was walking towards the right way). eventually he finds his clothes and his buddy helps him out. on their way out, an older neighborhood grandpa-ish person stops them. hey i gotta ask ya a question. how do you do it? my daughter's just turned blind. she's had diabetes since 10 and when she turned 33, the eyesight just finally gave way... she wouldnt leave the house now. i tell her she should but she wouldn't. she refuses to.

the big black man replies, it's hard. i know, it's hard. i lost mine when i was 35 coz of a pituitary tumor. but you just gotta keep livin. you gotta keep livin. keep doin the things you used to do. its hard. but you just gotta keep livin.

and on perfect cue as though to stop my goosebumps from bursting, his italian buddy goes, let's go. and one more time you fuckin hit my foot with that fuckin walking stick of yours, im gonna break it into 10 million fuckin pieces.

after a few minutes of being stunned by the poignancy of what just happened, my clothes were dry. and i was back to living my life. hibernation off. living every moment on.